“Who on earth did you get scammed into a contract with?”

Magnus had at least guessed that this wouldn’t be a simple matter.

At the very least, it probably wasn’t a deal between humans.

‘If only it had been a human, it would have been easier to handle.’

Magnus inwardly clicked his tongue. His expression darkened slightly.

“Um… I’m not really sure about that.”

“……”

Magnus’s expression turned bewildered at Serena’s answer.

He thought it might not be human, but he never imagined she wouldn’t know the identity of the other party at all.

“Who made the contract…!”

Magnus stood up, pushing away from the table.

“Did you do it without even seeing who it was?!”

“No, I did see them, but it was a subordinate… How should I put it, it felt like there was a separate leader…”

Serena mumbled in response.

After all, she was the one who had made the contract knowing it was strange from top to bottom.

“I refused at first…”

“Then you should have kept refusing or at least come to me.”

Magnus said firmly.

Serena frowned at his pathetic gaze.

“How could I come? It was before we even signed the divorce papers!”

Serena shouted angrily with a flushed expression.

“Still, if you had come, I would have helped…”

“So why would I trust and go to the person who kicked me out to say such bizarre things?”

Besides, she didn’t have time for that anyway.

“Well, actually…”

Serena rolled her eyes. Magnus involuntarily hardened his gaze, unable to shake off an uneasy feeling.

“I don’t know who it was, just…”

Serena looked around at the people nearby and closed her mouth again.

Magnus gestured.

“Everyone, leave.”

At Magnus’s command, the servants immediately bowed and left the dining room.

He looked at Serena again.

“If it was a forced contract, tell me everything you know so we can try to resolve it somehow.”

“…The thing is, I made a contract with a rabbit.”

“……”

Magnus seriously got up from his seat and tucked Serena under his arm.

“W-Wait!”

It’s not like he’s hauling away some luggage, isn’t this too much?

“You need to learn about contracts from the beginning.”

“No, I know the importance of contracts, but…”

“No human makes a contract with a mere animal, Serena.”

A talking rabbit isn’t just an ordinary animal!

She wanted to shout, but there were quite a few servants in the hallway. Serena had no choice but to keep her mouth shut.

Magnus carried her like luggage back to the room and set her down on the bed.

“…Magnus, do you know that people have human rights?”

“People with human rights don’t make contracts with animals.”

“But what if the animal is a bit special?”

“Even so, you don’t make contracts with them.”

Magnus was adamant.

Serena let out a short sigh and then knelt on the bed with a rather aggrieved expression.

“Think about it, Magnus.”

“I’ve already thought a lot.”

Magnus spoke as if there was nothing more to hear.

“No, look, okay?”

“There’s nothing to look at.”

Magnus cut off Serena’s words in one breath.

“Oh, really! It was a talking rabbit! How can you not make a contract with a talking rabbit?”

“Everything about this is suspicious. How could you even think of making a contract with a talking animal?”

At his deadly serious voice, Serena’s lips protruded.

Well, she wasn’t particularly asking him to take her side, but wasn’t it too much to not even listen to her story?

“You should have known it was a scam from the moment a talking rabbit appeared.”

“There are things like spirits in the world too, you know.”

Serena protested in a small voice. Magnus immediately snorted and opened his mouth.

“Spirits are not rabbits.”

“…I’m not talking to a wall, but why do I feel so frustrated and suffocated? I wonder why?”

Serena asked, looking at Magnus sitting with his arms crossed in a chair pulled up in front of the bed.

“If you’re feeling unwell, I’ll call a doctor right away.”

Magnus quickly stood up with a look of dismay.

“…No, it’s fine.”

“If you’re not feeling well, you should consult a doctor immediately. You have a fragile body that could collapse at any time…”

“No, I think I’ll feel better if you just sit down.”

At Serena’s words, Magnus sat back down in the chair with a puzzled expression.

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s nothing. I just had a slight illusion that I might be talking to a wall.”

Magnus nodded, though still looking perplexed.

