Chapter 8
Gremory regretted humoring Isolen’s drunken ramblings. Ever since that day, Isolen had clung to her relentlessly—lecturing her on noble etiquette, promising to teach her proper work habits, and so on.
Even when Gremory didn’t respond, Isolen kept chattering away. To Gremory, she was like an endless bamboo forest in this mansion.
“Mori, you really need to learn some manners. Look at how you’re sitting right now! You look like a total ruffian.”
“…….”
“You’ll have to come with me to the imperial banquet soon! You’re not planning to sit there tearing into raw meat like some wild animal, are you?”
In the maids’ lounge, Isolen set down a plate of cake in front of Gremory and raised an eyebrow. Unfazed, Gremory stared off into the distance, ignoring her.
“There might come a time when you have to eat normal food. So just try it, okay?”
“…….”
“Come on, just one bite. Say ‘ah~’.”
Isolen scooped up a piece of cake with a fork and held it up to Gremory’s mouth. With a disgusted expression, Gremory accepted it—better to get this over with quickly.
She swallowed the bite without chewing, then gagged until tears welled up in her eyes.
Isolen stiffened awkwardly, feeling guilty.
“Even if you’re from the northern snowfields, this is ridiculous. Any normal person would find cake delicious. You’ve got some weird tastes.”
“…….”
“But if you keep trying, won’t there come a day when you can enjoy it? I get that you like raw meat, but you can’t keep eating like some grotesque monster forever.”
Gremory’s face twisted in disgust. She scribbled something in her notebook.
「Shut up. You think I want to eat raw meat?」
“……Huh?”
「You can stuff yourself with cake or whatever ‘normal’ people eat. Don’t force this crap on me again. I’m never eating it.」
Suddenly furious, Gremory shoved herself up from her seat and stormed out of the lounge.
Left alone, Isolen was stunned. Had she said something wrong?
‘She said… she doesn’t want to eat raw meat?’
Gremory buried herself in the darkness of her nest-like room, wrapping herself tightly in soft blankets and curling up.
Iris, sensing her gloomy mood, cautiously peeked in.
“Um… are you okay?”
No answer.
Gremory was angry.
Very angry.
So much that a chilling aura seeped from her.
‘It’s not like I wanted to be some disgusting witch who only eats raw meat.’
Most witches could eat normal food. They had to blend into human society, pretending to be human.
But Gremory was different.
As a child, her “home” was always dark and damp—so cramped she could barely lie down on the floor.
In that windowless cell, she grew up without learning anything. No warmth, no softness—just barren isolation.
For ten years, no one came for her. Except for the brutal cold each winter. She wrapped her ever-growing hair around herself, just to survive the freezing temperatures.
Luckily (or unluckily), she never had to worry about starving. When demonic rats appeared, she ate them raw. Without language, emotions, or thoughts, her only concern was rat meat.
Like humans, a demon’s habits are formed young. But while humans can change, demons rarely can. After ten years of tearing into live rats, Gremory’s diet was permanently fixed on raw flesh and blood.
Then, one winter, the door to her cramped prison finally opened.
“My baby, you were here all along!”
A woman with flowing black hair hugged Gremory and wept.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry it took me this long to find you…!”
The woman, smiling eerily through her tears, carried Gremory out of that cell. After three years of demon realm education, Gremory joined the upper ranks.
Even then, she was treated like livestock—but she didn’t care. Having never learned emotions as a child, she didn’t even realize how wrong it all was.
It wasn’t until she met her old human friend—the one who had once summoned her—that she finally understood just how twisted her life had been.
And so, Gremory fled the demon realm.
Gremory’s appetite vanished. Even her beloved raw black goat meat and fresh cow blood couldn’t tempt her.
In the end, Isolen bore the brunt of the blame. The servants surrounded her, demanding answers: “What kind of ‘maid training’ did you put her through to break her spirit like this?!”
While Isolen was getting an earful, Cheshion knocked on Gremory’s door.
“Hey, Mori. Can I come in?”
“…….”
“I’ll take that as a yes. I’m coming in—whoa, damn.”
Cheshion recoiled the moment he stepped inside. The room felt even darker and gloomier than usual.
He approached Gremory, who was buried under blankets.
“Mori.”
“…….”
“Let’s go outside. I’ll show you around my lands.”
“…….”
“It’s not anything special—just tradition. Whenever a woman comes to live in my mansion, I personally give her a tour.”
Not special, huh? Gremory snorted. He was clearly just trying to cheer her up.
“Huh? Mori.”
Cheshion placed a hand on her shoulder, gently stroking it. His touch was surprisingly soft.
Gremory thought emotions were a double-edged sword. The more she felt, the more the wounds and rage from the demon realm resurfaced—but so did the warmth and kindness she’d found in the human world.
‘Why are humans so nice to others?’
Gremory slowly sat up. The tension in Cheshion’s face finally eased as color returned to his expression.
“You’ll come, right?”
She nodded.
“Great, let’s go!”
Cheshion took her hand, pulling her out of the dark corner of her room.
Just beyond the door, the hallway was bathed in bright sunlight.
During the carriage ride into town, Cheshion pointed out various landmarks.
“That big volcano over there is where the demons live. Around April, they come down to human settlements for food. So usually, I lead an extermination squad there in mid-March.”
“…….”
“Since it’s early March now, we don’t have to worry about them yet. Oh, and over there—”
Gremory wasn’t looking outside—she was staring at Cheshion. Her old friend had been just as talkative.
Renya, a seventeen-year-old girl from the mountains. Everything Gremory knew about the human world, she’d learned from her. That lonely girl, desperate for a friend, had ended up summoning a witch…
“Sometimes, mutated demons wake up early from hibernation, but that’s rare. Hmm… Mori, I didn’t expect you to listen so intently.”
“…….”
“Is there something on my face?”
“…….”
“Mori, if you keep staring like that…!”
Suddenly, Gremory reached toward Cheshion’s face. He flinched but didn’t pull away, his cheeks reddening.
Then, she plucked a fly off his cheek.
“…Oh. So there was something there.”
Finally, Gremory turned to look outside. The scenery of melting snow and sprouting grass was beautiful—nothing like the bleak, crimson rocks of the demon realm.
‘Dark and gloomy is nice too, but there’s something about the human world’s colors and warmth…’
A faint smile crossed her lips as she thought of Renya. Back when Gremory couldn’t understand what was so beautiful about this world, Renya had gathered colorful flowers and hugged them to her chest.
She’d also talked about wanting to see the city again—the dazzling sights she’d glimpsed when her parents were still alive.
‘Just how amazing must it be?’
But then—why did she feel this prickling gaze?
When she turned her head, Cheshion’s eyes—which had definitely been on her—quickly darted away, toward the distant mountains. His face was slightly flushed.
What’s with this guy?
Unbothered, Gremory decided to put on her hat. Cheshion fussed, saying she didn’t need to hide her black hair, but she stubbornly wore it anyway.
The carriage stopped near the city center.
“From here, we walk. It’s too crowded for the carriage.”
Cheshion stepped out first and offered his hand to help Gremory down.
Under the warm afternoon sun of early spring, Gremory stepped onto the ground. The untamed grass felt soft beneath her feet.
Next came the gravel path, crunching underfoot as the city’s noise grew louder. The closer they got, the more Gremory’s irritation rose—she wasn’t fond of loud, crowded places.
And then, they arrived.
The city center was a sea of people. Lines outside famous eateries, merchants shouting for customers—the chaos left Gremory dazed.
Amid the noise, she felt like she’d been thrown into another world. What had been an annoying clamor from afar now felt like… liveliness.
