A silver snake was firmly blocking the door.

I casually took a step to the right.

[Where do you think you’re going!]

At that, the snake quickly slithered to the right. I narrowed my eyes.

That damned snake.

“Move out of the way while I’m asking nicely!”

[Well, why don’t you try to get out if you can?]

I scoffed at the snake’s words.

I wasn’t scared of the words of a snake thinner than my wrist.

‘Well, they did say it wasn’t actually a snake but a divine beast, but still.’

However, the snake was more persistent than I thought.

“Ow!”

Every time I tried to dodge it and open the door, I inevitably tripped over its tail and fell to the floor with a thud.

In the end, I kept planting my face on the ground repeatedly.

[Hehe, what a pitiful little creature.]

The annoying snake raised its body in front of the door and flicked its tongue.

I glared at the snake firmly blocking the doorway.

‘It doesn’t even look like it could fill a fist!’

Perhaps because it was a divine beast, despite its small size, its strength was no joke.

I even considered grabbing the snake and throwing it out the window, but its movements were so quick that I couldn’t easily catch it.

I furrowed my brow.

‘This won’t do.’

At this rate, I’d be exhausted first, without even the strength to lift a finger.

I folded my arms and asked.

“What do you want?”

The silver snake responded as if it had been waiting for this.

[Make a contract with me.]

“No.”

[Why!]

‘Because you’re supposed to contract with the male lead, not me.’

…Those words came to the tip of my tongue, but I held them back.

Telling the divine beast that I remembered my past life would only make it more eager to contract with me.

[You don’t know how good it is to contract with a divine beast, do you? If you contract with me, my energy will naturally be shared with your body. Humans call it divine power, right?]

There were two types of divine power.

One was human divine power obtained through diligent training and prayer. The other was spirit divine power obtained by contracting with a divine beast.

However, in the case of divine power that humans obtained through training alone, there were limitations.

Not only was it extremely slow to accumulate, but the capacity to store divine power also varied from person to person.

But divine power obtained through contracting with a divine beast was different. It had nothing to do with the contractor’s capacity.

It was about using the divine beast’s infinite divine power.

To explain it more simply, the contractor’s vessel was just used as a passage for the divine beast’s divine power.

So as long as you contract with a divine beast, the contractor’s vessel size doesn’t matter.

Besides these, there was one more exceptional type of divine power. It was the case of people born with innately high divine power.

However, unlike acquired divine power, this was directly linked to life force.

The problem was that every time you used divine power, your life force would drop as well.

‘Though such people only appear once in a hundred years, if at all.’

It was safe to say that there were hardly any people born with such high divine power.

Therefore, most priests chose to obtain divine power through training.

Also, if you could use divine power, you didn’t have to worry about making a living for the rest of your life.

This also meant that it was that difficult to accumulate divine power artificially.

However, none of this interested me at all.

Just the fact of contracting with a divine beast would draw the attention of people all over the world to me, and that was far from the quiet life I wanted.

…Instead, I was a little interested in something else.

“If I contract with you, could I ride on your back?”

[Of course! It’s difficult in this form, but with my true form, it’s possible anytime!]

The snake excitedly coiled its body. I furrowed my brow seriously.

‘That is tempting.’

Even in the original work, there were often scenes where the male lead rode on the back of the divine beast in its true form when he needed to travel long distances.

Every time I read those scenes, I was honestly extremely envious.

The words to contract right away rose to my throat, but I deliberately shook my head.

“No, I still won’t do it.”

[Why!]

“It’s my choice.”

[Hmph, you’ll end up contracting with me anyway. You don’t know how good this offer is……]

“I know how good it is to contract with a divine beast, but I absolutely won’t contract with you.”

I replied firmly.

I thought it would get angry like before, but its reaction this time was unexpected.

The snake’s jaw dropped open as if shocked.

[Why, why?]

The divine beast blinked its big eyes and said in an unsure tone.

[Am I that bad as a divine beast? I’m really big in my true form… I just came here secretly like this… I’m a really cool divine beast…]

All of its earlier bravado was nowhere to be seen.

I was taken aback by how deflated it looked, more than I expected.

‘Is it really that shocking?’

Anyway, with the divine beast losing its momentum, the opportunity returned to me. I quickly got up.

That’s when it happened. Before I could open it, the door swung open first.

“Young miss, it’s time for dinner!”

My mouth fell open.

It was already time for Sophia and Delma to come.

‘Right, the snake!’

Startled, I quickly turned around.

Fortunately, the silver snake had vanished in the meantime.

Thanks to that, I ended up trapped in the room again.

‘What should I do, what should I do?’

I needed to go out, but as I anxiously looked at the door, Sophia said with a smile.

