Chapter 3
“Fine. I’ll make the contract.”
“Yes—! …Mmph!”
He agreed!
Ariella was about to cheer out loud but quickly covered her mouth.
He agreed to the contract!
She had convinced him with just her words—it felt like a huge win. She wanted to dance on the spot.
But then…
“……?”
“……?”
Silence fell again between the Demon King and the princess.
They just stared at each other. No one moved.
Finally, the Demon King asked, sounding unsure,
“So… what do we do next?”
It was clear—he had no idea what came after this.
He didn’t move a finger, just waited for her to do something.
Ariella was speechless.
“Wait, shouldn’t you know? You’re the Demon King! You must be older than me!”
The Demon King’s face showed a bit of shame.
“I don’t know either. I’ve never done this before.”
“…What?”
“I’ve never made a contract before. I don’t know how it works.”
Ariella felt like screaming.
“You’ve never done one?! How old are you, anyway?”
The Demon King looked irritated, like she hit a sensitive spot.
“Why should age matter to a Demon King? You humans are so full of prejudice. Besides, shouldn’t the summoner know the process?”
Ariella’s head began to throb.
She solved one problem, and now this? This wasn’t the direction she expected things to go.
‘Why does he know nothing? He’s supposed to be a Demon King!’
There were hundreds of Demon Kings in the demon realm.
So… who exactly was this one?
She figured it was time for introductions.
Hoping to hear a familiar name, she asked,
“What’s your name?”
“Ludwig.”
In that moment—
Fwoooosh!
“Wait—huh?”
The magic circle beneath them suddenly spun to life like it was alive.
While Ariella stared in shock, Ludwig spoke like something had clicked in his mind.
“Ah… I guess I had to say my name.”
The magic circle lifted into the air like a glowing seal.
It twisted into swirling red lines, like a whirlpool forming on a red lake.
The swirling patterns broke apart, forming sharp, clear symbols.
To Ariella, they looked like…
‘Letters?’
Before them, a glowing sheet of paper appeared in midair.
The scattered letters floated down, landing on the paper, filling it with glowing red text.
Then Ariella felt it—something powerful.
It was like a dam had burst open.
Thoughts and emotions that weren’t hers came rushing in, mixing with her own.
Was this… Ludwig’s?
Fzzzt!
The magic circle vanished completely.
Only a single sheet of paper—the contract—remained between them.
Flap—
As the magic holding it up disappeared, the paper started to fall.
Ludwig reached out and caught it just before it hit the floor.
He stared at the contract, eyes narrowing at the blood-red writing.
He looked… serious.
‘Did something go wrong?’
Ludwig kept staring at the contract for ten full seconds.
Just as Ariella was about to ask—
Flip!
He turned the contract upside down.
“…Is it this way?”
And then stared at it even harder.
This was… worrying.
It doesn’t take ten seconds to realize a paper is upside down—unless you can’t read.
“Ludwig, what does it say?”
“……”
“…Don’t tell me—you can’t read it?”
“……”
His silence said it all.
‘He really can’t read?! What kind of Demon King—?!’
Ariella groaned and pressed her fingers to her forehead.
…Well, whatever. The contract was done. Time to move on.
“Okay, let’s get back to what we were talking about earlier. There’s no time, so let’s go outside first.”
As she moved, Ludwig tucked the contract into his clothes.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to be kidnapped? If I leave with you now, isn’t that enough? Why go outside?”
“Because it’s not that simple. The situation is complicated.”
If life were easy, she wouldn’t have needed magic or a Demon King in the first place.
Now that she was officially a contractor, Ariella took the lead.
Behind her, Ludwig followed, and his ukulele swung with each step.
Ding—! Diiing—!
Ariella silently swore to do something about that instrument later.
Ludwig muttered,
“This contract stuff really is annoying…”
There were two ships sailing from the ocean kingdom of Oinos to the Empire.
One was a royal ship from Oinos.
Ariella, her attendants, and her guards were on board.
It also carried her wedding gifts and treasures to offer to the Empire.
The other was an imperial warship.
It carried priests, envoys, and soldiers from the Empire.
Officially, they were “protecting” Ariella’s ship from sea monsters or pirates.
In reality, they were watching her to make sure she didn’t try to run away.
On the deck of the imperial warship, the priests were laughing loudly.
“Hahaha! The king of Oinos must really have no pride. Selling off his daughter to win favor?”
“All thanks to the glorious power of His Majesty the Emperor! Even a king bows down and offers up his family.”
“Still… it’s strange. Since when does a royal heir get sold off as a hostage? I’ve never heard of that before.”
“Well, that’s what happens when a stupid man marries a clever woman. That new queen must’ve whispered all the right things in his ear.”
“The queen’s impressive, though. She pushed out a daughter that wasn’t even hers and made her own son the heir.”
The imperial envoys added their comments.
“Poor princess. She was born beautiful and talented, but she’s just going to become a royal ornament.”
“What can she do? Smart daughter, foolish father.”
Among the imperial crowd was Count Igor, a noble from Oinos.
He was the queen’s close ally—and the one who pushed this marriage the hardest.
Even when the others insulted his homeland, Count Igor just smiled and laughed along like a fox.
In truth, he was enjoying the party more than anyone.
One of the imperial men asked him,
“Hey, Count. Did the princess agree to come quietly? I heard she has a bit of a temper.”
Igor waved his hand dramatically.
“You wouldn’t believe the fuss she made. She absolutely refused to go. So I gave her a firm warning.”
“Oh? What did you say?”
“I told her, ‘Use that clever head of yours. Who would want you around? Disappear for the good of the kingdom, like this.’”
“Wahahaha!”
“Perfect! What could she have possibly done anyway?”
“Honestly, it’s a good thing. If that brat had ever become queen, it would’ve been a disaster. Peace in Oinos would’ve ended, for sure!”
One of the imperial men smirked and added sarcastically,
“Not Oinos’s peace—your peace. Yours and the queen’s.”
“Hahaha! Maybe so. Either way, now that she’s out of the picture, life’s great!”
Another glanced toward the cargo on the Oinos ship.
“By the way, Count Igor, the ship is loaded with valuable goods—way more than just a dowry. Planning to take a little extra for yourself again?”
“Oh, no! I wouldn’t dare keep it all. I’ll make sure the priests get a nice cut too. In return, maybe you could say a few kind words to the imperial court…”
“Hahaha! Of course. Now drink! Cheers!”
The wine flowed, and the deck party grew louder.
Even the priests—who were supposed to live simple, holy lives—seemed to forget their roles out here at sea.
Or maybe… they never cared to begin with.
None of them noticed two people silently watching from the shadows.
To be continued…
