Chapter 13
“What?”
“I said I don’t want to help you.”
“Why… why won’t you help me?!”
Watching Vivian’s eyes widen in shock at the completely unexpected refusal, Blake fell into thought for a moment.
His rejection had been instinctive, and the reasons that followed were fairly reasonable.
No, perhaps this was actually the perfect opportunity.
‘The one and only existence capable of putting me to sleep.’
That fact alone made her valuable enough to keep by his side.
After experiencing what a proper night’s sleep felt like, there was no way he could go back to how things were before.
So until he figured out exactly how she was doing it, he had no intention of letting her go.
In a cold voice that seemed to carry a biting chill, he said,
“Let’s assume everything you’ve said is true. Even then, how am I supposed to trust you and open this so-called portal? Who knows what might happen if I do? Besides, even if you stay in the form of a teddy bear, I have no problem sleeping.”
“You… you’re not the person I thought you were!”
“No, I am exactly that kind of person. And even if I help you find this portal you mentioned, who’s to say you won’t disappear without showing any gratitude? The only reason I’m keeping you alive right now is because you can temporarily ease this curse.”
“But I said I’d help find a way to break the curse too!”
“Maybe. But I’m not foolish enough to blindly believe everything people tell me.”
Vivian immediately looked wronged. Grabbing her oversized head, she staggered dramatically.
“Blake… repaid kindness with betrayal…”
Watching her with an expressionless face, he finally made a suggestion.
“Then let’s do this. If you’re really telling the truth, sign a contract with me.”
“A… contract?”
He nodded.
Then he opened a drawer beside the table, pulled out a sheet of paper and a fountain pen, and quickly wrote something before handing it to her.
For something written in such a short time, the contents were surprisingly detailed.
[Contract]
Party A: Blake LeBlanc
Party B: Vivian Halloway
Article 1. Party A shall cooperate in ensuring that Party B can continuously replenish her magic power, and Party B shall do her utmost to help Party A fall asleep whenever he wishes.
Article 2. Unless unavoidable circumstances arise, Party B shall not reveal to others that she is a witch.
Article 3. Party A shall search for a portal so that Party B may return to her original world, and Party B shall seek a method to break the curse of the LeBlanc family.
Article 4. This contract shall terminate once Party A’s curse is completely broken. Any changes to the contract require the consent of both parties.
Vivian carefully reread the final clause, which had been written with particular emphasis.
“The contract ends when the curse is broken…”
“As long as you keep your end of the agreement, I’ll do my best to help you return as well.”
Vivian found Blake’s thoroughness annoying, but she continued reading the contract.
The portal was an extremely important matter. She absolutely had to find it if she wanted to return to Halloway Castle.
And painful as it was to admit, she had already learned firsthand that finding the portal and returning home on her own in her current state was beyond her abilities.
Even if she replenished her magic power, she would be trapped in the human world forever if she couldn’t find the portal.
‘That absolutely can’t happen!’
No matter how curious she was about the protagonists of the novel or how exciting it was to visit the human world for the first time in hundreds of years, this was not her home.
A magnificent and beautiful castle in the western lands.
Max, who was surely worried about her, was waiting there. She wanted to return, catch up with him over laughter, and enjoy the fine wine she had been saving.
“Fine. Let’s do it.”
Vivian gripped the fountain pen with both hands.
After struggling to sign her name with the pen, which was nearly half the size of her body, she pushed the contract toward him with a pout.
Blake asked calmly,
“What happens if one party breaks the contract?”
“Nothing like that. A witch’s contract must be honored no matter what. Otherwise, the witch loses her magic forever.”
“Then you’ll keep it. As for me, I always keep my word once I’ve given it.”
There was no hesitation in his voice.
It wasn’t emotion that drove him, but cold and rational judgment based solely on practicality.
Feeling oddly disappointed, Vivian pressed her lips together before turning her head away.
“Now that we’ve signed the contract, cooperate properly! I can’t stay cooped up in this room forever.”
“……”
She knew exactly what Blake was worried about.
A moving teddy bear would be a strange sight in the human world. From Blake’s perspective, it would be difficult to explain if anyone found out.
But she couldn’t simply sit around and hope everything somehow worked itself out.
‘Even if I am the most optimistic witch around!’
Even if Blake opposed it, she needed the freedom to move around.
“When I go looking for the portal, I’ll tell you beforehand. Or next time, how about we stick together like we did earlier?”
