“Umm! These chicken thighs are delicious!”

“This one too! How can food be this good? Did the gods hide it from me?”

Sitting in her chair at Thorn & Vine, Margaret couldn’t hide her excitement.

She shamelessly helped herself to every dish on the table.

Watching her, Luna smiled faintly and teased, “You’re the young lady of a wealthy family. Can’t you control yourself?”

Her words made Margaret freeze. She cleared her throat shyly and quickly composed herself.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. But these dishes are really delicious,” she admitted honestly.

Although she tried to stay calm, her eyes couldn’t leave the spread of food in front of her.

Merlin chuckled softly and put a piece of sweet soy drumstick on Margaret’s plate.

“Eat. No one’s stopping you,” he said gently.

Margaret felt touched. She glanced at Luna with a proud look and continued eating.

Luna rolled her eyes and shot Merlin an annoyed glance.

Merlin just smiled and continued eating.

“By the way, you have a fight with a boy named Robert later, right?” Margaret asked, glancing at Catrine.

Catrine, who was enjoying her meal, nodded slightly.

“Yeah, he and I are going to fight after this,” she replied flatly.

“How confident are you that you can beat him?” Luna asked.

Catrine paused for a moment before raising five fingers.

“Fifty percent?” Margaret asked hesitantly.

Catrine shook her head. “Five hundred percent.”

Luna: “…”

Margaret: “…”

While the three of them were chatting, Merlin suddenly patted Monica’s hand, startling her.

“W-what is it?” Monica asked shyly.

Merlin smiled, leaned closer to her ear, and whispered, “How’s the food? Is it to your taste?”

Monica blushed. Merlin’s breath brushed against her ear and the side of her face, warm and close.

She quickly steadied herself and replied, “It’s… very delicious. Thank you for bringing me here.”

She wasn’t lying. The food at this shop was truly exquisite.

Both the meat and the vegetables were perfectly cooked, each with just the right flavor.

This was the first time Monica had ever tasted something so delicious.

Merlin felt relieved. As an elf, Monica’s taste in food was naturally different from that of humans.

Fortunately, his worries had been unnecessary—Monica liked Lisa’s cooking.

“I’m glad you enjoy it,” Merlin said as he pulled back.

Monica let out a quiet sigh of relief and pressed a hand to her racing heart.

“By the way, I want to remind you about that professor. You don’t need to worry about him. If you run into him, leave immediately and avoid him, okay? And if anything happens, use this to summon me.”

Merlin took a silver bell from his pocket and handed it to Monica.

It was a communication bell that would react if its holder was in danger.

Merlin had already infused it with his mana, so he would know Monica’s location if anything happened.

Monica carefully held the silver bell.

“Thank you, Merlin. I’ll take good care of it,” she whispered, a sweet smile on her lips.

“[Ding! Monica Sael’myr’s affection increased by 3 points! Current affection: 85 points!]”

“[Ding! Progress in conquering the villainess: 50/100.]”

Seeing the second panel, Merlin could only smile wryly.

The progress wasn’t going as smoothly as he had hoped.

Unlike affection, the conquest progress was calculated based on how much he had moved the heart of Monica Sael’myr’s true body.

Considering that her true body was an ancient and powerful figure of the elf race, with strength comparable to the first Spirit Core, it wasn’t surprising that increasing the progress was extremely difficult.

Even after the various efforts he had made—such as asking Monica out on a date and other things—the result was still only fifty out of a hundred.

Nevertheless, Merlin considered it better than nothing.

After an hour of eating and chatting, the four of them finally decided to return to the battle arena.

Merlin wanted to pay, but Margaret beat him to it.

“How much is everything, Auntie?” Margaret asked enthusiastically.

Being suddenly called “Auntie” by Margaret, Lisa felt embarrassed. She knew Margaret—the young lady of the Beethoven family.

Her family was the main sponsor of the academy. Lisa often saw her poster at the front of the campus.

Who would have thought that this rich girl was Merlin’s friend?

Regaining her smile, Lisa said softly, “There’s no need to pay, young lady. Young Master Merlin has helped me before. Just consider the food my treat.”

Merlin frowned, about to say something, but Margaret spoke first.

“How could that be? Since we ate your cooking, we should pay for it.”

She took out her ID card and placed it on the magic device in the middle of the table.

Instantly, the balance dropped by 50,000 points.

“Done.” Margaret nodded contentedly. “Your cooking is delicious, Auntie. I’ll come back again next time. That’s okay, right?”

