With a slight smile, Wishit, who had closed their eyes meditatively, threw Pose away.
Gracefully landing, Pose floated in the air and chuckled.
“What’s bothering you, anyway?” Wishit asked.
“Huh? I’m not bothered.”
“Maybe I should give you a good smack to wake you up.”
“Eeek!” Pose, who had playfully raised his arms to defend himself, muttered more seriously. “Your Excellency isn’t asking because you don’t know what’s bothering me, right?”
“…”
At those words, their expressions suddenly became sharp.
Pose, with a cute face that didn’t match his stern expression, narrowed his eyes. “…Please close your eyes. I’m practically your only loyal subject here. Everyone else just gets pushed around by humans like puppets.”
“…”“I’m working hard for my king’s liberation, so please, cut me some slack.”
Wishit’s expression contorted. “When did I ever ask you for that? Why are you doing things I didn’t ask for?”
“How long will we live like slaves, following behind humans like this? Are humans more important than our king?” Pose thrust his manic face in front of Wishit. “Hehe…”
“…”
“Look. You can’t even do a thing as I do this. It’s humans who made you so incapable. That foolish girl.” Pose pointed at the retreating Rubette.
“Be careful with your words.”
“We’ve all become worthless because of the taboos and restrictions that girl put in place.”
The Spirit King Wishit had granted freedom to all spirits. Originally, there were no limits to the abilities of the spirits.
In the distant past, it was said that Pose had the power to indefinitely halt time across the entire world, until the time when Wishit’s first contract holder, Diollus I, imposed limits on the spirits.
“I believe her choice was the right one. The power of the spirits is dangerous, and if there were no limits, it could be exploited at any time.”
“Ha!” Pose scoffed. “Don’t talk nonsense. We’re fundamentally different from humans. Do we have desires? Or do we feel emotions like hatred and resentment?”
“…”
“It’s all because of you, my king. From the moment you made us follow behind humans.” Pose gritted his teeth. “We had no choice but to obey the commands of humans, who greedily indulged in their desires, like slaves. Is that our fault?”
“…”
“Tell me. Is that our fault?” Pose, chuckling as he watched the silent Wishit, tilted his head. “My current contractee is a real idiot. I picked him very carefully. I’m going to make this guy an emperor.”
“Pose.”
“Then, I will diligently ruin this empire! After our king eliminates all those golden-eyed humans granted the ability to summon spirits!”
“…”
“I’ll put an end to this damn slave contract!” Pose’s eyes, which had been shouting, momentarily lost their sparkle and sank weakly. “Then we, and Your Excellency, can finally be free…”
“…”
“Let’s go back to how we were in the beginning. Shall we?” He once again made a pitiful face, like a young child. “Let’s return to a time when we didn’t coexist with those filthy, greedy creatures.”
“I don’t want that kind of liberation. And even if you don’t do such things, I can release my seal just fine.”
“Hahaha!” Pose covered his mouth with his hand and burst into laughter. “Do you really believe in your contractee? Do you think she’ll use her last wish for you?”
“…”
“Snap out of it. It won’t happen.” Pose added with a hint of pity, “Ultimately, your contractee is just a greedy, blind human.”
***
“Do you really believe in your contractee? Do you think she’ll use her last wish for you?”
Recalling Pose’s voice, Wishit let out a sigh.
The last wish was the key that could free Wishit.
“I wish we could return to a time when humans and spirits didn’t coexist.”
“Sorry, but I can’t grant that wish. It was the Spirit King’s decision to settle their debts with the Descarde and coexist with humans.”
Wishit’s first contractee, Diollus, had wished for one thing after enduring numerous tragedies—the freedom of the spirits.
“Then, Wishit.”
“…”
“I’m going to place three constraints on you. These constraints will set you free.”
A contradictory statement, where constraints would ironically grant them freedom.
But Wishit understood. She was concerned about the greed of the future contractee that Wishit would encounter.
“I hope you won’t be exploited by the whims of humans. But, at the same time, I hope that someday, a human will appear who can care for you more than anyone else.”
“…”
“Because you love humans.”
Diollus wished for Wishit not to be controlled by humans but also hoped that there was someone in this world who cherished him more than anyone else.
“Someday, if a contractee appears who can repay your sacrifices and love.”
“…”
“That contractee will willingly use their last wish entirely for your sake.”
In a haze of conscience, Wishit remembered her last words.
“The last wish. It’s… Yeah. I hope for a human who wishes for that, a human who cherishes you more than themselves, a human who will finally set you free…”
“…”
“I’ll pray for them to appear.”
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What’s with that expression?”
“You surprised me.”
With a sudden intrusion of someone’s face, Wishit sighed and patted their racing heart.
Rubette looked eerie. Holes pierced through damp and peculiar mask on her eyes, nose, and mouth.
“What’s with that strange mask?”
“It’s a face mask~” In a cheerful mood, Rubette approached the mirror, humming. “I applied some skincare to the gauze. It’ll be available at the cosmetics store starting next month.”
“Ha.” Wishit sighed and shook their head in disbelief. “Haven’t you earned enough money? Are you really going to gather all the money in this country and put it in your pocket?”
“Haha, that doesn’t sound too bad.”
