Chapter 8
What… am I still half-asleep?
I stared at him blankly, too flustered to even think about closing my gaping mouth.
But it didn’t seem like he was joking.
“An angel,” he said. “Amazingly enough, there is an angel living in this estate.”
“…….”
Covering his slightly reddened ears, he spoke with complete certainty.
His blue eyes were serious—utterly serious.
“Marquis, what’s wrong with you? Are you sick or something?”
“No. I am perfectly normal.”
“Then why on earth are you saying something so random—”
“I saw her myself. That angel.”
I lowered my head deeply, my words completely stuck in my throat.
The angel you saw… was me.
But I could never confess that. Never.
Layton didn’t want anyone to know about his curse.
And I couldn’t say my father told me either.
Hadn’t I already claimed, at our first meeting, that Father had told me nothing?
I took a small, steadying breath to calm my heart, which was pounding as if it might burst out of my chest.
Then I casually shook my head.
“There’s no angel here. There is Ailee, who’s angel-like, though.”
“……Is that so.”
“Yes, of course. Naturally. An angel in an ordinary grand ducal estate—how could that be?”
Layton stood perfectly still, as though lost in deep thought.
But soon, he nodded as if accepting it.
“I understand. It seems I was mistaken.”
“Yes, you must have been dreaming. A dream with an angel in it—sounds nice.”
“Very nice,” he replied. “I was happy.”
I had tossed the remark lightly, but what came back was a sincere, heartfelt answer.
Startled, I looked up at him.
His blue eyes sparkled brightly.
Like the clear sea on a summer day, they were filled with hope—as though chasing an illusion.
So much so that it was hard to keep lying.
“Thank you for listening, Lady Selena.”
“Oh, it was nothing.”
Fortunately, Layton seemed ready to end the conversation there.
At least, that’s what I thought—
Until he tilted his head slightly, smiled gently, and asked,
“By the way, Lady Selena.”
His blue gaze shifted to the chirping creature perched on my shoulder.
At his stare, Chirp spread its wings slightly and trembled.
“I think I may have already found it.”
“F-found what?”
His eyes, now deeply settled, resembled the dark depths of the sea.
“My angel.”
At that moment, Chirp flapped its wings in alarm and flew off.
“W-where is it?” I asked clumsily, watching Chirp vanish in an instant.
“Well…”
He trailed off and smiled softly.
Then, as if it were nothing at all, he shrugged.
“Shall I carry what you’re holding?”
I hugged the bundle of seeds tightly and shook my head.
“No, I’m fine.”
“Then allow me to escort you to wherever you were headed.”
“That’s fine too.”
Even if Layton didn’t know about the Titiano Flower, showing it to him didn’t seem like a good idea.
I smiled awkwardly, looking in the direction Chirp had flown.
“I was… heading back to my room.”
“…Ah, I see.”
Did he notice?
I cautiously studied his expression, but Layton simply nodded naturally.
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
As I turned and walked away after a brief farewell, I could clearly feel his gaze following my back.
* * *
Back in my room, I dumped the sack of seeds onto the table.
Immediately, a shrill chirping sound rang out.
[Hey! What was that guy just now?!]
Chirp flew over and began pecking at my thigh with its beak.
“Layton Zeynes, Marquis. He’s my guardian.”
[Guardian?! Kick him out immediately!]
At the sudden demand, I pressed my fingers to my forehead.
Was this sacred beast dissatisfied with everything?
I pushed its beak away firmly.
“No. I won’t. Layton is a very good person.”
[Good person, my foot! Don’t make me laugh!]
“Are you saying that because of rumors about him? Where did you even hear those?”
This sparrow had only just awakened—where was it picking up such nonsense?
Though I thought it ridiculous, I still glared slightly at Chirp.
[Hey, what’s with that look? I’m doing this to protect you!]
It got worked up instead, beating its chest with its wings.
[That guy has a demon attached to him!]
I nearly dropped the teacup I had been lifting to my lips.
A demon?
Not the insulting nickname “demon,” but an actual demon?
“A demon? You mean there’s a real demon around Layton?”
Chirp sighed sharply, as if I’d finally started listening.
[Yes. A demon. I saw the curse of a great demon—one that crossed over from the dark dimension.]
A demon’s curse.
I didn’t know who this demon was, but the word curse alone made me flinch.
Just as Chirp said, Layton was cursed.
I hurriedly placed Chirp on my palm and asked,
“So? Does that curse mean a demon is attached to him?”
[No. That’s a different matter. The curse and the demon are separate. He probably made a contract with one.]
Now I understood.
Why people in the original story called Layton a villain.
The malice surrounding his naturally gentle disposition was turning him into a demon in their eyes.
“Shall I carry it for you?”
“Thanks to you, I don’t think I’ll be hurt anymore.”
