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Episode 8
“Are you… going to die?”
“Yes.”
“No way!”
I blurted it out without thinking.
He was the one who got me out of that family and even saved my life.
He was basically one of the few people on my side in this world.
“Now I’ve got someone already getting sad for me,” Kael said, the corners of his lips lifting a little.
But I’m the one who feels like I’m burning up inside!
“Oh, right, I forgot the most important thing.”
“Ah, there’s still more?”
“The reason I want to marry you.”
Just as I got nervous, thinking something even crazier was about to come out.
“I felt like my heart—something that’s not supposed to exist—was beating when I saw you, Enri.”
“Cough—ugh—what?!”
I started choking again.
“It’s not an illusion. Not once, but several times.”
He naturally handed me another glass of water and kept talking.
“I think… you’re connected to my curse.”
“So what are you saying?”
“Now I need to find out why.”
I just blinked, totally blank.
I only proposed this contract marriage to escape the Grand Duke.
But this guy had way more complicated problems than I thought.
“Then what if I had married the Grand Duke instead?”
“Hmm…”
No, wait. That’s not the important part.
While he was thinking about it, I quickly changed topics.
“So my heart beats when he sees me?”
“No. Only sometimes.”
“When exactly? When do I smile? When do we drink together?”
This was awkward, but it was important to know.
I pressed him, and Kael went quiet for a moment before answering.
“Do you remember the Marleta family ball?”
Ah, that was the first banquet after I possessed this body.
“I saw you from far away back then. My heart… it itched.”
I asked, unsure.
“Then do you remember what color dress I was wearing?”
“A purple satin dress with frills. It suited you well.”
I rarely went to events, so I remembered my outfit—but for him to remember it so clearly…
He must’ve attended a lot of events and met many people.
That was surprising.
“And? When else…”
I was about to ask more when I stopped.
He, always so composed, was now looking away and rubbing his lips.
His ears were slightly red.
Now I felt embarrassed too, so I quickly cleared my throat and changed the topic.
“Haha, well. I don’t need to know now! Tell me later.”
Kael nodded awkwardly as if he understood.
“Since I answered your question, may I ask one too?”
“Sure!”
“Why are you trying so hard to avoid marrying the Grand Duke?”
Today, he really kept catching me off guard.
“Didn’t we already finish that topic?”
“If you don’t want to answer, that’s fine. But I’m so curious, I can’t sleep.”
Why is he going that far?
Flustered, I asked,
“Why do you even want to know? Do you know the Grand Duke personally?”
“Yes… well. It’s not like I don’t know him.”
That was completely unexpected.
I started asking questions I’d been curious about.
“Is he a good person?”
“He’s the most wanted bachelor in the kingdom. Wealth, status, looks, even body—he’s got everything.”
Well… that matches the original story.
“Why are you praising another man so much? What if I get convinced and decide to marry him instead?”
He just smiled without answering. That silence felt like pressure.
“Everyone has at least one secret.”
“Fair enough.”
He gave up more easily than I expected.
“You’re not going to ask for more?”
“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
That reminded me again of what he said earlier.
He said his heart beats when he sees me…
It sounded like something straight out of a romance novel.
“Let’s finish eating, Enri. Thanks for listening.”
After that, the dining room fell quiet.
Back in my room, I stared into a mirror, thinking.
“Heart beating when he sees me?”
Why not?
I mean, I do have a pretty face.
But that alone wouldn’t explain it.
“I need to find a way to break this curse as soon as possible.”
He said he didn’t mind keeping me around for now…
But what if the curse suddenly gets worse?
I can’t just wait around calmly.
“If there’s a curse, there must be a way to break it.”
Usually, that kind of thing involves magic.
I sighed at my lack of magic and then remembered something from the original story.
“Sorry… I’m leaving you behind, Vermont…”
Enrica Wintersore’s final thoughts about her family.
“If I get reborn, I’ll become a stronger mage, so I never have to leave you again.”
That was what she thought before dying at the Grand Duke’s hand.
But what did that even matter now?
I shook my head—but then froze.
“Left behind?”
That wording is strange.
And wasn’t the familiarity already gone by then, after her magic disappeared?
I recalled the setting.
A familiar cannot return to the demon realm unless the contract is broken.
The only exception is when the master dies.
“So that means…”
Even if the master’s magic disappeared, if the contract wasn’t broken…
The familiar might still be in the human world!
And if it’s a demon, it might know how to break curses.
Excited by my conclusion, I jumped up.
“Tomorrow morning, I’ll go back to the ducal estate.”
That night I stayed up thinking about familiars and curses…
And fell asleep.
The next morning, I went straight to Kael’s office.
But the person there wasn’t Kael.
“Nice to meet you, my lady.”
A young man wearing glasses spoke.
“C-cough… I’m Melua, Count Belbrington’s aide.”
“Oh, nice to meet you. Is Kael not here?”
“C-cough… the Count left early due to work.”
“Oh, that’s unfortunate. You seem to have a bad cough.”
He looked pale. Probably a bad cold.
“I’d like a carriage, please.”
“A carriage? Why?”
“I need to go to the ducal estate. I left some things there.”
Melua’s face turned pale.
“Absolutely not!”
“What?”
“If you disappear while the Count is away, I’m dead.”
He looked genuinely desperate.
“I really need to get those things today.”
I was just as determined.
After some back and forth, he finally said,
“Then I will go with you.”
“You? But you’re busy…”
“Nothing is more important than you right now.”
He kept coughing.
He looks like he’s about to collapse…
I wasn’t convinced, so I said,
“Then I’ll bring my maid too.”
Melua adjusted his glasses and nodded.
“Eat breakfast first. The carriage will be ready in an hour.”
And so, our strange little group set off.
Rattle, rattle.
Ugh… I’ll never get used to how uncomfortable carriages are.
I sat with Melua across from me and Sara beside me, thinking back to the original story.
Vermont, Enrica’s employer, was described as:
A beauty beyond human standards.
Long silver hair, pale skin with a beauty mark.
Sharp, distant eyes.
If someone like that was hiding in the estate, I would’ve noticed him.
Maybe I’m wasting my time.
I asked Sara,
“Hey, have you seen anyone like that in the estate? Silver hair, long, really pretty man…”
Sara replied while embroidering a handkerchief.
“Is that your lady’s lover you left behind?”
“Cough, cough!”
Melua coughed again.
“I was just joking. If someone like that were here, everyone would know.”
That matched my thoughts exactly.
And a few hours later, we arrived at the estate—but found nothing.
I had to avoid running into my father or Marta, too.
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I just misread a few lines in the novel.
“Sorry, Sara. You’re stuck dealing with me.”
“It’s fine.”
“I’ll check one more place. If nothing’s there, let’s go back.”
We wandered around the massive estate for a long time.
I walked slowly, feeling discouraged.
Then I heard voices from afar.
“Seriously, I saw it! Things were floating around her!”
“What did they say?”
“Just kill it. That creepy thing should be wiped out.”
A bad feeling hit me.
I rushed forward.
And saw it.
A tiny kitten, no bigger than a palm, is being kicked by servants.