“Your ambition knows no bounds.”
With a mischievous grin, Rubette turned to Wishit and greedily said, “Humans are creatures of greed. Having desires is human nature, and I don’t think it’s a bad thing.” She shrugged and added, “Desire is the driving force that keeps humans constantly evolving. Being a little greedy isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
“…” Wishit, who had been gazing at Rubette with a peculiar expression, soon chuckled and nodded. “Yes, you’re right.”
“Well, speaking of being a little too greedy and not keeping the balance, what happened to our twins?” Rubette looked back at the mirror and chuckled. “They contracted with the same spirits as last time, right?”
“That’s right.”
The twins had also caused a catastrophe in their previous lives, trying to find a wish-granting spirit and ending up contracting with the lowest-ranking spirits.
“What did those spirits do wrong? Poor things… They ended up suffering for decades because of their unlucky masters.”
“I’m even more pitiable than them. I’m supposed to be a wish-granting spirit, but I can’t fulfill any wishes and spend my entire life hanging around with contractee.”
“Again, again, and again. You actually enjoy being with me forever, but you complain.” Rubette, with a crooked smile, climbed onto the bed and sprawled out. “Hmm. I’ve come back, the twins’ contracts have failed again. By now, things should be getting interesting, so why is it so quiet?”
“Do you want to know why?”
“Yeah.” Rubette sat up abruptly, muttering with a sense of unease. “It’s too quiet, and that’s suspicious…”
***
Count Bert’s daughter, Molga Bert, was a beautiful woman from a humble rural aristocratic background. She had once yearned for the glamorous lives of the landed gentry and high nobility, feeling the cruel fate of aging as a mere country bumpkin.
Her life began to change slowly after she spent a night with the previous Duke Diollus, who had come to inspect the central territories and had been given a potion.
‘I can’t be driven away like this. How did I come this far? This is my home, my family.’
With a haggard face from sleepless nights over the past few days, Molga clung to a single small lantern and hurriedly made her way to the kitchen.
“Now that the twins have completed their contracts, it’s time for you to leave with the children and gain independence.”
The shock of contracting with the lowest-ranking spirits, seen as worse than having no spirits at all, had not even dissipated when Leonard delivered a thunderous notice to Molga.
“Until now, we’ve lived under the same roof following Father’s will, but isn’t it an awkward relationship for the lady and me to continue seeing each other’s faces?”
Leonard, who could never truly like Molga, his father’s mistress, although he didn’t openly admit it, had been biding his time. Waiting for the moment when the twins completed their contracts and he no longer had a reason to take responsibility for them.
‘Damn it, damn it, damn you bastard…’
Perhaps Molga had also sensed it subconsciously. Even her actions through the hired family physician were driven by that reason.
“Why won’t that damn bastard die sooner!?”
“Sister, we can’t kill him without evidence if we don’t plan carefully. Are you still giving him medicine and alcohol?”
“I don’t know. Lately, that bastard’s complexion has been surprisingly good.”
Molga’s younger brother, Gail, who was skilled in pharmacology, spared no effort to help her rise to her current position. It had started with him making the potion given to the previous Duke Diollus.
And now, he had provided her with a potion to hasten Leonard’s deterioration even further…
“Given that he’s consistently been taking medicine and alcohol together, his vascular condition is likely far from normal. This will accelerate the deterioration of the duke’s condition. It’s not an outright poison, but be cautious, as it will make him feel tired if taken.”
“Is this enough? Will the effects come quickly?”
“Yes. About a week, divided and added to his food.”
In a dimly lit kitchen in the deep dawn, Molga, relying on a single lantern, retrieved a small pouch of medicine she had concealed in her sleeve. Pouring half of the contents into a large pot, she quickly turned and left the kitchen.
When daylight came, it would be served on Leonard’s plate.
‘A week… I can’t trust the ones I hired, so I have to do it myself.’
Snick. Carefully closing the kitchen door, she turned around.
“Ugh.”
A crimson lantern flickered, and someone emerged from the darkness. As if he had been waiting for Molga, Leonard leaned against the wall…
No, not him.
“V-Viego?”
Surprised, Molga grabbed her chest and held the lantern to illuminate his face. “What are you doing here at this hour?” she asked.
“What about you, Grandma?”
“The water jug is empty, what can I say? I was thirsty. Waking the maids at this hour seems a bit unfair.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Right? Alright then… Goodnight.”
Molga smiled and hastily passed by Viego, the person who had been leaning against the wall. Thump, thump, thump. Her heart raced as if it might burst out at any moment, and cold sweat formed on her back, but she tried to act composed.
‘It’s okay, it’s okay. Act composed. Act composed.’
And then, she suddenly stopped. Molga’s footsteps came to a halt.
‘Ah.’
It felt like the sleeve hiding the pouch of medicine had moved slightly.
No, it wasn’t a feeling.
‘No, this can’t be…’
Molga trembled as if she were about to faint. Her eyes darted slightly to the side. Right next to her face, floating in the air…
The pouch of medicine she had hidden in her sleeve was suspended there.
It was telekinesis.
“…”
Molga’s stiffened head slowly turned back.
Viego stood there with an expressionless face. Soon, the pouch of medicine floating in the air was grasped in his hand.
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