THVS 04

Chapter 04

“Is this a dream… or am I awake?”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, staring blankly into space, I suddenly pinched my cheek.

“It doesn’t hurt… Is it really a dream?”

“If you pinch yourself that lightly, of course it won’t hurt, miss. Shall I do it for you instead?”

Anna rolled up her sleeves, her eyes gleaming ominously.
The moment her well-earned muscles—built from never shirking hard labor—came into view, I quickly shook my head.

Coming back to reality, I bit down hard on my lower lip.

When did it all start?

In truth, Layla wasn’t wrong.
Most direct descendants of the sword-master family, the Elopeses, were gifted in swordsmanship—and Callian’s skill could easily be called the best in the family’s history.

Our second brother, only a year younger than me, was twenty‑one this year.
Last year—at the age of twenty—he had already reached the realm of Sword Master. A genuine prodigy.

No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t deny that.

‘Annoying is annoying. Skill is skill.’

On top of that, thanks to our parents’ superior genes, my two brothers and I were all blessed with looks worthy of toppling nations.
All three of us had the Elopes family’s signature silver hair and violet eyes.

Among us, Callian looked so much like me that even kind-hearted Layla would sometimes call him “Tien with short hair.”

I hated to admit it.

‘This is driving me insane. Seriously.’

It wasn’t as though I’d never considered pairing Layla with one of my brothers.
If she stayed within the Elopes family, even those deranged male leads wouldn’t dare touch her—and protecting her would be easier.

But that wasn’t a good solution either.

In the original story, Tien, the Elopes young lady, was subjected to such vicious harassment that she eventually took her own life. That alone proved it wasn’t truly safe.

If Layla became involved, not only the Elopes family but even our own household could be put in danger.

And more than that, the most decisive reason was—

‘She’s never shown any interest. Not once!’

Having been by my side for so long, Layla had seen Callian countless times.
If she had ever shown even the slightest hint of affection toward him, I would’ve seriously considered it.

But sadly, she hadn’t. Not even once.

For nearly twenty years.

And now, out of nowhere, she suddenly liked Callian?
Worse, she’d already declared she would break off her engagement with the Second Prince.

It was enough to make anyone lose their mind.

As I paced around the room, trying to process the situation, a sharp shout echoed in from outside the window.
It seemed the knights’ training—delayed by the rain—had resumed.

“Hey, I heard you got beaten up first thing this morning?”

A mocking voice pierced through the training shouts.
I rolled my eyes and glanced down. Sure enough, Callian was looking up at me with a smug grin.

“The way you speak really shows your low level of refinement,” I replied coldly.

Normally, I would’ve ignored him and moved on.
But after hearing Layla’s shocking declaration, I couldn’t just let it slide.

“You little—! There’s nothing you won’t say to your own sister!”

“Why don’t you focus on training instead? Try not to lose to me again and cry this time.”

I gave him a sweet, taunting smile.
It worked perfectly—one of Callian’s eyebrows twitched upward, his pride visibly cracked.

Being of Elopes blood, I too had talent in swordsmanship.
I learned it as a precaution—just in case I lost my magic like in the original story—and had reached the level of Sword Expert.

Of course, purely in swordplay, Callian was far superior.

But to me, swordsmanship was just a stopgap.
My true talent lay in magic.

All things considered, I was still one step above him.

“Using magic too—that’s cheating—!”

“Are you going to complain about cheating even on the battlefield, brother?”

I deliberately emphasized the word brother, then turned and walked away.

I could hear Callian shouting behind me, but I didn’t care.
He wasn’t the important issue right now.

“I’m going to the laboratory.”

“Yes, miss.”

Catching the unspoken meaning—don’t follow me—Anna immediately backed away, as if she’d been waiting for it.

‘She looks happy… Is that just my imagination?’

At some point, a white-furred cat with violet eyes appeared and followed me leisurely.
When I stopped, it rubbed its face against my leg as if it were used to doing so.

“Come here, Bell.”

As I crouched and held out my hand, Bell flicked its fluffy tail and jumped into my arms.
Holding Bell lightly, I headed straight for the laboratory.

After confirming no one was around, I carved a magic circle onto the door so no one could enter.
Then I looked down at the cat in my arms.

“Bell, call Bael.”

The moment I finished speaking, a young man with black hair and red eyes appeared before me.

“Did you call for me, contractor?”

The demonic energy he’d been openly emitting gradually subsided the instant he saw me.

Bael—the Demon King, ruler of hell.

In the original story, he was a demon who contracted with one of the mad male leads, stole my magic, and played a key role in tormenting me.

Perhaps because I remembered the original plot, a brief but instinctive sense of disgust rose within me.

“Did you check?”

“So far, no demon besides myself has formed a contract with a human.”

“Really?”

Ever since I was born into this world, I’d been thinking of ways to prevent him from contracting with Bael—but there was no good solution.

I didn’t like it, but the only way to physically stop it was for me to contract with Bael first.
A demon could only contract with one human.

Contracts with demons—becoming a black mage—were strictly regulated within the Empire, but there was no choice.
I just had to avoid being discovered.

And even if I had contracted with Bael, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t form a contract with another demon, so I’d kept constant watch through Bael.

Fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t reached out to the demon realm yet.

“Especially Agares. Keep a close eye on that bastard.”

“A mere Agares could never deceive me, contractor.”

Though Agares was the second‑highest demon in the demon realm, Bael shrugged as if it were nothing.

“That’s enough. Go back.”

“…That’s it? You’re telling me to leave just like that again?”

Bael grumbled, clearly dissatisfied at being dismissed barely a minute after being summoned.

For three years since our contract, all I’d made him do was monitor whether any demon had contracted with a human. His frustration was understandable.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Since you contracted with me, at least harbor some grand ambition—like conquering the world—”

“What’s the point of that? If you’re just going to talk nonsense, disappear already. Or I’ll pour holy power into my body right now.”

At my threat, Bael flinched.

Because I’d forcibly summoned him as in the original story, the contract was fundamentally unfair.
Of course, the one who thought it unfair wasn’t me—but Bael.

If I died, Bael would automatically be destroyed.
If he used demonic power without my permission, he would also be destroyed.

Those binding clauses were frightening enough—but even more terrifying to him was holy power.

Thanks to Layla’s vast reserve of holy power, handling Bael had become far easier.

‘If holy power resides in my body, only the demon contracted to me suffers… or something like that.’

I waved my hand, signaling him to leave.
Then, suddenly, a thought struck me and I stopped him.

“Just in case… You don’t sense any black magic around Layla, do you?”

Bael frowned slightly, then looked at me as if to ask whether I was being serious.

“Unless she has a death wish, she wouldn’t dare. To begin with, the only ones who can use black magic here are you and me.”

I’d wondered if Layla had somehow been affected by black magic, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Bael glanced at my disappointed expression as though it were absurd, then vanished.

Tapping my fingers lightly against the desk, I fell into thought.

I couldn’t be absolutely certain.

Even if I preemptively contracted with Bael, unforeseen variables could still lead to my magic being stolen.

I would eliminate harmful variables—but I couldn’t eliminate beneficial ones as well.

Even if Layla truly loved Callian, and even if the Elopes family did everything in their power to protect her, the undeniable truth was that remaining the Second Prince’s fiancée was the better option.

Call me selfish—but I had no intention of pushing my family in this life into danger.

‘So… I’m sorry, Layla. But I’m going to do everything I can to deny your feelings.’