Lucia sized up Merlin, who was standing right beside her in the dim light.
From Merlin’s movements and expression, she certainly wasn’t lying; something had indeed happened between the two of them in the past.
The timing matched up as well. From the moment Marcina gained a bit of fame as a magical prodigy on the battlefield to when she was adopted by the House of Duke Taran, the timeline was consistent.
However, even as a princess who frequently met Marcina during the beast tides, Lucia had no idea that Marcina had a husband, much less that his name was Merlin.
She had heard rumors of a fiancé, but those around her simply assumed it was a candidate recommended by the Taran family. It seemed, however, that the fiancé wasn’t Merlin either.
Now it sounded more like Marcina had simply kicked Merlin to the curb after the Taran family arranged an engagement for her.
It was truly heartless.
If Lucia had been treated that way, she would have made the other person pay the price, no matter the cost.
She hadn’t expected that Marcina could be so cold-blooded.
Hmph, as expected, that mask was fake. All that talk of being gentle and kind, yet she couldn’t even manage basic loyalty.
Looking at it this way, it wasn’t hard to understand why she wanted to marginalize Merlin or even expel her from the academy.
It was because Merlin was her dark history.
She was the disgraceful, lowly past from before Marcina climbed the social ladder.
Leaving such a living time bomb in the academy, staying in the same room day and night—of course she would feel uneasy, wouldn’t she?
If it got out that the daughter of the Taran family had a husband before being adopted, or that Marcina had abandoned Merlin for the sake of honor and status, Marcina’s perfect reputation within the academy would cease to exist.
However…
Lucia looked at Merlin, who was lying quietly beside her. Merlin seemed to be looking at somewhere far away at that moment, her icy blue eyes blinking.
“You said you wrote letters to Marcina almost every day?”
Merlin’s shoulders flinched, as if this question was more embarrassing than the memory itself.
A faint blush quickly crawled up her cheeks, and even the tips of her fair, pointed ears turned a bit red.
Even though it was already a thing of the past.
But whenever she thought of those letters filled with the longing she was now trying so hard to let go of… Merlin felt so ashamed she wanted to curl up.
To Marcina, that viscous and unreserved love probably felt like nothing but a nuisance.
Merlin lowered her eyes and answered softly.
“Yes… though sometimes I didn’t write if I was busy or away and couldn’t get home. It was all just self-indulgence.”
“That’s strange.”
Merlin turned her head, a hint of confusion in her azure eyes.
“Strange?”
“Replying is basic etiquette, isn’t it? Even for those letters full of malice, I’ll usually reply with a few words like ‘piss off’.”
Merlin fell into thought for a moment.
“But what if the other person keeps writing? What if you’re so annoyed that you don’t want to reply?”
“Then tell them that if they write again, you’ll refuse delivery.”
“Refuse delivery?”
“That’s right. You understand what ‘refuse delivery’ means, right? Return to sender.”
Merlin rolled over. Her soft, blue-gradient long hair spread across the pure white bedspread like a stream under the moonlight. She looked at the ceiling, which was cast in a faint yellowish glow by the dim light.
“But the letters I wrote were never returned. I always thought Marcina received them but just didn’t reply.”
“You said you sent potions?”
“Yes.”
“Well, maybe she thought your potions were somewhat useful, so she just took them all.”
“Is that so?”
“Who knows what she was thinking?”
Letters… that means the post office…
The idle chatter, combined with Merlin’s incredibly comfortable massage from before and the dim, quiet atmosphere, all intertwined.
An unguarded yawn escaped from Lucia’s slightly parted lips.
Lucia felt a surge of joy; she could finally get a good night’s sleep. The pain in her body and brain wasn’t as noticeable now.
She grabbed the candy by the bed and ate four pieces.
“Fine, I’m going to take a nap. We’ll talk about whatever else after I wake up.”
Lucia closed her eyes, thinking the little elf would have the sense to leave, since her own room wasn’t far away anyway.
However, the expected sound of footsteps did not come.
Immediately following that, a hand was placed on Lucia’s head.
That hand was slightly cool, yet it carried the faint fragrance of herbs. It began to comb through her silver hair with a gentle pressure.
If it were anyone else, Lucia would have bristled long ago, but what malice could this soft elf possibly have?
“What is it?”
Instead, it was Merlin who seemed a bit shocked.
“Aren’t you going to sleep?”
“Yes.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“What am I doing… if someone strokes your head before you sleep, you’ll sleep more soundly. I often do this.”
It was, of course, a habit left over from taking care of Marcina, and she also stroked Ophelia’s head when they slept together.
A subtle misunderstanding of intentions occurred between the two. Merlin thought the other girl wanted her head stroked, when in reality, Lucia was telling Merlin she could leave if she had nothing else to do.
Lucia looked at Merlin, who was gently combing her hair. Her hand was rhythmically smoothing Lucia’s silky silver strands. When it brushed over her head, she would also use just the right amount of force to lightly scratch her scalp.
Waves of tingling sensations, like weak electric currents, spread from her scalp, instantly smoothing out Lucia’s tense nerves.
It felt… too good…
Bursts of tingling sensations continuously came from the top of Lucia’s head. It was so comfortable that the habitually cold Lucia actually narrowed her eyes like a cat.
Looking at the comfortable expression on Lucia’s face, Merlin felt a sense of accomplishment in her heart.
At this moment, Merlin was as gentle as water. Her blue eyes rippled with a soft light, and the corners of her mouth rose slightly, making her look exceptionally beautiful and resilient in the dim light.
Just looking at Merlin’s smile, Lucia felt that she was the one being helped. It was so warm, so healing.
Along with the stroking of the hair, she began to softly hum a lullaby that Lucia had never heard before.
That smile, as serene and gentle as a goddess, made Lucia’s heart skip a beat.
It even gave Lucia the greedy desire to be taken care of like this every day before sleep.
Even Mary, who was constantly by her side, rarely interacted with her in such a way.
“Sleep now~ Sleep now~”
Sigh… I really don’t understand Marcina.
Even if Merlin couldn’t use magic, she just abandoned Merlin like that?
If it were Lucia, she would never do such a thing. It wasn’t because of magic, and it wasn’t because she was an elven princess.
Just having such a healing presence was already precious enough.
If one could return home after struggling through the daily intrigues of the royal family and the battlefield and see this smile, it would all be worth it.
Lucia truly thought so.
So what if she couldn’t use magic? So what if she was a commoner?
What was the big deal, anyway?
The gentle humming, accompanied by the rhythm of the fingertips, was like a soft tide caressing Lucia’s tense nerves. She relaxed completely, and her breathing became slow and steady.