Chapter 9

“Please, have some.”

The meal finally arrived late at night.

After it was over, I quietly handed her a teacup filled with tea leaves I had brought from the market, placing it where the empty dishes had been.

It was a moment of relief, fulfilling a long-held wish I couldn’t grant when I first served her.

Yet, she didn’t touch the teacup, just stared down with a sullen face.

Isn’t it strange? She had just silently finished the meal I prepared.

“Do you perhaps dislike tea…?”

“No, no. It’s fine. I just have something on my mind.”

Only after I called her did Jeremiah snap out of her thoughts and grab the teacup.

Her words finally flowed after she took a sip and some time had passed.

“Did you… go out to earn money for me?”

A rather cautious question.

I smiled wryly and took out a pouch from my pocket, placing it on the table.

“I found a well-paying job. With this much, I can provide meals like today’s for a while.”

“Ah, so you plan to keep making meals like this?”

“I can’t serve my master inadequately.”

Seeing her devour the meal I prepared, it was clear she hadn’t had a proper meal before I arrived.

Whatever she plans to do, she’ll need strength, so feeding her well is necessary.

Though making the table more lavish is just my small greed, as I pride myself on my cooking skills.

“But, but…”

Despite my good intentions, her face still showed unease.

“Did you… get involved in something criminal…? No, right?”

“Criminal? Me?”

“Well, it’s not just a small amount. It’s not something you could earn from a regular day job… And you’re a demon.”

“Haha, a demon.”

Is there anything more pitiful than being doubted just for being a demon?

I placed my hand on my chest, trying to reassure her with the most respectful attitude.

“Before being a demon, I am a butler serving you. How could I do anything that would bring shame to my master?”

“……”

Jeremiah silently stared at me. Her lips twitched as if she had much to say, but the words never came out, stuck in her teacup.

And gulp, gulp. The tea swallowed along with the words she couldn’t utter.

I watched her enjoy the tea I brewed with satisfaction and continued the conversation as I sat across from her.

“This city seems to have a lot of incidents and accidents.”

It was the most prosperous in the empire, but with prosperity came deep shadows.

Where people gather, wealth accumulates, and with wealth comes competition, widening the gap between rich and poor. In such a wealthy city, slums spread like roots in the back alleys.

The desperate struggles of the poor to scrape by the crumbs that fall where money flows… In such an environment, incidents and accidents never cease, and the city spares no expense in solving them.

“Solving such cases and earning money from it is a perfectly legitimate way to make a living, don’t you think?”

So, rest assured, I wouldn’t get involved in anything unsavory.

Jeremiah, who had been silently listening to my reassurance, carefully set down her empty teacup and asked cautiously.

“What kind of case… did you solve?”

Was she curious about the case I solved after hearing my story?

“Well, if I must say…”

Of course, I had to answer my master’s curiosity, but it felt a bit awkward to say it outright.

Arresting a pervert who stole underwear from the upper class all over the city… Not exactly a topic for a young lady, is it?

“It was about catching someone who sought petty revenge.”

Her startled reaction was expected as I began the story with a slight detour.

It was a story I had seen in the past.

And for someone, it might be a story they call the future.

“Yet, the world did not forgive him.”

As if the story wasn’t about someone else, her hands on the table began to tense.

“Without considering his circumstances, they branded him a criminal and put him on trial.”

Still, I continued the story.

Because I knew her future.

I knew that her hatred, bound by a contract with a demon, would grow uncontrollably and soon turn into malice towards lovers who truly loved each other.

“Revenge is like that.”

Who would wish for such a thing?

Before being a demon, I am human, and my simple wish is to live a life unlike a demon’s.

“No matter how unfair, it’s ultimately personal pain, and the world won’t understand that pain… So, what awaits at the end is only destruction.”

“That’s…!”

Unable to bear my sincere advice, Jeremiah shouted.

But it ended in a single cry, as no words came to mind.

“Miss.”

I spoke quietly to her.

“I don’t think you’re wrong.”

With complete sincerity.

I genuinely sympathized with her, who had lived under others’ will and had her very existence denied.

“But the you I’ve seen is someone who feels pain and fear, just like everyone else.”

Though the future may be different, she wasn’t a villainess now.

Not yet cruel, just a fragile lady who didn’t know what to do when encountering a suspicious person on the night streets.

Seeing her walk the path of revenge would be unbearably painful, so I couldn’t help but want to stop her.

“Whatever you do from now on, I hope you take care of yourself.”

Please understand that.

Before seeking revenge, the priority is to protect yourself.

“What do you mean, take care of myself…?”

Despite my earnest plea, her voice was filled with agitation.

“I’ve been educated to live my whole life… for the man I would marry. I thought that was the answer, so I lived as others told me…”

Her breath quickened, and her body trembled.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at me, and her voice shook even more.

