IDDYD 26

Chapter 26

Alice, suddenly pausing mid-sentence, continued with a confused expression.

“Yeah, that’s right… Wait, do you know the Stillenga family?”

Now that she thought about it, Aiden had lived in the human world 500 years ago—before the Stillenga family had been wiped out.

Still, even then, the Stillenga family would have been just one of countless noble houses in the human world.

At her question, Aiden rolled his eyes slightly and replied.

“Well… roughly. They were a ducal family, right?”

“That’s surprising, given how much you seemed shocked back then. Was the Stillenga family still strong at that time?”

“Hmm… it’s not so much that….”

Crossing his arms, Aiden frowned in thought and said,

“The head of that family had an incredible nose for power. So he clung here and there—I thought he’d live a long time.”

“History books say they were wiped out by the Second Prince, who was supposedly opposed to the crown prince, because of a rebellion.”

“Really? The Second Prince rebelled?”

Aiden’s eyes widened as if he hadn’t expected that. Surprised by his reaction, Alice tilted her head and asked,

“Is that really that surprising?”

“I just never sensed that a rebellion would happen while I was in the human world.”

“Well, it’s natural you wouldn’t sense it. If you had, the rebellion probably would have failed.”

“That’s true.”

Aiden scratched his cheek. Though a demon, he seemed to know quite a bit about the political situation back then, even if he didn’t clearly remember the events of 500 years ago.

‘Then, 500 years ago, Aiden’s contractor must have been a high-ranking noble or at least someone deeply connected to politics.’

Who had he made a contract with back then, and why wouldn’t he tell his current contractor about it?

Alice narrowed her eyes at Aiden. He didn’t look at her as he said,

“Now that the analysis of the magic circle is done, shall we proceed with our contract?”

“Hmm? Right.”

“When will we depart?”

“Well, I initially planned to leave the day after I got a reply from Sophia—my acquaintance I mentioned earlier—but I haven’t received an answer yet.”

“So you’ll wait until you arrive?”

“No, if she doesn’t respond by tomorrow, we’ll just leave for the south. Her help would be useful, but waiting indefinitely isn’t feasible.”

Aiden smiled, satisfied with Alice’s plan. Just then, he felt a tug at Alice’s dress from below.

“Meow…”

Cherry had stretched out her paw and was pressing on Alice’s skirt. Alice picked Cherry up and met her gaze.

“What is it?”

“Meow meow.”

Cherry tapped her belly with her short paws, signaling that she was hungry. Alice looked at Aiden.

“By the way, what should we feed Cherry? Back in the demon world, she’d have had magi, but there’s no source of magi in the human world.”

“I hadn’t thought that far.”

Cherry had fully absorbed magi in the Saint Forest before, but that was possible only because of the forest’s unique circumstances.

‘If she could get that much magi in the human world easily, the human world would already be destroyed.’

In other words, the human world wasn’t a suitable place to satisfy Cherry’s hunger. So what should they feed her…?

After staring at Cherry for a while, Alice suddenly stood up, as if she had an idea.

“Shall we go out?”

“Huh?”

“I can’t get magi anywhere, so let’s go out and see for ourselves what Cherry likes and dislikes.”

“Uh… okay.”

“Come on, get up!”

Alice got up and went to put the book back in its place with light steps. Perhaps she was excited about shopping for her companion familiar. Aiden watched her excited figure and smiled gently.

Alice and Aiden rode a carriage toward Blosha Square. The only difference from before was that a cat was lying on Alice’s lap.

When the carriage reached the square, Aiden got out first and held out his hand to Alice. Holding Cherry in her arms, Alice naturally took his hand.

Since this was their second time riding together, his escorting felt familiar.

Alice entered a street opposite from the one they had visited before, where items unrelated to magic were mainly sold.

“Let’s start here first,” Alice said as she entered a shop that caught her eye—a store selling various items for pet cats. Her steps were light as she went in.

“I’ve always wanted to visit at least once if I ever had a pet cat.”

Upon entering, the shop clerk greeted them. Alice returned the greeting and began looking at the merchandise.

“Meow!”

Cherry, already in Alice’s arms, dragged her toward the cat toy section. This was opposite from the shelves of food and snacks.

As expected, Cherry showed no interest in ordinary cat food.

‘If she can’t eat anything besides magi, something similar to magi… hmm, maybe I should visit the magic shop again.’

Alice recalled something Aiden had mentioned: Cherry liked not only magi but also strong magical power.

However, magic power is clearly different from magi. Magi can float in the air, but magic power can only be transferred through a mage.

‘Should I directly infuse my magic into her? But if I do, she might accidentally attack…’

Alice pondered seriously how to feed magic to Cherry and decided to buy toys that she would enjoy. Then they left the store.

Aiden followed, taking a shopping bag full of items for Cherry from Alice’s hands.

“Why didn’t you raise a cat until now if you liked them so much?” he asked.

Alice, glancing at his hands carrying her load naturally, replied,

“I thought I wouldn’t take good care of them. I don’t spend much time in the manor anyway. Let’s go to the magic shop street next. Cherry should be somewhere with lots of magic…”

“Miss Erdin, Sir Aiden!”

They stopped at the voice calling them. Alice and Aiden turned their heads toward it.

It was Madam Christine, owner of Bijou Dress Shop, smiling brightly as she greeted them.

“Oh, Madam Christine. Hello.”

Christine had apparently spotted Alice passing by and came out. Seeing the shopping bag Aiden held, she said,

“You’re shopping, I see.”

“Yes, we’re getting ready to have a cat.”

“Oh my, such a cute cat,” Christine laughed at Cherry in Alice’s arms. After exchanging brief pleasantries, she continued,

“I’ve actually wanted to thank you both. Fortunately, I ran into you.”

“Thank you?”

“Yes, ever since I first saw Sir Aiden, I couldn’t stop being inspired, and I ended up designing dozens of sketches. I’ve made as many dresses recently… ah.”

Christine clapped her hands lightly, as if a thought had just occurred.

“Are you busy right now?”

“Not really.”

“If it’s alright, could you stop by the shop for a moment? A reservation was canceled today, so we have some free time.”

Alice looked up at the sky. The sun was still high, so taking a side street for a couple of hours seemed fine.

“Can the cat come in too?”

“Of course. Our dress shop separates the showroom and lobby.”

“And you, Aiden?”

“I’ll be fine as long as it’s not that weird… costume thing again. Oh, and not for too long.”

Aiden shivered recalling the doll-like play Alice and Christine had made him participate in before.

Alice chuckled quietly at his anxious tone and said to Christine,

“Alright. We have enough time, so let’s drop by for a bit.”

Alice was curious about the new outfits Christine had made. Christine’s face brightened at Alice’s response.

“Thank you! I’ll do my best to serve you.”

Christine bowed and opened the door to her dress shop behind her.

As Alice led the way, Aiden heard Christine muttering quietly,

“I thought this would finally be the chance to try that costume… a little disappointing…”

Aiden sighed sincerely, pretending not to hear her words, and followed them into the shop.