* * *

Suppressing the urge to push him away and flee, I managed to confirm his words again.

“You’ll protect me?”

“Yes. With all my heart.”

“…T-There’s no need to go that far. Just spare my life, that’s all I ask.”

At that, the Fourth Prince’s expression shifted again.

Had I said too much?

Did I seem too pitiful for a Tower Master?

But given that I was pretending to have lost my memories, I could allow myself a bit of vulnerability.

What’s done is done. I decided to double down with confidence.

“Just keeping me alive will suffice.”

“Oh, mighty Tower Master.”

“…What, Fourth Prince?”

Deciding to own my newfound brazenness, I addressed him head-on, which unexpectedly made him chuckle. “Hahahahaha…”

His low laughter lingered.

What was this?

Had he gone mad?

I hadn’t had much interaction with him aside from a brief encounter before my death, so I didn’t know, but maybe the rumors about him being unhinged were true.

“Do you know how dangerous it is to ask for nothing but your life to be spared?”

“Why… Even rolling in a dung heap is better than dying, right?”

“…What?”

“That’s a strange expression. It doesn’t quite suit someone of your refinement… but anyway, that only applies to those who’ve never rolled in one.”

Wait… Was he saying he planned to throw me into a dung heap?

I was starting to feel an inexplicable sense of danger when the Fourth Prince quickly cut in, preempting my next words.

“In any case, that’s the condition you’ve set. Don’t worry. As long as I’m alive, your life will be absolutely protected.”

“Only while you’re alive?”

“…”

This time, his eyes widened briefly before he burst out laughing, loud enough to make the garden echo.

His neck, thrown back as he laughed, was annoyingly well-sculpted.

After a long bout of laughter, he looked back at me.

Though his gaze clearly looked down on me, now wasn’t the time to care about that.

“I’ll give my subordinates the order, but who knows what happens after I’m gone?”

But I knew.

When someone dies, they can end up in a book world or rewind a few years.

That’s what happened to me, after all.

If it happened to me, it could happen to anyone else.

For all I knew, that passerby I brushed past earlier might have been someone who died and returned.

In a fantasy world where reincarnation and time loops exist, what can’t happen?

…No, wait.

Even if the Fourth Prince were to return after dying, it wouldn’t affect me from my perspective.

Truly, no one can know what happens after death.

After mulling it over briefly, I replied.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

The Fourth Prince’s elegant lips twitched.

He looked like he was holding back another laugh.

“Indeed, a request works better than an order… as it does now.”

“Now?”

What did he mean by that?

Had he gone somewhere to make a request?

My head tilted involuntarily.

Watching me, the Fourth Prince smirked and added, “It’s nothing.”

Usually, “nothing” meant it was definitely something.

But I didn’t have the guts to press him about it.

I wasn’t even sure if this was something my freshly-possessed self could handle.

Wait a minute… The status window.

I glanced up at the floating holographic window.

I hadn’t heard that usual clink sound recently, and as expected, the gauge hadn’t budged since I met the Prince.

While stealing glances at the status window, the Fourth Prince lightly tapped the pillar with his fingers.

Reflexively, I turned my head toward the sound.

“At least one thing is clear,” he said.

“What is?”

“That you’re telling the truth about losing your memories.”

“…Of course it’s true.”

“Be careful. If you keep avoiding people’s eyes and glancing at nothing like that, everyone in the palace will figure out you’re not normal.”

“No one’s noticed for days. If I’m careful, they won’t notice in the future either.”

That was true. In fact, even six years later, no one ever fully figured it out.

The original Tower Master was naturally quiet and gloomy, and coincidentally, that suited me just fine.

I also rarely looked at people’s faces, opting for the floor or empty space instead.

Plus, failed magic experiments often left me in strange states, so no one suspected a thing.

The Fourth Prince shrugged.

“Your closest aides seem rather incompetent.”

“You’re just saying that because you don’t know me.”

“Wouldn’t someone who’s been observing you up close know better than you, who’s lost their memories?”

I frowned.

“Fourth Prince, what exactly do you think you know about me?”

“Ateol.”

“…What?”

“Stop calling me ‘Fourth Prince.’ It sounds so distant. Call me Ateol, like you always have.”

Lies…! I was dumbfounded.

He was blatantly lying with a straight face.

The original Tower Master wasn’t close to the Fourth Prince.

At least, not in the parts I’d read.

…

Well… not in the parts I’d read.

But who knows?

Maybe something happened after that.

Or maybe the author had left it as subtext only they knew about.

Claiming I’d lost my memories was definitely a good move.

If my original self’s indifference toward the Fourth Prince had caused my death, I’d never know.

After all, I’d dropped out of the story fairly early.

Carefully, I asked.

“Did I, call you Ateol?”

“You did.”

“But your attitude when you brought me here earlier….”

From the Fourth prince’s perspective, his demeanor didn’t seem all that familiar.

Maybe he had wondered why I suddenly called for him, but still, he even called me a rat.

As I thought about this and closed my mouth, the Fourth prince faintly smiled, then suddenly tilted his head toward me.

“Of course. We were in public, after all.”

“What…”

“But it’s true. We are quite close and…”

His lips almost brushed my ear, the warmth of his breath dangerously near.

“…in a secret relationship.”

I froze on the spot.

Was that really… Did that kind of thing actually happen?

The fake Tower Master and the Fourth Prince, in that kind of relationship?

Did that mean the reason the Fourth Prince mercilessly killed me in the end (albeit a rather humane death) stemmed from a tangled romance that began six years ago?

I had never heard of such a thing.

If it were such a significant matter, shouldn’t there have been some sign over the past six years?

Like, at the very least, the Fourth Prince sneaking around to see me?

Coming to my senses, I found myself furiously rubbing my ear with one hand.

His voice—what an unnecessarily good voice to say such things with!

While I worked to calm my racing thoughts, he tilted his head slightly to the side, gazing down at me.

After a brief pause, I was the first to speak.

“Is that true?”

“And if it is?”

“…”

If it were true, would it be a good thing for me?

Or a bad thing?

I racked my brain for answers, but the Fourth Prince suddenly clamped his fingers over his ears.

What on earth was he doing now?

As I stared in confusion, he grinned slyly.

“Why are you laughing?”

“The sound of your brain working is just so loud.”

“You…! You insolent… disrespectful…”

I had spent six years being revered.

Hearing such audacious words made anger surge uncontrollably.

* * *