Whenever he spoke like that, he was always cautious, always watching my reaction.
As if hoping I wouldn’t misunderstand him.
So it wasn’t just the curse making him violent—
the demon has been tormenting him all along.
But why would he make a contract with a demon?
Was there a reason someone already cursed by a demon would do that?
I weakly set Chirp down.
The more I learned, the more he bothered me.
[He could be manipulated by the demon. Kick him out. He’s dangerous.]
How did Layton in the original story endure all of this alone until Ailee awakened?
Though Chirp urged me, I spoke slowly.
“I can’t. Whether he has circumstances like that or not, he’s still an important person to me and to Ailee.”
I knew that, like in the original story, Layton would somehow endure on his own.
I just hadn’t known it was this serious.
[You’re so frustrating. What if you get hurt?!]
“I won’t.”
[How can you be sure?]
I looked down at the worried Chirp and smiled softly.
“Because I have you, don’t I?”
At my words, Chirp—who had been ranting nonstop—fell silent.
[……W-well, that’s true. As you say, I do possess the greatest holy power in the empire.]
Its cheeks looked a little red.
“Right?”
Of course, once enough time passed, Layton’s curse would be completely lifted—and until then, I’d help quietly.
Chirp seemed deeply moved.
[Fine! I’ll protect you no matter what. If we fight demons… well, winning immediately would be hard—but we could win. Probably.]
The “probably” bothered me a bit.
Still, I raised my thumb in gratitude.
And made a firm decision.
I need to learn how to control holy power. Now.
In the original plot, Ailee was the one meant to lift Layton’s curse.
But if Layton were ever in danger of being consumed by a demon?
It might help in an emergency. And maybe… it could help uncover the truth behind my parents’ deaths too.
I grabbed Chirp excitedly.
[H-hey! Gently! I’ll burst!]
“You said you’d teach me how to control holy power—teach me right now!”
* * *
Inside the room prepared for Layton in the estate.
Returning after his conversation with Selena, he quietly sat down on the sofa.
Leaning back, he tilted his head and sank into thought.
There’s no angel…
Remembering Selena’s flustered expression, a small smile curled onto his lips.
“She really can’t lie.”
The Selena he’d seen so far was honest, straightforward, and kind-hearted.
She lacked the arrogance so common among high-ranking nobles.
Her affectionate words at the imperial banquet, trying to shield him—
Every time she showed that side of herself, his heart grew restless.
So innocent, so genuinely good…
How did she think she could deceive him?
He’d had to restrain himself from laughing as he watched her try.
Her pure reaction to the word angel was vivid in his mind.
When her violet eyes had begun to waver, he had been certain.
Of the identity of the angel who saved him last night.
The gentle hands in his fading memory.
The warmth.
The familiar blond hair and voice.
Thinking of Selena smiling warmly at him, Layton ran a hand through his hair, satisfied.
He’d been racking his brain for a way to solve the curse hidden within the grand ducal estate ever since the duke’s death—
And then, astonishingly, the very person who knew the solution had fallen into his lap.
And to think that Selena—who had pretended to know nothing at their first meeting—knew about his curse.
She’s clever in her own way, too.
He didn’t know why she’d hidden it, but if that was her approach—
Pretending not to know was easy enough.
And he was prepared to play along completely.
“So long as she doesn’t run away.”
As long as she stayed.
He could be as gentle, kind, and innocent a guardian as Selena believed him to be.
Even though she had discovered the curse he’d tried to hide, he didn’t feel bad about it.
Closing his eyes against the churning feeling in his chest, a familiar voice echoed in his ear.
“Heehee, so you like that girl.”
Something writhed beneath his feet.
From his shadow under the lamp, a black shape stretched and finally revealed glowing red eyes.
Layton kept his eyes closed.
“Does she know?” he asked calmly. “That you’re a demon?”
The demon sneered.
“She’ll find out eventually. That anyone who gets close to you is doomed. That they’ll go mad and take their own life—just like your father—!”
The demon never finished.
Layton opened his eyes and slashed the formless entity in an instant.
“Y-you—!”
“I told you to shut up when I’m in a good mood.”
The demon dissolved.
It wasn’t dead—just temporarily weakened.
Layton placed his sword, still brimming with dark energy, onto the table and ground his teeth.
Greedy demons were always trying to devour him.
The moment he weakened, they lunged for his soul.
If he ever lost this struggle—
That would be death.
Death didn’t frighten him.
But neither did he want to die.
That’s why I need Selena Bennett.
Yes. That was why he needed her.
He murmured it like a mantra.
“Just up to that point.”
Until the curse was lifted.
He would win her favor, use her—and keep her out of harm’s way.
Layton forcibly ignored the wavering in his heart.
Selena Bennett was nothing more than a means to escape this nightmare of a curse.
Nothing more.
