Episode 03
[Human, can you not hear me?]
In the end, Aiden burst into tears again.
This time, he cried silently.
I gently stroked the back of his small hand with my thumb over and over, watching the tears fall without sound.
As I looked at him, I took a moment to think through my situation.
[Unbelievable. After centuries, I’m summoned again—and you can’t even understand me.]
If my memory was correct—
this world was the setting of a dark, R-rated novel:
“Paradise of the Shattered Night.”
It was the story of the female lead, Marianne, who was imprisoned and abused by a tyrant—only to be saved by the male lead, Derhan.
And the child crying in front of me—
was Aiden Hartwin.
The tyrant.
The villain of this story.
According to the original plot, Aiden would fall from this very tower today and suffer a severe injury.
That injury would leave him with a permanent limp.
He would survive—
only to face repeated assassination attempts by poison over the next three years, until he was completely consumed by darkness.
And then—
a maid, acting under the orders of the new Empress, would attempt to poison him.
That maid… was most likely me.
Unless something drastically changed, I would continue serving Aiden.
And that meant—
the new Empress would one day order me to kill him.
My thoughts grew tangled.
Of all the roles I could have ended up in—
why this one?
My dream had always been simple:
to live a long, quiet life.
But at this rate—
I wouldn’t live long at all.
Still, what mattered right now wasn’t my future.
It was the child crying in front of me.
I pitied him—
but I also had to think about my own survival.
Maybe I should just quit and leave.
If I did—
at least I wouldn’t be killed by him later.
I forced myself to recall the novel.
…The first poisoning attempt would happen when the deposed Crown Prince turned eleven.
Which meant—
if I left before he turned eleven, I could avoid getting involved entirely.
Alright.
Then until that time—
I would save as much money as possible.
That was my plan.
With that resolution in mind, I looked at Aiden—his eyes red and glistening with tears—and offered a faint, practiced smile.
After crying for a long time, Aiden eventually fell asleep from exhaustion.
I looked down at him as he rested in my arms.
His eyes were swollen from crying.
Gently, I brushed his tangled hair aside, tucking it behind his ear.
Only now, after everything had calmed down, did it truly sink in—
he was just a small child.
I softly caressed his tear-streaked cheek, then paused as I noticed how dirty his face had become.
He should probably be cleaned up.
“Undine.”
I called for the lower water spirit.
Normally, a small, water-like fairy would appear before me—
but this time—
nothing happened.
“…Huh?”
That shouldn’t be possible.
Undine was one of the spirits I had contracted.
She should have responded whenever I called.
“Undine?”
I called again.
Still nothing.
[You ignore me, and now you call for Undine? Unbelievable.]
That annoyed, grumbling voice—
I looked up.
The “ghost” from earlier was still there, arms crossed, glaring down at me.
Now that I thought about it, he had been trying to talk to me for a while.
“…Excuse me. I don’t know who you are, but I’m not exactly gifted as a medium. If you have business, you should find someone else.”
[What?]
Ignoring his disbelief, I muttered to myself.
“More importantly, why won’t Undine respond? …Sylph!”
I tried calling Sylph this time.
But just like before—
nothing appeared.
I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself.
Then I called out to the other spirits I could summon.
“Salamander! Gnome!”
The lower fire spirit.
The lower earth spirit.
Neither responded.
“What on earth is going on…?”
I stared at my hands.
They looked the same as always—
but something had clearly changed.
[Ha! Human, don’t tell me you really don’t understand why those little ones won’t appear.]
The “ghost” sneered.
I sighed quietly and turned toward him.
“…Listen, I already told you—I’m not interested in being a medium. I don’t think I can help you. You’re not here to harm me, are you?”
At my cautious question, he bristled.
[Medium? Harm you? I’m not a ghost! How dare you!]
“…Then what are you?”
I narrowed my eyes, looking him up and down.
To be honest—
if he wasn’t a ghost, he was ridiculously handsome.
I had heard that some spirits took on beautiful appearances to deceive humans.
Was he one of those?
As I wondered, he answered.
[I am Sylphid—the King of Wind Spirits.]
“…Ah, I see. That’s grea—”
Wait.
“The what?”
I blinked, processing his words.
“The King… of Wind Spirits?”
At my stunned question, he smiled in satisfaction.
[Now you understand.]
I stared at him, speechless.
I had never imagined—
that the being before me could be a Spirit King.
Now that I looked closer, his body was indeed translucent, like Sylph’s.
But unlike Sylph, who was small and fairy-like with delicate wings—
this man looked entirely human.
If not for his transparency—
I never would have thought he was a spirit.
Which was why—
I had mistaken him for a ghost.
But still—
why a Spirit King?
Why now?
Then I remembered—
what had just happened at the tower.
The moment I had desperately tried to summon a wind spirit.
“…Don’t tell me… that’s why?”
I let out a hollow laugh.
When summoning spirits, strong desire was important.
And in that moment—
I had been more desperate than ever.
I had called for Silaphe.
And instead—
the one who answered was the King of Wind Spirits?
Summoning Silaphe alone had been a gamble.
My talent as a spirit contractor was mediocre at best.
So how could I possibly accept—
that I had summoned a Spirit King?
I looked up at him, still dazed.
“…Excuse me. If you really are the King of Wind Spirits—”
[I told you I am!]
He snapped, clearly offended by my doubt.
“Alright, fine. Let’s say you are. Then why were you summoned?”
[Is that a complaint? Most would consider it an honor.]
He scoffed.
[I answered your desperate call. It helped that you were already connected to one of my children.]
It wasn’t a very clear explanation—
but I accepted it for now.
“…You make it sound easier than I expected.”
[Easier? You truly are absurd. The last time I was summoned was 748 years ago. If it were easy, don’t you think it would have happened more often? Consider it an honor.]
His tone was irritating—
but hearing that it had been 748 years made it clear just how rare this was.
Then again—
spirit contractors themselves were rare.
Even my own case had been unusual.
I had been able to sense mana since birth.
But my reserves were so small that I couldn’t learn magic.
Then one day—
I fell into a lake.
I couldn’t swim.
I was on the verge of drowning—
and in that moment, I summoned Undine.
That was how it all began.
But even as a spirit contractor, all I could summon were lower spirits.
At best, I could purify air, assist with swimming, control fire while cooking, or find my way when lost.
Useful for daily life—
but useless in combat.
In this world, a contractor limited to lower spirits wasn’t particularly valuable.
So then—
why would someone like me—
summon a Spirit King?
“…Then why exactly were you summoned? Are you trying to form a contract with me?”
