I, the Female Lead, Ruined the Original

“Re-really?”

Selleana’s thrilled scream echoed through the empty garden at night.

“Thank you, thank you so much, really!”

“

,

…”

Soon, Rakrensius found himself bowing his head as Selleana, who had been standing on her knees, came close and grabbed his hand tightly. Rakrensius barely managed to turn his head away.

“I’ll send you the contract soon. I’ll give you a generous down payment and an even more generous completion fee!”

“That, aren’t you going to ask why I changed my mind?”

“There’s no one in Nepelsian who would refuse me to the end.”

Rakrensius was left speechless by such an accurate response.

* * *

[What’s with that hair?]

“

.”

It was then that Rakrensius, coming back to his senses, stopped his hand as he was about to mess up his hair, reminded of the moment in the imperial garden where Selleana had freely handled his hair.

The moonlight shining down, the lukewarm temperature and the gentle humidity of a summer night, and the subtle scent of essential oils along with a voice gently settling in his ears… All his senses replayed at. He didn’t want to ruin that. Rakrensius’s once. His clenched hand awkwardly relaxed.

[How do you feel about making your debut as the Tower Master?]

“Well… I don’t know. At least there was no scandal.”

[Right. No one would dare to look down on the owner of the Magic Tower.]

While his friend continued to evaluate, Rakrensius, who had hung his robe on the hanger, slumped down on the sofa. Except for the special case during the Arnem Hotel’s masquerade ball, his friend did not usually accompany him on outings, preferring to remain alone and indulge in the knowledge of various worlds due to his conspicuous appearance and personal preference for reading refined stories over witnessing them directly.

[…I see. Well, no father wouldn’t be proud to have his son become the owner of the Magic Tower. Your competence is not clumsy, nor are you a threat to the rightful heir.]

“So, I chose a somewhat docile option.”

[Considering the repeated invitations, it seemed they wanted to win you over. Being closer to the Magic Tower would be politically beneficial. Maybe now the Oracle might also…]

Ignoring his friend’s murmur, Rakrensius brushed his hair back, and a purple lace ribbon fell from his fingertips. Such complicated stories, not for tonight…  

Rakrensius’s words, gently interrupting his friend’s words, were like a sigh. “I’ve decided to accept that request.”

[What? The one requested by the lady of Elard?]

“Yes.”

[…What are you planning to do now?]

“That’s something I’ll have to think about from now on…”

His eyes lingered on the lace ribbon in his hand. Once again, memories of the time spent with Selleana seemed to awaken every sensory cell in his body.

And the inevitable, inexorable flutter of excitement. He could no longer be swayed by it.

Tormented by emptiness and longing, he was overwhelmed by joy at the occasional meeting and conversation. With each repetition of these experiences, he found himself desiring more. For instance, the temptation to reveal his identity under the pretext of the ‘love’ she mentioned. That was far too dangerous. It couldn’t happen.

“Now that I’ve accepted it, there should be no further involvement.”

And with that, they would gradually drift apart…

Rakrensius placed the item into a jewel box on the nightstand, where Selleana’s ribbon was carefully stored.

* * *

A few days later. Unfortunately, Rakrensius’s assumption turned out to be a miscalculation.

“I thought you wouldn’t have to come to the Magic Tower anymore.”

“Well, how about thinking of it as a reminder? I gave you a generous down payment for this reason.”

Rakrensius pressed his temples, recalling the contract he had signed not long ago.

[1. The responding party (Rakrensius Colendor Ansi Nepelsian) shall faithfully respond to the request of the requesting party (Selleana Elard).

-The content of the request is to use the ‘Wide Area Detection Magic,’ a second-class confidential spell, to find the ‘target’ (Collin, male, mid-20s estimated) who attended the masquerade ball held at Arnem Hotel in the imperial capital on the 7th day of the 6th month of the year 749 of the imperial calendar.

– The termination of the request means…]

The day after the birthday celebration, Selleana immediately brought the contract to the Magic Tower. Anyone who saw her was so shocked to see the document she had prepared in advance.

..

