CHAPTER 3
They say human life is a constant stream of regret and reflection.
“I regret confidently saying I’d win him over!”
“I regret it!”
“I regret thinking I was perfectly prepared!”
“I regret it!”
“I regret saying I’d even use seduction if I had to!”
“I regre—Miss, no! I can’t agree with that one. You’re truly beautiful!”
…Honestly, I think 90% of my overconfidence was Anna’s doing.
Even though the sun was already high in the sky, I couldn’t bring myself to get out of bed. All I could do was smack the poor blanket with my fists.
My grand plan to win the Archmage over to my side? A colossal failure. An epic flop.
With that, the “Demon Be Gone! Exorcise the Demon! Go Away, Demon!” project had officially hit 100 failures. You’d think reaching 100 would earn me some kind of prize, but all I got was defeat, despair, and depression.
And to top it off, when I looked up and saw those demons floating around the ceiling grinning down at me, I started to wonder if this was some divine sign that I was just meant to be a demon nanny forever.
“Miss, how about trying to meet the Archmage again before he leaves Brookshell?”
Anna said while straightening out the now thoroughly destroyed bedding.
“How would I even do that? And after what happened yesterday…!”
The memory of how I acted yesterday nearly brought tears to my eyes.
After Ian arrived at the banquet, many nobles tried to speak to him. But for some reason, he avoided every single one of them. Because of that, I had to chase him all over the place with a glass of wine in hand—the wine I’d read he liked.
Every time I approached, it felt like he glanced my way, but I didn’t have the luxury to care about that.
Finally, as his cold demeanor drove most people away, I got my chance.
“Hello? What a coincidence—fancy meeting you here.”
I managed to greet Ian only after trailing him for about four hours.
My hand was trembling as I held out the wine glass, praying he wouldn’t walk away again. To my surprise, the stiffness in his expression eased slightly, and the corner of his mouth tugged up into a faint smile.
“A coincidence, huh?”
“Yes. A total coincidence.”
He took the wine, and the smile on his lips grew.
What was that look? No matter how thoroughly I researched him, there were limits. Every newspaper photo I’d seen showed him with the same stone-cold expression.
“For a coincidence, you were following me around almost like… Merry.”
“Merry?”
“Oh, Merry’s my dog.”
Ah, so that’s what he meant! …Wait, no!
“Ahaha, you’re quite the joker.”
“I wasn’t joking. But hey, you laughed, so I’ll take it.”
Ian shrugged, swirling the wine glass in his hand. That reminded me—oh right, I had some talking points prepared!
“This wine has such a lovely aroma, I find myself coming back to it again and again.”
“Really? I’m not a fan of alcohol, actually.”
“Pardon? Uh… Ah! Did you happen to check today’s horoscope? I always start my day by reading it!”
“I see. I don’t really believe in those things.”
This… this can’t be happening. I read every single article ever written about Ian Crichton. I memorized them, highlighted them, analyzed them. There’s no way I—
Damn you, stupid reporters!
Now I was sweating bullets, convinced that anything else I asked would be met with more contradictions.
At least he was still here. That was my one solace in this disaster.
“Um, then… what do you like?”
“Young lady, your name?”
Right! I’d completely forgotten to introduce myself. I just dove straight into small talk like an idiot. No wonder everything went sideways.
“I’m Rayleigh Magnolia, daughter of Viscount Grey Magnolia.”
“Miss Rayleigh… Nice to meet you. Then, if you’ll excuse me.”
And just like that, Ian turned away.
I stood there, staring blankly as he walked off, only snapping out of it when his carriage pulled up at the entrance. I rushed after him—and caught up just before he stepped inside.
“Miss Rayleigh?”
Yes! I caught him! But now what?!
“P-please… spare me!”
Pfft! Ahahaha.
He threw his head back and laughed, full-on, from the gut. I blinked in confusion. Was that really that funny? I was being completely serious.
Watching him chuckle to the point of tears made my own anger bubble up, but I couldn’t let it show. If I blew up now, I’d lose everything—including my last shot at making him an ally.
So I forced myself to laugh along.
“Ahaha…”
“It’s been a long time since someone made me laugh like that.”
Yeah? Well, it’s been a long time since I saw someone laugh that hard.
“But really, what was that about sparing you?”
