Ha…… I was so flustered that my mouth dropped open.

So, you heard it. What I said in bed last time.

“It’s a relief there are no scars on that pretty face.”

I couldn’t help but blush furiously, feeling like my secret admiration and compliments about their face had been exposed.

Even though I did say that, it’s not like looking at someone’s face is a bad thing!

It wasn’t a weird thought, just a compliment.

Various thoughts raced through my mind, but no matter what I said, I’d have to bear the embarrassment.

While my lips moved meaninglessly, I decided to naturally steer the conversation elsewhere.

“So, about that.”

“What.”

“Why don’t you have any scars on your face? Your body has plenty of them…”

“Would you prefer it if my face was scarred?”

“I’m just curious. It’s a bit strange that your face is completely fine while your body isn’t…”

At that, Edan, who had been holding my face firmly, let go and leaned back lazily against the sofa, tilting his chin up.

“I hate it.”

Then Edan crossed his legs.

“I find it irritating when anything touches my face, so I blocked attacks with my body.”

What kind of logic is that? It’s not like you protected your pretty face with your body, but because you found it annoying when something touched your face?

“Why?”

My curiosity grew, and I asked without hesitation.

“When I was young, I had chubby cheeks for a long time, and the maids kept pinching them, which really annoyed me.”

“Wow. You remember that? How old were you?”

“Thirteen.”

“Oh…”

I thought they were talking about when Edan was a baby or a toddler, but thirteen was after Edan had awakened his powers and returned to the palace.

I briefly imagined Edan’s childhood. Big eyes, chubby cheeks. Considering his current appearance, he must have been incredibly cute back then. But for it to leave such a trauma, how carelessly must the maids have treated him? Even if he was an illegitimate prince.

Feeling a bit regretful for asking, I noticed Edan frowning as if recalling an unpleasant memory.

“Well, chubby cheeks must have been cute. That’s probably why everyone touched them, right?”

Edan’s gaze shot toward me coldly.

“What. You want to touch them too?”

“Huh? No?”

“You said I’m pretty. Don’t you want to touch?”

“No. I mean… not really…”

I hadn’t even thought about touching.

“Not really?”

Perhaps my choice of words was poor, as Edan’s gaze grew colder, mimicking my words.

That look in his eyes… it felt like no matter what I said, he’d pick a fight.

So, I really hadn’t thought about touching, but the coercive pressure of the situation forced me to answer.

“I kind of want to touch a little.”

What a miserable social life.

Edan smirked and responded.

“Then beg for it.”

“…”

This crazy guy? I dug my own grave. I shouldn’t have let myself get caught up in this power struggle.

But it was already too late, so I just laughed awkwardly.

“Not that much…”

“Hurry up.”

Don’t rush me! I said no! You crazy guy!

Just moments ago, you said you hated anything touching your face, so why are you doing this to me?

Whether I stared at him in disbelief or not, Edan leaned his head on his hand, resting on the sofa’s armrest.

He looked completely relaxed, without a hint of tension. His shirt’s top buttons were undone, revealing his collarbone and the firm chest muscles beneath. Eek. I quickly tried to turn my head, but Edan grabbed the back of my neck with one hand.

“Quickly.”

His touch was gentle, but the strength in his arm was unyielding. Trying to avoid his persistent gaze, I lowered my eyes and unconsciously looked at his lips.

And as if to tease me, one corner of his mouth curled up.

I really didn’t mean it like that.

But with Edan’s stubbornness suggesting he wouldn’t let me go unless I complied, I reluctantly did as he asked, my face half-crying.

“Can I, uh, touch you?”

Edan let out a satisfied chuckle, stood up, and looked down at me.

“We’ll see. If I feel like it.”

With an elegant tone of rejection, Edan hummed a tune and returned to his room.

Wow…

That, that, that lunatic! Why did he suddenly act so childish? If that’s how it’s going to be, why even ask?

Hey! I don’t even want to! I’m not touching you! Never!

[This is the timeline separator]

I revised my life plan.

For their sake, I pestered Edan to find out the date of Ivy’s saintess ball, and it was next week.

“I don’t get it.”

Since injuring my hand, I haven’t been cooking or cleaning, so I’m practically useless.

Why on earth haven’t they fired me?

I don’t know what they’re thinking, but I only have about four months left.

Until the end of my contract, Edan clearly has no intention of letting me go.

So, I decided to help keep this man, who’s destined to go mad, from losing his mind.

After all, if I tried to escape now, I’d surely get caught quickly, and it’s uncertain if I could even leave the castle. So, the best option is to keep him sane.

“You absolutely can’t go crazy until I quit.”

Please stay sane! With that firm resolve, I filled a spray bottle with water.

