Chapter 10
“Once you’re inside the classroom, don’t touch anything or put anything in your mouth. They mainly work with medicinal herbs, but I heard there are plenty of poisonous plants too.”
After giving his little sister countless warnings, Allen opened the classroom door.
Who was the instructor in charge of Bucanu’s followers again? he wondered. Maybe I’m worrying too much, but I should ask them to take good care of Asiel before I leave.
The moment he looked back, however, he froze.
Asiel’s face had gone completely rigid, like a wax doll.
“Asiel… What’s wrong with you?”
From the very first memory Allen had, Asiel had always been by his side.
And yet…
This was the first expression he had ever seen on her face.
An inexplicable chill crawled down his spine, and his entire body began trembling.
He needed to turn around.
He needed to see what was behind him.
He needed to protect Asiel.
But his body refused to move, as though it had frozen solid.
An overwhelmingly dreadful premonition tightened around his heart.
“…That person…”
Asiel’s trembling voice finally forced Allen to turn his head.
“That’s Lite Rahar… isn’t it?”
The moment he saw Lite Rahar collapsed on the floor, Allen let out a deep sigh and immediately fired the classroom’s emergency flare through the window.
People came running.
Some screamed.
Some cried.
The classroom dissolved into complete chaos.
And throughout it all…
Asiel couldn’t do a single thing until Gale rushed over and swept her into his arms.
* * *
“I shouldn’t have let her go…”
“My dear.”
“Didn’t you think something felt strange? Maybe… maybe it was a warning from the gods. But I was just so happy that I sent her anyway… and now our daughter…”
“My dear. That’s enough.”
“I know you’re worried about Asiel,” the Count said firmly, “but someone else’s precious child has just died.”
At those words, the Countess collapsed into her husband’s embrace and burst into tears.
Only then did she realize how cruel her own words had been.
The Academy declared a week-long closure.
The cause of death was poison.
Before anyone had time to properly mourn Lite Rahar’s passing, countless followers of Bucanu had already been accused of being the culprit.
They weren’t even given the chance to grieve.
When Gale and Quentin returned home, they were so stunned that they barely had the presence of mind to look after Asiel.
Curled up beneath her blankets, Asiel cried quietly.
She didn’t even know why the tears wouldn’t stop.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that…
If she hadn’t gone to the Academy…
None of this would have happened.
I wish tomorrow would never come…
Thinking that, she drifted off to sleep.
“Asiel, wake up.”
It was the maid Mary’s cheerful voice.
“Today’s your very first day at the Academy.”
Asiel’s eyes snapped open.
“Young Master Quentin left at five this morning.”
Mary lowered her voice.
“He said he was worried Young Master Gale would make too much noise.”
With that, she excused herself to fetch some water for washing up.
Left alone on the bed…
Asiel sat there blankly.
What… what’s going on?
[Asiel Windsorberry. Can you hear me? Playtime’s over.]
A voice echoed inside her head—not through her ears, but directly inside her mind.
Startled, Asiel screamed.
“Aaaah!”
A loud crash followed as her entire family rushed into the room.
After reassuring everyone that she was fine and sending them back out…
Asiel sat there, overwhelmed by the flood of memories mixing together inside her head.
Damn it…
I thought this was supposed to be a childcare fantasy!
Back when Asiel had still been Yoon Seol…
Everything had begun with the Demon King casually asking:
“Would you like to transmigrate?”
Without thinking, she’d signed the contract.
“Transmigrate…?”
“Into whom?”
The moment the Demon King first made the offer, countless exorcism movies flashed through Seol’s mind.
The ordinary girl whose eyes rolled back.
The twisted body.
The cursed voice speaking through her mouth.
Is he planning to use me as a vessel to bring about the end of the world…?
Then her eyes landed on a novel lying beside him.
The book he’d been reading all this time.
Please Raise Me, Dad!
“You mean… that kind of transmigration?”
The Demon King lazily nodded.
“Why all of a sudden?”
“Because it sounds entertaining.”
Yet despite those words…
There was a strange loneliness hidden in his eyes.
He didn’t look entertained at all.
His eyes were always expressionless.
Not even eyes, really.
More like beautifully polished gemstones.
She hated admitting it, but that was honestly what they resembled.
“Wouldn’t it make more sense for you to transmigrate yourself?”
