Chapter 67
Ariella closed her book.
She still didn’t have a personal maid assigned only to her.
Among the castle staff, there was an unspoken rule:
If she didn’t call for them, no one would knock on her door late at night.
That was because Ariella hated having her only leisure time interrupted.
“If it were urgent, there’d already be noise in the halls.”
But when she focused her hearing, the castle was perfectly silent.
The knock she’d heard just now had been so soft and faint that she almost missed it entirely.
“Who’s there?”
“……”
Ariella’s eyes sharpened.
She didn’t sense anyone outside preparing magic.
Still, she prepared to summon Ludwig if necessary and silently recalled a short incantation, just in case.
Click.
The door creaked open cautiously.
“……?”
Ariella froze in surprise.
It was night in the Demon Realm, where no moon shone.
A pale, milky sun hung dimly in the sky, spilling its faint light into the corridor.
Bathed in that soft glow stood a demon woman.
“Helene?”
She wasn’t shocked just because Helene was there.
It was the way she looked.
Helene had abandoned all pretense of dignity befitting an envoy.
“She’s barefoot… and wearing pajamas?”
And worse—
“She has no guards with her.”
Only after the meeting had ended earlier did Ariella learn that Ludwig considered the snow troll bodyguard to be extremely dangerous.
Yet the very guard Ludwig had been so wary of was nowhere to be seen.
“Lady Ariella,” Helene said softly. “There’s something I must ask you, something deeply important.”
Her tone had changed too.
She used the human-world noble title “Lady” instead of the Demon Realm’s more formal address.
“It’ll only take a moment. Please… let me in.”
Her voice was quick, low, and filled with tension.
Her expression was also nothing like it had been during the meeting.
“What is this?”
The polite mask Helene had worn all day was gone.
For the first time, Ariella felt like she was seeing the real Helene—her eyes now held genuine desperation.
“……”
Even after deciding Helene was sincere, Ariella didn’t answer immediately. She just studied her in silence.
Helene grew even more nervous.
“No one from the envoy can see me here. Please, I’m begging you!”
It meant she had something to say that she couldn’t risk her companions overhearing.
Ariella made her decision.
She’d trust her.
“Come in.”
Ariella stepped aside, creating a narrow space in the doorway. Helene slipped through hurriedly.
Ariella quickly shut the door behind her.
Helene’s hands were clenched tightly, her knuckles trembling. Her presence now felt completely different than it had just hours ago.
“She’s terrified. During the meeting, she was hiding all this fear. Desperately.”
Ariella realized Helene was far tougher than she had assumed.
“I’ll make you a cup of tea,” Ariella offered.
“No! Please, no one can see me here. This must stay a secret—”
“Who’s going to see? I’m not calling a maid. I’ll make it myself.”
Ariella moved gracefully, preparing tea with practiced motions. Helene blinked in surprise as she watched her work.
“Here.”
A pale blue teapot was set before her. Helene carefully lifted the cup with both hands, murmuring softly:
“…This isn’t what I imagined. I heard a contractor’s rank is just below that of a Demon King.”
“That’s the custom, yes. So your Demon King’s castle has servants for everything, I take it?”
Helene didn’t deny it.
Ariella chuckled.
“I’m not wealthy enough to summon servants for something this simple.”
Back in the human world, she’d had Betty, her personal maid, so she rarely brewed her own tea.
She hadn’t even kept tea sets in her room—Betty brought everything from the adjoining servant’s quarters.
“Things are different now. I should adapt.”
Once she’d gotten used to doing things herself, it didn’t feel so bad.
Even brewing tea late at night was becoming part of her routine.
Ariella waited patiently for Helene to take her first sip.
The moment Helene’s expression turned to astonishment, Ariella smirked with satisfaction.
“T-this tea…?”
That reaction was only natural.
This was a fairy-forest herbal tea Philly had given her to drink before bed.
Ariella’s lips curled in a smug little smile.