Then I stretched out my hand and activated my healing power.

Since one hand was bandaged, the healing power only flowed from my uninjured hand.

“How much should I use?”

I stared at the mass of healing power, which looked a bit like slime or a giant water droplet.

For now, I made it about the size of an apple…

Come to think of it, I don’t really know how much healing power I have.

In the original story, it was said that overusing healing power would drain your energy and cause you to faint, which was the first danger stage.

After using healing power, you need time to recover.

Depending on your physical condition, the expended healing power would replenish.

If you used it again without recovering, you’d faint again in an already depleted state, and your health would gradually deteriorate.

Eventually, if you couldn’t recover, you’d turn into a mummy in an instant.

“Should I make it a bit bigger?”

I increased the healing power to about the size of a watermelon.

I checked my condition, but I felt fine.

So I put in a bit more effort and made it the size of a pumpkin.

“This is fine too?”

Luckily, it wasn’t just a tiny amount. This should be enough for now.

A pumpkin-sized amount seems okay.

After testing, I submerged the healing power mass into the water. The shimmering pink light sparkled as it seeped into the water in the spray bottle.

[This is the timeline separator]

“They really don’t listen.”

Edan was fighting magical beasts every day in his usual pattern, and the ball was getting closer day by day.

Feeling anxious, I spent most of my waking hours spraying the healing-infused water around every corner of the castle.

And today, Edan finally picked a fight.

“Didn’t I tell you to do nothing?”

When I didn’t respond, Edan tilted his head and asked again in a mocking tone. I tightly gripped the spray bottle and pouted up at him.

“I have to do something to earn my paycheck.”

“Your job is to do nothing.”

“That’s not true.”

“What?”

Perhaps annoyed by my response, Edan furrowed his brow slightly and took a big step closer. I looked straight at him as he approached.

“You told me to look at your face. But lately, you haven’t been showing it much, so shouldn’t I do something like this?”

These past few days, it’s been hard to see Edan’s face.

His routine hasn’t changed, but since I injured my hand, food has been brought from the grand castle. Plus, he’s been seasoning his own food, so unless he sought me out, we didn’t really cross paths.

Not that I felt upset about it or anything. It’s just that things had gone back to his usual schedule as a shut-in.

If anything, I was relieved that he seemed to have lost interest in me.

At my bold words, Edan’s lips parted slightly in disbelief before closing again.

Then, as if realizing something, he let out a small chuckle.

“Is that your way of saying you miss me?”

What? …No. I was being sarcastic about how little work I had, so why is he taking it that way?

I shook my head, furrowing my brow in frustration. But Edan’s attention had already shifted to the spray bottle.

“There’s been an increase in magical beasts in the north lately, so I’ve been busy.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

What’s this? Edan’s softened tone sounded like he was explaining why he hadn’t been around, as if it wasn’t intentional.

“So, what are you spraying everywhere?”

“Just water. The castle’s been really dusty lately, so I’m spraying it.”

Edan looked down at me with a gaze that screamed I was doing something pointless.

Whatever. Since I’d decided to be shameless, I stepped closer to Edan.

“Master, please lower your head.”

“Why?”

Though he asked grumpily, Edan readily lowered his head toward me.

In the north, Edan’s bright blonde hair looked like a star, but in daylight, it sparkled like unraveled golden thread.

Maybe magical beast blood has some kind of conditioning effect, because his hair was so smooth… I thought as I sprayed the bottle—spritz spritz—onto Edan’s head.

I could feel Edan’s shoulders flinch at my unexpected attack.

“Stay still. I’m preventing dust from sticking to your hair.”

In reality, I was infusing him with healing power.

You lunatic! Future madman! Spritz spritz—take my healing power! Spritz—don’t go crazy! Spritz spritz!

Caught up in the excitement of spraying, Edan’s hair quickly became soaked.

Drip drip. Water droplets from his hair fell onto his shirt, and Edan, who had been obediently following my lead, finally reached his limit and glared up.

“What is it.”

His low voice barely contained his irritation.

Snapping back to reality, I flinched and stepped back.

“W-Well, I was worried about dust sticking, so I sprayed a bit too much…”

“…”

When Edan stayed silent, I quickly threw out an apology.

“Sorry.”

“Why don’t you keep messing around?”

Edan smirked as if my apology was laughable and ran his hand through his wet hair.

Then, with his wet hand, he pressed down on my head from above.

“Huh?”

Squish squish, every time he applied pressure, I sank lower and lower.

Ugh. Who’s doing this for whose sake! This is all for you!

He has no idea how much effort I’m putting in for him. Ugh, really.

But since I did go a bit overboard to mess with him, I kept my mouth shut.