“Despite my desperate efforts, that man gave his heart to another woman and cast me aside as if my feelings meant nothing. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want it, but my family called me incompetent and exiled me here!!”

The sorrowful emotions felt just by facing her.

A narrative that justified her inevitable fall.

“Now, there’s no one left.”

In the empty space left at the end, she wept more bitterly than anyone, demanding someone to side with her.

“There’s no one by my side. No one to guide me. No one to affirm me!”

If you understand me, then take revenge for me.

Plan for me, who has no proper plan, and show me the way forward.

“Even so, it’s unfair to end it here! So, if I don’t do this…!”

“Did you say there’s no one?”

Yes, to her, I was a guide.

Someone to lead her uncontrollable thirst for revenge correctly…

Even if I were an utterly selfish and greedy being, she depended on me to guide her.

“Miss Jeremiah.”

Realizing this, I wanted to show her the path she should take.

“Could you look around you for a moment?”

Before the destination she would reach in the future…

I wanted to teach her where she should first set foot.

“What’s behind you?”

“…Nothing.”

Because the path she had walked so far had been utterly denied.

“What’s beside you?”

“Nothing.”

Because of that, nothing remained by her side.

“Then who’s in front of you?”

At this moment, I faced her.

And she faced me.

“…You.”

“Yes, I’m here.”

After pointing that out, I smiled at her.

“You said there’s no one, but right in front of you, I’m here.”

Without a hint of pretense, honestly.

Telling her that the guide she had chosen, who had been nothing, would now accompany her on her journey.

“Of course, I’m a demon. Selfish and greedy, as you’d expect… You summoned me because you wanted my malice directed at the world.”

Though the start might have been to give shape to her vague thirst for revenge.

I wanted to teach her that the result didn’t have to be malice towards the world and her own destruction.

“But because I’m such a selfish being, I hold a more earnest desire than anyone to fulfill my wishes. And that wish was fulfilled by being summoned by you.”

Hoping sincerely that the predetermined bad ending would twist through our meeting, leading to a better outcome.

“Just by facing you like this, my wish is being fulfilled.”

With that wish in mind, I quietly placed my hand on my chest and spoke to her.

“So let me say this clearly.”

Going further, I made a vow at that moment.

“As much as you do for me, I will do for you.”

If she doesn’t abandon me, I won’t abandon her.

“Whenever, wherever, I will put you first, always think of you, and prioritize you.”

As long as she needs me, I will strive to meet her expectations.

“Whatever path you take from now on…”

Since we met by chance and will walk the future together.

I will do my best to ensure our journey is satisfying for both of us.

“Even if the whole world abandons you, I will stand by your side until the end.”

She silently listened to my sincere whisper.

Time passed.

The candlelight in the dining room flickered precariously, and the moonlight outside gradually reached the center of the sky.

“…It’s getting late.”

No clear answer came by then, but I thought it was okay for now.

If she doesn’t abandon me, there’s plenty of time to improve our relationship.

“Leave the cleanup to me and get some rest.”

“…Okay.”

Jeremiah answered belatedly and stood up from her seat.

Later, she hesitated at the dining room entrance, then turned to me and spoke with difficulty.

“Um…”

In a very cautious, uneasy voice.

“…Can I see you tomorrow too?”

But there was a hint of expectation in her voice.

The villainess who felt abandoned by the world was thinking of the future because of my presence.

“Yes, let’s meet tomorrow.”

I smiled softly, truly wishing for that, and she blushed as she quietly left the room.

Was the sorrow of her emotions still not gone?

Thinking it was also a ladylike demeanor, I smiled slightly while cleaning up the remaining dishes.

“Is this what having a younger sister feels like?”

Come to think of it, I had four sisters in my human days.

Back then, I only complained about being bossed around, but sometimes I wished I had a younger sister.

“Well, taking care of someone is much better than being bossed around.”

Yes, I also felt a simple expectation about my relationship with her.

Hoping that all my efforts from now on would please her, I cleaned the mansion alone in the middle of the night.

*****

And the next morning.

While sweeping the empty yard of the mansion, someone opened the gate and started walking in briskly.

Who is it? A newspaper delivery?

“Are you the servant of this mansion?”

A well-dressed man with an unwelcoming expression.

I put on a friendly face and answered him.

“I’m Sebastian, newly hired as the mansion’s servant. Do you have business with the lady?”

“Yes, I’m Vincent, a knight of the Andersen family. I have a letter for Miss Jeremiah.”

He held up a letter with a fancy seal, indicating he wasn’t here for an ordinary matter.

“Is the lady in the mansion?”

“…Let me guide you. This way.”

I didn’t have a good feeling about this.

With a sense of caution, I led the knight from the main family to Jeremiah.

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