Chapter 3
***
I couldn’t even twitch a finger.
My entire body felt limp, and there wasn't a trace of magic left in me.
It was to be expected, really. My magic was literally draining away.
I scanned my surroundings with my weakened body. I grasped where I was faster than I had anticipated.
Judging by the conversation I’d just overheard, this was the banquet hall of the Everett estate.
The place where the female lead’s birthday banquet was being held, which meant I was at the mansion of Count Everett!
‘This is insane. How did this happen?’
The portal to the Human World had been closed and gone for a long time.
“Ah. On top of that, my power…”
I had felt a sharp pang in my heart while traveling, and then my magic had evaporated in an instant.
“…I have no power.”
This strange, unfamiliar sensation of magic vanishing was, in a way, also something I knew.
“Don’t tell me this year was my sabbatical year?”
I slowly counted on my fingers, tracing back the date of my last sabbatical.
A witch’s sabbatical year came once every fifty years.
Witches were beings to whom the "cycle of life", the process of fading and being reborn over time, did not apply.
Because their existence defied the natural order, every fifty years from the moment of their birth, they were subjected to a powerful influence of natural law.
That was the "sabbatical year."
During this period, every witch, without exception, lost almost all of their magic.
That was why it was an unspoken rule never to leave the witch territory during this time.
But here I was, a witch who had fallen into the Human World during her sabbatical year?
“What kind of disaster is this… Oh, my head.”
I was in a state where I needed to lie down and recuperate immediately.
Having left the castle where magic swirled, even standing up was a struggle.
Whether they knew how I felt or not, the extravagant night at the Everett estate was just beginning.
Was it a stroke of luck that I’d landed on the terrace, at least?
‘Imagine if a suspicious woman had just dropped out of thin air in the middle of the banquet hall.’
I was standing there, staring blankly at the luxuriously bright lights, wondering what to do.
“Commander!”
With that urgent call, the terrace door where I stood swung wide open.
Startled, I crouched down in the flowerbed right next to the terrace, and a man with silver hair that resembled shimmering moonlight walked in.
“Commander, why aren't you greeting Lady Everett? It seemed like she was looking for you. I think now is your chance.”
A blond man who had followed him inside grabbed his shoulder lightly and said.
“Don’t talk nonsense. I’m already exhausted from coming straight to this banquet the moment I returned.”
“Weren't you the one who came all the way here just to see Lady Everett in the first place?”
“I came because I was summoned. I don’t have any particular thoughts on it.”
The man’s face, murmuring in a cold tone, was softly illuminated under the moonlight.
Light silver hair that sparkled as if dusted with fresh snow, and thick eyebrows.
Long, deep-set eyes and violet pupils.
That man, with his masculine, sharp features, was none other than…!
“Blake Leblanc!”
“…What did you say?”
“Pardon?”
As soon as I clamped my hand over my mouth, Blake, who had been called out of the blue, whipped his head around to glare at the blond man behind him.
“What’s your grievance that you’re speaking so informally? Rain?”
At the chilling voice that seemed to leak cold air, the man called Rain pulled his hand away, looking flustered as he stepped back.
“Pardon? I, I didn’t say anything. You say I spoke informally?”
“You’re saying you didn’t call me?”
“Even if I were crazy, I wouldn't do such a thing!”
Blake’s gaze, which had been suspiciously eyeing Rain as he waved his hands in denial, flew toward the flowerbed.
‘Eek!’
My loose tongue!
Surprise and emotion at seeing the tragic second male lead from the original novel in person had made me blurt out his name before I could stop myself.
His gaze, sharply scanning the area near the flowerbed, was icy.
‘If I get caught, I’m done for.’
I squeezed out every last bit of my depleted magic to hide my presence as much as possible.
If it were the old me, I would have had nothing to fear, but the current me felt it instinctively.
‘That man is a powerhouse who transcends the level of a human.’
It was a bone-chilling moment that made me hold my breath automatically.
“Then, have you prepared a gift for Lady Everett?”
“Ah.”
