The Possessed Evil Woman Wreaks Havoc - Chapter 23

Lady Nadia Clement visited without any prior notice. The duke accepted her visit, thinking that perhaps Isabella had been rude to her again.

The duke learned an unexpected truth.

“Vincent, did you hear that just now? Unless my ears deceive me…”

The duke questioned Vincent, who had been standing by his side. Vincent dutifully responded to his master’s question.

“I heard it as well, sir. That it wasn’t the young lady’s doing.”

“So it wasn’t Isabella. This whole situation was…”

Just a foolish act by a young lady trying to avoid an engagement with the crown prince.

The duke’s initial reaction was anger.

“Why didn’t she just tell me the truth instead of creating such a mess!”

Then a thought crossed his mind.

Isabella had indeed tried to tell him. He simply hadn’t listened.

Next, he denied it.

“No, that can’t be. Didn’t Isabella admit to it herself? She must have done it.”

Yet, even as he said those words, the duke knew deep down that his daughter was innocent.

So why had Isabella confessed to something she didn’t do?

The duke grew increasingly confused.

He thought for a moment about what Isabella meant to him.

He didn’t hate his daughter. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn’t so heartless as to despise his daughter, who resembled his late wife so much.

But did he love her? That wasn’t quite true either.

He merely felt a sense of duty toward her. Moreover, Isabella’s actions made it difficult to form any affection for her.

She was a daughter he couldn’t bring himself to like—always causing trouble, tarnishing the family’s honor.

At some point, the duke began to accept her troublemaking as a given.

Whenever Isabella caused problems, he was too busy cleaning up the mess to care about her reasons for doing so.

Of course, Isabella must have been at fault again.

‘I didn’t listen to her this time either, did I?’

She had clearly pleaded her innocence, yet I forced her to admit to a crime she didn’t commit.

Worse still—

The duke looked down at his hands. Large, strong hands. With these hands, he had wielded a sword to protect the nation and held a pen to manage his domain.

And with these hands, he had struck his daughter. That small child. For a crime she hadn’t even committed.

For the first time, the duke found himself thinking,

‘Could it be that I’ve done something to Isabella that I can never undo?’

***

I looked at the guest in my room. Her face had turned pale, and she couldn’t even look me in the eye as she sat before me.

“Lady, I truly apologize.”

After hesitating for a long time, she bowed her head and apologized to me.

It was Nadia Clement. What was she doing here?

A little while ago, someone had knocked on my door. I sent Jessie to check, and it turned out to be her.

‘According to Jessie, in the noble world, visiting without prior notice is considered impolite.’

There was no such etiquette in the Demon Realm. If you wanted to see someone, you could go to their house at any time.

Of course, if the visitor wasn’t welcome, the homeowner was free to give them a good beating.

Nadia’s sudden visit didn’t feel particularly rude to me. What bothered me more was the way she was apologizing. My demonic instincts flared up.

A sense of unease suddenly washed over me.

“Why are you apologizing to me?”

“Because my actions have caused trouble for you. I believe I owe you an apology.”

Though her eyes were filled with uncertainty, Nadia looked straight at me as she spoke.

In her gaze, I could see sincerity.

Well, considering that because of her actions I had managed to get my hands on a diamond mine, I decided to let it slide.

“I forgive—”

“I just came from telling everything to the duke.”

I can’t forgive you.

If the duke learned the whole truth, he would take back the diamond mine he had offered as a settlement.

The contract between the young marquis and me would naturally be nullified.

I felt a surge of anger at the wealth slipping through my fingers. As my expression twisted, Nadia looked at me with concern.

“Lady, are you alright? You look unwell.”

Of course, I wasn’t alright. I gritted my teeth and asked Nadia, “Why did you do that? You didn’t have to tell the duke the truth.”

“I couldn’t let my actions ruin your reputation. And… I didn’t want to lie.”

