Chapter 5

Felix’s eyes crinkled as he smiled at me. I could see that his eyes were as clear as the autumn sky through his long white eyelashes. As soon as the sunlight hit them, they twinkled like morning stars. Like Claudia, he was so beautiful that he made me want to give him a bouquet of fresh lilies.

Genetics sure are undefeated.

With a captivating smile, he lightly waved a piece of foxtai—huh? Foxtail?

Curious as to what he was doing, I took a closer look through the window and saw two tiny black paws swiping at the foxtail. It was Rin, the stray cat that lived near the Amber residence. That silly kitty. She’d always hiss at me whenever I tried to get close, but now she was rubbing her face on Felix’s hand and rolling onto her back to let him pet her.

Why is the female protagonist’s older brother playing with a stray cat in my garden?

It was strange. Since the morning fog still hadn’t lifted, it felt like I was in a dream. I put a shawl over my chemise and walked outside.

“I’m sorry. I know it’s not polite to just show up like this...” He apologized as I awkwardly walked toward him.

“Umm... it’s all right.”

Whenever I met a guy my age, I had a tendency to become stiff like a brick. I wasn’t like that when I was younger, but it turned into a chronic condition all because I attended girls-only schools from kindergarten through university. Because of that, the guys I talked to would always say...

“Have I upset you?” Felix asked.

Yeah, just like that.

“Nope. Why would I... be upset? I never get upset with... pretty people.”

Not only was Felix gorgeous, he had a beautiful personality to boot, so how could I ever be upset with him? I wanted to make sure there was no misunderstanding, so I gave him a serious response.

Felix, however, burst into laughter at my words. The refreshing sound of his laughter gently wrapped around the crisp morning air.

“Is that so? Well, I should be thankful to my parents then.”

The Chamberlains sure did have a knack for making people feel better. Seeing the two siblings one after the other, I felt like they were each taking turns washing away the dirty ambitions that had filled my heart.

In the original story, Felix was also fated to die. Truthfully, it was impossible for the female protagonist to have a happy family in a tragic novel. After all, it’d be difficult to fall into tragedy when you’ve got family to lean on. The three male leads did everything they could to have Claudia. They even plotted to capture her. Felix was their sacrificial lamb. They used a relic that contained an ancient devil’s spell to ruin the Chamberlain family. There was no need to describe how unhinged they were considering they didn’t hesitate to use the power of the devil that had originally almost destroyed the world.

Normally, Felix wouldn’t have been fooled so easily. After all, he was the greatest mage in the world of this novel. He was perfect in every way, except for two flaws. He was righteous and selfless. Felix stood at the crossroads between world destruction and self-sacrifice. To save the world, he took in the power of the devil and became consumed by it. He ended up annihilating the whole Chamberlain family. So after using Felix, the three men killed him, saved Claudia, and pretended to be her heroes.

Even if it meant my death, I wanted to stop that tragedy from happening. That was why when I first met Claudia one year ago, I immediately asked to meet Felix privately.

“Have you continued to practice your magic resistance?”

The reason why he was consumed by the power of the devil was because he didn’t have magic resistance built up. The devils hadn’t had an influence over the human realm for thousands of years, so the holy empire had neglected to build up magic resistance. They believed it was a field of study that was completely useless. The three men, however, exploited that weakness.

So a year ago, when I had asked to meet with Felix in private, and I implored him stiffly, “Please practice your magic resistance without telling anyone.”

I could only imagine how baffling it was to get such a strange request from his sister’s friend whom he was meeting for the first time. On top of that, him being the youngest Deputy Secretary of the Department of Magic, my request was completely rude. Not to mention I didn’t even tell him why I was making the request. If it were anyone else, they would have ignored me or gotten upset and asked me to leave.

However, he had that same soft smile back then as he said, “Thank you for pointing out my weakness. It never hurts to learn more.”

No matter how you look at it, he was an angel all right.

I feel like I’m being purified, I thought.

While I was lost in thoughts of the past, Felix responded, “It’s all thanks to you. I struggled to figure it out at first, but I think I’ve got a handle on it now. I can absorb an evil spirit, walk and talk, and even breathe normally.”

I suppose one year was plenty of time for a genius like him to master the skill. He could handle the devil and still be in control of his body. This meant the worst-case scenario could be avoided. I let out a sigh of relief and awkwardly looked around. Well, that was that. But now there was the question of...

“What are you doing here at this time?”

He smiled sweetly at my question, then asked me in return, “Did you sleep well?”

“Ah, um... yes. Thanks to you.”

What am I even saying?

After babbling something weird in response because I was so flustered, I softly cursed at myself and face-palmed.

I must have looked funny to him because he lightly laughed and said, “I’m glad to hear that. I didn’t want to wake someone who was sleeping so peacefully.”

I see. Because I was sleeping so peacef—what?

I felt like there was some hidden meaning behind those words. What did he mean by that? First of all, this meant he was here last night. Secondly, it also meant he was in my room. I just called him an angel not even a minute ago!

What’s going on?!

“It seems like you hired someone new recently.”

“What’s your point? Please stop beating around the bush!” I implored.

“It looks like the maid was paid some money.”

“Huh?”

“Do you know that you’ve been poisoned?”

I had been poisoned? What was he saying?

“You’ve received a fatal dose. You’re going to die soon.”

He continued to smile warmly as he told me I was going to die. He said it so nonchalantly that I missed the opportunity to respond.

Wait. Excuse me?

I knew I’d been marked for death, but I couldn’t believe it had actually happened. I had once shouted “Kill me!” into the void because I knew death was coming for me. But wasn’t this too fast? Come on, I was just one day into the 100-year contract of friendship with the female protagonist!

Those bastards have already started, huh?

I froze in a daze. All I could do was open and close my mouth like a goldfish.

“H-how long do I have?”

“You have about half a day before you’re consumed by crippling pain. Your arms and legs will become paralyzed, and you’ll soon become stiff as a rock. After that, you’ll lose all feeling...”

“P-please, stop.”

I should still have time to say my last words, right? I didn’t think I’d die in such an absurd way. I was having a hard time accepting this, so I stared off into the distance, frozen in shock.

Felix looked at me with sympathy and said reassuringly, “At least you have half a day.”

Did he really think I’d find that comforting? As I questioned the character of this angel, he continued on.

“If it wasn’t for me, you probably wouldn’t be here right now.”

“Were there assassins too?”

Ah, is that why he was in my room? No wonder!

That scared me. He didn’t seem like that kind of person. Now that I think about it, I thought I heard something while I was sleeping that night. It felt kind of noisy, but I was a deep sleeper. I always had a hard time waking up after falling asleep. If Felix hadn’t been there, I would’ve actually died while sleeping like the dead. Of course, I was still currently on my way to dying at that moment.

“I’ve sent them away, so don’t worry.”

He probably didn’t mean that he sent them away peacefully.

Sweet angel, should you be saying that so softly like its velvet? I’m grateful, but... no matter how peacefully I had been sleeping, if there’s an assassin, wake me up next time!

It seemed like I was going to die soon.

Ugh, I feel all over the place.

After hearing that I was going to die, my head suddenly started hurting. I felt dizzy and queasy. I wondered if it was all in my head.

As I was racking my brain, thinking about who I should say my last words to and what I should say, Felix put down the foxtail, crooked his finger, and said, “Don’t stand so far away. Come closer so I can detoxify you.”