At Rain’s sudden question, Blake’s gaze shifted back to him.
“D, don’t tell me… you didn’t prepare one?!!”
“I did.”
“Oh, you did. What did you get?”
“This teddy bear.”
“…Pardon?”
I pricked up my ears at the intriguing conversation.
He prepared a teddy bear as a gift for his unrequited love?
Isn't that a rather romantic gift?
True to a romance novel, I couldn't help but smile warmly at the cute gift, forgetting my own predicament.
No wonder he’d been holding such an out-of-place teddy bear since he stepped onto the terrace.
So that was it?
“…Wait a minute. You can’t possibly mean this tattered brown teddy bear, haha. Right. That wouldn't be it, would it?”
Rain, who was muttering, ‘Hmm, it can’t be. It absolutely won’t be,’ looked at the silent Blake and then shrieked.
“You really mean this?! This old teddy bear?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Good heavens.”
Perhaps unable to continue, the terrace fell silent for a moment.
“B, by the way, I saw you loitering on the street after training earlier.”
“…”
“You didn’t… buy it from that old peddler woman who’s always hanging around there, did you?”
“I did. An old hag grabbed my pant leg, so I bought it because it was annoying. It’s better than having nothing.”
“No, it is absolutely not better. Today is Lady Everett’s birthday, for heaven’s sake! She is one of your most important human connections!”
“I know. But is a birthday that important? This banquet is likely just for the Everett family’s business investments anyway. Lea won’t care about a gift.”
“Gaaaah…”
Rain, who clutched his forehead with one hand, let out a deep groan.
I frowned as well, sensing the gravity of the situation.
I remembered him being described as a heartless, emotionless monster, but…
‘Isn't that just a robot?’
I stared in disbelief at the back of his silver head, which looked as indifferent as if he truly didn't care.
“A, absolutely not. Let’s throw this away!”
“Don’t act like a materialistic human, Rain. I loathe such people.”
“What kind of talk is that?! I’m not being materialistic, I’m throwing away trash. Give it here!”
“Hand it over.”
“I refuse!”
“…Do you want to die?”
The two men’s bickering dragged on.
My legs were going numb because of these two arguing over such strange reasons—they should just leave already!
This wasn't the time for this!
I had to find a way to return to the Demon Realm immediately.
Blake and the original novel were fine and all, but I couldn't stay in the Human World forever with zero magic.
‘But where is the portal?’
I needed to find the portal that had brought me to the Human World to get back.
Now was my chance while those two were fighting!
Just as I was looking around to investigate,
“Hey! Why would you throw the teddy bear!”
An old brown teddy bear landed with a thud right on top of my head.
“Ugh!”
And at that moment.
*Pop!*
With a blinding flash, my body felt light.
‘Huh?’
I blinked, my vision swimming dizzily. I felt a thick hand gripping one of my arms.
“Oh, honestly. If you were just going to throw it away, why be so stubborn about it until the end?”
But why did my body feel so light and fluffy?
As I slowly lifted my arm, what I saw was a hand that had turned into a clump of blunt fur.
My whole body stiffened. I had no idea what had happened.
‘This fluffy fur and small body…’
I stared blankly at my shrunken body and realized.
A teddy bear?
I turned into a teddy bear?
‘Nooooooo!’
Damn it. How could something like this happen?
Even if I had lost my magic, this was too much.
Could a witch with powerful magic really be sucked into a mere teddy bear?
‘What on earth is this teddy bear?’
Unless it was an object imbued with powerful magic capable of trapping a witch, this shouldn't be possible.
‘Okay, first, let’s get out of this doll.’
Focus, take a calm breath.
And give it a good push…!
Huh?
Give it another good push…!
Good heavens.
‘It won’t come back….’
I couldn't get back into my original body!
No matter what I did, I was still a teddy bear with fluffy fur.
Furthermore.
‘I have no magic, so I can’t even move my body.’
It was a series of shocking events. To think I’d be reduced to a state where I couldn't even budge inside this teddy bear.
At this point, I had no choice but to admit it.
‘I… have become a bear.’
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