The Romance Fantasy Novel MC is Only Into Me

The moment blades clashed, countless emotions surged between them. Their sweat mingled, ragged breaths exchanged, and with bloodshot eyes, they scrutinized each other—an intense sense of unity born from it all.
Lancel recalled when he first possessed this world as a child—before he was trapped in the endless loop—his old master taught him that this was the essence of Bushidō: the bond forged through combat.
His master was a devotee, even a fanatic, of this Bushidō.

He preached that true love is born from fighting your opponent as if to kill them. No joke—he claimed dueling was better than sex.
Though the world dismissed him as merely a war-obsessed madman, Lancel felt he finally understood that meaning today.
“Hah!”

The emotions in the wooden hilt Merigold thrust at him were an unrefined mass of countless wanderings.
Her blade wavered poorly; from her grip to shoulders, waist, knees, toes, and crown, every slight tremor was uncollected.
Lancel inevitably sensed her turmoil during the entire exchange.

“If you hold a sword, don’t hesitate, Meri. Look straight at the person in front of you.”
His stance shifted, wooden sword raised.
“Right now, in this world, it’s just you and me. Just the two of us.”

“...!”
Sword upright, stance sideways—his blade seemed to cloak his entire body.
Merigold was compelled to forget she was facing a person and instead face a single sword.

“That is—”
The third prince’s stunned mouth parted slightly.
“Old Empire swordsmanship.”

Lancel’s form flickered briefly; at nearly the same moment, a tremendous shock swept through the third prince.
“Ugh!”
The prince hastily covered his mouth, stunned by the blows Lancel’s wooden sword landed twice on Merigold.
“Ugh... huh?”

Merigold’s expression blanked, expecting pain.
“I went easy, easy.”
A lie. He truly struck her.

Of course, Merigold had no way of knowing—at this moment, all damage she took was absorbed by the third prince.
Lancel no longer hesitated.
His wooden sword relentlessly struck Merigold’s openings. Whether attacking or retreating, he clung to her like a shadow, continually pressing forward.

“What the hell—”
“What is—what is happening?”
The mercenaries’ faces were full of bewilderment.

“You’ve improved, my lord.”
“Improved? That hardly describes it. This is... a completely different person.”
Even the guards’ faces twitched.

Objectively, Lancel’s swordsmanship wasn’t flashy—just extremely efficient, cunning beyond expectation.
“Meri.”
===========

— Crisis! Third prince’s remaining mana falls below 50%. Overflow will forcibly end when mana depletes.
※ Merigold’s mental and physical stamina sharply drop. Condition falls below the standard.
===========

“I’ll finish this quickly.”
Each time the wooden sword struck Merigold, the red ring in her eyes gradually faded.
—Remaining mana 35%

Clatter!
“Are you alright?”
The third prince’s body wobbled behind. Hesti hurried to support him.

Cold sweat covered the prince’s face.
“How can a mana-less human counter my magic...?”
His pupils trembled aimlessly.

Though a mere inn maid, Merigold was a fighter far more trained than most novice mercenaries.
Once Overflow, a high-level spell, was used, she ceased to be a mere ‘human’—a monster, a demon.
To subdue such a being purely by swordsmanship? The third prince had never once seen such a person. Never.

“Lancel, Dan, Te...!”
Feeling his mana rapidly draining, the third prince slowly collapsed to the floor.
Once hailed as a magical prodigy, this was his first experience of ‘mana exhaustion’ since childhood.

—Remaining mana 10%.
—Remaining mana 9%.
—Remaining mana 8%... 5%.

At the final swing of Lancel’s sword, their wooden swords crossed and shattered simultaneously.
Among flying wood splinters, Merigold’s eyes momentarily lost color.
Lancel caught her collapsing body with both hands, pulling her close. He felt her burning warmth.

He met Merigold’s shimmering, moist eyes.
“Meri, why did you attack me?”
Wasn’t this their first meeting?

Lancel wanted to ask.
“...Because I wanted to know.”
Merigold’s exhausted lips slowly parted. Her voice, drained by extreme stamina and spirit consumption, was so faint it might have been missed without close attention.

