The Romance Fantasy Novel MC is Only Into Me

The general carriage bathed in the midday sun.

Countless eyes turned to Lancel.
Unlike the noble-only carriages where one could lie down alone, the general carriage was packed, with barely any room to step.
‘She’s here somewhere. Merigold.’

Lancel pushed through the crowd of puzzled onlookers.
“Hey, there’s no room, who’s pushing?”
“Ah! Who’s that? Someone stepped on me!”
“You punk, trying to sneak past! Don’t touch my stuff!”
“What nonsense! When did I touch anything?”
“You bastard!”
Where Lancel had passed, shouting and fistfights broke out.

After searching the chaotic first general carriage, Lancel moved immediately to the next.
Second, third, fourth… after eight times repeating, he soon reached the last carriage of the train.
‘How much are they trying to save money?’

A freight car with no windows.
The cheapest spot.
The noisy clatter of wheels, a musty moldy smell, humidity from sweat and breath, and an unpleasant smell of alcohol.

Lancel walked in with a doubtful look, wondering if this was really the place.
“That damn girl, what nonsense is she making!”
Then, from afar, loud voices rose.

“I told you to clean the shoes, when did I say I’d pay?! You’re the funniest kid I’ve ever met.”
“I said I’d pay! One coin!”
“Got proof?”
“Everyone else heard it too!”
“Did you really ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) hear that?”
“I said I’d pay, old man. Are you scamming a kid for one coin?”
“What? These kids all together…”
“You heard it? Give it quickly!”
“There’s no work, you begging brat!”
A sharp slap landed, and a small figure collapsed to the floor.
“You brat with no manners! If one coin is for cleaning shoes, I’ll clean them myself! They didn’t even get clean.”

Lancel checked the figure of the girl who had fallen.
Small body, tightly tied golden hair, shabby clothes peeking out from a worn cape.
Her emerald eyes glistened with moisture, but the girl never shed tears.
Instead, clutching her reddened cheek, she threw a punch.

Apparently not expecting resistance, the old drunk fully received the attack aimed at his crotch.
“Ugh…!”
“Oh.”
No doubt.

“Money! Give it!”
Those features—
Dirty and unrecognizable at first, but gradually recalled from memory.

“You flea-sized brat, you’re caught now.”
“Ah, ahh!”
“That crazy old man just now…!”
Panic spread like a wave.
From the drunkard’s reddened neck, a sparkling object suddenly flew out.

The girl’s face stiffened.
“Why? You think I, who survived 20 years in a brothel, would shy away from blood, you damn girl?”
Just as she was about to slash with the knife, someone grabbed the attacker’s arm — it was Lancel.

“What the hell are you?”
The backward-swinging blade tore Lancel’s clothes.
“Yeah. This is why I wasted ten years like this.”
“What the… ugh!”

Lancel lightly turned the attacker’s chin with his palm. The drunk collapsed.
With the other hand, Lancel pulled a pouch from the drunk’s chest.
He pulled out a bundle of coins.

“Silver coins!”
Though he seemed penniless, the man actually carried a sizable amount.
Lancel handed all of it to the fifteen-year-old girl before him.

“Just because it’s right doesn’t mean it’s all good. Sometimes you have to just let things slide because they’re dirty. Here, take it.”
“Tha… thank you…”
After a brief hesitation, the girl took only one coin from the many.
Lancel stared at the coins left on his palm, then returned them to the drunk’s pouch.

“What’s your name?”
Looking straight into her eyes, he asked.
The noisy sound of train wheels roared.

Light leaked and flickered through gaps in the cracked wooden walls, quickly sweeping over them both.
Breaking a silence that felt like time had stopped, the girl slowly opened her mouth.
“Mary.”

Merigold.
Lancel had met Merigold.
 
Lancel spoke briefly with Merigold on the spot. Nothing particularly important.

“Mary. Where’s your hometown?”
“Huh? My hometown is…”
“Where exactly are you from? Why are you on the train? Anyone else with you?”
It felt a bit like a casual investigation.
Merigold’s face showed a slight suspicion, sensing something odd.

Lancel cleared his throat softly. With so many questions, he may have gotten ahead of himself before greeting properly.
“You look young, so I wondered why you’re traveling alone.”
“……I’m not that young. I’m fifteen this year.”
Fifteen was still young in this world. Moreover, Merigold was slightly smaller than her peers, making her look younger.