There were a few parts of the contract that needed to be amended, and two days later, Selleana visited again with the revised contract. Having signed the contract without any issues, he thought he wouldn’t have to see Selleana anymore.

“Requesting party. It was I who suggested adding clause 2, and you accepted it. If you keep coming like this, it will be problematic.”

“I didn’t come for an interim report, just to urge you.”

“…”

“

, you should have specified ‘no urging’.”

The sound of her voice seemed to carry a tinge of regret. Even without looking, it was clear her beautifully angled eyebrows would be lowered.

Rakrensius intertwined his fingers and rested his forehead against them, shading his face in the shadow of his hand to hide his complex feelings of enjoying Selleana’s company yet finding it troublesome. He chewed on his discomfort, recalling clause 1 of the contract.

[1. The responding party (Rakrensius Colendor Ansi Nepelsian) shall faithfully respond to the request of the requesting party (Selleana Elard).]

Rakrensius ‘Colendor’ Ansi Nepelsian. His full name, which he would never have exposed to Selleana if not for the contract. Luckily, because the nickname made by his mother’s method was spelled a bit differently, Selleana had not associated ‘Colendor’ with ‘Collin’.

“But you are working on it, right? Since Master of Tower took the request himself, I couldn’t even ask Saendi or Eddie.”

“You spoke with Eddie too?”

“He’s the kind wizard who apologized on your behalf whenever you left me waiting in the parlor.”

“…He’s neglecting his research for this.”

Rakrensius still leaned his forehead on his interlaced fingers and sighed deeply. The initial contract made by Selleana had the Magic Tower as the responding party. However, he had to specify Rakrensius as the responding party to avoid involving the members of the Magic Tower. This was Selleana’s private request, potentially sparking conflict between the imperial family and the Elard family, and it was a matter deeply entangled with Rakrensius himself.

He felt tremendous guilt for deceiving Selleana but had no choice. He hoped the situation would be resolved soon so he could return the generous down payment with interest and a gift.

“Master of Tower.”

“Yes.”

“You’re not just taking the down payment and planning to do nothing only to return it later, are you?”

“Urgin is pobiden, right? (Urging is forbidden, right?)”

Selleana chuckled at Rakrensius’s gritted response.

The embarrassment of knowing Rakrensius had heard all her complaints in the imperial garden’s backyard as a child was fleeting. Selleana ended up thinking that this was the source of her familiarity with him.

Michi’s face turned strange when she heard the story, but Selleana decided not to think too deeply about it. So, her continued visits to the Magic Tower were half to urge him on and half to spend comfortable time with an ‘old’ acquaintance.

Selleana’s schedule was quite leisurely since she was still in a state of running away. After the birthday banquet, although invitations flooded in, their intentions were too transparent, so she declined them all.

Meanwhile, Rakrensius’s office had many interesting things. For instance…

“Oh my, Master of Tower, you’re also interested in water consumption?” Selleana, browsing through the bookshelves filled to the brim, was delighted to find a familiar title.

<Magically Frozen Water Knows Everything>. A masterpiece that made Selleana’s old tutor, the author praised by Pavellian 9 years ago, glow with pride. Regardless of her disagreement with its content, seeing it after a long time brought joy.

Selleana pulled the book from the shelf and flipped through it with nostalgic eyes.

If she had seen it in her previous life, the 500-page hardcover book would have been criticized down to the last detail. Selleana chuckled as she flipped through the book.

“I’m not interested in pseudoscience.”

“…Yes?” Selleana was surprised and looked at Rakrensius. “What did you just say? Pseudoscience?”

“…Well, it’s a term for something that’s presented as scientific logic but is actually unrelated to any real theory.”

“Yes, exactly.”

Selleana responded and exchanged glances with Michi, who was also slightly surprised.

Strange, isn’t it?

Yes, it’s the first time I’ve heard that term here too.

Selleana was quick to decide. She put the book back on the shelf and stealthily approached Rakrensius’s desk.

Selleana knocked on the desk as if knocking, hiding her excitement. “

, Master of Tower?”

“…Yes?”

“Well,

…” Selleana cleared her throat, seeking courage with a quick glance at Michi, and then… “

From head to toe...?