The Possessed Evil Woman Wreaks Havoc - Chapter 20

The next morning.

From early in the day, an uninvited guest was in my room.

“Hey.”

It was Gabby.

“What’s going on between you and the crown prince?”

He interrogated me about what had happened at the ball last night.

“Nothing.”

“Do you think I’d believe that? I saw you two dancing. And twice in a row?”

Gabby kept pacing around the room, questioning my relationship with the crown prince.

Now that I thought about it, it seemed like Gabby had been eager to stay close to me for a while. It wasn’t as though I treated him particularly well…

‘Could it be that he likes being mistreated?’

I looked at Gabby with suspicion. There were demons in the Demon Realm who had such preferences.

Gabby frowned deeply when he saw my expression. “You’re thinking something weird right now, aren’t you?”

His instincts were sharp, like an animal’s.

Gabby continued to ask me questions.

“Don’t tell me you have your eyes on the position of crown princess. If that’s the case, forget about it.”

“Why would I want that position?”

“Wow. Isabella, you’ve got guts. To dismiss the position of a crown princess like that.”

“My head is starting to hurt. Stop talking.”

“So, is there any other position you’re aiming for? Like the duke’s title?”

“……”

“You can’t be serious! Hey, snap out of it. The duke’s title is mine, got it?”

I no longer saw any value in responding to Gabby’s words. I ignored him and began reading the newspaper. Time passed, and soon it was time to head to the marquis’s estate.

As I stood up, Gabby, who had been hanging around in my room the whole time, also stood up.

I raised an eyebrow, and he explained, “I’m going with you.”

“No.”

“Hey. Do you think I’m going because I want to? The old man told me to go with you and keep an eye on you.”

“You’re going to watch me? The duke must have lost his mind.”

To the duke, Gabby and I were both inadequate children, so it didn’t sit well with me that he would assign Gabby to watch over me.

“The old man trusts me more than you.”

“Congratulations on gaining the duke’s favor.”

“Ugh. Don’t say stuff like that. It makes me sick.”

The ever-rebellious Gabby frowned as soon as he heard those words.

We got into the carriage together and headed to the marquis’s estate. As the carriage set off, Gabby gave me some advice.

“Apologize and hand over the mining contract. Promise never to go near the crown prince again. Then they’ll let it slide.”

“That’s not possible.”

“Why not?”

“The crown prince said he’d contact me.”

“Are you seriously trying to become the crown princess? Should I start treating you nicely now?”

Gabby scratched his head. “Are you going to make me part of the imperial family? But if you become empress, you’d be higher than me.”

Gabby thought for a moment before speaking, “No, I can’t let that happen. I’ll do whatever it takes to stop you from becoming empress.”

He wanted the power of being an imperial relative but didn’t want to bow to me—that was Gabby’s explanation.

Seeing Gabby entertain himself with his own thoughts left me with an indescribable feeling.

Isabella, you really must have had a hard time with a brother like this.

“But weren’t you not in contact with the crown prince anymore? When did you two get close again?”

As he asked for more details, Gabby tried to recall. “Let’s see… Back when the current crown prince was still a prince. You two were close, weren’t you? There was even talk of an engagement at one point.”

It seemed what the crown prince had told me yesterday was true.

“Then, after that guy became crown prince, he suddenly distanced himself from you, and the engagement was called off—damn, it makes me mad. Just because he’s crown prince, does he think he can do whatever he wants? What’s wrong with our family’s troublemaker? Is she lacking… lacking something?”

Gabby started mumbling to himself while staring into the air. “No matter how I think about it, she’s not fit to be crown princess… or is she? What’s wrong with our troublemaker? Hah. Maybe not. I mean, we can’t ruin the country… No, wait! Sure, she’s got a bad temper and isn’t too bright, but she’s still… kind, maybe?”

Hmm. I didn’t know what kind of battle was going on in Gabby’s head, but I decided to leave him alone for now. I stared out the window for the rest of the ride to the marquis’s estate, pretending not to see Gabby.

***

Gabby and I arrived at the marquis’s estate and were led to the parlor.

