chapter 02-
“Let’s search everything!”
Maybe the diary I couldn’t find yesterday would turn up. I already searched Evangelin’s room, so let’s check the other rooms.
This is the toilet, this is the bath, this is the sitting room—ah! Here it is!
The door was stiff and hard to open, but it looked like a storage room. Some things were covered with cloth, and there were wooden boxes filled with small items instead of paper boxes. Wow… how would they even move all this when they relocate?
The things covered in cloth were all paintings. While looking around, I found paints too. It seemed Evangelin had painting as a hobby. There was even a bookshelf, so it looked like an art studio combined with a reading room. No wonder the curtains were drawn.
I ignored the paintings and checked the books instead. I couldn’t read the letters, but a diary would look handwritten, right? Then I hit the jackpot! The cover was completely black, which was a bit strange, but it was definitely written by hand. There were even ink smudges. And judging by the numbers written on top, it was one hundred percent a diary.
As I quickly flipped through the pages, something strange fell out. A note? I picked up the paper.
“A summoning circle?”
It was a circle filled with geometric patterns. This was definitely a summoning circle! A summoning circle came out of this crazy diary!
Seeing this made me think the world I transmigrated into must be from an older novel. These days, people don’t really make contracts with non-human beings.
I didn’t hesitate. I should draw the summoning circle. Whether a spirit appears or a dragon appears, I just need to draw it. A villainess needs at least one ability to protect herself.
Luckily, there were paints. I couldn’t find a blank canvas or decent paper, so I decided to draw it on the floor. These things are usually drawn on the floor anyway.
I was worried the paint might run out while drawing, so I chose the red paint since there was the most of it. The brushes were all hardened and wouldn’t bend, so I just dipped my finger in the paint.
First, I drew a big circle. Then triangles, stars… and lots of letters. While drawing carefully, I pricked my hand on the wooden floor. Thankfully no splinter got stuck, but it started bleeding. It hurt like crazy for something so small, so I used one of the stiff brushes to finish the rest. It was uncomfortable, but manageable. I should’ve used this from the start. When you’re dumb, your body suffers.
“Finished!”
It was a bit crooked and messy, but I finished drawing it! I expected something dramatic to pop out immediately like in novels, but nothing happened. Maybe I have to chant a spell after drawing it? There was a spell written under the fancy summoning circle on the paper… but what’s the point? I can’t read it!
Since I already drew it, maybe I should just say something random.
“Spirit King? Spirits? Dragon? Hello…?”
Nothing happened.
“Um… I want to make a contract. Could anyone come out?”
Begging pitifully didn’t work. I guess I really need to chant the spell. I’ll have to learn the letters first and try again. What kind of ridiculous world is this where an illiterate person can’t even summon something?
Count Rohanson looked down at the maid in front of him.
She wasn’t a criminal, yet Daisy stood trembling with her eyes tightly shut, bowing her head. Considering that Count Rohanson wasn’t a particularly cruel employer, she seemed more frightened than necessary.
It made sense. For the past two days, Daisy had been attending closely to Lady Evangelin. Whatever was inside that body, it looked almost identical on the outside. Daisy must have glimpsed fragments of the young lady in him.
Knowing this well, Count Rohanson did not scold her. Daisy had been close friends with his late daughter regardless of status, which was why she had willingly volunteered to attend “that thing.” Slowly, the count opened his mouth.
“So. What did it do?”
“She asked about Lady Evangelin. How old she was, what her family was like. What food she liked, what habits she had. And she acted as if she really was the lady. When I said the lady used to go for a walk at eight, she said she would too. She took out the lady’s clothes and walked around in them…”
Her freckled, cute face twisted. Her tightly shut eyelashes trembled as she spoke as if confessing to a priest.
Her angry voice gradually faded. “It was as if she wanted to become Lady Evangelin.” She couldn’t finish the sentence, realizing she had become too emotional. No one would hate that thought more than Evangelin’s father, Count Rohanson.
“She didn’t even seem to care that maids fainted when they saw her.”
And that wasn’t all. Daisy remembered the way Lady Evangelin looked at the maid who was dragged away with her mouth covered. The maid had cried desperately to be spared, but the emotion in those red eyes was clearly disgust—like looking at a wriggling worm on the street.
The Evangelin Daisy knew was not like that. That fragile girl would rather make herself sick than say something harsh to someone else. If she wanted to become the lady, she shouldn’t look at people with such contempt. Don’t look at me like that. Afraid their eyes might meet, Daisy lowered her head. By the way… was it still looking at me?
