ILJV 05

Chapter 05

“The fire’s caught. Good heavens.”

Emma stared, her mouth hanging open, at the roaring flames inside the fireplace. Her expression was blank with disbelief, as if she couldn’t trust what she was seeing.

The Baron of Insetia — who hadn’t shown his face since greeting me on the first day — and even the butler, who had been too busy running the household, had gathered before my fireplace. Apparently, the rumor that I’d managed to light black ironwood had already spread through the mansion.

“Black ironwood is burning…”

The baron murmured, eyes fixed on the fire.

The flames Harry had produced were slightly different from an ordinary fire. The overall color was the same, but the core flickered with an eerie shade of blue — faint enough that one might miss it unless they looked closely. Even then, they’d probably think, “Huh? Maybe I imagined it.”

‘So no one will realize this is the fabled blue flame from the myths.’

Just as I predicted, Emma and the butler were merely overwhelmed by the sight of burning black ironwood.

But the baron was different. His eyes were calm and calculating as they met mine.

“I heard it was you who lit this fire, my lady.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“How did you do it?”

“Well… let’s see.”

After a moment’s thought, I clasped my hands together and looked up at him earnestly.

“Like this.”

“Like that?”

“I prayed! Very sincerely!”

“…Pardon?”

The baron, who had been mirroring my serious expression, suddenly let out a short, incredulous laugh.

“You prayed sincerely… and the fire just caught?”

“Yes. I mean, I am a mage, after all. It’s not that unbelievable. Mages do strange things all the time, don’t they?”

I tilted my head lightly, pretending it was no big deal. Of course, the baron wasn’t the type to just accept that explanation.

“My lady may not know, but this is black ironwood. It doesn’t burn with ordinary fire.”

“I know. Emma told me. But I just tried, and it worked.”

At my carefree tone, the baron’s neatly shaped eyebrows twitched ever so slightly. I ignored the obvious irritation on his face and shrugged.

“It was too cold. I needed that fire. Maybe my magic responded to my desperation — a mage’s little miracle, you could say?”

[Playing innocent, are we? You’re quite the actress, huh?]

Harry’s voice echoed in my mind, sounding exasperated. He called it resonance — the telepathic connection between contractor and demon.

[Be quiet, Harry.]

[They can’t hear me anyway. What’s the harm?]

[I can hear you. And you’re giving me a headache.]

To make our conversation smoother, I decided to make another wish.

[While I’m talking to other people, please don’t interrupt, Mr. Demon. That’s my new wish.]

[What? You want me to stay silent on top of hiding my form? That’s suffocating.]

[Harry, do you want to go stand facing the wall?]

[…That’s just petty. I even turned into a dog for you, and now you’re telling me to shut up too?]

[Sounds like you’re not happy. In that case, you really should—]

Before I could finish, Harry yelped.

[Agh, fine! I’ll shut up!]

Thanks to his sudden silence, I could finally focus on the baron. Oddly enough, he didn’t press the matter further.

‘Strange. There’s no way he actually believed that ridiculous story.’

Instead of questioning me more, he just looked at me thoughtfully and nodded.

“…I see. You certainly are gifted with magic, my lady.”

The baron’s ambiguous response was immediately followed by the butler’s excited outburst.

“My lady’s fire must possess some special power! To think black ironwood could actually burn — it’s a miracle! The merchant guilds have tormented us for years!”

He gritted his teeth.

“They exploited the fact that no firewood grows in Erel. They charged us outrageous prices, and we had no choice but to comply.”

‘Ah. So that’s the situation.’

While I listened casually, the butler grew increasingly impassioned.

“But now we finally have usable fuel! With your wondrous fire, my lady, we can burn black ironwood at last!”

In a land as cold as this, lacking firewood was a fatal weakness — and everyone knew it. Of course the merchants would’ve taken advantage of that.

‘That explains why Erel felt so poor for a ducal territory.’

As I nodded in understanding, I noticed the butler’s eyes suddenly glistening with tears.

‘Wait… tears?’

To my disbelief, his eyes were indeed brimming.

“This is a miracle born from your ladyship’s devotion!”

“…Huh? A… miracle?”

“My word! For someone with so little innate mana — you must have prayed so earnestly to drive away Erel’s cold that such a powerful and sacred flame manifested!”

“No, I just— I was cold, so…”

I tried to correct him, but the butler was already swept up in emotion and wouldn’t hear a word.

“The Duke must have sent you here for this very reason! I was foolish to think he merely foisted you upon us after your… accident.”

‘No, you were right the first time.’

The Duke had simply dumped an unwanted burden here.

