The Possessed Evil Woman Wreaks Havoc - Chapter 134

Of course… it wasn’t as if I didn’t understand what it meant to face Gabriel.

‘There’s a high probability one of us will die.’

And with even greater probability, the one to lose their life would be me.

Even so.

It wasn’t that I wasn’t afraid of death, but there was something I feared even more. The sense of defeat from having done nothing.

And the thought that my life had been toyed with—no, that’s too mild. Saying my life had been the subject of unparalleled suffering was a more accurate expression.

The helplessness of not being able to exact any retribution on the one behind it all.

Those were the emotions I feared more.

Back when I resolved to oppose the Demon God. Maybe it was because I had already once prepared to throw away my life that the second time felt easier.

Didn’t Belial once describe me a certain way?

“Bella. It seems in the battle between your temper and your survival instinct, your temper has won.”

At the time, I thought it was nonsense, but his words held some truth.

My mind was still tangled.

But now that my goal was clear, the fog that had filled my head for days began to lift.

‘Right. I’m a demon, so it’s only right that I act like one.’

After facing Gabriel, I would settle things with him once and for all.

At that moment.

Someone knocked on my door.

“Come in.”

I assumed it was Jessie returning and spoke without looking toward the door.

But the footsteps entering were heavier than usual.

Still lying on the bed, I turned only my head to see who it was.

“I heard you skipped your meals.”

The duke spoke only once he reached my bedside.

Huh?

I only skipped lunch once?

Besides, I couldn’t endure the hunger in the end and told Jessie to fetch me a snack from the kitchen, so now I was quite full.

Even now, I could faintly smell food in the room.

Where on earth had he heard that nonsense…

“Your maid’s sighs echoed through the entire mansion.”

Hearing the duke’s words, I could guess who had spread the nonsense.

Jessie was the one who brought me the snack too…?

Skipping one meal, and only once at that, was hardly a big deal.

I clicked my tongue internally at Jessie’s fuss.

“Pay it no mind,” I said to the duke. Unintentionally, my voice came out rather curt.

“Isabella. Skipping meals is not a good habit.”

The duke said something quite fatherly.

“What’s gotten into you, saying something so father-like?”

When I asked, he hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.

“I have always been your father. And you have always been my daughter.”

Not true? You were a father in name but only occasionally acted like one. At least to Isabella, that’s how it was.

That’s what I thought, but I didn’t bother to say it out loud.

“The princess said she’ll be leaving in three days. So the temple decided to hold the prayer gathering in two days.”

It seemed like an important event for the temple. Was it okay to rush it like this?

Perhaps reading my thoughts, the duke added an explanation.

“They decided to simplify the event with a smaller scale prayer. Your role is simply to recite a prayer to the Celestial God as the representative. It’s a simple task.”

Until recently, Isabella’s role in the prayer gathering hadn’t been determined, but it seemed the duke had secured an answer from the temple.

“I told you clearly. I’m not keen on it.”

I had already made up my mind to attend the gathering, but I said that to the duke anyway.

Well, it was my own little form of spite.

If something happened at the prayer gathering, I wanted the duke to feel more guilt.

“Isabella. This time, you should be the one to bend.”

The duke spoke to me with a serious tone.

“And if you truly have no lingering attachment to the position of Saintess, then I’ll find a way to have you step down from it. One that won’t harm you.”

At the unusually gentle tone in the duke’s voice, I turned sharply to face him.

His gaze was warmer than usual. And seeing that warmth, knowing it wasn’t truly meant for me, made my chest tighten.

I turned my head sharply in the opposite direction.

But it seemed the duke wasn’t done with his business.

“I came to return this to you.”

The item in the duke’s hand was a familiar necklace.

I looked at the necklace with a displeased expression and asked the duke, “Why are you giving this to me?”

“Because this item was yours from the start.”

That’s right. This was Isabella’s mother’s keepsake. A Graham family heirloom traditionally passed down to daughters. And now that Isabella’s maternal family had nothing left except for the title, this necklace naturally belonged to Isabella.

Come to think of it, it made sense. So, as Isabella, it was only natural to be displeased that the duke had been holding onto it.

Perhaps reading my mind, the duke continued, “But I was keeping it to return to you once you came to your senses a bit more.”

Then did the duke now believe Isabella had come to her senses?

Hmm… I felt a strange mix of emotions. No matter what, I was a demon. And I didn’t think I had behaved particularly properly by human standards since I entered this body.

The duke’s standards for ‘coming to one’s senses’ must be quite generous. Well, he didn’t even remove Gabby from the family register, so he probably was a fairly tolerant man.

Though he didn’t seem to have shown such tolerance to the previous Isabella.

I accepted the necklace with a peculiar feeling.

It felt like I was being acknowledged by the duke.

‘Father, this one’s a fake.’

The real necklace was hidden deep in the drawer. This one was a fake necklace Nigel had swapped in when he stole the real one.

After the duke left the room, I buried myself back in bed. The cold touch of the necklace in my hand made me feel somewhat stifled.

But I soon decided not to care about the duke anymore. He wasn’t my real father. And whatever thin bond we shared would disappear the moment I left Isabella’s body.

There was just one thing still bothering me.

The fact that I was still occupying Isabella’s body.

Hmm. If I were to face Gabriel in this body, there was a chance it would be completely destroyed.

If I wanted to return this body to Isabella, I had to preserve it in good condition.

But the seal placed on me hadn’t been completely broken yet.

Then…

I thought up a solution in my own way.

‘I need to leave a letter for Nigel.’

Not knowing what might happen to me, it would be a sort of farewell letter. A letter detailing a way to preserve Isabella’s body.

After gathering my thoughts, I sat up to write the letter.

***

There was paper and a quill in the room, but all the inkwells were dried out. Well, of course. The writing tools in Isabella’s room had always just been decorative. I had never used them.

As I went into the hallway to find some ink, I ran into Gabby.

“Hey, troublemaker. What’s with the sour look on your face?”

His tone was rough, but the way he studied my face carefully showed that Gabby was worried about me in his own way.

“You’re not exactly looking cheerful either.”

At my words, Gabby scowled deeply and said, “Ugh, it’s because some lunatic is spreading nonsense that I’m like a black rose or something. Wherever I go, people call me by that stupid nickname. It’s gotten to the point I can’t even show my face.”

Definitely Sher’s work. He had handled the task I gave him quite cleanly.

“Oh dear. Whoever it is, they’re a wicked person.”

I stifled a laugh inside and replied calmly.

Of course, I didn’t feel the slightest twinge of guilt while saying that.

Anyway.

It was good we ran into each other. I had something to say to Gabby.

It wasn’t something to say in the hallway, but it also felt too awkward to bring it up in a more formal setting.

“Gabby. I have something to tell you.”

I called out to Gabby. Then, in a rather serious tone, I began speaking.

“You’re a decent human being. Of course, your inherent nature isn’t great, and you don’t even try to hide it.”

“…Are you complimenting me or insulting me? Huh? Pick one.”

“That’s why I like you. Your lousy personality is quite to my taste.”

Isn’t he just the kind of human that suits a demon?

Even if Gabby weren’t a descendant of Daphne and Ethan, I probably would’ve still grown fond of him.