“Then suddenly she said she wanted to learn letters.”
“Letters?”
Daisy nodded.
“She said she had amnesia and couldn’t remember how to read, so she asked me to buy books.”
Since Daisy had promised to attend her, she couldn’t leave to buy books herself, so she stepped away briefly to pass the message to someone else.
In that short moment, the room was empty. Thinking she had run away with the lady’s body, Daisy searched the entire fourth floor. Then she saw that the very last room was open—a room the lady had never allowed anyone to enter. They had left it alone because they couldn’t find the key. It had been locked, so how had she opened it?
The door was slightly ajar. If she opened it further, it would make noise. Then she would receive that contemptuous gaze too. Holding her breath, Daisy peeked through the gap. She was definitely holding a book.
“She lied about not knowing letters just to send me away. When I came back, I saw her reading. And then… and then…”
The rest was vivid in her memory. The more she tried to forget, the clearer it became.
“Her finger was bleeding. She must have drawn some kind of pattern on the floor with the blood. It was a drawing that made you uncomfortable just looking at it.”
As she drew on the floor with her finger, there was a harsh scratching sound, like nails scraping wood.
“After finishing it, she muttered something. The only word I clearly heard was… ‘contract.’”
The sound was faint. Daisy pressed her ear closer to the door. By mistake, she pushed it slightly. She prayed she hadn’t been noticed—but their eyes met. Terrified, Daisy squeezed her eyes shut. That was all she saw.
“Contract…” Count Rohanson stroked his chin. A pattern drawn in blood and a contract. It didn’t sound good at all. Some kind of dark magic? He was already tormented by whatever had entered his daughter’s body. Surely it wouldn’t summon another monster with blood.
He sighed. This was all because his daughter had taken her own life. The temple had refused to oversee her funeral or even house her body, and so an evil spirit had taken root in it. The problem was that even holy water could not drive it out.
Since there was no solution, all he could do was continue monitoring it. He was about to encourage Daisy to endure a few more days when he noticed she still had her eyes tightly shut.
“Why are you still keeping your eyes closed?”
“Why? Of course I’m scared. It’s still looking at me, Count.”
She sounded confused.
Looking at her?
The count turned his head.
And met the gaze of several clumped eyes staring back at him.
I was chosen by a three-eyed, leopard-spotted cheese cat. What is this other-world quality…? Why is even the cat extraordinary?
I don’t know where it came from, but when I woke up, it was lying in bed with me. Is it a cat raised by the count’s family? I should ask the maid.
But it’s a different maid from before. Well, they must rotate shifts.
“Does this family have many cats?”
“Cats? They were all killed long ago.”
All killed?
She explained that it was because of a plague spread by cats. So something like the Black Death must have happened here too.
Meow.
“…Don’t you hear a cat crying?”
“I don’t hear anything.”
“That’s strange… It sounds so close.”
I pretended not to notice with all my strength. Of course it sounds close! It’s right here! No! Baby, don’t cry! If you cry, you’ll get caught! You’ll die!
Thankfully, the maid left without searching the room.
Wow, my heart almost dropped. I used to be against adopting pets without family permission. I hated those updates like, “My dad who hated cats now…!” And now what? I’m the one who secretly picked up a cat without permission!
But they said it would die! They killed them all because of disease. Its family must already be dead. Can’t I have it checked by a priest and a doctor and raise it myself? They wouldn’t kill the count’s daughter’s pet, right?
First, I should get permission from the count.
I think they said he’s in his office? At least I remember roughly where it is. I went down the stairs to the second floor and knocked. The butler came out.
“I’d like to see the count.”
“I will ask him.”
The butler returned quickly.
“I’m sorry, my lady. The count says he is busy and cannot see you.”
“Really?”
Wow. What a terrible villainess dad. His daughter came back from death and he didn’t even visit her, didn’t eat a single meal together—and now he won’t even see me when I come? No wonder she became a villainess. Is ‘busy’ just an excuse?
“If you have a message, you may tell me.”
The butler bowed deeply. What kind of person was Evangelin that an old man bows ninety degrees to her? I placed a hand on his shoulder to make him straighten up, and he flinched. Hey, I’m not going to hit you!
“I want to keep a cat.”
“A cat…?”
“Is that not allowed?”
“No…”
Yes! Permission granted!
I walked back happily.
“Your name is Pudding!”