There’s a saying in the Demon Realm: A lie is only a lie when it’s caught. If it isn’t caught, it’s just a secret between you and yourself. Among demons, lying is considered a virtue—as long as you don’t get caught.

But among humans—

“You’re quite the moral human, aren’t you?”

“Uh, thank you?”

—some have this thing called a conscience. Not all humans, but a select few. Humans with a conscience find it difficult to lie.

I smiled at the foolish human before me. Nadia, seeing me smile, couldn’t help but smile back.

She would never know that being called “moral” was a severe insult among demons.

I sighed. The situation was regrettable, but what could I do? There was no point in blaming her now. There was no use crying over spilled milk.

“I accept your apology. Now, you may leave.”

Despite my dismissal, Nadia didn’t move an inch. It took several hints before she finally spoke up.

“I’m planning to enter a convent. Today will likely be our last meeting, my lady.”

“A convent?”

“Yes. I wish to spend the rest of my life in prayer.”

“That’s a waste of time. God will never answer you.”

Since the sealing of the Demon God, the Celestial God had vanished without a trace. No matter how much she prayed to the celestial god, there was no one to answer her.

At my words, Nadia seemed slightly taken aback. She muttered something about me not believing in God.

“And your brother. He seems far too greedy to let you enter a convent so easily.”

“Once I’m in the convent, I’ll be beyond the reach of the marquis’s influence. I’ll be fine.”

Nadia continued speaking. It seemed she wanted to share her story.

With a tearful expression, she said, “To be honest, I thought my brother would regret it if I poisoned myself. But I’ve realized he isn’t the type to regret anything.”

“Regret?”

“Yes, regret.”

I knew what regret meant. But knowing and understanding are two different things.

Demons rarely feel regret. Our lives are too long to dwell on the past. If we were to start regretting, those regrets would pile up and eventually hold us back. So we either forget or choose to exact revenge and then forget.

But in the short lives of humans, who live less than a hundred years, perhaps regret is inevitable.

Nadia continued talking about herself. “The reason I want to join the convent is because I’m afraid of my brother—”

She spoke of growing up oppressed by her brother, who saw her only as a tool for gaining power, and of her constant fear of being married off as part of some political scheme.

She talked a lot. I cut her off and said whatever came to mind.

“You’re mistaken. You think you can change your future by going to a convent to escape your brother’s control? The future doesn’t change so easily. You must be willing to risk your life.”

“My life?”

“Not yours—someone else’s.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Do you have any other siblings?”

“No. It’s just my brother and me.”

“Then what happens if he’s gone?”

“……”

Among demons, this kind of logic is natural, but it seemed humans didn’t see it that way.

If someone is causing you pain, get rid of them.

Killing them isn’t even necessary. The satisfaction is doubled if you leave them alive to mock them.

“Are you telling me to take my brother’s place as the young marquis?” Nadia asked cautiously. Despite her hesitant tone, her eyes sparkled.

“That’s right. You become the young marquis and marry him off in a political alliance. How about that?”

“I might not become the crown princess, but imagining my brother being sold off in a marriage of convenience…”

A peculiar glint appeared in Nadia’s eyes. Her expression also brightened considerably.

Nadia stayed in my room for quite some time after that before finally leaving.

Just before she left, she said to me, “You’ve changed, Lady.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You used to always say that if you wanted something to change, you had to be willing to stake your life on it.”

“…Did I?”

“Honestly, I used to worry a lot whenever you said that. I feared you might do something extreme. Not that you’d actually do it, of course!”

Nadia smiled brightly as she spoke. I didn’t bother correcting her.

That Isabella had sold her soul to make a pact with a demon.

Nadia continued, “But now you’ve changed. You’re willing to sacrifice someone else’s life instead! Isn’t that a huge improvement?”

“Hmm.”

With those words, Nadia left with a light step.

I felt oddly peculiar as I tilted my head and reflected on the human who had just left my room.

That is truly one strange human.