She never ventured out for more than a kiss because she was afraid of the horrible misery that would come in the morning.

Like a light flirtation. Like an innocent prank.

She tried to make it just a casual affair where they enjoyed kissing without responsibility.

Even though she knew she’d regret it, she couldn’t control herself…….

Her mind and body were running wild.

Pandora loosened Erf’s tie and tossed it aside, then unbuttoned his shirt.

When she pulled his restraining hand to her heart, he parted his lips and looked at her in confusion.

His violet eyes, damp like the dawn dew, held a mixture of dark, wet desire and inexplicable wistfulness.

The crimson corners of his eyes, his fluttering eyelashes, the hesitant curl of his lips, the pupils of his eyes.

Every little reaction from Erf made Pandora’s shoulders tense as she waited.

“I don’t …… want to do it this way.”

Erf carefully removed her hand and drew back. Pandora covered her face with her hands and bit her bottom lip hard.

“Then how do you want to do it?

They have no tomorrow.

There is no next time.

They can’t look forward, they can’t plan for the future, they can’t rebuild their relationships.

When the clock resets, they’ll just be doctor and patient again.

11:55. They were running out of time.

Even if it was just for five minutes, she wanted to be like a normal lover and not think about anything…….

‘Maybe I was being too greedy.’

Erf’s body temperature was much hotter than hers, but her mind’s temperature was the other way around, and that made it difficult for Pandora, so she said nothing and let the time pass.

11:59 minutes, 59 seconds. Pandora closed her eyes, waiting for 8:00 a.m. on June 9 to return.

Waiting for the man to say, “Good morning, Miss Pandora,” again.

And then.

Ding, ding, ding, the bell rang.

Her eyes widened at the faint sound of distant chimes.

It was coming from the large clock in the main entrance hall downstairs.

Pandora’s gray eyes and Erf’s violet ones met in midair.

Pandora held her breath and listened.

Three times, four times, five times…… twelve times. The bell rang exactly twelve times and then stopped.

Midnight. The twelfth hour of the night that never came.

Tears fell from Pandora’s eyes as she stared blankly into Erf’s face, who did not greet her with a good morning.

Erf paused for a moment, surprised by her tears, then stepped closer to wipe it away.

Her heart pounded with anxiety.

She wondered if this was a dream, a hallucination, or a ploy to punish her for being so bold as to want to kill god.

For Pandora on June 9, there was no letting go of the suspense until it was clear that tomorrow had arrived, and that she was finally free of this infinite bondage.

Erf clasped Pandora’s hands together.

“Breathe.”

Gasp. Pandora sucked in a sharp breath.

She’d forgotten to breathe all this time. Her lungs constricted and expanded, and she felt a shallow pain.

“Deeply. Slowly.”

Pandora nodded, breathing in and out slowly, trying to calm herself.

A warm, soft hand stroked her palm with a thumb, comforting her.

As she stared into a pair of calm eyes, her shoulders slowly relaxed and the tension melted away.

Pandora tore off the page of the calendar for June 9.

She stared blankly at the date of June 10 and the clock pointing to dawn, then clutched Erf’s hand and squinted through the dawn.

The sun rose outside the window.

It was indeed a new morning.

At 8 a.m., the date on the calendar was still June 10, and Erf was still sitting on her bed, still holding Pandora’s hand.

“D, Doctor…….”

Pandora called out to Erf in a soft, shaky voice. Erf looked at her worriedly, thinking she was crying.

But soon, a shout of excitement hit his ears.

“Good morning!”

Pandora rushed forward and hugged Erf.

???????? ?? ???

Pandora was excited and ready to go.

Now that she was free of that tiresome exhibition event, she didn’t have to go to the museum.

So why not celebrate this happy and exciting day!

She’ll go out to eat, she’ll go shopping, she’ll go to the movies!

For once, if someone’s carriage ran over Pandora’s side, she could say, “Oh ho ho! It’s a beautiful day!” and mercifully move on.

What’s more, Erf had said yes to Pandora’s request to accompany her on her outing.

Pandora’s spirits soared, and if she had wings, she could soar high above the clouds, through the atmosphere, and into space.

“Lady. Look at this!”

Anna, the maid, came up with a stack of newspapers, along with the cup of coffee Pandora had requested.

