Abel and Jeron both looked at me in surprise. The whole hall fell silent.

I glanced at Abel nervously, half expecting him to shout something along the lines of “what nonsense are you talking about!” before kicking me out, but instead, he surprised me.

“Ha... Ha...”

With the quietest laugh, he reached over to softly pat my head with a grin. “All right. That was the funniest thing I’ve heard in a while. For a child, you’re quite amusing.”

A-amusing?! I wasn’t trying to be funny. I had been serious.

“So I’ll give you a chance,” said Abel, his gentle expression suddenly twisting into a frightening smile. “Prove yourself to me.”

He’s a bit scary but still much kinder than I’d been expecting.

“But be warned, little girl. You’re risking your own life.”

Never mind. I take back my words. Kind he is not.

“Thank you for your generosity,” I said, struggling to keep my composure.

Abel turned around without bothering to respond. “Jeron, give this girl a room.”

“Understood, sir,” his advisor replied hastily, before letting out a small sigh of relief.

Jeron seemed much more lenient than Abel. Meeting my eyes, he smiled kindly. His was the first welcoming response I had received since falling into this world.

“This way, Lady Fiona,” he said.

I was astonished that this man actually remembered my name—unlike Abel, who insisted on calling me “girl” or “kid.” I walked behind Jeron, following him down the long hallway of the Heylon Castle. We stopped in front of a spacious room.

“You’ll be using this for a while,” Jeron said.

It was completely unlike the attic I had lived in back in the House of Green. “Is it really okay for me to stay here?”

I couldn’t help but stare slack-jawed at the sparkling room. After how Abel had treated me, I had not been expecting such niceties whatsoever. Jeron chuckled, looking at me with a gentle gaze and a soft smile on his lips. Perhaps he found my question endearing.

“Of course,” he replied.

Then I quickly cleared my throat, reminding myself that I was much older than I appeared. It wouldn’t do to act so undignified. So I tried to appear more poised in my next response.

“Thank you very much for showing me the way,” I said stiffly.

Of course, I was still a thirteen-year-old on the outside. So no matter how maturely I acted, I would never be seen as an actual adult. But acting like a child might get me kicked out again, so it was still my best bet to act older than my age.

Jeron's eyes softened further, the corners of his lips turning down as he headed toward the exit. “You must be exhausted. I bid you to rest.”

“Yes, sir,” I replied.

Jeron shut the door and left the room.

All of the adrenaline immediately rushed out of my body, leaving me exhausted but relieved. If I was being honest, Abel had really frightened me. I have no idea what I might have done if I had been turned away in the end. I felt strange. I was pitying myself for cowering before a man that I myself had created. How should I even begin to process how I felt about this? In the end, I decided to shut off my brain and crawl into bed.

“Let’s just sleep...” I murmured. War or not, I’d have to think about everything later.

So much had happened in such a short span of time, and I was too exhausted to do anything else. My brain was begging me to go to sleep, so as soon as I closed my eyes, I fell deeply asleep.

* * *

Jeron returned to the reception room and found Abel sitting in the large center chair, resting his chin on his hand.

“What happened to the girl?” Abel asked.

“I led her to her room.”

Abel let out a low chuckle as he leaned back. “She was insolent but bold.”

He was reflecting on what had happened earlier, on the little girl who had been standing here just moments before in this room. He could not forget the look on her face—shaking with fear, but still looking him straight in the eye. She was brave.

“Prove herself... I must say, I like that phrase. I have no need for useless people in my castle, after all. What do you think of the kid?” asked Abel.

Jeron’s face fell as he thought back to the delighted expression on Fiona’s face as she took in her new room. She was only a little girl, and he couldn’t imagine such a child going to war.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “She does seem quite mature for her age. Yet she is but a child... Are you truly going to send her to the battlefield?”

“Yes,” Abel replied. “She volunteered. If she runs away with her tail between her legs, I’ll have to send her away.”

Although he was giving her a chance, his face revealed that he didn’t expect much from her. He had accepted the girl’s offer out of amusement, but she was barely even in her teens. There was no way she could possibly exceed his expectations.