‘And that burden is me.’

“My judgment was shallow. Please forgive me, my lady!”

“Forgive you? That’s not—”

There was nothing to forgive, since his assumption was entirely correct. But my words only deepened the emotion in his eyes.

“To say there’s no need for forgiveness… Such generosity! So the scandalous rumors were lies after all!”

Apparently, Ibría’s infamous reputation had spread all the way to this backwater at the edge of the kingdom — even without the internet.

‘Wow, Ibría. A nationwide villain. Impressive.’

The butler bowed deeply, looking sheepish.

“Well, royal capital gossip is never reliable. I should have known better than to believe those loose-tongued Southerners… It was foolish of me.”

“No, those rumors were actually—”

“I must hurry and share this blessed flame throughout the mansion! At last, the estate can function properly again. Everyone will thank you for your heartfelt prayer, my lady!”

Sharing the fire itself wasn’t the issue — it’s not like it would run out. The problem was that his ridiculous misunderstanding would spread just as fast as the flames.

I reached out to stop him, but he was already gone, darting out with a lit candle. I could only watch his retreating figure in dismay.

[Want me to shut him up for good? Killing him is the most reliable way. Tempting, right?]

[…Shut up, Harry.]

[Suit yourself.]

Harry stepped back with a sigh, then frowned slightly.

[Hey, by the way — your tone’s gotten kinda rough, hasn’t it?]

[Harry, I told you to shut it. Do you really want to spend eternity facing the wall—]

[Nope! Silence it is! Though I gotta say, being told to ‘shut up’ suits me. It’s kinda my thing.]

Harry shrank away, finally quiet again. As I sighed in relief, the baron spoke up.

“By the way, that dog… I don’t recall seeing it before. You didn’t bring a pet with you from the capital, did you?”

He looked to Emma for confirmation. She shook her head.

“I’ve never seen it before either.”

As the two turned toward him, Harry barked cheerfully and wagged his tail.

‘Yup, picture-perfect dog.’

I gave him an approving look before answering.

“I met him while walking in the garden. He didn’t seem to have an owner, so I brought him in.”

“There was a dog that size wandering in the garden?”

The baron’s eyes flicked between me and Harry with suspicion, but I met his gaze confidently.

“Please ask around the staff. Maybe someone lost a dog. If no one claims him, I’ll keep him. I’ve been thinking of getting a pet anyway — it gets lonely.”

“If you’d like a companion, I can find you one more suitable — gentle, intelligent, purebred. Surely that would be better than some stray mutt.”

Polite as he was, his meaning was clear: ‘You deserve better than that mongrel.’

Harry bristled immediately.

[Who’s he calling a mongrel?! Do you have any idea what kind of demon I am? I’m the king of—]

‘Oh, good grief. Here we go again.’

Ignoring him, I cut the mental link and addressed the baron.

“So you’re telling me to just throw him out? That’s cruel. It’s freezing outside.”

The baron’s lips tightened as I gestured toward the icy window. If Harry had really been a normal dog, he’d have frozen to death by now.

“If we can’t find his owner, sending him back out there is basically a death sentence. How could anyone with a conscience do that?”

‘Life is precious, you know? Right?’

I thought it was a perfectly reasonable thing to say — but both the baron and Emma looked at me as though I’d started speaking another language. Emma even touched her ear, wondering if she’d misheard.

‘Well… fair point.’

It didn’t take me long to realize why they looked so stunned.

‘Guess it’s weird hearing someone accused of attempted murder talk about conscience.’

Maybe an evil villain should act more like one.

I crossed my arms, lifted my chin, and planted one foot forward — mimicking every arrogant bully I’d ever seen in movies.

Luckily (or unluckily), the effect was immediate. Both of them stiffened slightly, as if thinking, ‘There’s the Ibría we’ve heard about.’

I decided to drive the point home.

“What? You got a problem with that? I said I’m keeping him.”

My voice rose a pitch — sharp and petulant, even to my own ears.

‘Wow. I didn’t even try that hard, and I already sound villainous. Guess Ibría’s genes run deep.’

Feeling strangely impressed, I hugged Harry tight.

[As one who inherits such noble— ack!]

He choked mid-boast as my arms squeezed around his neck.

“I said I’ll keep him! Don’t tell me that’s not allowed?”

This time, my voice was downright venomous, my glare fierce enough to make anyone flinch.

“…If you insist, my lady.”

At last, the baron yielded to my villainous act.

“We’ll first check if he has an owner. If not, then yes — you may keep him. I’m sure he’ll be grateful. Better to stay here than freeze to death outside.”