Chapter : 13
When I calmly met his vividly glowing red eyes, the man’s lips curved into an even deeper smile.
“Not surprised?”
“Who are you?”
If he spoke so casually despite knowing I was a butler, then he was probably a high-ranking demon.
Whether he was strong or not was another matter.
Even Kardel, the Demon King, couldn’t kill me, so aside from a fully grown Julian, I doubted there were many demons stronger than I.
“You don’t know me?”
The man widened his moist eyes and asked in genuine confusion.
Why are you asking me that?
He stepped out of the shadows and grabbed my arm.
I should tear that arm off.
While I hesitated, I ended up pulled straight into his embrace. I needed to get to Julian quickly, but it didn’t look like this man intended to let me go.
“I know you. Can I call you by your name?”
His sultry voice coiled around my ears. I took a step back and asked again,
“Who are you?”
“Hmmm.”
He let out a nasal hum as his eyes gleamed. Behind him, pink demonic energy rippled like smoke.
“This is the Demon King’s castle. Don’t use your power recklessly.”
—or I’ll kill you.
When I looked up at him coolly, he stepped closer in visible confusion.
“Huh? You’re totally fine?”
Ignoring his incomprehensible muttering, I pulled out my pocket watch to check the time. Forty minutes had already passed.
My puppy must be starving.
Worried about Julian’s stomach, I slipped the watch back into my dress pocket and lightly pushed the man aside.
“Move.”
“Huh? Really nothing? Your body’s not hot, your breathing isn’t ragged, you don’t smell sweet or anything?”
I was a doll—I wasn’t sensitive to temperature, didn’t need to breathe, and the only sweet scent I noticed was my bath salts.
“Not at all.”
At my words, the man staggered as if he’d been struck. Then suddenly—
“Ah!”
He twisted his expression again.
“Don’t tell me… you’re into women?”
The moment he finished speaking, a woman with the same blond hair and red eyes slid out of the shadows.
“Oh my, is that true? Well, with a butler like you, I suppose it wouldn’t matter whether it’s a man or a woman~.”
This one’s using honorifics. Who are these people?
I’d never seen them before, so they probably weren’t castle staff.
Dragging out her words lazily, the woman placed a hand on my cheek.
“I really like you, Butler~ May I call you by name?”
“No.”
“Wow, that was sharp.”
“Aww, you hurt my feelings~ But that cold attitude is charming too, you know~?”
Watching the two demons openly dripping with lust, I fell into thought.
I wanted to knock them out by striking the back of their necks, but if they were nobles, things would get messy. If they were castle staff, I wanted to beat them badly enough to crush their spirits.
More importantly, Julian was waiting for me without having eaten.
“I’m busy. Move.”
They clearly had no intention of listening.
Fine. I’ll beat them first and think later.
After all, the demon realm was a survival-of-the-fittest world. Even nobles got eaten if they were weak.
I reached out and grabbed both demons by the throat.
“Ghk!”
“Ack!”
“It seems those ears of yours are useless. If you won’t listen, there’s no point having them.”
As they clawed desperately at my hands, I lifted them higher.
“I’ll tear your ears off once you lose consciousness. It’ll hurt a lot when I do.”
Just as I was about to slam them into the wall, Henry’s voice rang out from behind me.
“Butler Perry, what are you doing?”
Henry came running with documents in hand. When he saw the two demons dangling from my grip, his expression stiffened.
“P-Please, put them down first and then speak.”
“Who are these demons?”
Henry looked between me and the two demons, then let out a deep sigh and gestured for me to release them.
When I loosened my grip, they crashed to the floor, gasping for air.
“Huff—huff—what the hell was that demon…?”
“Cough— I thought I was gonna die….”
“She’s a doll.”
I answered simply and turned to Henry. With another heavy sigh, he handed me the documents.
“We extracted confessions. All three said the same thing. And these two are—”
Henry’s face hardened abruptly. He kicked the man sprawled on the floor, then spoke.
“The head butler and head maid I mentioned before. The incubi siblings—Leon and Lea.”
I examined their faces closely.
“I’ve never seen them before. Do they not work?”
“They usually deal with intruders who break into the estate.”
“So they don’t work.”
If they’d done their job properly, they would’ve stopped the intruder before he ever got near Julian.
And they even failed to stop someone barging into Henry’s office of all places.
