Agnes having Prince Antonio bath him naked was an act carried out with a certain level of calculation.

It wasn’t particularly meant to tease Agnes or anything. It was simply because I genuinely believed it was the most effective method.

‘If Agnes thinks she’s just strictly following the rules, she’ll be easier to handle.’

For starters, Agnes was the type of person who became quite lenient when it came to things she deemed “necessary to do anyway.”

Normally, a woman wouldn’t naturally enjoy having her nakedness exposed to an outside man, but the condition that it was “necessary for assisting with a bath” significantly lowered that boundary.

If Agnes didn’t realize for herself that this was strange, that would be the end of it. Given that Prince Antonio was deeply infatuated with her, he wouldn’t refuse to engage in intimate activities with her.

‘Prince Antonio may seem rigid, but he’s also somewhat in tune with his desires for his age.’

His dedication to his desires had already been proven by his actions over the past month. He had even gone as far as chasing after the Witch’s Forest to create an opportunity to get closer to Agnes, who was already being criticized just by hearing her name.

Therefore, even in the highly abnormal situation where he entered the bathroom naked while assisting with a bath, Prince Antonio would likely keep the truth from Agnes and remain silent.

From there, everything would proceed smoothly. Not only did Prince Antonio like Agnes, but even the stubborn Agnes would inevitably have her feelings stirred by some event.

Even if Prince Antonio didn’t feel any emotion upon seeing Agnes’s body, it didn’t really matter. After today, he would pay even more attention to her.

‘Now that Agnes has seen me naked, she must feel responsible. She’s probably thinking something like that.’

Just making her feel that way was already a success. Next year, when Prince Antonio entered the academy and had more interactions with Agnes, their relationship would gradually grow closer.

After all, women are happiest when they are with men who love them. This was supported by some research I had seen online in a past life.

When surveying the happiness levels of married couples, it was found that men were happier when their wives were beautiful, and women were happier when they themselves were beautiful.

The research suggested that when a woman is beautiful, her husband treats her better, which naturally makes her happier.

And Prince Antonio was the man I knew who could treat Agnes the best.

‘Well, even if it doesn’t work out, it’s not entirely my fault.’

Even if nothing worked out despite all I had done, it wouldn’t be my fault—it would be the prince’s. I had done everything I could.

I was looking forward to seeing if Agnes could achieve a different sub-couple ending from the original work.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Three days had passed since the day we defeated the last monster in the Witch’s Forest.

After completing all of Lara and Lizzy’s witch trials, we were saying our farewells naturally as we boarded carriages heading to our respective domains at the entrance of the Witch’s Forest.

“Th-thank you so much, R-Rosewood… Thanks to you, I was able to safely complete the trials….”

“Don’t mention it, Miss Maychiling. There are others who worked harder than me.”

“But still, Rosewood helped the most… If it hadn’t been for you, I really might not have been able to take the trials this time… If that had happened, I— Ugh….”

Lara held my hands tightly, expressing her gratitude after successfully completing the witch trials with Lizzy. She was trembling, clutching her arms as if she were imagining the penalty for failing the trials.

“So, what is the penalty for not passing the trial?”

“Wh-What do you mean?!”

“You can tell us now. Everyone here helped you and others with their trials.”

“Ah, th-that’s….”

“…….”

“My name… It’s changed….”

“…Huh?”

“Name?”

“What do you mean?”

Lara answered, trembling as if she didn’t want to imagine what was coming, while the others listened intently. Only Geomtaejoshekigak and others who knew the nature of the penalty quietly averted their gazes.

“My, my name… It’s changed to Ryarra Maychiling….”

“…….”

“…….”

“…Is that all?”

“How can you say that…! Changing my name is such a disgrace as a witch! It means I’ve fallen a step behind in the witch ranks! If I fail to pass the trial on time, it’s for that reason…!! And besides, the name ‘Ryarra’ is hard to even call…!!”

Agnes’s expression hardened unpleasantly upon hearing the nature of the penalty from Lara.

I had expected her to react this way, so I deliberately prevented her from mentioning the penalty.

Everyone here had been on guard near the altar for the entire month, facing life-threatening crises while dealing with monsters, so such a trivial penalty would naturally raise doubts.

“You, you’re making us worry over something so trivial….”

“Ah, ah! Come to think of it, if you fail this trial, you can only retake it ten years later, right, Lara?”

