The Villainess is Retiring

Chapter 3

“You’re a demon! Demons are supposed to be selfish. Why is it a lifetime contract? Isn’t it a bad deal since you get nothing out of it?”

The demon beat his chest in outrage at my obvious question. “That’s why we usually ask for payment! Or we make a deal with someone interesting. Like a person who wants to kill people or start wars.”

I wanted neither of those things. Since I called his real name, he couldn’t accept payment from me. Thus, he couldn’t have any fun because I wasn’t planning to do anything.

“Oh, um... What if I wish for you to go home?”

“No. There’s only one way I can go back to the demon realm—when you die.”

Ordinarily, he would have to wait until I died. And being a demon, he could easily kill a person without any sense of guilt. Thus, couldn’t he kill me, then return to the demon realm?

As I pondered that, he approached me with an emotionless face. He stood close and wrapped his hands around my neck. The air in the room was warm, yet his hands were freezing cold. They felt both soft and firm around my throat, and he could easily twist my neck if he wanted to. Strangely, however, I felt no fear.

As I calmly looked up at him, the demon chuckled.

“You instinctively feel it too, don’t you? I can't kill you." The demon loosened his grip around my neck.

“From the moment we entered into a contract, I can no longer kill you. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“But you can still do things behind my back to kill me. Like hire an assassin.”

“You can just wish for me to not do that.”

The demon sulked and then tilted his head in realization. “Wait, did you just tell me how to kill you?”

“Yes... But you told me how to stop you from killing me.”

The demon rolled his eyes and grabbed his hair after recognizing his mistake. “Ugh, damn it! I shouldn’t have told you anything.”

“Too late,” I said as I smiled and quickly made the wish. “You can’t kill me, either directly or indirectly. I don't want to die."

Even if I was inside a book, it was still my precious second chance at life. Besides, I was reborn as an aristocrat. I couldn’t die before I enjoyed a life of luxury that I couldn’t experience in my past life, could I? The only problem was the sudden appearance of that demon.

“I’m so screwed... I can’t receive payment... I can’t kill anyone... Why did I have to get summoned by such a boring human?! I’m completely screwed!”

I rested my chin in my hand and stared at the demon as he kept repeating how screwed he was. He was undeniably handsome, which was befitting of a demon whose job it was to bewitch people. He was even better looking than the crown prince who was the most handsome of Kathryn’s five pet fish. His hair was a rare silver, and his eyes were crimson-red.

Everia’s character had auburn hair and green eyes, which were both very common, but the demon’s beauty was out of this world. He looked as perfect as a painting even when he was making a stupid expression and feeling sorry for himself. I let out a sigh as I stared at his breathtaking beauty.

“Fine. You said I need to take responsibility for you, right? I summoned you here, so I’ll take care of you.”

“Take care... of me?” He looked at me while holding his head in his hands.

“How are you going to take care of me?” he asked, doubt and resentment filling his eyes.

“I just need to feed you and give you a place to sleep, right?”

Since my father was the duke, I had plenty of money. I didn’t know the exact amount, but I was sure I’d inherit plenty of assets from him. Thus, taking care of one person wouldn't be a problem.

However, the being in front of me was no ordinary human. He might have special food requirements. Or he might even drink blood like a vampire. I wondered if that was why he mentioned blood earlier. Hoping that wasn’t the case, I quickly asked him about it.

“Do demons eat the same things humans do? It’d be annoying if you need something weird like blood or... human hearts.”

The demon frowned as if my question was ridiculous. “Is that what you think of demons? We’re cultured folks who eat beef and bread!”

“Ah, that’s no problem then.”

“You don’t think there’s any problem? Is eating and sleeping all there is to life? What about the fact that my life will be a bore?! We demons live for pleasure!” he yelled in a fit of rage.

I was shocked, but I couldn’t help laughing. Either he had a flower garden for a brain, or he had no idea what a boring life really looked like.

“You’re full of yourself, aren’t you? Would you like me to make your life truly boring?”

“Hmph! How would you do that?”

“You said you have to grant every wish I make. What if I wished for you to just stand and face the wall every day without eating or sleeping? Wouldn’t life truly be boring then?”

Immediately, the demon’s smug face turned pale. He had made that same expression when I asked him to light the fireplace. After I saw how dejected he was, I knew I had won the argument.

“I’ll feed you and give you a place to sleep. You can find a way to entertain yourself.”

The demon nodded while pouting. He was dissatisfied, but it seemed like he decided to accept the situation which solved my first problem. I still wondered how I would introduce him to other people though. His appearance was quite conspicuous. It would be difficult to gloss over it. I’d have to figure something out fast.

While I was agonizing over that issue, the demon poked my arm. “Hey, human.”

“Yes?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to... start a war?”

“Mhm. No war.”

“I see.”

His shoulders drooped at my firm answer. He definitely didn’t listen all that well. He looked like a big disappointed puppy, so I reached out to him without thinking. When I stroked his hair lightly, he raised his head. He looked at my hand touching his head, then at my face as he tried to understand.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, you want me to go higher?”

“Are you treating me like a dog?”

Since he was a demon, he was good at reading people. I avoided his gaze and changed the subject.

“How should I address you? Can I really not call you by your name?”

I was just trying to change the subject, but after asking about it, I realized it was an important question. I couldn’t exactly keep calling him “Mr. Demon.” Plus, I was already notorious in my own right, so I didn’t want to attract any more attention for summoning a demon.

“Do you have a name you like using instead? If you do, I’ll use that name.”

“It’s not my real name, so who cares? Call me whatever you want.”

“Hmm... Then can I call you an idiot, Mr. Idiot?”