The papers were all fresh from the press, each from a different newspaper.

The front page of the first one had a black-and-white photo of four gorgeous men and a bold headline.

?Crown Prince Eric and Archduke Frederick are missing, and even Priest Noel and Sir Eugene are gone?>

Pandora read the headlines, wide-eyed, and felt her heart sink.

‘You mean all four of them still haven’t gone home?’

Her mind flashed back to the four portraits she’d hidden under the bed.

Pandora shook her head at the ominous image that briefly flashed through her mind.

Underneath the photographs were praises for the four most beautiful men in the empire, along with testimonials and interviews from those around them.

Pandora tossed the newspaper aside without even reading it, then stirred sugar into her teacup.

‘They’re grown, strong men, so they’ll find their own way home when the time comes.’

Aren’t they the ‘male leads’?

All four of them were great characters, thanks to the developers’ slapdash stats.

Crown Prince Eric is the world’s greatest archmage, Archduke Frederick is the only swordmaster in the empire, and Sir Eugene is a master of strength, a fast learner, a master of all weapons, and has never been defeated.

Priest Noel was born with immense divine power that flows like a waterfall and is the most likely candidate to become the next High Priest.

These are the monsters that Pandora, an unassuming and fragile NPC, doesn’t need to worry about.

‘If they don’t show up, the female lead will take care of them.’

The heroine, Vivian, is no less talented.

With her alchemical powers, she could concoct amazing medicine that could hypnotize her opponents, turn them into animals, or even make them shrink and grow in height and weight. Albeit temporarily.

‘Should I ask her if she can fix my eyes too?’

Until now, she had been trapped in the June 9 event, so even if she ran into Vivian at the museum, she couldn’t ask her for medicine because her body was being controlled by a force.

But now that she was free, she could run up to her and ask.

‘Let’s go on a date tonight.’

She asked Erf to accompany her, saying that she needed a doctor in case she got sick while out and about, but it was clearly a date.

As Erf walked out the door to get ready, Pandora said, “Make sure you look nice,” and he nodded shyly, like he understood.

Whether he was really shy or not, Pandora didn’t see it, but she sipped her coffee, distorting her memory.

‘Mmm, it smells good.’

The scent of roses wafted from the open window and the chirping of busy birds greeted the morning.

The world was so fragrant and beautiful.

“Miss, now is not the time to be so carefree!”

Anna impatiently put the newspaper in front of her and showed me the others. The thickly written headline caught my eye.

?Painter scribbled on the Emperor’s portrait! What’s the punishment?>

‘Gasp, the emperor’s portrait, I had completely forgotten!’

Like this, without knowing that tomorrow would come, she did crazy things without fear.

She finally escaped June 9th, but today she’ll be taken away for contempt. And…….

?Pandora Grimlett, who is she??

?Suspicious exhibition! Four missing people! Is the painter Pandora actually a witch?!?

?All four missing people disappeared after entering Pandora’s mansion…….?

“The reporters know that all four missing people came here to see the lady and then disappeared, so they’re running with the story.”

Anna said, sticking out her tongue.

They were trying to be as sensational as possible, and the speculative articles were as good as fiction.

?On June 9, Miss Pandora invited the four to her home. Always coveting the beauty of the four, Miss Pandora locked them in a secret room in her mansion to make them her own artistic muses…….>

“Coveting is coveting, locking is locking, I don’t even know where they are!”

Her jaw dropped in disbelief.

Pandora snatched the newspaper from Anna and threw it out the window, but there was a commotion outside.

The pounding of horses’ hooves and the shouts of people.

Reporters, eager to find out if Pandora had really imprisoned the men, and people shouting that the men needed to be rescued, surrounded the manor’s outer walls.

“Is it true that His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince is here?!”

“What was Miss Pandora’s usual personality?!”

“Why did you kidnap them?!”

“Why do you think Miss Pandora wrote down His Imperial Highness as a shit dog?!”

“Just tell us one thing!”

The gatekeeper was sweating profusely, dealing with the people outside the gates who were bombarding him with questions.

Just then, two groups of tall men in different uniforms pushed their way through the crowd.

“I am Mark, the captain of the Imperial Guard. Please open the gates.”

“We’re the police. We’d appreciate your cooperation.”

Oh, shit.