“Well? It’s amazing, right? You’re dying to know what kind of leaves these are, aren’t you?”
Feigning calm, she spoke.
“We can talk about the tea later. First, tell me why you’re here.”
Helene pushed aside her surprise at Ariella’s simplicity and the tea’s incredible flavor.
Her voice was careful and steady.
“The truth is… I didn’t come here to deliver my father’s words.”
“Hm?”
“But you’re the envoy leader. That doesn’t make sense.”
“That’s only a cover. I have a separate mission my father and the Demon King don’t know about.”
“A separate mission?”
Ariella straightened in her seat.
The conversation was taking an unexpected turn.
“I apologize for speaking so rudely to you during the meeting.”
“No need to bow so low.”
“I just… I wanted to make sure you’d understand me now. I had no choice earlier, with so many listening.”
“So, you don’t agree with what you said then?”
Helene’s expression turned ashamed.
“No. My father wronged Demon King Ludwig in the past. As his daughter… I’m deeply sorry.”
“…Huh.”
Ariella’s opinion of Helene shifted on the spot.
She was more reasonable than she’d expected—and honorable enough to feel shame.
“If you disagreed with your father, why join the envoy at all?”
“Because I needed to get here, to Ludwig’s domain, no matter what.”
“Why?”
“Because…”
Helene’s voice was firm, full of resolve.
She looked straight into Ariella’s eyes.
“I want to defect.”
Ariella blinked.
“Sorry, what? I think I misheard you.”
“No. You heard right.”
Helene spoke with desperate sincerity:
“I, Helene Delrak… request asylum in Demon King Ludwig’s territory!”
Ariella immediately called for Ludwig.
She didn’t wake any servants to fetch him—this had to be handled quietly.
Instead, she whispered a spell.
“Light.”
Helene frowned in confusion.
Why was Ariella casting a light spell right after her confession?
“But the room’s already bright enough.”
Ariella suddenly cut the chant short.
“Cancel.”
The magic dissipated before activating.
“……?”
It wasn’t because Helene had said she didn’t need it.
Ariella had intended to cancel it all along.
Helene couldn’t possibly know that Ariella had briefly drawn a small portion of Ludwig’s magic into herself before dispelling it.
The effect was immediate.
“Oi. What’s going on? Why’d you wake me?”
A sleepy voice came from the corridor.
When Ariella opened the door, Ludwig was standing there, looking annoyed and half-awake.
“Come in quickly.”
After a quick glance to make sure no one was watching, Ariella pulled him inside.
Ludwig grumbled as he walked in.
“Next time, just knock. Don’t yank my mana out of nowhere while I’m asleep. It feels awful.”
Ariella was already used to this trick. She’d only drawn a tiny amount of mana—barely enough to wake him with an odd sensation.
Instead of feeling drained, Ludwig had simply been startled awake.
He stopped mid-grumble when he noticed the demon woman sitting quietly in the corner.
“…Helene Delrak?”
Helene lowered her head slightly in greeting.
“What’s she doing here?”
After Ariella’s brief explanation, Ludwig scratched his head in disbelief.
“The Delrak girl… wants asylum here? In my territory?”
He stared at her, stunned.
“What the hell? This is… completely out of nowhere.”
As Ludwig rubbed the back of his neck, Ariella stepped in.
She hadn’t asked Helene many questions yet, deciding Ludwig should hear it all too.
“So… you joined the envoy just so you could request asylum?”
“Yes. My father would never expect this.”
Helene’s expression darkened.
Was her relationship with her father that bad?
Ariella finally asked the question she’d been dying to ask since Helene arrived.
“Your Demon King’s territory is rich and powerful. You could live comfortably there for the rest of your life. So why come here of all places?”
“Because I don’t want to die.”
“…What?”
“If I stay there… I’ll be killed. Sooner or later.”
“……?”
“……?”
Both Ariella and Ludwig were left speechless by her answer.