“Ah, y-yes…. The altar in the forest only absorbs the purest energies once every ten years….”

“If you fail this time, you’d have to wait ten years without being able to attempt again. It could’ve been a disaster, right?!”

“T-That’s important, but what’s more important is the name….”

“Alright, alright, it’s already over. As long as you passed the trial that only happens once every ten years, it’s fine, right?”

Geomtaejoshekigak, who had joined the conversation late, added a supplementary explanation about the witch trials. If Agnes had gotten angry for some reason, the entrance to the Witch’s Forest might have turned into a fiery inferno.

In reality, for witches who live for centuries, ten years doesn’t feel particularly long. It’s not an extremely short period either, but compared to the ten years an ordinary human would perceive, it feels much shorter.

Therefore, Lara didn’t seem to care much about that aspect, but Agnes was somewhat convinced by the fact that the trials were held once every ten years.

“…If the trial is that important, you should’ve told us earlier.”

Agnes, who had lived a day more diligently than others until just before entering the academy, had sacrificed her growth during her prime to focus entirely on studying magic. Hearing that the trial could only be attempted once every ten years naturally softened her resolve.

After roughly explaining this to Agnes, we decided to share three carriages as the eleven of us split into three groups to return. People with the same destination traveled together, and if someone was passing through on the way, they would make a quick stop to drop them off.

A carriage pulled by the Auguste stable team arrived.

A personal carriage brought from the northeastern great plains by Geomtaejoshekigak.

And the imperial carriage we arrived in from the capital city.

Actually, the simplest method would have been for each person to take their own carriage back to where they came from, but that wasn’t very efficient.

With the second semester of Luminoor Academy about to start in ten days, stopping by the capital or other places and taking several days to return would have been a significant waste of time.

Therefore, the eleven people split into three groups again to travel together temporarily. Those with the same destination moved together, and if someone was passing by on the way, they made a brief stop to drop them off.

“Then, see you at the academy in a week, Lilith.”

“Yes, Miss Lizzy. Take care on your way back.”

First were the carriages that Lizzy and Caraham boarded.

Since they belonged to the Auguste stable team, the owners, the Auguste siblings, naturally had to return using this carriage. After all, it was Caraham who had brought the carriage.

Additionally, there was one extra person riding this carriage.

“Do you remember the elective courses next semester, Lilith? Advanced Spiritology and Applied Fire Magic….”

“Yes, yes. I’m taking them with you, so don’t worry, Agnes.”

“…Right. Don’t forget.”

Elizabeth’s family branch was on the way to the Auguste domain, so Agnes decided to return using the same carriage.

Originally, Agnes was also supposed to return to her own family’s domain after heading back to the imperial city, but since she had merged with Geomtaejoshekigak’s group at the end, there were too many people heading to the imperial city.

With only three carriages available, they had no choice but to split up.

“Oh, and I secretly put Mandalorah berries in the box Miss Lizzy is taking. It’s a box with a light blue X drawn on the outside….”

“I know, so keep it quiet, Miss Lizzy.”

If Ethan found out, things would get complicated. If he knew I bought something like that, it might seem like I wasn’t satisfying our private time together.

After all, it was something I bought as insurance and as a memento from visiting the Witch’s Forest, not specifically to use it with Ethan.

Meanwhile, Agnes and Prince Antonio, who weren’t with me and Lizzy, were busy saying their goodbyes.

“Agnes! Please be careful on your way back!”

“…Yes.”

“I’ll send a letter to the address you gave me! And a gift too….”

“Don’t. It’s unnecessary meddling.”

“Yes….”

“…….”

Agnes, who seemed to be conversing more comfortably than before but still clearly drawing boundaries, suddenly flicked her staff lightly on the ground before boarding her carriage.

-Whoosh!

A brief flame rose from the ground with a short blaze and then disappeared. Agnes’s fire spell left scorch marks in the shape of something resembling letters in various spots.

“Agnes?”

“…It’s the dormitory address.”

“Pardon?”

“…I can’t stay at my family’s place for more than a few days. If you’re going to write a letter, send it here. Don’t send anything else.”

“Oh, yes! Thank you, Agnes!”

From her reaction, it seemed that at least Agnes and Antonio had become somewhat friends. They were much closer than before when they used to stiffen up just by hearing each other’s names.

Of course, the two still had a long way to go.