“You’re not talking to a wall. Perhaps that contract also included some kind of ability to undermine the other party’s cognitive abilities…”

“Magnus.”

“Yes?”

“Just shut up for a moment.”

Magnus closed his mouth at Serena’s harsh words.

After all, he had learned from his father, the previous duke, that when a woman swears, it’s best not to intervene.

“…By the way, how long should I stay quiet?”

Of course, Magnus hadn’t learned to read the mood as well.

“……”

Seeing Serena’s expression darken, Magnus just quietly closed his mouth.

“……”

“Haa….”

Fortunately, the silence didn’t last long.

Serena seemed to have organized her thoughts first and opened her mouth.

“It’s true that I don’t know. I was a bit crazy because they said they could grant any wish.”

“…Why on earth did you make the contract?”

Magnus couldn’t understand why Serena had made a contract with this suspicious rabbit or animal that just kept saying such dubious things.

“You know, there are times when you want to get revenge so badly you’d even bring back the dead.”

Serena said with a sigh.

“……”

And Magnus didn’t understand. Because he had never felt that way.

And Serena, noticing this fact from Magnus’s silence, also closed her mouth.

“Magnus.”

Serena opens her mouth with a seemingly serious tone.

“Yes.”

“Is it right for me to be having this conversation with you?”

Magnus tilted his head curiously at Serena, who spoke in a rather serious voice.

“Who else would you have this kind of conversation with if not me?”

Magnus said quite shamelessly and confidently.

“…That’s true.”

And Serena quietly backed down.

After all, the only person Serena was close to was Magnus.

‘…Is my life really okay like this?’

Serena seriously contemplated her life for the first time.

It’s somewhat depressing to think that she could only have conversations and share opinions with this blockhead from now on.

“Anyway, there was someone I wanted to get revenge on even if I had to bring them back to life…”

Kim Chul-soo aside, Lemerun for sure.

“So that’s why you made that suspicious contract?”

“Mm.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“…Could you bring people back to life too?”

Serena asked with wide eyes.

Magnus quietly closed his mouth. Serena’s eyes, which had been slightly expectant, quickly filled with disappointment.

“…I can at least drag them out of the grave.”

Magnus slightly opened his mouth to appeal what he could do.

“I can do that too.”

“…Graves are quite scary. You have to dig up the ground, and the atmosphere isn’t very nice…”

“I can still do it.”

Serena answered, flopping down on the bed. Magnus’s pupils rarely trembled at her air full of disappointment.

“…I’ll try learning dark magic.”

“You can use magic too?”

“They say the beginning is half the battle.”

Magnus answered quite proudly.

He had never once succeeded in using magic. But nevertheless, Magnus was confident.

Because he knew that if you keep striking a rock endlessly, it will eventually break.

“…Do you have any talent?”

“Hmm, I don’t know.”

Of course, Magnus had no idea that he might break before the rock does.

“…Right, I’m sure you’ll be great at it.”

“Yes, I can do it.”

Magnus, not understanding Serena’s sarcasm at all, lightly agreed with her opinion.

Because Magnus had never failed at anything he had set his mind to do so far.

“I’ll start learning from today.”

“No, it’s okay. Is it even allowed for a duke to learn dark magic in the first place?”

“I’ll learn in secret.”

“…This is driving me crazy.”

Serena muttered softly, holding her forehead.

Somehow, it seems like he might really do it, so she can’t even tell him to actually do it.

“No, anyway… I just made the contract in exchange for granting a wish.”

“What kind of contract did you make?”

“…Well.”

Serena’s lips quivered, and her eyes rolled around.

She wasn’t sure if it was right to really tell this story, or if she shouldn’t.

As Serena seemed to hesitate, Magnus reached out and grabbed her hand.

“Serena.”

“Yes.”

“I know well that you’ve been struggling alone all this time.”

Magnus decided to appeal to her emotions as always.

“…Magnus?”

And Serena was usually very weak to such emotional appeals.

“But if you don’t tell me, I can’t help you. I don’t want to see you crying alone again.”

“…I know, I know, but…”

The winner of this fight was already decided.