I glanced at the man sitting across from me. He was the heir of the Marquis Clement, the older brother of the marquis’s daughter I was accused of poisoning. Though he had a kind face, for some reason, I didn’t like him.

“I didn’t expect the young duke to come along as well.”

That must have been because of how the young marquis treated me.

The young marquis showed no interest in me. Since the moment Gabby and I entered the parlor, his attention had been solely on Gabby.

Not that I minded. My interest was entirely focused on the plate of snacks the marquis’s estate had provided.

While Gabby and the young marquis conversed, I eagerly drank tea and ate the snacks.

It was different from the macarons Sher had given me before. The texture was soft, and the sweetness was so intense it almost made my tongue tingle.

‘I feel a bit resentful.’

In the Demon Realm, it was hard to find such sweet desserts. The place was overrun with monsters, and no crops could grow there. The only food available was the tasteless meat of monsters.

Of course, with enough magic, one could survive without eating, so it wasn’t a big problem. At least, that’s how I felt.

But after experiencing this kind of taste in the middle realm…

‘I can understand why other demons come to the middle realm to indulge.’

Five hundred years ago, when I came to the middle realm, it wasn’t an environment where I could enjoy such luxuries. I spent most of my time on the battlefield.

I would miss this taste when I returned to the Demon Realm. So, I had to eat as much as I could now.

I emptied the plate in no time.

“…Lady Isabella?”

I felt a sense of regret at the empty plate and continued staring at it, not even realizing someone was calling me.

“Hey!” Gabby elbowed me in the side, snapping me back to reality.

“What?”

The young marquis had a strange smile on his face as he looked at me. “It seems the snacks were to Lady Isabella’s liking.”

I was about to say they were delicious, but Gabby mouthed at me not to say it.

Was there some kind of rule in the middle realm about not complimenting food? However, Gabby’s intentions didn’t seem malicious, so I followed his advice.

“They were… alright.”

“For something that was just alright, you finished the whole plate by yourself.”

“Is there a problem with that?”

“Well, no. Shall I have more brought to you?” The young marquis smiled kindly as he offered.

I wasn’t oblivious. I was just more accustomed to others minding my behavior than minding theirs.

“No need.”

The young marquis’s tone as he addressed me was condescending. Moreover, there was disdain in his eyes.

When I refused outright, the young marquis merely smiled faintly and didn’t insist.

I quietly lifted my teacup.

It was clear that the young marquis held Isabella in contempt. His attitude reflected Isabella’s position in noble society.

The difference between the heir of the Dunkeld Ducal House and the disgraced, troublesome lady of the family.

Of course, that contempt wasn’t directed at me but at Isabella. But since I was Isabella now, it was essentially directed at me as well.

I had always been the one to look down on others. Seeing that arrogant gaze turned on me was deeply irritating.

If we were in the Demon Realm, I would have gouged out those eyes immediately. But this was the middle realm.

I deliberately set my teacup down loudly on the table.

Clatter.

The young marquis turned his head toward me. The moment our eyes met, I asked him a question.

“How is Nadia doing?”

“Hmm. I didn’t expect Lady Isabella to ask me that.”

“She seemed fine when I saw her yesterday.”

“Not quite. She barely recovered after being at death’s door. She only managed to attend the ball yesterday by sheer determination.”

“To think she was so weakened by mere poison. She needs to grow stronger.”

“……”

“And to send a sister who was at death’s door to a ball—you must not care for her very much.”

With every word I spoke, the atmosphere in the parlor seemed to drop a few degrees. The tension had suddenly frozen the room.

“Excuse us for a moment.”

Gabby grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the parlor. After making sure the hallway was empty, Gabby sighed heavily.

“I have so much to say, I don’t even know where to start.”

Taking a deep breath, Gabby raised his voice at me. “First of all—hey, are we here for fun? Eating all those snacks like that, what do you think the Clement family will think of us?”

“That we’re remarkable?”

“Ugh, really. Remarkable, sure—in a bad way!”

Gabby kept scolding me, and I pouted.

How was I supposed to know that the food had that kind of meaning in the first place? If it wasn’t meant to be eaten, they shouldn’t have served it to me from the start.