The gathering broke up on a sour note.

It wasn't hard to tell from everyone's expressions. There wouldn't be a next time for a gathering like this.

As Luke was leaving the house, Thomas caught up to him.

"Lord Luke, I'm truly sorry to disappoint you, but I won't give up. I still stand by what I said before. The Saintess is absolutely not some kind person. She must be plotting something... After all, no normal person could change this drastically for no reason at all!"

"I'll keep an eye on it. We'll talk again if there's a chance."

Luke didn't cut off this lead entirely, but the information Thomas knew was only what old George had provided. The trail basically ended here.

Still, this trip had another purpose. It was to let the royal family know he was suspicious of the Saintess.

Don't get it wrong. The king trusted that trashy pink-haired girl, but he didn't trust Luke. Not only did he ignore the upright image Luke had worked hard to build, he was also like the original Elise, suspecting Luke had used some trick to bewitch their Saintess.

So when Luke had another audience with the king before, the king had been thinking about what to do if Luke tried to overthrow him and Aelia refused to help...

Because of that, on Luke's visits to old George and Thomas, and on the way to the gathering, the king's spies had been tailing him from afar.

But thanks to that, the news that he and the Saintess were only putting on a show of harmony had successfully spread out... The king wouldn't drop all his doubts just from this, but at least he could sleep soundly for a few days.

That night, after returning to his residence and entering the bathroom, a blind spot for surveillance, Luke began using the sorting function of his mind-reading ability.

More specifically, he could split memories into separate images or clips, then pull them out and analyze them one by one.

Yeah, that's right. He was copying Galiton's microscope method to study that trashy pink-haired girl.

In the end, he discovered in shock that the trashy pink-haired girl really would raise her head by 0.013 centimeters when she got smug.

"You're something else."

Between laughter and disbelief, he also felt a bit of admiration for that trashy pink-haired girl's acting skills.

But there was a saying: the best way to respect your enemy was to defeat them cleanly... So he quickly came up with a new method to deal with that trashy pink-haired girl.

...

(So annoying, so annoying. Why is there this much work?!)

Three days had passed since the incident at the marquis's estate ended.

During those three days, even though Aelia hated Luke more and more deeply, she hadn't made a move against him even once.

Because as the buzz and novelty of the Hero's arrival faded, and winter's chill eased a little, everything in the kingdom slowly began returning to normal.

And Aelia had no choice but to start dealing with all the Saintess work that had piled up before.

Maybe because people felt she would be leaving soon, many of them brought her every little trivial matter. All at once, her schedule was packed a full week ahead, and that didn't even include possible emergencies.

(Damn it, why does a dignified one of the Seven Saintesses have to live this miserable office-worker life?)

(What the hell? Why aren't those ordinary Saintesses handling problems this simple? Do they just want to see my super invincible cute beautiful face that badly?!)

(I can't take it anymore. I want to stay in the study and leisurely drink afternoon tea!)

Aelia grumbled nonstop in her heart, while wearing an expression of concern for the world on her face. She walked toward her next destination with steps that were urgent, yet still elegant.

That's right. Our dear Saintess was currently in the middle of a top-tier disguise.

Someone had once asked why she didn't take a carriage. Her answer was that the distance was so short, it wasn't worth wasting manpower and resources.

But the real reason was that she wanted people to see how diligently she was working, so she could earn more praise and admiration.

"Wah, it's Her Highness the Saintess! She's as beautiful and moving as ever today!"

"Every move Lady Aelia makes is just so charming!"

"Our Saintess is always thinking of us. She's so hardworking, so great!"

Even without spoken praise, just the looks of respect, emotion, admiration, and appreciation directed at her were enough to leave Aelia completely satisfied. She couldn't help wanting to lift her head high.

Of course, she didn't actually do that. Or rather, she only raised it by an utterly negligible amount, while keeping the same overall posture as before.

Unmoved by gain, untouched by loss. Her thoughts wholly fixed on those in need of salvation and aid, free of distraction... That was the perfect image she deliberately crafted in front of everyone.

Sadly, while she herself was perfect, what she ran into on the way was not.

"Lady Aelia, good afternoon."

Or rather, it was awful.

That bastard Hero had suddenly appeared and blocked her path.

"Lord Luke, long time no see."

Aelia revealed a slightly excited, expectant expression.

In these three days, the only thing that had brought Aelia comfort and joy was that this bastard Hero hadn't appeared in her sight even once.

Yes, her goal was to ruin his reputation and make the king abandon the plan of pairing them up. But work had been so overwhelming that she simply had no energy to think up any new methods, so all she could do was keep him out of sight and out of mind.

As for what that bastard Hero had been doing during this time?

She had absolutely no intention of caring.

Unfortunately, none of those thoughts could be exposed. So Aelia could only respond with the best reaction for the situation, while inwardly urging that bastard Hero to get lost already.

Helplessly, her wish failed once again.

"Lady Aelia, are you going to carry out a Saintess mission next? Could I come along and observe?"

Aelia felt as if a category-seventeen blizzard had instantly swept through her heart. Her whole body went numb.

Work was already irritating and depressing enough, and now she also had to look at a face she hated?

Was this even letting people live?

"Of course you can."

Helplessly, no matter how much she resisted and cursed inside, she still had to force out—no, carefully select—a delighted smile that was happy but not overly eager, then agree in a bright, sweet voice full of welcome.

(I'm so pissed. Why do I have to be so nice to this bastard Hero? When is this bastard going to get out of the kingdom and give me some peace already?!)

The moment she said it, Aelia started regretting not showing her dislike for the bastard Hero from the very beginning. Because now she was already stuck riding a tiger and couldn't get off, forced to keep pretending she had a favorable impression of him.

The blonde elf maid following closely behind them, on the other hand, was openly thrilled and delighted that the two would be acting together. Inwardly, she secretly swore that later, she would definitely create a chance for them to be alone.

As for the Hero himself, the one this Saintess loathed so intensely, he was already laughing so hard inside he could barely hold it in.

(If you hate it that much, why not just say so? Do you really have to act this hard? Aren't you tired of pretending?)

Luke had no intention of sending those thoughts over to her, but if that trashy pink-haired girl really couldn't hold it in and let something slip in front of him, then things would get interesting.

At the very least, photos, video, audio recording, blackmail... the full package was a must.

The Saintess's kindness and nobility were flawless?

Luke had come here this time to see just how long that trashy pink-haired girl could keep it up under his step-by-step pressure.