Chapter 10
“Sir Joan. Miss Anette. I’ll be going now. It might take a little while, so please don’t wait just for me. Feel free to take care of your own business.”
I turned back and smiled brightly.
Even though the Magic Tower had basically turned into a commercial facility, it still upheld a certain proud tradition:
All customer consultations were strictly one-on-one.
Sir Joan didn’t look thrilled about letting me go alone, but he didn’t argue.
After all, the Magic Tower was an impenetrable fortress—so secure that not even a single theft had ever occurred.
Even Sir Joan could rest easy here.
****
“Welcome, customer. I’m 2nd-class mage Rozelin Meyer, and I’ll be assisting you with your consultation today!”
As soon as I entered the consultation room, a different mage greeted me.
I got straight to the point. There wasn’t time to waste.
“Do you sell magical ingredients as well as artifacts and scrolls?”
“Of course, customers. What ingredients do you need?”
“I’d like the root of red monkshood, Boyer Mountain tulip, Kakulta extract, and Orbi berries.”
Rozelin quickly noted down my order and smiled warmly.
“Luckily, we can provide almost all of them right away—except for one.”
“What? Which one?”
“Due to a current crackdown, Kakulta extract is classified as a restricted substance because of its narcotic components. I’m terribly sorry, but we can’t sell it during this period.”
Boom.
It felt like lightning struck my brain.
‘Narcotic? Since when?!’
There was no mention of this in the novel.
In the story, the heroine just received the ingredients from the Tower Master, Rizello, and made the potion—simple as that.
‘The difference between the heroine born with golden connections and me starts here, I guess.’
“Is there any way I could get it? I’m in a really urgent situation.”
“I’m truly sorry, customer. Until the restriction is lifted, we can’t help with that. Thank you for your understanding.”
My fingertips turned cold.
The time-limited curse could only be cured by taking a specific potion made from those ingredients—consistently over a long period of time.
The exact time wasn’t specified in the book, but if I remember correctly, it was at least six months of daily doses.
“When exactly will the restriction end? Will it take more than half a year?”
“Let’s see… It should be lifted in about a month. If you had come just after the crackdown, I could have helped you right away. What a shame.”
A month. That’s fine—I can wait that long.
Relieved, I nodded quickly.
“I see! Thanks for the information. Then I’ll just buy the rest of the ingredients for now.”
“I’ll handle your payment right away, customer.”
I pulled out my wallet and spent a total of 23 mars.
When I signed the contract yesterday, Ian had smartly paid me 1,000 mars upfront in cash.
The rest of the money would be transferred to my account once I got it set up.
****
“Thank you for your purchase, customer. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“How do I get to the Research Lab floor? I heard they handle admissions for the Magic Academy there. A friend asked me to check.”
I asked the question before Rozelin even finished speaking.
I was running out of time. I needed to stop by the lab before Sir Joan got suspicious.
“The lab floor is in the other tower, customer. Since the Twin Towers are right next to each other, it won’t take long to get there.”
“Great! Thank you. Can I use this door to exit?”
“Of course. Please use whichever door is convenient for you.”
“Thanks again! Goodbye!”
“Have a great day, customer. This was Rozelin Meyer assisting you—”
I didn’t stay to hear the end of her farewell. I rushed out the opposite door.
Since I exited from a different door than I entered, Sir Joan wasn’t in sight.
‘Let’s finish this in ten minutes and get back!’
I had two goals at the Magic Tower:
- Get the ingredients for the antidote to cure the time-limited curse.
- More urgently, find a way to fake the saintess verification process.
Surprisingly, that second method was actually mentioned in the original novel The Saintess Doesn’t Know Love.
Of course, fooling the temple was no small task.
But I planned to speak directly with Tower Master Rizello.
In the story, the heroine once needed to fake the verification too—
and it was Rizello who helped her.
‘Though unlike the heroine who had Rizello’s full affection, I’ll have to pay a fortune.’
Still, I learned that it’s important to invest where it matters.
This would be the first major expense from the 10 million mars Ian promised me.
I carefully made my way to the other tower, watching out in case I ran into Sir Joan.
The street between the two towers was bustling with people—probably a nearby festival.
I was squeezing through the crowd when I suddenly heard a familiar voice:
“P-please stop…”
“Huh? We’re not bad guys, are we?”
“Come on, just hang out a little. Don’t be like that.”
“I need to go back! P-please move!”
That’s Anette’s voice.
I looked around and spotted her at the entrance of an alley.
She was backed up against a wall, surrounded by a group of thugs.
