Chapter 13

“What?”

“I said I don’t want to help you.”

“W-Why… why won’t you help me?!”

Watching Vivian’s eyes widen in complete shock at the utterly unexpected rejection, Blake fell briefly into thought.

His refusal had been instinctive.

And the reasons behind it were fairly logical.

No—perhaps this was actually the perfect opportunity.

‘The one and only existence capable of making me sleep.’

That fact alone made her valuable enough to keep close immediately.

Now that he had finally experienced what true, restful sleep felt like—

there was no going back.

So until he discovered exactly how she had done it, he had absolutely no intention of letting her return home.

He spoke in a cold voice sharp enough to send chills down the spine.

“Let’s assume everything you said is true. Even then, how am I supposed to trust you enough to open some portal? What if something happens after opening it? Besides, even if you stay in teddy bear form, I have no problem sleeping.”

“You… you don’t look like the kind of person who’d say something so awful!”

“No, I am exactly that kind of person. And after going through the trouble of finding your portal, what if you disappear without even appreciating it? There’s only one reason I’m keeping you alive right now. You can temporarily ease this curse.”

“But I told you I’ll look for a way to break the curse too!”

“Maybe. But I’m not stupid enough to blindly believe everything someone says.”

Vivian instantly looked wronged.

Clutching her oversized head dramatically, she staggered back and forth.

“Blake… repaid kindness with betrayal…”

Blake watched her expressionlessly for a moment before finally offering a proposal.

“Then let’s do this. If you truly haven’t lied, sign a contract with me.”

“A… contract?”

He nodded.

Then he opened the drawer beside the table, pulled out paper and a fountain pen, scribbled something quickly, and handed it to her.

For something written so quickly, the contract was surprisingly detailed.

Contract

Party A: Blake Leblanc
Party B: Vivian Holloway

Article 1

Party A shall cooperate in allowing Party B to continuously replenish her magic power, and Party B shall do her utmost to help Party A sleep whenever he desires.

Article 2

Unless unavoidable circumstances arise, Party B shall not reveal to others that she is a witch.

Article 3

Party A shall search for the portal so Party B may return to her original world, and Party B shall search for a method to break the curse upon House Leblanc.

Article 4

This contract shall terminate once Party A’s curse is completely lifted, and any modifications to the contract must receive the consent of both parties.

Vivian carefully reread the final line, which had been written especially boldly.

“The contract ends once the curse is broken…”

“If you fulfill the conditions, I’ll also do my best to help you return.”

Vivian found Blake irritatingly thorough, but she continued reading the contract anyway.

Finding the portal was an extremely important issue if she ever wanted to return to Holloway Castle.

And honestly, in her current condition, she was painfully aware that she lacked the ability to search for the portal and return home by herself.

Even if she restored her magic power, if she couldn’t find the portal, she would remain trapped forever in the human world.

‘Absolutely not!’

No matter how curious she was about the protagonists of the novel, or how exciting it was to see the human world after centuries—

this was not her home.

A massive, beautiful castle in the West.

Max, who was probably worried sick about her.

A life waiting for her to return, laugh while recounting everything that had happened, and finally open the wine she had been saving.

“Fine. Let’s do it.”

Vivian tightly gripped the fountain pen with both hands.

After struggling to sign her name with a pen almost half the size of her body, she pushed the contract toward him with a pout.

Blake asked calmly,

“And what happens if one of us breaks the contract?”

“There’s no need for penalties. A witch’s contract must be upheld. Otherwise, the witch loses her magic forever.”

“Then you’ll keep your word. I also never break promises once I make them.”

There was no emotion in his response.

Only cold, rational practicality.

Feeling strangely hurt for no reason, Vivian pressed her lips together tightly before abruptly turning her head away.

“Now that we have a contract, cooperate properly! I can’t stay trapped in this room forever.”

“……”

Vivian understood what Blake was worried about.

A moving teddy bear would obviously look suspicious in the human world.

And from Blake’s perspective, getting caught with her would be difficult to explain.

But Vivian also couldn’t just sit around helplessly and hope things worked themselves out.

‘Even if I am the greatest optimism witch alive!’

Even if Blake objected, she needed freedom to move around.

“I’ll tell you before I go looking for portals. Or next time, how about we just stick together like we did earlier?”

“If you’re going to say pointless things, just don’t talk at all.”

