~Chapter 125~
“I’m not crazy.”
I answered calmly.
It was true.
I was seriously making this offer to the Devourer.
“I’ll say it one more time.”
I spoke to the Devourer, who looked annoyed and stood with one leg out.
“Find a way for you to leave my body, except for my death.”
After the ritual, I realized something.
A simple trick wouldn’t fool the Maledictus family’s curse.
I needed a way to remove the Devourer from my soul completely.
“You said my body was uncomfortable for you. Isn’t it better to move to a body where you can eat curses freely?”
“If that was possible, I would’ve done it already!”
The Devourer growled.
“How am I supposed to do something I couldn’t do for 20 years?”
“You haven’t tried every possible way,” I said, holding up my right index finger.
“If you help me, I’ll give you a reward.”
“Reward?”
She frowned, clearly not understanding why I was asking for something impossible.
“What, are you going to increase my curse scraps? That doesn’t matter to me.”
She sat on the ground, leaning her chin on her knee, and raised an eyebrow.
“You’re not going to eat curses anyway. If you don’t taste them, I can’t either.”
For the Devourer, the act of eating curses wasn’t the point.
Tasting them was.
“Then, I’ll give you my blood.”
Her eyes changed instantly.
“…Really? How?”
Her blood-red eyes moved right in front of my face.
“You’re going to drink your own blood? If you pass out from blood loss, I can’t move either. That’s suicide, isn’t it?”
Her voice was quick and creepy, like a ghost whispering during sleep paralysis.
But I just smiled slowly.
“Since when did that matter to you? You just care about the taste, right?”
She froze.
“Of course, I won’t give you so much that I die. You’d rather drink a little at a time, right?”
She didn’t answer.
“And a vampire once said my blood tastes really sweet.”
She didn’t argue back.
Even if the body got weak, she couldn’t give up her desire for blood.
“If I see you’re really searching for a way, I’ll give you my blood. If you work hard, I can give it regularly.”
Her red eyes stepped back.
She lowered her eyes, twirling her long white hair with her fingers.
“…Really?”
“Yes.”
I held out my pinky to her.
“Promise.”
But she turned her head away.
“Hmph, I don’t do silly human promises.”
Instead, she waved her right hand.
A red flash shone in front of me, and blood dripped from her pinky.
She licked the blood from her finger and closed her eyes.
“I’m taking some as an advance.”
She slowly tasted it.
“Ha, it is tasty.”
Her red eyes flashed.
“Keep your promise.”
For the first time, I felt relieved seeing those bright red eyes.
“If you break it, I’ll wreck your body.”
One solution for the soul contract was complete.
When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar ceiling.
It was my room.
My body was stiff, probably from lying down too long.
I could still taste blood in my mouth.
‘She’s really impatient.’
I raised my right hand and saw a small cut on my pinky.
It wasn’t deep, so I left it.
‘How long was I out?’
I saw my reflection in the mirror.
Even though I spit up so much blood during the ritual, my clothes and face were clean.
Maybe I’d been unconscious a long time.
Just as I was about to pull the bell for a servant, the door opened.
“…Ruby!!”
It was Damien, carrying a towel and water bottle.
“Damien.”
I smiled, happy to see him.
“I was really worried—”
Crash!
As soon as he saw me, Damien dropped everything and ran to me.
He ignored the mess on the floor and hugged me tightly.
“I’m sorry.”
His voice sounded like he might cry.
“Because of my selfishness, you…”
I could feel Damien’s sadness and guilt.
He blamed himself for forcing the soul contract and for me collapsing.
‘That’s not true.’
Until I fainted, I had never let go of the hope to complete the soul contract.
I put my hand on his back and spoke.
“Don’t say that.”
I leaned in and put my arms around his neck.
I could feel his heartbeat.
“I don’t know if Damien realizes this. But I’ll say it anyway.”
“I want the soul contract just as much as you do. Maybe even more. So it’s not your fault. Don’t think that way.”
“Ruby…”
“No matter what, I’ll finish this contract. And you have to live with me for way more than seven years.”
At first, I thought I should be thankful for just seven more years of happiness.
But after the ritual, I knew:
I wanted more than that.
I wanted to live with Damien in this mansion for a long, long time.
‘I wish happiness for everyone—can’t I wish that for myself too?’
It was the first time in a while that I had a real wish.
“Actually, I already made one plan.”
“What plan?”
“Oh. I talked to the Devourer.”
“What?”
“I promised to give her some of my blood if she helps get out of my body—”
Damien’s face went stiff.
“Your blood?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“You just collapsed from coughing up blood yesterday.”
I looked away without meaning to.
Right. I had just spit up blood.
No wonder Damien looked upset.
“You’re sacrificing yourself again.”
“Um. No. She seemed happy with just a little…”
Damien narrowed his eyes, but didn’t say more.
“You made it a condition for her cooperation?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll make sure to stop her if she tries to drink too much.”
His sharp look and warning weren’t for me—they were for the Devourer.
“Oh, Damien. There’s someone I need to talk to.”
I quickly changed the topic before he could get angrier.
“Someone to talk to?”
“Yes.”
This was the second way to solve the soul contract problem.
“Tell me who you need, and I’ll call them as soon as the doctor checks you.”
Damien covered me with the blanket again.
“I have a feeling I know who it is…”
“Huh?”
I looked up, surprised.
Damien spoke casually.
“If it’s who I think, he’s already here in the mansion.”
What?
Just then, the door opened and someone came in.
“Ahem.”
He cleared his throat and looked down awkwardly.
“Well, you two were hugging, so I thought it was a bad time to come in.”
The second key to the soul contract’s success—
It was Crown Prince Leonie.
