MADWD 11

Chapter 11

“What?”

Ariella and the Demon King, Ludwig, blinked in confusion.

Richmond explained gently.

“Normally, even if a human contractee draws power from a Demon King, there’s always a limit.”

A human body can’t handle that much power.

“It’s like trying to pour the water of a giant lake into a tiny well. Same idea.”

Ludwig asked, “Then what’s different?”

“But once in a thousand years, a very special human is born. One with a vessel large enough to hold even the power of a Demon King.”

Richmond looked directly at Ariella and muttered,
“It seems you’re that special human.”

After everyone left the room, Ludwig was alone in his bedroom.

He had fainted, gotten a face full of water, and finally woken up.
Surprisingly, he felt no side effects like dizziness.
Even the magical energy Ariella had forcefully drawn from him had already returned — incredibly fast.

‘That’s strange.’

And that wasn’t the only strange thing.
Actually… that girl was strange.

Even though Ariella had left, Ludwig could still sense her clearly.

He imagined her — small frame, round little head, wild eyes filled with rage or madness (or maybe both), a loud voice that pierced the ears, and a slightly aggressive attitude.

‘She’s a chihuahua. A red chihuahua.’

Then he thought back to the day they made the contract.

He could’ve refused. At first, he did refuse.

‘So why did I agree in the end?’

He didn’t have to listen to her. He could’ve just returned to the Demon Realm.
He was annoyed that his vacation had been ruined — and yet, he stayed.

He had listened as Ariella carefully laid out the reasons why making a contract with her would be beneficial.
She even came up with the insane idea of summoning a Demon King just to escape a marriage — and actually pulled it off.

In the end, Ludwig made a decision:

‘She might be useful.’

So he made up his mind.

Let the little chihuahua take over managing the domain.

“A financial audit, huh…”

He remembered her sharp, slanted eyes when Bephar had shouted during the meeting.
She looked like she was about to growl and bite someone.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized her plan wasn’t so bad.
That small head of hers must be packed with clever ideas and knowledge.

“Might as well go with her plan.”

It felt like he was being dragged across the floor by the hair — but strangely, he didn’t hate it.

Watching Ariella even reminded him of someone from the past…

BANG!

“Demon King!”

His deep thoughts were cut short when Ulken burst in to report another problem at the border.

More orcs.

“Ugh, not them again.”

Ludwig clicked his tongue and stood up.

Just before leaving with Ulken, he said, “Wait. There’s something I need to do first.”

“Huh? You going to grab a new weapon or something? Maybe a hammer? Or a steel spike? That’ll scare the orcs for sure!” Ulken laughed a little too cheerfully.

But Ludwig just shook his head.

“We’re stopping by Richmond’s place first.”

“Huh? Why? We’re about to go fight orcs!”

“Just… something I need to check.”

Ulken looked puzzled but didn’t question it further.

A few hours later, Ariella was walking through one of the back halls of the Demon King’s castle.

Her mind was still spinning.

‘This domain is a total mess. Ludwig’s trying, but still…’

In her hand was a letter stamped with the Demon King’s seal — her official authorization.

‘Well, Richmond wrote the whole thing. Ludwig just scrawled a signature at the bottom.’

She came to a stop in front of a building.

‘Wait… this is the only library and archive in the entire Demon King’s castle?’

It was a large structure — but falling apart.
Made of old wood, and clearly not maintained.

‘It’s way worse than I imagined.’

She opened the creaky door.

“Hello? Anyone here?”

She stepped inside and saw a tiny head pop up over the front desk.

The girl had long blond hair tied in twin braids, metal-framed glasses covering half her face, chubby cheeks, and a thin body wrapped in a hooded robe.

She was sitting at a desk far too big for her, reading a book.

Her tiny hands struggled to turn the page — she had to use both hands for just one flip.

She looked like a little kid pretending to read in a grown-up’s library.

Then Ariella noticed the wings on her back.

‘Ah… she’s a fairy.’

She tried again.

“Excuse me?”

No response.

‘Ugh. Even the castle staff ignore the Demon King. Of course, they ignore me too.’

Irritated, Ariella raised her voice.

“Hey! Can’t you hear me?”

Finally, the fairy responded —
without looking up from her book.

“There’s no bathroom here.”

Her voice was dry and cold.

“……?”

She looked like a baby, but talked like a grumpy old librarian.

Before Ariella could say anything, the fairy continued.

Still staring at her book, she pushed up her glasses.

“There’s a big sign outside. Huge letters. ‘NO BATHROOM INSIDE.’ Didn’t you read it?”

“I wasn’t—”

“Closest bathroom is 10 meters to the right. And don’t even think about using any of these books for… that. If you do, I’ll report you to the head butler.”

‘What kind of sick people come here to do that?’

The fairy muttered bitterly:

“Books are for reading, not wiping. You turn them gently, page by page. Of course, no one in this castle understands that.”

She sounded like someone completely fed up with life.

Ariella was too stunned to reply — so she just stood there, watching.

“Not here for the bathroom? Then the cafeteria’s through the right door. Head butler’s office is upstairs, first door on the left. If you’re here to sell something, get out—”

“Okay, that’s ENOUGH!”

Ariella finally snapped.

The fairy froze, lips shut.

“Can you please stop assuming things and let me talk?”

The fairy finally looked up.

For the first time, she actually saw who had walked in.

“…A human?”

Ariella introduced herself calmly.

“My name is Ariella Capelle Oinos. I’m the Demon King’s contractee. I’ve come to review the financial records from the last ten years.”

It was a sudden announcement, and she expected confusion.

She got it.

“Y-You said… review?”