Either they were incompetent—or lazy.
Catching my gaze, Leon muttered resentfully,
“We were handling things just fine when some damn blue beast popped out and dragged them away….”
He must be talking about the will-o’-the-wisp.
Looking at the two who were weaker than even me, I was starting to think they were surplus manpower when Henry spoke coldly.
“What exactly were you doing?”
“Well~ Butler Perry is just so beautiful~ So Leon and I thought we’d suck a little energy~.”
“I was under the impression that your meals are provided regularly.”
“Eating human energy every day gets boring. We just wanted a special treat!”
Henry didn’t respond. He simply raised his foot and kicked Leon again. Leon yelped, but Henry ignored him and flipped through the papers.
“Duke Zerca of Demoncraft?”
The same name appeared across three documents, each written in different handwriting.
Henry, still kicking Leon repeatedly, brushed back his hair and said,
“Do you know Young Master Ref?”
Ref—he was the demon Julian had sent a threatening letter to before. I nodded.
“He’s the Duke of Demoncraft’s only son.”
“Did the duke order this?”
Henry shook his head.
“He wouldn’t have the luxury. People in his territory are dying as we speak.”
Then it must be Ref.
So the letter really did get under his skin. I skimmed the documents again.
As expected, the request they’d received was to harm Julian.
What was strange was that it wasn’t an outright assassination. Killing him was acceptable, but supposedly impossible—so the real goal was to frighten him.
That was the core of the contract.
“How cowardly.”
“You mean Young Master Ref?”
I nodded.
If you don’t have the guts to face him directly, then stay curled up somewhere. Hiring assassins to stab someone in the back was disgusting.
Especially when the target was Julian.
I tapped the documents thoughtfully, then pointed at Leon and Lea.
“How strong are these two?”
Henry looked down at them, pondering.
I could’ve let him think longer, but I needed to get to Julian.
“Can they subdue Young Master Ref?”
“In terms of compatibility, Leon and Lea have the advantage. Whether they can fully subdue him, though…”
That was enough. Julian and Ref were the real leads in this story anyway.
“You two.”
“Y-Yes?”
“You’ll be in charge of guarding the young master from now on. That’s fine, right, Butler Henry?”
Henry nodded.
“Though if you’re present, Butler Perry, Leon and Lea won’t really be necessary.”
I shook my head. I was strong, yes—but I couldn’t do everything alone.
“This is the young master’s matter, after all.”
Henry looked at me with confusion. I shrugged once and tapped the documents.
“Kids’ fights should be handled by kids.”
I grinned.
That said, there was a big difference between exchanging insults and suddenly pulling a blade.
“And surely the adults who raised a child like this bear some responsibility too, don’t they?”
So you, Henry, go deal with the duke together with Kardel.
Henry flinched, then nodded obediently.
“Understood. The adults will handle the adults’ problems.”
This is why I like perceptive demons.
Satisfied, I handed the documents back to Henry and gestured at Leon and Lea.
“You two, follow me.”
When I opened Julian’s door and stepped inside, I saw him sitting neatly on the bed, with his nanny standing beside him.
“Perry!”
Julian beamed and ran toward me—then growled when he noticed Leon and Lea behind me.
“They’re Leon and Lea.”
“…Why are those things here?”
“They’ll be accompanying us from now on.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I think it’s fine.”
Julian’s glare sharpened at my response.
“Aww~ We’ll just follow quietly where you can’t see us~.”
“Yeah! We’ll hide in the shadows!”
“Then disappear from my sight. Now.”
At Julian’s cold command, the two melted smoothly into the shadows.
“If even one of you leaves your post, I’ll beat you until dust flies on a rainy day.”
The shadows shuddered. They understood perfectly.
“Are you very hungry?”
“No.”
“Oh, come now! I clearly heard your stomach growl, young master!”
“…No.”
I lifted Julian into my arms and approached the desk. His golden eyes widened in confusion.
“I’m sorry for making you wait while hungry. Before eating, how about writing a letter?”
“A letter?”
“Those assassins from last time. They were sent by Young Master Ref.”
I smiled like a mischievous child.
“Don’t you want to beat Ref up, young master?”
Julian stared at me quietly. I seated him in the chair and placed a sheet of letter paper on the desk.
“Let’s go beat that bastard.”