“But if we stay together, nobody will suspect anything. People will just think I’m your comfort doll.”

Comfort doll.

At those words, Blake’s brow twitched faintly before he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Damn it…”

Was he remembering the servants’ horrified expressions from earlier?

Vivian decided he was secretly a surprisingly high-maintenance man.

Standing on tiptoe with all her might, she stretched out her stubby arm and patted his shoulder.

Blake slowly turned his head to look at her.

His expression clearly asked: What exactly are you doing right now?

“It’s okay. Everyone will focus more on the fact that you carry around a comfort doll than on the fact that I move.”

“That’s supposed to comfort me—”

“A military commander carrying around a teddy bear? That’s a pretty charming gap, honestly.”

“I told you to be quiet already. Can’t you stop talking for even one second?”

“Yep, I hear that a lot. Thanks.”

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

Blake tried leaning away to avoid her hand, but when she stubbornly continued patting him, he finally gave up.

Then he suddenly collapsed backward onto the bed.

Lying comfortably on his back, the corners of his lips softened unexpectedly.

It was strange.

Just moments ago, his head had been pounding from arguing with a teddy bear.

Yet somehow, whenever he felt her touch, his heart calmed down.

Was even that some kind of magic from this doll?

“You look nice when you smile.”

“…Nonsense. I wasn’t smiling.”

Blake quickly erased the expression from his face and turned over onto his side.

But by now, Vivian had learned how to interpret his dishonest words fairly well.

After staring at him quietly for a moment, she asked:

“Want to take a nap together?”

“……”

When he fell silent, Vivian gently leaned her heavy head against his shoulder.

His broad shoulders weren’t strained at all by her tiny weight—

yet she still felt him flinch slightly.

Feeling that subtle reaction, Vivian tilted her head.

‘Seriously, he’s weird. Just a moment ago he was acting so sensitive.’

The Blake she’d seen before in Human World Special Report had looked terrifying.

And while he was somewhat cold and detached, if you looked more carefully, he actually displayed quite a variety of emotions.

‘It’d be nice if Leah, the heroine, got to see this side of him.’

She might end up falling for Blake’s charm.

Vivian already knew the reason he’d gotten angry earlier was because he’d been worried something bad might happen to her.

If there was one thing she’d learned throughout her life, it was how to judge people accurately.

And she was pretty confident about that.

‘Even though he acts differently, his heart’s not cold at all.’

Of course, it still hurt a little that he’d refused to help without forcing her to sign a contract first.

Still…

If someone trusted too easily, where was the fun in that?

‘Just wait and see. I’ll give you the best sleep of your life!’

Thinking all sorts of random thoughts, Vivian quietly hummed a tune.

Her magic power was already slowly recovering again.

Enjoying the strange but pleasant sensation, she gently closed her eyes and murmured:

“I’m lucky I met you. I never thought I’d meet a human who worried about me.”

She didn’t even cast a sleeping spell this time.

Still, the two of them remained there with their eyes closed for quite a while, sharing an awkward but drowsy silence together.

It was a peaceful midday rest.

For a moment, it almost felt as though a calm and happy life might continue like this forever.

But—

…the next day, a bizarre rumor spread throughout the ducal estate.

***

“Did you hear? Apparently the eldest young master carries around a teddy bear now. They say he never lets it out of his sight.”

“Isn’t that just a ridiculous rumor? A teddy bear? That makes no sense.”

“But there are witnesses! A brown teddy bear! They say he picked it up and said, ‘Found you, my teddy bear.’ And apparently he sounded really cool while saying it!”

“…Come to think of it, someone who entered the study said the Young Master was sitting there talking to the teddy bear.”

“What? Young Master hasn’t been able to sleep lately, so maybe he finally…”

“Hey! Watch your mouth!”

“No, seriously. I heard it too. Some people are saying it’s a possessed doll. Lots of people claim they saw it moving. They’re saying the doll’s cursed, so nobody should even make eye contact with it!”

“Oh my goodness, that’s terrifying!”

Unfortunately for Blake, the rumors about the haunted(?) teddy bear were snowballing rapidly.

At that very moment, old butler Ronald was heading toward Blake’s office carrying an important letter from the Eastern Cartel when he overheard the servants whispering.

He stopped in place immediately.

‘…What exactly did I just hear?’

The Young Master hugging a brown teddy bear and calling it “my teddy bear”?