IJIV 05

Chapter 5

“The fire’s lit. Goodness.”

Emma gaped at the roaring flames in the fireplace, her mouth wide open. She looked stunned, as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

The first day, Baron Insetia, who hadn’t shown more than a greeting to me, and the butler, busy managing the household, had gathered in front of my fireplace. It seemed the rumor that I had lit the Black Ironwood had already spread.

“The Black Ironwood… on fire…”

Baron Insetia muttered softly as he watched the flames.

The fire Harry had created was slightly different from normal fire. Overall, it looked like ordinary flames, but at the center glowed a strange blue. Of course, unless you looked closely, you would hardly notice it. Even if you did notice, the difference was so slight you might think, “Did I just see that wrong?”

‘So no one will realize this is the legendary blue flame from myths.’

As I expected, Emma and the butler were simply amazed by the burning Black Ironwood.

But the Baron was different. He watched me calmly, his eyes steady.

“I’ve heard that you lit this fire, Milady.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“How did you do it?”

“Hmm… how did I do it?”

I paused, then clasped my hands together seriously and looked at the Baron.

“Like this, with both hands together.”

“Together?”

“I prayed! Very earnestly!”

“…Excuse me?”

The Baron, who had been mirroring my serious expression, let out a helpless laugh, looking completely deflated.

“You lit the fire just by praying earnestly?”

“Yes. I am a magician, after all, so it’s not that surprising. Magicians can perform strange things sometimes.”

I shrugged casually, pretending it wasn’t a big deal. The Baron, of course, wasn’t so easily satisfied.

“You may not know, Milady, but this is Black Ironwood. It does not burn with ordinary fire.”

“I know. Emma told me. But it worked just by doing it this way.”

My lighthearted attitude caused a slight twitch in the Baron’s perfectly straight eyebrows. I ignored his clearly irritated expression and shrugged my shoulders.

“It was so cold, I really needed a fire. I guess my earnestness caused the magic to respond. Could this be the miracle of a magician?”

[Playing dumb so well. Your acting is impressive.]

Harry whispered in my head, clearly exasperated. It felt like telepathy. Harry called it the resonance between a demon and their contractor.

[Quiet, Harry.]

[They can’t hear us anyway, so it doesn’t matter.]

[I can hear you, you know. It’s distracting.]

To keep the conversation smooth, I made another wish to Harry.

[Please don’t interrupt when I’m talking to others, Demon. New wish.]

[Hiding my form is already frustrating, and now you want me to keep my mouth shut too?]

[Harry, do you want to just stand facing the wall?]

[…That’s unfair. I even turned into a dog for you, and now you won’t even let me talk?]

[I see. You don’t like this situation. Then I guess facing the wall…]

Before I could finish, Harry shouted hastily.

[Fine, fine! I’ll keep my mouth shut!]

Thanks to Harry suddenly going quiet, I could focus more on my conversation with the Baron. But whatever he was thinking, he no longer pressed me.

‘Strange. He couldn’t have believed my ridiculous excuse…’

Instead of questioning me, he just quietly watched me with an unreadable expression and nodded slightly.

“…I see. Surely, Milady, you were born with magical power.”

The butler, next to him, flustered with excitement to fill the Baron’s ambiguous reaction.

“It seems your fire has a special power! To set the Black Ironwood alight… this is incredible. The merchants have been so ruthless until now!”

The butler ground his teeth.

“They exploited the fact that no firewood grows in Erel and made unreasonable demands. We had no choice but to comply.”

‘Ah, so that was the situation.’

While I listened casually, the butler’s face was extremely agitated.

“But now we have firewood we can use! With the extraordinary flames Milady has created, we can finally burn Black Ironwood!”

Even in such a cold region, not having firewood was a clear weakness. Everyone knew it, making it an obvious vulnerability that shrewd merchants exploited.

‘So that’s why Erel feels underdeveloped for a ducal territory.’

The butler’s eyes welled up as he saw me nod, seemingly understanding.

‘Wait… tears?’

I looked in surprise, and indeed, tears shimmered in his eyes.

“This is a miracle created by Milady’s earnest wish!”

“…Eh? Mi-miracle?”

“My goodness! With almost no magical power, to wish so earnestly to drive away Erel’s cold and produce such a mysterious, powerful fire!”

“No, I just… felt cold.”

I quickly denied it, but the butler, lost in awe and excitement, didn’t hear me.

