The Romance Fantasy Novel MC is Only Into Me

“Is there... something you wanted to talk about?”

Marigold, shining with bright eyes, tried to sit next to him, but Ransell immediately turned her to the opposite side.
“Nothing special. It’s been two months since you came here, so I wanted to see if the work is going okay. Normally, Lord Evil Shen would handle this, but he’s a bit busy right now.”
“Oh, ah...”

Why was she disappointed?
Ransell glanced at Marigold, whose spirits noticeably dropped.
The only reason he had summoned Marigold here, even pretending to be a noble consulting with a maid, was one:

‘I need to confirm if Marigold really has memories from the previous cycle.’
Fixing his gaze on a nearby potted plant, he spoke casually.
“Mary, how old are you this year?”

“Twenty...”
“Twenty?”
“Seventeen! I mean seventeen!”

“Not sixteen?”
“Sixteen! It was sixteen! Yes!”
No need to interrogate—she was already confessing.

“Right. Being a maid is hard. How’s it going?”
“...Are you trying to fire me?”
“No, don’t overinterpret. I’m just curious.”

“If it’s because I stole your clothes before...”
“...Put them back nicely while I’m still in a good mood.”
“Ah, ahhh, yes.”
Ransell pressed his throbbing temple briefly.

“Hestia said even if you slack off a bit, you do your work well, so I just wanted to ask.”
“You called me to compliment me?”
“Yeah. Let’s say it’s that.”

“You don’t mean...! To reward me...!”
“Take back what you just said. I didn’t call you for praise. I’m just asking for no reason, so answer properly.”
Marigold crouched low, watching his expression carefully.

“Well, I worked here a little before.”
“How long ago?”
“I don’t remember well... about eight years?”

Eight years ago, Marigold was still a noble lady.
“Right.”
After that, Ransell continued with trivial talk while his mind wandered.

Because after just a few questions, it was already clear.
‘It’s certain that Marigold inherited memories from a previous cycle.’
How much, how, and from where to where she inherited remained unclear. The only certainty was that she remembered the past.

‘I don’t know if that’s good or bad.’
Ransell’s goal was to have Marigold become the princess consort. No matter what, they had to reach the game’s normal route—the ‘Empress Ending.’
But what if she remembered her past? Would that be a plus or minus in becoming the empress?

Ransell couldn’t tell.
‘Maybe I should be honest and ask for Marigold’s cooperation?’
For example:

-Let’s work together as returnees and try to become the empress, Marigold!
Would that help or hinder?
Ransell’s worries deepened.

“All right. Good work. Now go.”
“Ah... it’s already over?”
“What more did you want?”

“Okay...”
Marigold left, dejected.
‘What should I do? Reveal everything? Or not?’

The long dilemma was resolved just before Ransell fell asleep that night.
.
.
.
===========
—Congratulations! Marigold has mastered Basic Black Magic! From the next ‘Succession,’ Intermediate Black Magic will be available.
※ Memories are shared between cycles where ‘Succession’ is used. However, stats reset after endings and must be repurchased.

“...?”
Ransell, lying down, suddenly jumped up.
Instinctively, he grabbed the quill pen on the table.

In case the memories disappeared, he hurriedly wrote them down on paper, repeatedly murmuring the phrase he had just seen.
The sudden news of mastering black magic barely caught his attention.
The important part was the last two lines.

“Memories between cycles where succession was used... are shared?”
Ransell listed Marigold’s most recent endings.
-Warrior.
-Beggar.
-Dependent.
-Saint.
-Merchant.
-First Memory Succession (current point).

‘So memories are shared between cycles where succession was used. That means...’
Ransell scribbled again.
-First Memory Succession (current point).
-??? (no succession)
-??? (no succession)
.
.
.
-Second Memory Succession (second cycle at current point).

‘Is it like this?’
Succession.
From what Ransell remembered, succession required special conditions.

Namely, accumulating a certain number of achievement points.
When reaching 1500 points, as now, a ‘Returnee Marigold’ who inherited past memories would appear...
And memories from the ‘Returnee Marigold cycle 1’ would be passed on to the ‘Returnee Marigold cycle 2.’

“So the first and second cycles are basically the same person.”
-Linkage.
The meaning of linked memories was probably this: literally a returnee.

...Right?
Ransell frowned at the dense scribbles on the paper.
‘If I tell this succession Marigold that I’m a returnee... the next succession Marigold will also remember that.’

He made up his mind.
He put down the quill.
‘I won’t say anything.’

Yes.
The variable was too large and irreversible.
If he said it, ‘Returnee Marigold’ would remember it forever. It would never be undone.