“If you’re going to say pointless things, then don’t say anything at all.”
“But if we’re together, nobody will be suspicious. They’ll just think I’m your favorite teddy bear.”
Favorite teddy bear.
At those words, his brows twitched slightly before he squeezed his eyes shut.
“Damn it…”
Was he remembering the confused looks from the servants earlier?
Thinking that he was surprisingly high-maintenance, Vivian stood on tiptoe with all her strength and stretched out her stubby arm to pat his shoulder.
Blake turned his head slightly to look at her.
His expression clearly said, What exactly are you doing?
“It’s okay. People will focus more on the fact that you’re carrying around a favorite teddy bear than on the fact that I can move.”
“That’s not comforting—”
“A military commander carrying a teddy bear around? That’s a pretty charming gap, you know.”
“I told you to be quiet. Can’t you stop talking for even a second?”
“Yep, I hear that a lot. Thanks.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
Trying to avoid her hand, he pulled his shoulder back, but eventually gave up when she kept following him.
Then he flopped down onto the bed.
Lying comfortably on his back, the corners of his lips softened unexpectedly.
It was strange.
Just moments ago, his head had been pounding from arguing with a teddy bear.
Yet for some reason, whenever he felt her touch, his mind became calm.
Was that also part of this teddy bear’s magic?
“You look good when you smile.”
“…Nonsense. I wasn’t smiling.”
Speaking curtly, he quickly composed his expression and turned onto his side.
By now, Vivian had learned how to interpret his less-than-honest words.
After staring at him quietly, she asked,
“Want to take a nap together?”
“……”
Receiving no answer, Vivian gently rested her heavy head against his shoulder.
The weight wasn’t enough to burden his broad shoulders in the slightest, yet she felt him flinch.
Sensing that subtle reaction, she tilted her head.
‘He’s really strange. Just a moment ago he was acting so sensitive.’
The Blake she had seen in Human World News had seemed somewhat frightening.
He certainly had a cold and indifferent side, but if one looked more carefully, he displayed a surprising range of emotions.
‘It’d be nice if the heroine, Leah, got to see this side of him.’
She might end up falling for Blake’s charm.
Vivian knew that even his earlier anger had come from concern that something might happen to her.
If there was one thing she had learned throughout her life, it was how to judge people.
And she was pretty accurate.
‘His heart says one thing, but he’s terrible at being honest.’
Though she was still a little hurt that he had refused to help her without a contract.
Well, trusting someone too easily wasn’t very interesting either.
‘Just wait and see. I’ll make sure you get the sweetest sleep ever!’
With those random thoughts drifting through her mind, Vivian quietly hummed a tune.
Her magic power was gradually recovering.
Enjoying the strange yet pleasant sensation, she slowly closed her eyes and murmured,
“Meeting you was lucky for me. I never thought I’d meet a human who worried about me.”
Even without casting a sleeping spell, the two of them spent a long while resting with their eyes closed.
The atmosphere was awkward, yet pleasantly drowsy.
It was a peaceful afternoon break.
It seemed as though a tranquil life was about to begin.
But…
The next day, a bizarre rumor spread throughout the ducal estate.
“Did you hear? The eldest young master has been carrying around a teddy bear. They say he never lets it out of his sight.”
“Isn’t that just a ridiculous rumor? A teddy bear? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“But there are eyewitnesses! A brown teddy bear! They say he found it and said, ‘I’ve found you, my teddy bear.’ And apparently he said it in an incredibly cool voice!”
“…Come to think of it, one of the servants who entered his office said the young master sat the teddy bear down and kept talking to it.”
“What? The eldest young master hasn’t been sleeping well lately, so could it be…?”
“Watch your mouth!”
“No, I heard it too. Some people say it’s a haunted doll. Several servants claim they’ve seen it move. They say it’s cursed and that nobody should even make eye contact with it!”
“Oh my goodness, that’s terrifying!”
Unfortunately for Blake, the rumors about the haunted(?) teddy bear continued to grow like a snowball rolling downhill.
At that very moment, Ronald, the elderly butler, was on his way to Blake’s office carrying an important letter from the Eastern Cartel.
After overhearing the servants whispering among themselves, he stopped dead in his tracks.
‘What exactly did I just hear?’
The young master hugging a brown teddy bear and calling it “my teddy bear”?