“Hey! That’s not fair!” the demon yelled. He pushed my hand aside. “Do you know how smart I am?! I can’t believe you called me an idiot!”

“Then tell me what I should call you. If you really don’t care, then I’ll just call you

'Mr. Idiot.’”

“Ugh, this sucks! Seriously! Why did I have to get summoned by someone like you?!” The demon grumbled and pulled at his hair.

Was he going to have a pity party again?

Maybe he acted like this because he was the fire-wielding demon. He seemed quite hot-tempered. I turned my gaze to the fireplace. As I patiently waited for his anger to dissipate, his grumbling subsided. After that, there was silence.

Before long, he whispered in my ear, “Harry.”

“Harry?”

“If anyone calls me by a name, that’s what they say. Even our family members don’t use our real names.”

“Oh, I see. Real names are only for the contract. Did your previous contractors call you by that name?”

“You’re my second one. The first one was that idiot who wanted to be king, and he didn’t care to know my name. He just wanted my power.”

“So I’m the first human to call you ‘Harry,’ huh?”

“Uh...”

The demo—I mean, Harry, had been staring blankly at me and then began to blush. He quickly covered his face with his hands. Maybe he felt his face heating up.

“Don’t attach any strange meaning to it!”

“When did I do that?”

“You did. You just did it!”

“I was just verifying a fact.”

“Hey, human, how come you’re so calm after saying something so embarrassing?”

“Why is that embarrassing?”

“You don’t think it’s embarrassing? Wow, you’re a scarier person than I thought.”

When Harry started huffing, I let out a sigh. I just wanted to light my fireplace, but it seemed as though I was stuck with a high-maintenance demon.

* * *

“Why do I need to stay in this form?” Harry whined.

“Because...”

Instead of answering, I kneeled down to make eye contact with the dog sitting in front of me. He became a large dog with fluffy white fur. As for his breed, he resembled a Samoyed. I couldn't believe Harry the demon was hiding behind such a gentle and cute face. Well, to be precise, Harry wasn't behind it. Since he had transformed into the dog, the dog was him.

“The demon and the dog don’t go together very well,” I said.

“Why not?”

“Because dogs are gentle and loyal.”

Harry clicked his tongue as if he couldn’t understand me.

“Humans seem to think we’re cunning, but demons are quite loyal too. We keep our promise and stick around until the contractor dies.”

“That’s not loyalty. That’s fidelity. Loyalty comes from the heart.”

“Tch... You humans are never satisfied with using our abilities. You always want our hearts too. How exhausting.”

With disgust in his voice, Harry shook his head and clicked his tongue again. Only old people who lived for decades would say something like that.

“Harry, do you know how funny it is when you say that in dog form?”

“Do you think I want to be in this form? I’m only like this because you asked me if there was anything I could transform into.”

All demons have an animal familiar connected to their own souls, and they can transform into their familiar’s form when necessary. In Harry's case, his soul’s familiar was a dog.

“It can’t be helped. I’m more famous than you think. If I suddenly show up with a man, people will spread rumors about me. My objective is to live as quietly as possible in Airelle.”

“The duke’s daughter who was banished after her engagement was broken off immediately brought a man into the mansion!”

It was the perfect setup for dirty rumors. The duke told me to stay out of trouble. If I were to create problems due to a man being here, I bet he’d be furious. Instead of sending me to another estate in the country, he might actually kick me out of our family.

If that were to happen, my dream of living as a rich man’s daughter would be over.

“Stay in that form. Showing your demon form to other people will just create headaches.”

I was glad Harry’s soul animal was a dog. I figured I could just say that I found a stray dog while I was out on a walk. And since he didn’t seem to have an owner, I decided to keep him. It was common for nobles to keep dogs or cats, so it wouldn’t seem strange. It was a little disappointing that Harry wasn’t a small dog favored by noble ladies, but he still passed for a dog nevertheless.

What if he turned into a snake or a bat? How suspicious would that look? In addition to my current notoriety of being a vicious woman, people would think I was a witch.

Actually, I summoned a demon and then he became my servant, so I would be a witch according to the opinions of the people in this world. As if being the villain wasn’t bad enough, was I also a witch?

First, I came back to life as a villain and then became a witch. I couldn’t believe it. I’m pretty sure there were witch hunts going on around this time. Once a witch was captured, she was tortured to death. Sometimes, she was burned alive. Just thinking about it was frightening.

That’s why no one could find out about the demon. I don’t know how I even got myself into such a mess. I couldn’t help but sigh at the absurdity of it all, but there was nothing I could do about it anymore.

“Anyway, when we’re around others, please try to act like a normal dog as much as possible. You can’t talk like you are now.”

“Do you think I’m stupid? I have enough sense to know that much. Don’t worry. I’ll pull off the dog act perfectly.”

With a confident look on his face, Harry let out a loud bark.

“Oh?”

His bark was surprisingly similar to that of a real dog. I clapped my hands in amazement, and Harry raised his chin proudly.

“By the way, how are you going to explain the fire I made? Didn’t you summon me here because that wood doesn’t burn with normal fire?”

Harry walked over to the fireplace and sat down. The black steel wood was crackling and burning nicely. I was so thankful for the fire that drove out the cold.

“Well, I’m a magician too, so I’ll just say I used magic to create a very strong fire.”

Magicians use mana to wield magic. They aren’t as powerful as the blue wizard from the myth, but they display amazing abilities compared to ordinary people. Kindling fire or creating water is one of their abilities. But because using mana is a rare ability, there are only a handful of magicians in the kingdom. Everia was a magician, but no one in the kingdom ever called her one.

“You’re a magician?” Harry asked as he looked at me through narrowed eyes.