Could he be more ruthless? Jeron thought.

“I know what you’re thinking,” pointed out Abel.

Jeron coughed lightly in response. “Anyway, the girl is incredibly calm and collected despite her young age,” he continued, clearing his throat. “There must be a reason why such a young child has come to this dangerous place. Shall I look into the House of Green?” He looked up at his liege expectantly.

“Yes. I never liked them all that much to begin with, but now I have a certain reason. Look into the family. Don’t miss even a single speck of dust in their cellar,” replied Abel lazily, leaning back deeper into his chair and crossing his legs.

“Understood, sir.” Jeron paused, then asked one more question. “When are you... going to send that child, Fiona, to the front?”

“I’ll send her to the second rampart in two days.”

Jeron looked at him incredulously. Of all the locations in the northern front, the second rampart was the most dangerous. It held the highest frequency of demon assaults.

“I can tell what you’re thinking—that I’m scum.”

Perhaps he should do a better job of hiding his true feelings. Jeron quickly looked away.

“Don’t worry,” Abel said. “She won’t be alone.”

“You’re accompanying her, sir?”

“Yes.”

Despite his outwardly careless attitude, perhaps the duke was more concerned about the child than he seemed. Jeron glanced back at Abel and let out a sigh of relief.

I hope this goes well. Abel Heylon had long held the reputation of being more like a beast than a man. The protector of the harsh north, he was ruthless toward those who proved useless to him. His grace only fell on those who he deemed worthy.

Still lazily holding his chin in his hand, Abel continued his train of thought. “If she turns out to be useless, I shall throw her to the demons myself.”

With crumbled hopes, Jeron groaned to himself. I was right! He is scum!

* * *

It took an entire day of rest to recover from my travels. Then on the next day, I got a call from Abel at the crack of dawn.

“Now is the time for you to prove yourself to me, kid,” he said loftily.

If I had held any affection for him previously, I lost it immediately. This man was truly a piece of work. After all, I had been the one who created him, but aside from his handsome face, he didn’t seem to have any other redeeming qualities.

As Fiona’s body was only that of a child, I was still exhausted despite having slept for so long. “Understood, sir,” I said, stifling a yawn. Maybe I looked too comfortable because Abel laughed in response.

“Are you not afraid?” he asked.

“My being afraid won’t change anything,” I said dryly.

I mean, certainly, I was a little concerned over the affair. How could I not be? I had originally come from a world ruled by science, not magic. I knew nothing about fighting demons either. Yet knowing what awaited me in the end, I had no other choice.

Annoyingly, Abel seemed intent on frightening me.

“I will accompany you, but I will not protect you. You may die,” he said.

I looked up at him. To be fair, I wasn’t afraid of death. It wasn’t as if I expected anything better from this world—especially not from him. But couldn’t this grown man be a bit kinder to a child?

“I don’t care,” I replied.

It was true. What concerned me was my bleak future, not the prospect of dying.

“I’m not afraid of death,” I said calmly.

I was not lying. Of course, I wouldn’t willingly allow a demon to rip me apart, but whatever happened now would still be better than my soul suffering eternal torment later on.

The nice thing about having such a terrible future was that it made the present moment a little bit more bearable.

I felt like weeping. Why did I have to become Fiona of all the characters in my novel? I mean, I wasn’t asking to become the protagonist. In fact, I would have been satisfied living as one of the numerous side characters.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I realized that everyone had fallen silent. Both Abel and Jeron looked at me with strange expressions.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” I stammered.

Abel suddenly put his hand on my head. “What a pity, little girl...”

“I’m sorry?” I asked.

“I personally like seeing someone struggling to survive. You’re rather too calm. I’m not having any fun,” he said.

Jeron sighed quietly in the back. I wanted to join him.

Looking up at the clear sky, I breathed in deeply. How could such a twisted man exist? Well, I suppose I was responsible for writing this novel, which meant I was the reason Abel existed in the first place.

Heaven help me...