“The Duke sent Milady here with such a great purpose. I didn’t even know the full meaning and thought you’d just be leaving a troublesome guest for us to deal with.”

‘No. What you thought is right.’

The Duke simply dumped a troublesome burden here.

‘And that burden is me.’

“I was shortsighted. Please forgive me, Milady!”

“Forgive you? Is that necessary…?”

The butler’s thoughts were entirely accurate, so there was no need for forgiveness. Yet somehow, he looked even more moved.

“To think you say there’s no need for forgiveness… such generosity! Even your notorious reputation was all lies.”

Without the internet, word of Ebria’s deeds had somehow reached this rural edge of the kingdom.

‘Ebria, you really were a nationwide villain…’

A moment to reaffirm my own fame.

The butler smiled awkwardly, bowing slightly.

“Indeed, rumors in the capital are like that. I shouldn’t have believed idle talk from gossiping southerners… my judgment was shortsighted.”

“No, those rumors were all…”

“I’ll distribute these embers throughout the mansion. Finally, everything can run properly. Everyone will be grateful for Milady’s earnest prayer.”

Sharing fire wasn’t a problem—it wouldn’t diminish. But the ridiculous impression of the butler spreading alongside it could be.

I reached to stop him, but he acted faster. Watching his figure rush away with the embers, Harry whispered excitedly in my ear.

[Should I shut him up? Killing him would be most certain. Want to try?]

[…Shut up, Harry.]

[Fine, fine.]

Harry stepped back, frowning as if noticing a change in my tone.

[Hey, your words got rough just now.]

[Harry, I told you to shut up. You’ll be spending your life facing walls anyway…]

[No! It’s fine to talk rough! How did you know shutting up is my specialty? Such a remarkable contractor.]

Harry instantly shrank back. With him quiet, I could focus on my conversation with the Baron.

“But that dog… I haven’t seen it before. You didn’t bring a pet from the capital?”

Baron looked at Emma to confirm, and she bowed.

“I haven’t seen this dog either.”

Seeing their eyes on him, Harry wagged his tail and barked happily, “Woof!”

‘No doubt about it—definitely a dog.’

I gave Harry a praising look, then explained to them both.

“I found him wandering in the garden alone and brought him here.”

“A huge dog wandering in the garden?”

The Baron looked between me and Harry suspiciously, but I nodded boldly.

“Ask around the household if anyone lost a dog. If no owner comes forward, I’ll keep him. I was thinking of getting a pet anyway.”

“If you need a pet, we can find a gentle, intelligent one. Better than a stray of unknown lineage.”

Harry, understanding the hidden meaning, snapped indignantly.

[Who’s talking about lineage! Do you know what kind of demon I am? If anything, I’m the king of my clan…]

‘Ugh, this chatterbox.’

Seems he forgot his promise to keep quiet. I deliberately blocked Harry’s voice and told the Baron my intent.

“So you want me to release him again? That’s cruel. It’s so cold out.”

When I nodded toward the window, the Baron shut his mouth. If Harry were a normal dog, freezing to death in this weather would be no surprise.

“Sending him outside without an owner is just telling him to die. Any person with a conscience wouldn’t do that.”

‘Life is precious, isn’t it?’

I thought it was obvious, yet the Baron looked at me as if hearing nonsense. Emma did the same, even touching her ears as if to check her hearing.

‘Of course.’

I quickly understood why they reacted this way.

‘The girl who tried to kill someone now lectures about conscience… it’s ridiculous.’

Villains needed villainous methods.

I crossed my arms, lifted my chin, and planted one leg slightly forward, imagining a delinquent in a movie or drama. Arrogant and rebellious—that was my intention.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—it worked. Their faces stiffened slightly, looking bewildered.

‘Exactly what I expected.’

I decided to drive the point home.

“Why? Are you unhappy? I said I’d take care of him.”

Raising my voice a notch, my words sounded spiteful even to me.

‘Wow. Didn’t even try, and already sounds so annoying. Truly a villain.’

I admired the villainous Ebria genes and hugged Harry.

[…Carrying the bloodline like this… ugh!]

Harry, mumbling his lineage to himself, coughed and sputtered as I hugged him tight.

“I said I’ll keep him! You can’t possibly say no?”

This time, my voice wasn’t just annoying—it was commanding. Combined with my glaring eyes, it must have seemed very harsh.

“…If you insist, I understand.”