WYCFD 03

Chapter 3

I tilted my head slightly.

I hadn’t even considered that anyone might hear my voice.

No matter how loudly I spoke while crawling along ceilings, no one had ever heard me before.

Still, something felt a little off.

So, just like I always did when moving along the ceilings after reviving in our estate, I started singing loudly.

“Monster! Monster! Run away! If it touches you, you’ll become a monster too!”

It was a bit strange that no one avoided me even when I sang. But at least I didn’t hear that snickering sound from earlier, so it was fine.

After some time—

I finally reached my destination, the fourth floor, and slid down the wall.

Then, the moment I tried to walk after landing—

I collapsed forward with a thud.

‘Huh?’

That was strange.

I was the one who fell, but it felt like the air around me flinched.

Anyway, I figured it was because my body had loosened up after suddenly entering a warm place.

My knee had been damaged when I fell.

“Blood.”

It felt like I could hear a faint scream from somewhere.

“That’s troublesome. It’ll smell like this.”

Muttering gloomily, I simply stood back up.

Then I quickly scanned my surroundings.

“As expected! There’s no one where the direct line lives!”

It needed to be empty, because things were about to get noisy.

Not because of my voice—but something else.

Fortunately, there were no people. Only suits of knight armor lined up along the hallway, standing motionless.

Nothing else.

No one crying. No one running away.

That was good.

Though, somehow, it felt like the helmets of the armors were all turned toward me.

After taking a solemn deep breath, I began checking the doors.

And then—

“Found it!”

A nameplate bearing the head of the family’s name.

If a nameplate like that was attached, it meant this was either his office, bedroom, or simply his room.

Moreover, when I focused, I could sense two different types of mana from beyond the door.

My target was definitely inside.

“Hm. If I just break in…?”

I checked my hands.

They weren’t completely frozen, but after climbing along the ceiling, they were too damaged to move properly.

“Ugh…”

Should I just die once?

But if I died, I’d have to wait three hours.

I had already wasted two weeks getting here—wasting another three hours now would be too much.

The head might even be destroying the underground lab where I used to stay.

“If I climb with these hands, I’ll fall… If I fall, I die. That’s a waste of time!”

So, I abandoned the plan of breaking in through the ceiling.

‘Then…’

It felt like the surroundings had grown even quieter, but I didn’t pay attention as I quickly came up with another plan.

Dragging my uncooperative legs, I approached the door.

“I’ll make them open it!”

Like always, I began knocking.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Open the door, demon!”

Even if they couldn’t hear my voice, they’d hear the knocking.

There was no guarantee the demon inside would open it just because it was noisy like the people in my family did, but—

Then suddenly, I remembered something the nanny’s daughter once said to her younger sibling.

“If God closes a door, a demon opens another one.”

Ah. Another one.

“…Open the window, you demon!”

If it was a god or a demon, maybe they could hear a monster’s voice!

Just in case, I changed my words and kept knocking.

Bang bang bang—CRACK—BOOM!

“The door’s going to break. Your Grace, doesn’t the noise bother you?”

“Not really. More importantly, why is it knocking on the door while telling us to open the window?”

The Duke of Winter asked calmly as he continued his work.

Unsure whether to laugh or not, his aide replied:

“W-Well… should we open the window for now?”

“We just heated the room. What nonsense. Useless. Do you know anything at all?”

“You’re taking your frustration out on me just because you’ve been up for two days. Your Grace, you really are getting old.”

“Perhaps there’s too little work.”

“I stayed up too, you know. Go easy on me.”

There was only one reason they had stayed up for two days.

That strange child.

The child in question had entered the Duke of Icarus’ territory two days ago—

riding in a vassal’s merchant carriage.

‘Judging by how it talks, it’s human.’

Recently, humanoid monsters had begun appearing, so they couldn’t be completely certain.

But it spoke too well to be a monster—and yet didn’t seem like a normal human child either.

‘Surviving winter here without even a coat is already absurd.’

After some deliberation, they decided to bring the child inside under the assumption that it was human.

For the time being, the Duke and his vassals would keep a close watch.

The vassal who brought the child had strongly insisted on it.

‘We brought it in, but…’

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Open the window, you demon! I am an assassin!”

Ha. What a character.

The aide smiled calmly and said:

“Ah. I just learned something.”

“What is it?”

The Duke lifted his cold yet beautiful face, as if he had been waiting.

Despite appearances, he was paying attention.

To that strange, pitiful child.

“That child has no talent for singing.”

“….”

“Ah, and also—better stamina than expected.”

To be honest, they already understood the suspicious child’s intentions.

There was nothing left to uncover—it had been loudly announcing everything while climbing to the fourth floor.

Its boldness was absurd, but there was no need for further observation.

All that remained was to meet it directly.

So what were they waiting for?

The aide grinned.

“Will the door break first, or will the child get hurt first? That’s what you’re wondering, isn’t it, Your Grace?”

The Duke stared at his cousin and aide, then flicked his pen.

“Gah!”

Then, finishing his work, he said:

“Let it in.”

It was time to meet that bold little assassin.

The aide sprang up as if he had been waiting and opened the door.

Then gently caught the child, who was falling forward from the force of pounding on it.

“Open the wind—!”

Still clenching both fists, I toppled forward.

‘I’m going to hit!’

My hands and feet wouldn’t move properly, so I couldn’t catch myself.

I braced for impact, eyes wide open, staring intensely at the approaching floor.

But then—

Thump.

“…?”

I blinked, unable to understand what had just happened.

The first thing I noticed was a scent.

Different from anything in my family—a faint smell.

‘This smells like cold wind.’

It was the scent I had noticed since entering Icarus territory.

Sniffing curiously, my gaze naturally fell on blue fabric.

Blue clothes. A person?

“Is it a demon?!”

“The demon you were looking for isn’t me—it’s over there.”

“…Huh?”

I froze.

Because he had answered me.

But before I could say anything, the man in blue supported my bottom and swiftly moved.

“Count Eden, go organize a year’s worth of waterway inspection records. Good timing to clear old work.”

Still dazed, I snapped my head toward the new voice.

And met eyes—

with a white demon sitting at a desk.

For a moment, I forgot to even blink.

“Ah, come now, Your Grace. Three people are needed for that task. And the demon the child was calling for is you, isn’t it?”

“So I’m trying to act like one. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Hahaha! …Brother, are you serious?”

At that moment, I recalled something I had heard in my family.

“Those barbarians are cursed beings. You won’t find a single one who looks human. Those damn monsters! Acting like they’re superior—ugly creatures, the lot of them!”

“Cursed… ugly monsters?”

For the first time, my certainty in what I knew began to waver.

The demon I saw with my own eyes—

had a voice like cold wind, was radiant, and looked enormous even while sitting.

Silver hair. Blue-gray eyes. Pale white skin and faint-colored lips.

A sharp nose, and eyes that seemed to hold stars as they looked at me.

“Are demons actually beautiful?!”

“With that, we can confirm it’s not a monster. A monster wouldn’t call me beautiful.”

The demon said, lifting one corner of his lips slightly.