You know…
Like one of those novels titled:
The Demon King Became an Academy Student
“Seol.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve always wanted to become a god.”
…What kind of middle-school syndrome line is that…?
Even standing before the Demon King himself, that was honestly the thought that crossed her mind.
“If I can’t create a world of my own…”
“Wouldn’t it be fun to interfere with someone else’s?”
“And you plan to do that through me?”
“Exactly.”
“Think of it like those constellation novels.”
“You’re the player.”
“I’m your constellation.”
The Demon King said it as though it were no big deal.
Meanwhile, Seol’s expression gradually darkened.
The last time she’d signed a contract without thinking…
She’d ended up spending her life cleaning after him.
Of course she’d be cautious now.
“If you complete every mission I give you…”
“I’ll tear up your old contract.”
“And I’ll reincarnate you however you want.”
“…Anything?”
“Of course.”
“…Then…”
Her cheeks turned bright red.
Almost shyly, she confessed:
“I want to be the youngest daughter of a chaebol family.”
“My older siblings can fight over the inheritance.”
“I’ll just spend the family’s money, study abroad, and do whatever I want.”
The Demon King covered the corner of his mouth as it threatened to curl upward.
It was probably the smile of a fisherman watching a fish take the bait.
“…But.”
Seol’s expression suddenly became cautious again.
“What genre am I transmigrating into?”
“You’ll like it.”
“It’s a childcare fantasy.”
The instant she heard those words, her eyes sparkled.
The Demon King didn’t miss that moment.
“Both parents are alive.”
“It’s a loving family.”
“No complicated family drama.”
Seol had been lonely from the moment she was born.
The Demon King truly lived up to his title.
He had an uncanny ability to sniff out that sort of thing.
Her fate had always been tragic.
She’d spent her entire life fighting things no one else could see.
She was destined to die young.
She’d never been blessed with meaningful relationships.
No matter where she went…
She always remained slightly apart from everyone else.
People came and went.
No one stayed.
And because she had so much affection to give…
She ended up pouring it all into actors she only ever saw on a screen.
“I want to give you freedom.”
“…Freedom?”
“You can’t keep living like this forever.”
The Demon King pointed toward the mop in her hands.
Seol nodded so vigorously it looked as though her neck might snap.
“If you complete my mission…”
“I’ll destroy your previous contract.”
“And I’ll grant your reincarnation.”
“You wanted to become the youngest daughter of a wealthy family, didn’t you?”
“I may not be able to give you heaven on earth…”
“But I’ll at least make sure you’re born into a family that knows how to buy valuable land.”
“I’ll do it.”
And so…
Yoon Seol became Asiel.
A baby wrapped in swaddling cloth, left on the doorstep of House Windsorberry.
* * *
[So? Did you enjoy yourself?]
The transcendent being who had chosen her—
The Demon King—
His voice echoed through Asiel’s mind.
Ignoring him, she desperately tried to organize everything that had happened.
Then…
She noticed the bandage wrapped around her right arm.
The Countess had always believed it was a wound Asiel had possessed from the day she was found.
Every time she saw it, her heart ached.
The Count would comfort his wife, saying it was probably just an old childhood injury.
Yet he secretly searched everywhere for someone who could erase the scar.
They loved every part of Asiel.
But that scar alone…
Always bothered them.
Eventually, Asiel had begun covering it with a bandage.
Not because it hurt.
It never did.
No…
Of course it would never disappear.
It was the scar she’d received when she signed her contract with the Demon King.
Since she’d already been dead, the cut hadn’t hurt much.
Still…
Having someone suddenly pull out a knife and slash your arm was rather shocking.
Exhausted, Seol had collapsed onto the floor of the waiting room, gasping for breath.
The Demon King looked down at her with his usual emotionless gaze.
Then, forcing open her heavy eyelids one last time, she asked:
“…Shouldn’t I read the original novel first?”
“The original?”
“The one you were reading…”
Please Raise Me, Dad!
The moment she spoke the title, the Demon King’s brow furrowed.
His expression darkened instantly.
An awkward silence settled between them.
“There is no original.”
“…What?”
Seol tried to sit up in disbelief.
But her exhausted body refused to move.
The Demon King smiled faintly.
“Seol.”
“Transmigration…”
“…is a live exercise.”