Her eyes sparkled with hope.

Lisa was momentarily speechless. The amount Margaret had paid was far too much.

Fifty thousand contribution points were equivalent to 5,000 gold coins.

Since opening this food shop, she had never earned that much money at once.

“Young Lady Margaret, this…”

Before she could continue, Merlin quickly stopped her.

“It’s okay, Auntie. Just accept it.”

Lisa looked at him hesitantly, but in the end, she swallowed her words and nodded awkwardly.

“Alright. Thank you, Young Lady Margaret. If you ever want to come, please feel free. My food shop will always be open to you,” she said softly.

Margaret beamed and nodded eagerly.

***

The battle in the arena continued. This time, more professors and first-wave students had come.

Even Luvis and the other geniuses joined to watch the match.

Normally, they wouldn’t have bothered. For first-wave students, this test was nothing more than boring.

But many rumors were circulating that the most outstanding student in this test was Catrine Clay, Merlin Clay’s younger sister.

So they all wanted to see whether the rumors were true.

“All right, the match will begin. Catrine Clay and Robert, take the stage!” Ronald’s loud voice echoed across the arena.

“Go, Catrine! You can do it!” Monica cheered, clenching her fists tightly.

Luna and Margaret smiled and nodded in encouragement as well.

Just because they were rivals didn’t mean they wanted one of them to fail.

They knew Merlin would dislike them if they thought that way.

Catrine’s normally cold, indifferent face softened slightly as she gave a faint smile.

“Thank you for your support.”

She turned to Merlin and said, “Well then, I’m off, brother.”

Merlin patted her shoulder.

“Good luck. Defeat your opponent decisively, understood?”

“Leave it to me,” Catrine replied confidently.

She leapt onto the stage with grace, drawing admiring glances from the male students.

One of them, Lucius, couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“She’s so beautiful,” he whispered.

Throughout his life, Lucius had never been interested in any girl.

Not even the girls said to be the most beautiful in the empire—or the most talented, like Crystal—could capture his attention.

Yet, for the first time, he felt an inexplicable attraction to a girl—and that girl was Catrine Clay, Merlin Clay’s younger sister.

“I want her,” he whispered, his eyes glinting with a wicked light.

He and Merlin Clay were enemies. The idea of claiming Merlin’s sister for himself thrilled him.

“[Ding! An emergency mission has been issued! Save Catrine from the villainous intentions of Lucius Hexaris! Reward: 70,000 system points and Spirit Water Lotus (legendary).]”

Merlin froze at the sudden system notification.

“Spirit Water Lotus?” he muttered, eyes widening in surprise.

It was the final ingredient needed to create the seven-color potion.

Who would have thought the system would just give it away?

“But wait… System, what does this mission mean? Could it be… Lucius is after Catrine?”

His expression darkened. He recalled that in the novel The Lost Hero, Lucius had been utterly obsessed with Catrine.

It wasn’t mere interest—it was a consuming obsession.

His obsession repeatedly drew him into conflict with Abel, ultimately costing him his life.

“[As you suspected, Lucius has awakened his desire to possess your sister, just like in the novel. Protect her at all costs. Do you accept this mission?]”

Merlin chuckled cynically. “Why even ask? I accept.”

In the novel, Abel had grown increasingly furious at Lucius’ uncontrollable behavior.

Eventually, he killed Lucius, an act that shook both the academy and the three kingdoms.

Hunted by the Arcadia Magic Kingdom, Abel fled to a remote, distant forest.

There, he met Liora—but they never became a couple. She simply had no interest in him.

Merlin’s eyes flashed with cold lightning as he stared at Lucius.

‘Trying to take my little sister? Too bad—you’re only digging your own grave, Lucius,’ he whispered, his voice dripping with lethal intent.

Margaret and Luna shivered, exchanging confused glances.

“The battle begins!”

Ronald’s voice echoed from the stage.

Robert bowed his head and lunged toward Catrine. His specialty wasn’t mage or swordsman—it was assassin. Every movement was fast, precise, and lethal.

“Got you!”

Robert appeared behind Catrine, swinging his blade. But just as it neared her neck, she tilted her head casually to the side.

“What!?” Robert exclaimed, stumbling back as he tried to strike again.

But Catrine didn’t give him the chance. She stomped on the arena floor, and ice roots shot out instantly, striking him with lightning speed.

His hands and feet were bound tight, a piercing cold crawling through his body.

Catrine glanced at Ronald, her voice calm and indifferent. “I win.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep