Chapter 3
I couldn’t even move a finger.
My entire body felt limp, and it was as if there wasn’t a trace of mana left inside me.
Which made sense, really. My mana was actually disappearing.
With my weakened body, I slowly looked around. It didn’t take long to figure out where I was.
Judging from the conversation I’d overheard earlier, this was Lea Everett’s banquet hall.
The place where the heroine’s birthday celebration was being held—in other words, the mansion of Count Everett!
“This is ridiculous. What happened?”
The portals connecting to the human world had all been sealed and vanished ages ago.
“Ah. And my strength…”
While I had been transported, my heart had suddenly throbbed, and then my mana had evaporated in an instant.
“…I have no strength.”
This unfamiliar sensation of losing my mana was strangely familiar at the same time.
“Could it be my Sabbatical Year?”
Slowly folding my fingers one by one, I tried to recall the date of my last Sabbatical Year.
A witch’s Sabbatical Year came once every fifty years.
Witches were not subject to the “cycle of life” that caused living beings to perish and be reborn.
Because their existence ran contrary to the natural order, there came a period every fifty years after their birth when they were forcibly subjected to nature’s laws.
That period was called the Sabbatical Year.
During that time, every witch, without exception, lost almost all of her mana.
Because of that, it was an unspoken rule for witches not to leave their territory during those years.
But now I was a witch who had fallen into the human world during her Sabbatical Year?
“What kind of disaster is this…? Ugh, my head.”
At this rate, I needed to find somewhere to lie down and recuperate immediately.
Being away from the castle filled with mana made even standing difficult.
As if completely unaware of my predicament, the dazzling night of the Everett family was just beginning.
At least I had landed on the terrace.
“Imagine some suspicious woman suddenly dropping out of thin air into the middle of the banquet.”
I stood there blankly staring at the brightly lit hall, wondering what I should do.
“Commander!”
With an urgent shout, the terrace door swung open.
Startled, I immediately crouched down behind the flowerbed beside the terrace.
A man with silver hair that resembled shimmering moonlight stepped outside.
“Commander, why haven’t you greeted Lady Everett? It looked like she was searching for you. I think this is a good opportunity.”
The blond man who followed him out lightly grabbed his shoulder as he spoke.
“Stop talking nonsense. I just got back and I’m already exhausted from coming to this banquet.”
“Didn’t you come all the way here because you wanted to see Lady Everett in the first place?”
“I came because I was invited. Nothing more.”
The man’s face was illuminated beneath the moonlight as he spoke in a cold tone.
Pale silver hair that sparkled like freshly fallen snow.
Dark eyebrows.
Long, deep-set eyes and violet irises.
That masculine face belonged to none other than—
“Blake LeBlanc!”
“…What?”
“Excuse me?”
The moment I clamped a hand over my mouth, Blake, whose name had suddenly been called, whipped his head around and glared at the blond man behind him.
“What’s your problem? Since when do you speak so casually to me, Rain?”
A chilling coldness seeped into his voice.
Rain immediately stepped back in bewilderment.
“What? I didn’t say anything! You’re saying I spoke informally to you?”
“It wasn’t you who called me?”
“Even if I lost my mind, I wouldn’t do something like that!”
Watching Rain wave his hands frantically, Blake narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Then his gaze swept toward the flowerbed.
“Eek!”
Curse my loose tongue!
The shock and excitement of seeing the tragic second male lead from the original novel in person had made the words slip out before I realized it.
His sharp eyes scanned the flowerbed area.
“If he finds me, I’m dead.”
I desperately squeezed out what little mana I had left and concealed my presence as much as possible.
Normally, I wouldn’t have been afraid.
But instinctively, I could tell.
“That man has surpassed the limits of ordinary humans.”
The pressure was enough to make me hold my breath.
“By the way, have you prepared Lady Everett’s birthday gift?”
“Oh.”
Rain’s sudden question drew Blake’s attention away from the flowerbed.
“D-Don’t tell me… You didn’t prepare one?!”
“I did.”
“Oh, you did. What did you get her?”
“This teddy bear.”
“…What?”
The conversation immediately caught my attention.
A teddy bear for his crush?
That was actually pretty romantic.
Being a romance novel, a cute gift like that made me smile despite my own miserable circumstances.
No wonder he’d been carrying such an oddly out-of-place teddy bear when he came out onto the terrace.
So that was why.
“…Wait a second. Surely you don’t mean this filthy brown teddy bear. Hahaha. Right? Of course not.”
Muttering, “There’s no way. Absolutely no way,” Rain looked at the silent Blake.
Then he suddenly shrieked.
“You mean this one?! This old teddy bear?!”
“Is there a problem?”
“Good heavens.”
For a moment, the terrace fell silent.
“I-I just remembered. Earlier, after training, you were loitering around town.”
“…”
“You didn’t happen to buy it from that old peddler woman who always hangs around there, did you?”
“I did. The old hag grabbed my pant leg and wouldn’t let go. It was annoying, so I bought it. Better than showing up empty-handed.”
“No, it is not better! Today is Lady Everett’s birthday! She’s one of the most important people in your life!”
“I know. But is a birthday really that important? This banquet is just a place for the Everett family to attract investors. Lea won’t care about gifts anyway.”
“Aaaaargh…”
Rain pressed a hand against his forehead and groaned deeply.
Even I couldn’t help frowning.
“Wasn’t he described as a heartless monster without emotions?”
“No, this isn’t a monster.”
I stared at the indifferent silver-haired man in disbelief.
“He’s a robot.”
“I can’t allow this. We’re throwing it away!”
“Don’t act like one of those materialistic humans, Rain. I despise people like that.”
“What are you even talking about?! This isn’t about being materialistic—it’s about throwing away garbage! Give it here!”
“Hand it over.”
“No!”
“…Do you want to die?”
The argument dragged on.
My legs were getting increasingly numb while the two of them bickered.
“This is not the time for this!”
I needed to find a way back to the Demon Realm immediately.
Blake and the original story could wait.
I couldn’t stay in the human world without any mana.
“But where’s the portal?”
There had to be a portal somewhere—the same one that had brought me here.
This was my chance while the two of them were distracted!
Just as I began looking around—
“Ah! Why would you throw the teddy bear?!”
A worn brown teddy bear suddenly fell onto my head with a thump.
“Eek!”
And at that moment—
Flash!
A brilliant burst of light erupted, and my body suddenly felt lighter.
“Huh?”
Blinking through my spinning vision, I felt a large hand gripping one of my arms.
“Oh, honestly. If you were just going to throw it away, why insist on keeping it until the end?”
But why did my body feel so light and fluffy?
Slowly raising my arm, I saw…
A stubby paw covered in fur.
My entire body froze.
I couldn’t understand what had happened.
“This fluffy fur and tiny body…”
Staring blankly at my shrunken form, realization struck.
A teddy bear?
I had become a teddy bear?
“Aaaaaaaaah!”
Damn it. How could this happen?
Even if I’d lost my mana—
How could a powerful witch be sucked into a mere teddy bear?
“Just what is this thing?”
Unless it was an artifact enchanted with magic powerful enough to imprison a witch, this shouldn’t have been possible.
“Okay. First things first. Get out of the bear.”
Focus.
Stay calm.
Take a deep breath.
Then put all my strength into it—
…Huh?
Again!
Put all my strength into it!
Good grief.
“It’s not working…”
I couldn’t return to my original body.
No matter what I did, I remained a fluffy teddy bear.
And to make matters worse—
“I don’t have any mana, so I can’t even move.”
One shocking event after another.
To think I’d end up trapped inside a teddy bear, unable to move an inch.
At this point, there was no choice but to accept reality.
“I’ve become a bear.”