“To know? What?”
“The person who appears in my dreams... who kind of... person they are.”
A dream?

Lancel couldn’t ask more. At that moment, Merigold’s eyes closed completely.
But he understood what it meant.
‘She has memories from a previous cycle?’

Even if incomplete, fragments remained within her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have rushed such a human on first meeting or said such things.
Lancel quietly observed Merigold’s face. Compared to their first meeting, her body had grown beyond recognition.
Yet in his arms, she felt so light.

As if she might fall apart at any moment.
“Ugh!”
The third prince shook off Hesti’s support and fled into an alley. A black blood clot spilled from his mouth onto the floor.

He seemed internally wounded by the rapid mana loss.
“Haha.”
The third prince wiped his mouth, laughing bitterly.

“A knight who wields the sword of the Old Empire... If my father were alive, he’d be pleased.”
A complex smile lingered on his lips.
 
Lancel gently laid Merigold down on the bed. Or tried to.

She clung to him like a leech, her grip far too strong for someone so exhausted.
Trying to lay her down forcibly, Lancel changed his mind.
‘If I stay still, she’ll let go on her own.’

In the end, Lancel climbed onto the bed with her. Her body, soaked in sweat and full of heat, gave off a wild herb scent.
A nostalgic scent.
Lancel closed his eyes.

He recalled himself first opening his eyes in this world—when everything was strange and unknown.
‘...’
After about 200 years of life, old memories fade. But some memories never leave.

‘The princess.’
When he closed his eyes, the memory sharpened vividly. The fifteen-year-old thrown into the battlefield unaware.
—You’ll be happy, Lancel.

In the memory, Lancel was held in someone’s arms. That person smelled exactly like this—wild herbs.
—Just as you were happiness to me.
The tighter Merigold’s arms hugged him, the clearer it became.

That scent at that moment.
The cool breeze.
The orange hills touched by the setting sun.

—Someday for you too.
Lancel couldn’t bring himself to push Merigold away and stayed like that for a long time.
By now, her familiar familiar Pinna must be causing a fuss—after all, a strange man was holding her mistress.

‘It’s not my fault. Your master clings to me.’
When he tried to move away slightly, her arms wrapped even tighter.
Only after sunset did Lancel finally escape her grasp.

 
The next day.
“Here, Merigold. Bronze Medal.”
When Merigold returned to the guild after regaining consciousness, Lancel handed her a copper badge.

She looked at it dazed, clearly not expecting it.
“C-Can I really accept this, um, master?”
“...Call me master.”

“Master.”
“I wasn’t going to give it to you at first.”
Lancel shook his head, looking at the other mercenaries who had received Iron Medals.

“They’re all about the same level of incompetence.”
They all avoided his gaze.
It was unexpected even for Lancel.

No matter how hastily gathered, the average level of empire mercenaries was only this much. Only one had received a Silver Medal or higher, and only a handful had even earned Bronze Medals.
“Bronze Medal...”
Merigold blushed looking at the badge in her hand.

“When can I start taking [N O V E L I G H T] commissions?”
“If you want, you can start today. Why?”
“…My life is a bit tight right now...”

Merigold spoke in a timid voice, and Lancel barely restrained himself from saying, ‘Should I lend you some money?’
‘No, no. What if she marries me again? She’s destined to be a future queen.’
Though it sounded narcissistic, it was true.

After some thought, Lancel gestured to Hesti.
“Hesti, arrange some commissions for Meri first.”
“There aren’t many suitable for a Bronze Medal holder. Guard duty, thief capture, sewer cleaning, debt collection, dealing with troublesome customers at brothels—mostly minor tasks.”

“I’ll do anything! Anything at all!”
Merigold said, glancing at Lancel.
‘What?’

Lancel didn’t understand why she was watching him like that.
“Give me everything! I’ll do all of it!”
“One at a time. One at a time.”

Lancel found Merigold’s gaze strangely anxious but dismissed it as just his imagination.
‘...Did I mess up again?’