“Um… if I may just have a moment of your time…”
I had no choice. This was it. I had to come clean and ask directly. No more games. I was prepared to beg—kneel, if I had to!
“If you need somewhere private, come aboard.”
Ian extended a hand to help me into the carriage.
Next thing I knew, I was inside. From the outside, the carriage looked fancy enough, but from the inside? Just as dazzling—covered wall to wall in gemstones.
“You must really like jewels.”
There’s no other explanation for the sheer number of gemstones embedded in every inch of this carriage.
“Not particularly.”
Yeah, right. “Not particularly,” my foot. You love them.
As I admired the sparkly walls, I noticed my body was starting to feel oddly warm.
Maybe it’s just the sudden change in temperature?
I had sipped some wine while waiting for Ian… How many glasses was it? One, two, three—maybe five? I fanned myself as he signaled the carriage to depart.
“We’ll arrive in about five minutes. Say what you came to say by then.”
“What?!”
Suddenly, I panicked. A time limit?! Where were we even going? No, no—that didn’t matter right now.
“I just wanted to say—”
Deep breath. Say it all at once. Ready… go!
“Since I was a child, I’ve lived surrounded by demons that follow me everywhere. As time passes, I grow weaker, and I don’t know how much longer I can last. I’ve tried everything I could, but now I have nowhere left to run. Just when I’d lost all hope, a ray of light appeared—it was you, Archduke. Please, help me. I need your power!”
Phew.
Spitting it all out in one breath left me lightheaded. But I couldn’t stop now—not if I was Rayleigh Magnolia. I took another deep breath and delivered the final, desperate plea:
“If you agree to help me, I’m willing to do anything in return!”
Pant, pant.
“Are there demons here right now?”
That was Ian’s first response after a long silence.
Yes, a question! And an important one—but why did it feel like the carriage was spinning? My body felt hot—feverish, almost.
“There’s one right next to me. And another stuck to the floor over thereee.”
“Hm. So, you really can see them.”
Snap. With a flick of his fingers, Ian made the demons inside the carriage vanish instantly. Which meant…
“Woooow. That’s amazing. So, our greeeaaat Archmage can see demons toooo?”
“Yes, I can.”
“Oooh. I’ve never met anyone else who could see them. That’s sooo cool. Is that a mage thing?”
“Not really.”
“Aww, it’s not? And here I thought I was some secret mageee~ Hiccup.”
Wait. Hiccup? Did I… did I just hiccup? Am I drunk? No way. I can handle five glasses of wine easily!
“I saw you earlier—finishing a whole bottle by yourself in the corner.”
“What?! You saw that?! When did you seeee meee? Did I really do thaaat? Whyyy would I do that?”
“Miss Rayleigh. Miss Rayleigh? …Rayleigh.”
All I remembered after that were bits and pieces—me crying and begging, and then me exploding in rage. Even those memories were fuzzy, which only made things worse.
“When you came home, you looked like a sleeping princess. So peaceful in his arms.”
The more I remembered, the more I started to wonder—was I really asleep? Or did the Archmage knock me out?
I sat there in stunned silence until Anna gently placed a pen and notebook in my hands. This was my usual method of calming down after an exorcism failed—my own weird little form of emotional therapy.
I opened the notebook and began writing down the names of all the demons I could remember. Then, on the opposite page, I ranked them again.
Ta-da. Done as always.
“This time’s top demon on the ‘Totally Biased Demon Hotness Chart’ is… drumroll please!”
“It’s Asmode.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Asmode jumped three spots since last time!”
Anna clapped her hands in delight.
“…Wait.”
“What is it?”
Something was off.
Whenever I made this chart, demons would always crowd around me, demanding to be included. But now? Total silence. No demons in sight—not even those that usually crept close just to whisper.
Utter silence.
And then—
Knock knock.
“Young lady, you have a visitor.”
It wasn’t a demon who broke the stillness, but a servant announcing a guest.
I signaled Anna to go check and walked toward the window.
The demon who liked sitting on the windowsill? Gone. The one who used to crawl along the walls? Gone. Except for nights when the full moon was out, they were always around. The emptiness felt… eerily unnatural.
“Young lady.”
Gasp.
Anna’s voice startled me so badly, I nearly screamed.
“He’s here!”
“Who is?”
“Flower-mage!”
Oh no. Dear heavens!