The game system influenced even physical growth depending on nutrition.
“Come with me.”
“Huh?”
“You need work, right?”
Merigold’s eyes widened.

“How did you know that?”
“A drunk even cleans the boots he wears. Anyone can tell you need work.”
“Ah.”
Merigold accepted with an embarrassed expression.
Following Lancel hurriedly, she spoke anxiously.

“Still, even if I need work, I won’t do just anything. I don’t do any job.”
Doubt swirled within her about whether she could trust this person.
“We’re on the same page. I wouldn’t give some random kid any job either. So don’t say useless things and just follow me.”
“I’m not a kid, I’m fifteen… ugh!”

Merigold pushed through the bustling crowd with all her might.
By the time they reached the second general carriage, she was almost out of breath.
“Ugh, how far are we going?”
“Almost there.”

They reached the first general carriage again. Merigold collapsed against the wall, catching her breath.
“Huff, huff, I really didn’t think we’d come all the way here…”
“What are you doing? We still have further to go.”
“Huh?”
“Follow me.”
Merigold, dazed, suddenly grabbed Lancel’s collar.

“Wait, wait! That’s not the place! That’s the noble carriage!”
“Is it?”
“I’m telling you! This guy seems…”
“Seems what?”
Lancel chuckled.
He reached for the door to the noble carriage.

“Eeek!”
Merigold, fully aware of what it meant for a commoner to open the noble carriage door without permission, was horrified.
If caught, they would have no sympathy even if killed by the guards’ thrown knives. Occasionally, thieves or assassins hid aboard with such intentions.

“Who dares…”
Through the open door, the eyes of armored guards pierced sharply.
Merigold’s face turned pale. She hurried to pull on Lancel’s waist. There might still be a chance for leniency if they escaped now.

That’s what she thought.
“Lord Lancel.”
Until she saw the guard’s fierce gaze suddenly soften.

“Please refrain from entering the general carriage, Lord Lancel. If anything happens, it will be our fault.”
“If you were so worried, why didn’t you follow?”
“If we leave this area empty, our necks will be on the line.”
“Be more careful next time.”
Merigold looked blankly between the guards and Lancel.
“Lord Lancel, who’s the girl trailing you?”
“Picked her up.”
“Huh?”

The guard just shrugged at Lancel’s reply.
Lancel approached the room next to the bedroom — where a maid who had come along was staying.
He knocked, and the maid immediately appeared, tidying her clothes.

“Do you need anything, young master?”
“Give this girl some work for now. She can be fully used until we reach the islands.”
The maid didn’t ask more, nodded lightly, and took Merigold’s hand.
“Mary, from today I’ll give you five coins a day to help out. If you’re useless, you’ll be discarded immediately, so keep that in mind.”

Of course, he had no intention of discarding her. He wanted to keep her close.
Merigold nodded as if a buzzing wind might blow away her stunned expression.
The maid smiled, patting Merigold’s head.

“That’s good. Five coins a day is generous. By the time you arrive, you’ll have earned six silver coins.”
————
—Imperial Year 816, June 21. Clear weather.
—Special event triggered! ‘Temporary Maid Employment!’ From today, income of 5 coins per day!
※You have been granted noble’s favor! Meals are free while working as train maid. Save on food expenses from today!
————
‘I haven’t even mentioned giving meals yet.’

Though he intended to provide them, seeing the game system fuss alone felt strange.
Servants probably had basic food supplies on the train anyway, so that was that.
‘What if I said I wouldn’t give food?’

Lancel pondered for a moment but decided to keep quiet. He just didn’t want to.
 
That night.
Lying in bed, Lancel somehow felt unable to sleep.

Merigold’s image, met after thirty years, kept circling in his mind.
A kid who lived as a noble until age ten but then fell to commoner or perhaps worse, drifting here.
‘Is Merigold really the one who will pull me out of this regression?’

The answer was unknown.
The only certainty was that there was no other candidate.
The infinite regression he’d been experiencing for nearly two centuries was caused by Merigold’s act of “restarting” the game.

Then it was simple.
Don’t let the game be restarted.
‘The question is, how?’

Should he tell her directly? But could Merigold even decide that herself?
‘I don’t know.’
Lying with these complicated thoughts, the door to Lancel’s room quietly opened.

He felt a small shadow stealthily slip inside.
Who else but—
‘Merigold?’

The Fallen Noblewoman Merigold.
She sneaked into Lancel’s bedroom.