Chapter 1 Part 4
* * *
“Haah…”
Thanks to Abel, who suddenly appeared at the manor and thoroughly messed with my head before leaving, I was in quite a predicament.
To be honest, I hadn’t even considered the possibility of the engagement termination failing.
I had absolutely believed the engagement would end, but its spectacular failure completely tangled up what had been a smooth plan.
Somehow, I thought the first step had clicked into place too easily.
Even though this is my third life, it’s not going to be completely straightforward.
“I need to break off the engagement before Hertiana appears…”
At this rate, events will flow just like in my previous two lives, following the original story.
It seems things won’t go smoothly after all.
Since treating my heart comes first, let’s put the engagement termination on hold for now. As long as I do it before Hertiana appears, there’s still plenty of time.
“Raphla.”
At my quiet call, Raphla appeared as usual, scattering black feathers and naturally perching on my wrist.
“How’s the surveillance on Hyle Feros?”
Raphla’s ruby-colored eyes soon emitted a dark red light, projecting an image in the air.
Through the image, they had already crossed the border.
“At that speed, they’ll reach the capital in three days. Well done, keep watching them.”
The moment Hyle enters the Black Forest on his way to the capital, I plan to release the high-level magical beasts from the breeding grounds to attack him and his knights.
No matter how much of a genius Hyle is said to be, if multiple level 1 magical beasts attack at once, he’ll be in trouble.
Moreover, he’s not alone.
Since high-level magical beasts generally use wide-range attack skills, they’ll surely split up to avoid the area damage.
Then, while they’re scattered, I’ll have Raphla’s cursed cry put them all to sleep, and while everyone’s asleep, I can quietly kidnap Hyle—then my plan will be a success.
Hmm… somehow “kidnap” sounds wrong, so let’s call it temporarily relocating him to receive help.
I have no other options besides choosing Hyle.
If he absolutely refuses to help me, I’ll have to cry and beg if I have to…
“…But looking at this plan now, I really do seem like a villain.”
“You are a villain.”
Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out as something smooth and cold crept up my bare leg.
Ugh, this perverted, low-life demon again…!
“Caligo, why are you here when I didn’t call you?”
Sighing as I lifted the blanket, a black snake wrapping around my left leg with its long body revealed itself.
This snake’s name was ‘Caligo,’ and his true form was that of a demon.
Specifically, he was the one contracted to me who had turned my heart black.
“You haven’t been calling me lately. I was wondering what you were up to.”
He slowly blinked his golden eyes while repeatedly flicking his red tongue at me.
My ability to use black magic and skillfully handle magical beasts was all thanks to my contract with Caligo.
“Most demons find it annoying when their contractors call them, so why are you so desperate to be called?”
Normally, demons couldn’t manifest their form in the human realm by their will alone without a medium like a host, summoning, or being called—all due to the order created by god.
But Caligo was an archdemon, positioned at the highest rank among demons, and to him, the human realm was like a front yard he could enter and leave at will.
“Rosi, I always tell you. I like you. I want to be by your side always. So call me more often, okay?”
Caligo, who had somehow reached my nape, squeezed my collarbone with his body while subtly rubbing his cold, silky skin against me.
“Won’t you get off?”
Slap! When I hit that ominous black body with a loud sound, Caligo instantly transformed into human form. Then he strongly embraced me from behind.
“I told you to get off, why are you clinging more?”
“Let’s stay like this just a bit longer. Among humans, your scent is the best.”
The faint metallic smell of blood wafting from Caligo, who was whining like a child, made my head spin.
Why do all the men around me have to be covered in blood for some reason…
This environment is just too brutal.
“So… what are you plotting this time, our little villain?”
“No reason to answer you.”
“Then I’ll just keep hugging you until you tell me.”
Caligo buried his face in my neck, then suddenly roughly drove his long fangs into my flesh.
A sharp, fleeting pain spread quickly and clearly throughout my body.
“Ah…!”
“Mmm, you’re enjoying this too much.”
His insufferably smooth laughter vibrated against my ear.
I pushed away his face as it naturally drew closer, and finally heaved a sigh of defeat.
“…I’m going to kidnap Hyle Feros.”
“Oh? The heir to House Feros? As expected, our Rosi dreams big. How are you planning to kidnap him?”
In the blink of an eye, Caligo was reclining on a chair opposite my bed, watching me.
“Well, since I’m dealing with the future head of House Feros, I’ll have to release some level 1 magical beasts.”
“‘Some’? Even for you, controlling multiple level 1 beasts simultaneously would be difficult… Ah, not that you can’t do it, but the backlash would be severe.”
I know that much myself.
Moreover, I needed to cast long-distance spells all the way to the Black Forest.
“It’s fine. It won’t take long anyway.”
While Hyle’s sacred power was dense and powerful, its quantity was below average.
So in a prolonged battle, Hyle would be at an absolute disadvantage due to his limited sacred power.
If I target that weakness and pressure him with multiple magical beasts, it should be possible.
“But Rosi, what are you going to do once you catch that Feros guy?”
“Something really bad.”
“Why don’t you try it on me first? You know, roughly.”
…Before that, I should get rid of this damn perverted demon first.
“Never mind that, I’m going to sleep so go back.”
“Ah, how cold. But Rosi, I like that side of you too.”
“Don’t like me.”
“When you tell me not to, it makes me want to even more.”
Caligo, who had been giggling and teasing for a moment, quietly placed a small red box by my pillow.
This box, something about it feels familiar…
“What’s this?”
“It’s a magic stone concentrated with my magical power. If you swallow this, you won’t get tired no matter how much power you use.”
Right, Caligo’s magic stone…! How could I forget about this?
In my past life, and the life before that, I always relied on Caligo’s magic stones to live.
Usually, after using black magic, physical pain would follow as magical backlash, proportional to the intensity of the magic used.
It was a kind of reaction caused by the small amount of sacred power in my heart clashing with black magic.
No matter how powerful the magic I used, if I swallowed just one of Caligo’s magic stones, there would be no harmful damage to my body and I would soon become peaceful, so despite knowing the dangers, I had no choice but to rely on the magic stones.
Moreover, since Caligo was an archdemon, his magic stones were quite concentrated, and it was common for side effects that would normally last days to heal in an instant after swallowing one.
They say it’s a precious item that’s hard to obtain even in the demon realm where demons live, so its value was beyond measure.
However… strangely, while there was no pain when swallowing the magic stone, I would get an unsettling feeling as if my heart was endlessly falling into some deep underground place.
This was clearly not a good sign. Perhaps Caligo’s magic stones might be affecting the corruption of my sacred power.
“It’s okay, I don’t think I’ll need to eat it.”
Let’s not eat it. In this life, I’ll just try to endure.
Of course, the backlash after controlling level 1 magical beasts will be incredibly painful…
This life is my last chance. I can’t throw away my remaining life because of momentary pain.
“…Is that so? Hmm. Let me know whenever you need it.”
Caligo simply nodded without any particular reaction and took the box back.
He probably thought I would soon be asking for the magic stone.
