The Extra Villain: I Made a Contract With The Dragon Empress!

"Well then, I'll be going," Merlin said, looking at Charlotte, Vargan, Leonard, and the other members of the royal family.

"Be careful." Vargan patted his shoulder gently. "And thank you for spending the day with Charlotte. If the opportunity arises, I'll hold an engagement party for the two of you."

"Father!" Charlotte scolded, puffing out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

"Hahaha!" Vargan laughed heartily, waving his right hand. "Why are you still embarrassed, my dear? Aren't you very happy about the engagement?"

He gave her a meaningful look, making Charlotte even more embarrassed.

Charlotte glanced at Merlin and felt relieved when she saw that he showed no reaction.

But at the same time, she felt sad.

Did Merlin not want to be engaged to her?

"Be careful, Merlin. And don't forget me when you're at the academy, understand?"

Leonard stepped forward and gently punched Merlin in the chest.

Merlin smiled and nodded slightly. "Don't worry, Your Highness. How could I forget you?"

The two laughed and exchanged a few more words before Leonard finally stepped back.

Elizabeth and Vivian also offered a few words of farewell to Merlin.

Then, Lilia—who had not spoken a single word to him—stepped forward.

She took a black bracelet from her pocket and handed it to him.

"Take it," she said flatly.

Merlin was surprised. He looked at Lilia's calm, emotionless face, then lowered his gaze to the bracelet.

"Thank you, Consort Lilia." He bowed his head slightly.

Lilia simply nodded before turning and returning to her place.

After exchanging a few more words with the others, Merlin's gaze fell on Charlotte standing beside Vargan.

"Well then, I'm leaving, Charlotte. Take care of yourself," he said softly.

Charlotte nodded weakly. Reluctance and sadness were clear on her face as she replied, "You too, Merlin."

They did not exchange many farewell words. After all, they had spent an enjoyable day together in the capital just yesterday.

Soon after, Merlin descended the stairs and walked toward the horse-drawn carriage that had been waiting for him.

Once Merlin was inside, James pulled the reins. The carriage quickly rolled out of the royal palace courtyard and soon disappeared from view.

"Let's go," Vargan said, patting his daughter on the shoulder.

Despite her reluctance, Charlotte said nothing and returned with her father and the others.

Only Lucas remained where he was. He stared in the direction Merlin had left and growled coldly, "Merlin Clay, because of you, my plan yesterday failed! Damn it! Don't think you can get away that easily. You have to die!"

...

"Achoo!" Merlin suddenly sneezed loudly.

He rubbed his nose and muttered, "Again and again, I keep sneezing for no reason. Could it be that someone evil is talking about me?"

As far as he could remember, he hadn't provoked any powerful figures behind the scenes, so it couldn't be them, right?

"What's wrong with you?" Lyserra's lazy voice came from his lap.

Merlin shook his head. "Nothing. By the way, are you hungry?"

Lyserra nodded. "I'm pretty hungry. Do you have anything delicious to eat?"

Merlin simply smiled and opened his right palm. Suddenly, a brown package appeared and landed in front of him.

He opened it, took out a taiyaki, and handed it to Lyserra.

"What is this? It smells delicious," Lyserra said, sniffing as she accepted the taiyaki.

"It's taiyaki—a specialty from my country," Merlin replied proudly.

"Taiyaki? What a strange name," Lyserra said as she took a bite.

All of a sudden, her eyes lit up like sparkling stars.

"It's delicious!"

She ate it eagerly, a bright smile blooming on her face.

Merlin couldn't help but chuckle.

He took another taiyaki and began to eat. No matter how many times he ate it, it still tasted wonderful.

'Lucky me. As a guest of the royal family, I could get plenty of taiyaki before leaving,' he muttered happily.

Before heading back, he had returned to the taiyaki stall. With his status, he was given a special privilege—he could buy ten taiyaki at once.

Well, it was practically an abuse of power. But for the sake of the taiyaki he might never encounter again, he was more than willing to do it.

"By the way, you said earlier that this food comes from your country. What did you mean by that?"

Lyserra glanced at him curiously while chewing her taiyaki.

Merlin's movements paused, but only for a moment.

"Lyserra, did you know that I'm not from this world?"

The words surprised Lyserra, but she quickly calmed down and nodded slightly.

"Yeah, I know. From the moment I first met you, I knew you weren't from this world."

Now it was Merlin's turn to be surprised.

"How did you know?" Merlin asked, swallowing the last bite of his taiyaki.

Lyserra yawned lazily and explained, "My previous master said that the one who would become my next master was not from this world. Back then, I thought it was just a metaphor or something. But when I met you, I realized he was telling the truth—it wasn't a metaphor."

Merlin fell into thought as he listened to her explanation. Lyserra occasionally mentioned her previous master.

However, every time he asked her to elaborate, she always changed the subject, as if she didn't want to talk about it any further.

Merlin wanted to ask many questions about Lyserra's previous master, but he quickly held himself back.

He already knew how Lyserra would react, so there was no point in repeating the same questions.

"Is that the only reason?"

"Of course not." Lyserra shook her head. "I can see the essence of living beings in this world. When I first saw you, I realized your essence was very different from others—brighter and stronger than it should be."

The "essence" she spoke of could be understood as the soul. No matter how strong a person was, their soul usually emitted a light blue glow, similar to other living creatures.

But Merlin's soul was different. It wasn't light blue, but a bright red, like blazing fire.

She had only seen a soul like that once before—belonging to her first master.

"So that's how it is…" Merlin nodded, as if he finally understood.

But honestly, he was still a little surprised that Lyserra knew he was from another world.

"Do you miss your world, Merlin?" Lyserra's curious voice reached his ears.

"Miss it? Not really." Merlin shook his head. "My world is called Earth, and my country is Japan. It's a very beautiful and fascinating place. Compared to this world, it's hundreds—perhaps even thousands—of years more advanced. However, there's no such thing as magic there. And…"

He began telling Lyserra about himself. It was the first time he had spoken so freely about his past, especially to another person.

Lyserra listened with bright curiosity and enthusiasm.

Each time Merlin described something wonderful about his world, her desire to visit it grew even stronger.

"If you ever get the chance to go back, can you take me with you?" Lyserra asked eagerly, wagging her tail.

Merlin smiled gently and pinched her soft cheek.

"Of course. After all, we'll never be separated, right?"