If there ever was a time to say it, it would be a last resort.
Also.
There was the risk that Marigold would feel some unnecessary fate or bond.

-What? You’re a returnee too? Forget everything else and just live with me!
What if she clung to him?
That would be quite a headache.

Because the person destined to become empress clinging to some minor provincial noble young master would prevent the game from ending.
Ransell didn’t want to lose every cycle where ‘Returnee Marigold’ appeared like that.
Yes.

He was merely the maker of Marigold’s empress ending, not her romance target. A normal ending suited him best—just an extra.
They didn’t even end well after marriage, anyway.
‘...’

Looking at the heavily scribbled paper, Ransell tore it to pieces and threw it away.
 
-Flare.
The execution platform set in the square was engulfed in flames.

-“Add more fire!”
-“It’s blazing!”
What was burning was hard to see through smoke and flames. The black shape glimpsed through made it look like a person.
Burning at the stake was rare—reserved for the worst criminals, especially those who offended the royal family or the sacred.

Even the busy maid Marigold stopped walking and stared at the scene.
-“Everyone, look! The face of the criminal!”
Marigold squinted and focused on the flames. The blackened burning form seemed to flicker in her vision.

-“The last moments of the sinner who wielded a blade against the empire’s prince!”
Thump.
Her heart was squeezed tight.

-“The last moments of the demon burning here for the crime of desecrating the sacred!”
The wind blew.
The flames briefly parted.

For an instant, the sinner’s face was seen.
A hallucination of locking eyes with a charred corpse.
-“The last moments of the historic criminal who committed the greatest crime against the empire!”

Her heart began pounding hard.
Thump.
-“Traitor…!”

Thump.
-“...Ransell Dante’s form!”
.
.
.

“No!”
“Eek!”
Marigold woke from her nap.

“Ah, why do you keep doing that, miss! You’re trying to scare me on purpose, aren’t you? Tell me honestly, I won’t be mad. You did it on purpose, right?”
Pina woke up startled as well, raising her eyes.
Marigold quickly wiped the drool from her mouth.

“This won’t do, Pina.”
“What? Running away without work?”
“No, I’m not running away. I’m resting after finishing work, Pina.”

“Sure, sure. So what’s the problem?”
Marigold held her head. She tried to shake off the dream she saw during her nap, but couldn’t.
Her body trembled. It seemed etched into her memory.

“…My benefactor…!”
When Marigold first saw that scene, during her time as a maid, she thought briefly, ‘A bad person is being punished.’ But it wasn’t that simple.
Recalling the empire in her memories, and who Ransell was, it was never a simple matter.

“Pina. I think I’m the only one in this world who can protect my benefactor. No, maybe I exist for that very reason.”
“What are you saying all of a sudden? Are you still sleepy?”
“This can’t go on.”

“...?”
Marigold jumped up.
“Pina. No matter how much the continent is torn apart by war, no matter how many false accusations or injustices, there is only one way to live normally without losing anything.”

“Not this story again?”
“Become a giant. Someone so great that even the emperor and royals must watch their step.”
Pina yawned, listening half-heartedly, but Marigold’s eyes flashed with light.

“Someone great enough to survive everything and spend the rest of their life with me… a giant… so great even the emperor and royals are cautious…”
“Yes, yes. Got it. Let’s hurry and go see Hestia before we get scolded. Do you know what time it is?”
“Huh?”

“Lunch is long past.”
“...!”
That day, Marigold cleaned the bees.

 
That evening.
“What is this?”
Ransell woke as something intermittently tapped the window.

‘A bird?’
A crow was perched on the window sill.
When he gently stroked it, the crow nodded and kept pointing to its ankle.

He saw an object tied to its ankle that looked like a letter.
Ransell narrowed his eyes.
‘It’s not a bird.’

He felt magical power covering its entire body.
It was a familiar servant or familiar—a kind of summoned creature wizards control as a clone or assistant.
Ransell already had a good guess who the wizard was who would do such a thing to him. There was only one wizard he had met in this cycle.

‘The summoned familiar’s senses are connected to its master.’
He tapped the crow’s eye with a finger.
—Hiaaak!

A scream echoed from somewhere. It came from beyond the mansion’s corridor.
-“Mary! It’s late, don’t make loud noises!”
-“I-I’m sorry! Sorry!”
-“Be quiet!”
“......”

The flustered crow dropped the letter tied to its ankle and fluttered away.
Ransell scratched his head.
‘This feels uneasy.’

What was written inside? Ransell brought the letter near the lantern and unfolded it.
Words he never imagined met his eyes.
[From the secret organization ‘Dark Hood’ following the great Ransell Dante]

“...?”
Ransell immediately sensed something was off from the start of the letter.