“Young miss, tonight’s dinner is pumpkin soup, your favorite. It’ll be delicious, won’t it?”

I suddenly gasped. No wonder the smell was so sweet.

Maybe because I smelled the delicious aroma, I realized how hungry I was.

‘…Let’s eat the soup first and then think.’

After all, you need strength to do anything.

After finishing dinner, I patted my full belly.

“Young miss, come here.”

Delma tried to take me to bed as if it was natural.

I hurriedly spoke up.

“I want to go out and play!”

“You can’t, it’s already dark outside. Instead, I’ll read you a fairy tale.”

Delma excitedly opened a fairy tale book in front of me.

“Now, what shall I read first?”

‘I need to get out.’

Come to think of it, we always went for walks during the bright daytime, so of course they wouldn’t let me out late in the evening.

I swallowed the sigh that was about to escape and roughly picked the closest fairy tale book.

“Once upon a time, there lived a woodcutter…”

I couldn’t hear a word of what Delma was reading.

The issue I thought was well resolved had been completely messed up from the start.

My mind was in chaos because of that thought.

‘Come to think of it, it’s already quiet outside, isn’t it?’

Earlier, people had gathered in front of the main gate and kept protesting, but it seemed they had all been driven away while I was bickering with the divine beast.

‘…They were just driven away, right?’

Even roughly estimating, there were at least twenty people.

Seeing so many people disappear at once made me suddenly feel uneasy.

‘No, no, even for a duke, it’s unreasonable to arrest so many people at once without any justification.’

Besides, I hadn’t thought about it earlier in my haste, but even if I left the room right now, it would be difficult to find the count secretly without others knowing.

‘Even if I safely find the count, it’s a problem.’

From the count’s perspective, I was just a child brought by the duke.

He might even think that my attempt to help him was a trap set by the duke.

‘But the count is likely not the culprit.’

I couldn’t ignore an innocent person being falsely accused.

‘I need to find the real culprit.’

For that, my strength alone wasn’t enough. When I turned my head, I saw a white tail swishing under the bed.

I heard the divine beast complaining softly.

[This insolent little creature…]

I narrowed my eyes.

No matter how I thought about it, going to find the count alone wasn’t a very good idea. But that didn’t mean there was no way at all.

‘…I really didn’t want to ask the divine beast.’

I let out a deep sigh.

* * *

“Then have sweet dreams, young miss.”

I heard the lights turn off and the door close.

Only when I thought everyone had left did I slowly move to the side.

“Hey.”

[……]

“Divine beast.”

[……]

There was no answer. It was definitely under the bed, though.

I narrowed my eyes and called out to it again.

“Silver snake.”

[You called me a snake again!]

A screeching voice rang in my head. Startled, I instinctively covered my ears.

Not that it made any difference since it wasn’t a sound I was hearing with my ears.

A round white object poked its head out from under the bed.

[Not a snake, I’m not a snake! You most pitiful creature in this world!]

“Yes, right! You’re the coolest divine beast in the world.”

When I quickly replied, the angry silver snake calmed down.

It slithered onto the bed.

[Do you really think so?]

“Yes, of course!”

The silver snake poked its head into the bed and burrowed into the blanket.

Soon the blanket wriggled, and a white head popped out right next to me.

[Then will you contract with me?]

“No, not that.”

When I answered firmly, the silver snake became sulky again.

But the snake didn’t leave right away. Instead, it gently placed its small head on the back of my hand.

‘It’s kind of cute the more I look at it.’

Even though it was in the form of a snake, it didn’t feel as creepy.

Was it because it wasn’t a real snake but a divine beast?

Anyway, I really had no intention of contracting with the divine beast. Contracting with a divine beast isn’t my role, it’s the male lead’s role.

Instead, the reason I called it out in the middle of the night was because I had a favor to ask.

“It’s not a contract, but I have something to ask you.”

[If I do you a favor, will you contract with me?]

“I told you I won’t contract with you.”

When I said this with narrowed eyes, the divine beast deflated again.

[Then I won’t do it.]

I expected this response. That’s why I had something prepared.

“Wait a moment.”

I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a shiny marble.

Inside the transparent marble was a pattern resembling waves.

The pattern sparkled beautifully in the moonlight.

This was something I had picked up by chance while wandering around the mansion for my escape.

It looked quite valuable, so I had hidden it deep in my bag.

‘It’s a shame, but…’

It couldn’t be helped. This was the only way to entice the silver snake without contracting.

“If you do me a favor, I’ll give you this.”

The snake lifted its head.

Its flickering red tongue showed it was very interested.

[What is this?]

“Something you’ll like.”

Something shiny and pretty.

I grinned.