“You’ve never seen anything like this before, right? We’ll show you something fun.”
“She’s a church girl, huh? No wonder she’s such a prude.”
“Probably just pray all day. Look at those skinny shoulders.”
One of them reached out to grab her shoulder—
I didn’t even think. I just shouted as I barged into the alley.
“What are you doing?!”
“Huh?”
“And who’s this chick now?”
All their heads snapped toward me.
It’s okay. I tried to reassure myself.
There were plenty of people around.
Maybe no one was stepping in right now, but if things got worse, surely someone would at least call for help.
“Miss Anette, come here.”
“I-Irene…”
“Oho, so your name’s Anette? Cute name.”
“The new girl’s name is cute too. Irene, come play with us.”
To my surprise, the thugs didn’t back off—they just turned their attention to me.
I quickly glanced back toward the street.
Some people gave the alley a passing glance, but most just kept walking.
“Let us see your face, Irene.”
“Yeah, take off that hood. Too much shadow.”
One of them got close and squinted at my face.
“…Wait. Isn’t this the face from the newspaper?”
“What newspaper? …Oh crap, she does look like her.”
“Isn’t she the one rumored to be dating the Knight Commander?!”
Turns out these thugs were all gossip rag fans.
They’d realized I was that woman—Ian’s rumored lover.
“Whoa, she really is the Knight Commander’s girl.”
‘Actually… this might work in my favor.’
Now that they knew I was connected to Ian, they wouldn’t dare lay a hand on me—
not unless they had a death wish.
“L-let’s get out of here.”
“Yeah, we messed up.”
As expected, most of them backed away nervously.
I was just starting to relax when—
“Wait a sec.”
The biggest thug stepped forward.
“Aren’t you curious? What kind of woman makes the Knight Commander give up his celibacy?”
“…”
He gave a creepy grin as he closed the distance.
“How amazing must you be, huh?”
…Found him. The gutsy one.
He looked even more unhinged up close.
Sensing danger, I whipped around to yell for help—
‘Huh?’
A glowing purple barrier had formed between the alley and the street.
“You see? Now no one can see what’s happening in here. Just us now, sweetheart.”
“Yeah, I’m curious too. How did you seduce the Commander?”
“Relax, we just want to look. That’s all.”
One of them must’ve cast a spell while I wasn’t paying attention.
‘Are they insane? They really put up a barrier just to harass women?!’
“D-don’t touch her!”
Anette suddenly yelled and stepped in front of me.
Her arm trembled violently as she blocked me.
“Oho? Trying to volunteer, church girl?”
The thugs laughed and stepped closer.
Damn it. I bit my lip and reached into my pocket.
“Miss Anette.”
“Y-yes?!”
“Run! Now!”
At my shout, I threw a handful of sharp red berries from my pocket.
BOOM! BOOM!
They exploded in a loud flash, hitting the thugs directly.
“Argh! What the hell?!”
“Ahh! My eyes!”
“Miss Anette! Let’s go!”
I grabbed her wrist and dashed toward the barrier—
Only to slam straight into it and fall back.
‘What the—?! This barrier isn’t just visual!’
“It’s a low-grade spell, Miss Irene! Hit it hard and it’ll break!”
“Ugh, it burns!”
“I can’t see!”
While the thugs flailed, we pounded on the barrier.
Cracks began to form with a buzzing sound.
‘It’s working!’
Just as I swung my fist for one last hit—
“Ahh!”
The barrier vanished, and I stumbled forward from my own momentum.
The ground rushed up to meet me.
I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for impact—
But it never came.
‘Huh?’
Something warm and firm caught me mid-fall.
“Ah, thank you…”
I looked up instinctively—
And froze like a statue.
“Oh, I can finally see again.”
“You little punks! I was gonna let you go, but now you’re gonna—huh?”
“W-wait… That guy… isn’t he…?”
The thugs slowly realized who he was and froze, just like me.
With an awkward smile, I stammered out a greeting.
“F-fancy seeing you here?”
Ian didn’t return my smile.
He just stared at me with piercing blue eyes.
“I’m pretty sure I asked you to stay out of trouble until the engagement ceremony… fiancée.”
His voice was calm, but cold.
I felt a bead of cold sweat roll down my back as I forced another laugh.
“Sorry… I just meant to get a little fresh air, and things got a bit… messy.”
“The temple must feel quite suffocating, huh?”
“Well, it is a new place, so…”
“So.”
He cut me off with a chilling smile.
“What business did you have at the Magic Tower, hmm? Wife.”
I swallowed hard.
That word had never felt so terrifying before.
