He was looking at me with a worried expression.

“You must have been very surprised. Who knew lightning would strike all of a sudden?”

He was a gentleman dressed in a neat suit.

‘…Though he does look a bit pale.’

His face was not just pale but gray, but however many times I checked, he was human.

I only regained my senses after looking at Mikhail and the children.

“……Ah, I’m fine now.”

“That’s a relief.”

The gentleman seemed to smile in relief.

‘That is, actually.’

I found it hard to confess that I was scared because of this castle and him.

That’s when I noticed the gentleman’s ears. The tips were pointed enough to be sharp.

‘Gray skin, and pointed ears too?’

Suddenly, the original work’s description came to mind.

A description of the descendants of the demon race living in the land of darkness, the Maine.

‘Why is a Maine here?’

Maines lived gathered in the dark energyinfused territory of Barahan, and leaving there was extremely rare.

‘Is Kashar already controlling the Maine?’

In the original work, Elshius is kidnapped by Kashar and confined in a special space.

However, she escapes there using the power of a saintess and shares a kiss of love with Michael.

‘It was in the midpart.’

Seeing that scene sets off the continental war for Kashar.

‘What was it? No one can have Elshius; I will wipe them all out, something like that.’

Exactly something an obsessive madman would say.

Kashar quickly prepares for war.

He could move Barahan due to the peculiar laws of the Maines.

‘Only the strongest can become the king.’

Maine was a very warlike race, and what they worshiped was absolute power.

Kashar cut off the head of the Maine’s king and took the throne himself.

‘Demon King.’

Kashar’s final evolved form.

‘But that’s after the middle of the novel!’

It was something to happen 3 years later, so a Maine appearing now made no sense.

I became confused when an unknown part came out.

Then the old gentleman politely bowed.

“I am Dracu Valrodshu, the butler of Ruben Castle.”

“Th… Hello, Mr. Butler.”

The castle, the name, everything was very significant.

‘Right. Maine is also human.’

To be precise, the descendants of the demon race and humans, but in this world, they were classified as a race.
The species itself is belligerent, but not all of it is.

I barely managed to suppress my throbbing heart.

Only after I exhaled did I finally notice the inside of the castle.

Candles hung here and there. Black skulls next to the stairs. The wallpaper was a dark purple, and the carpet on the floor of the main gate was red like blood.

‘This must be….’

Glamorous but gloomy, yet traditional.

‘The Demon King’s castle.’

I wanted to applaud this place, both inside and out, for its consistency.

Swallowing the words I wanted to say, Mikhail opened his mouth.

“Dracu, the butler, will guide you through the castle. I will take my leave now.”

“Wwait a moment! When will the duke return?”

Where is that swindler now?!

As I urgently asked, Mikhail sighed softly.

“He is scheduled to return tomorrow morning.”

He left only an answer and escaped from the castle alone.

He looked just like a middleman who had finished a fraudulent contract.

‘What you see is what you get.’

I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

While I was stunned, Emma whispered in my ear.

“Is that person, a human……?”

The person Emma was talking about was Dracu.

It was common knowledge that there were descendants of the Mein on the continent, but very few people had actually seen them.

“Yeah, you know the country of Barahan? He seems to be a Mein from there.”

“A Mein?! Why, why here……?”

If that’s the case, we’re in big trouble, Emma exclaimed.

‘I don’t know why the Mein is here either.’

Fortunately, Dracu didn’t seem to want to harm us.

“Emma, calm down.”

“But……!”

As I was trying to soothe Emma, a cackling laughter was heard.

“It’s understandable to be surprised seeing a Mein for the first time.”

Fortunately, Dracu did not seem offended.

Emma’s face turned bright red in front of him.

“I’m, I’m sorry.”

“No, I understand completely. There’s no need to apologize.”

It was an attitude that found it natural to be surprised at his appearance.

But Dracu seemed curious as he asked.

“But, did you two not hear anything from the master?”

“Um, um, he was a little busy.”

I couldn’t dare say that his master was a swindler.

Now that we were inside, we needed to be shown to our rooms.

Dracu, holding a candle, pointed to the stairs.

“Now, let me guide you to your roo…… Ack!”

Just as he took the first step, Dracu suddenly fell to the floor.

“Are you okay?!”

As I rushed to him, he stopped me.

“I’m sorry, I’m not feeling well these days……. But I will do my best to serve you.”

Dracu gave a thumbs up. His face was paler than gray.

Seeing the fallen person, Louis ran over in surprise.

“You can’t be sick!”

Louis struggled to help Dracu up.

At that, Dracu burst into a gentle laugh.

“Heh, are you worried about me? Our prince has a kind heart…… Cough!”

At that moment, Dracu spat out a red liquid.

‘I feel like I’m going to faint.’

My head was spinning with dizziness as I had to take care of the patient.

Once I came to my senses, this time Emma collapsed to the side.

“Emma?!”

I quickly embraced Emma and slapped her cheek.

Then Emma, her eyes rolling, spat out one word.

“Blblood…….”

Gurgle.

Emma, who was especially weak to others’ blood, foamed at the mouth.

I wanted to faint too.