The Possessed Evil Woman Wreaks Havoc - Chapter 24

Silence filled the office.

The duke, who had summoned me here, had been staring at me without saying a word for a while now.

How much time had passed? Just as I was about to yawn from boredom, the duke finally spoke.

“Why did you admit to something you didn’t do?”

I immediately understood what the duke was referring to. I had already guessed the reason he had called me here when I was on my way.

However, I couldn’t give him a straightforward answer.

Why did I admit to the crime? Obviously, it was because I wanted the diamond mine. But if I answered honestly, the duke would realize that Gabby and I had tried to swindle him.

I couldn’t afford to raise the duke’s suspicions. I needed to keep his guard down so that I could properly pull off my next big score and steal the ducal family’s wealth. So I made up a plausible excuse.

“I told you I didn’t do it. You just didn’t believe me. So I admitted it.”

Well, if I thought about it, it wasn’t entirely made up. It was true that the duke hadn’t believed me.

The duke hesitated for a moment before speaking again. “I’m sorry. For not trusting you. And for laying hands on you.”

I put on an indifferent expression.

His apology meant little to me.

The duke was apologizing for not believing his daughter, but I wasn’t his daughter.

Why would I be angry over him not trusting me? Sure, I had felt a twinge of anger at the way he had treated his own child at the time…

But that was it. I wasn’t going to pity Isabella. I didn’t want to be emotionally swayed by a human ever again.

‘But the hitting… that did annoy me a bit.’

That was because it hadn’t been Isabella who was hit—it had been me. I had hit him back just as hard, but it probably hadn’t hurt him much, had it?

The duke’s words pulled me out of my thoughts.

“The mine I promised as a settlement… I’ll transfer it to your name.”

“Hmm.”

This was unexpected. I hadn’t thought he would be the kind of person who would pick up on what I wanted so easily.

I could have Sher retrieve the contract from the young marquis… Then I wouldn’t have to share the mine’s profits with Gabby—I could take all the diamond mine’s earnings for myself.

I decided to be generous. After all, a mere human could make mistakes.

The duke hesitated for a long time before speaking again. “You must have resented me a lot.”

“I didn’t.”

I meant it. The duke and I were practically strangers. No matter what he did to me, I would be angry at his rudeness, but resentment? That wasn’t an emotion I felt.

“Why didn’t you resent me?”

“Resentment comes when someone betrays your expectations. If I never had expectations, there’s no reason to resent you.”

With every word I spoke, the duke’s face grew stiffer and stiffer. It was hard to tell what emotions were swirling inside him.

After a brief hesitation, the duke continued, “I’ve wronged you terribly.”

“……”

“But I want you to know. I deeply regret the wrong I’ve done to you.”

As soon as the duke finished speaking, something happened.

‘Huh?’

A faint crack appeared in the magic circle etched into my heart, and magic began pouring out.

My eyes widened at the sudden occurrence.

The words the duke had just spoken. The returning magic.

“Why only now—”

Why had it taken me so long to realize this?

The duke’s expression darkened at my words, but I was too caught up in the rush of returning magic to pay him any mind.

Isabella’s wish. I had suspected it before, but now I was certain.

Isabella wanted her family to regret how they had treated her.

‘That’s why, back then, when Gabby was around, the magic returned.’

I wasn’t sure when exactly Gabby had started regretting his actions, but considering his odd personality, I decided to let it go.

The more important person was the duke.

The amount of magic currently returning to me was several times greater than what I had received through Gabby.

It seemed Isabella’s grudge against the duke ran much deeper.

The problem was—

‘Too much magic is returning.’

The rapidly increasing amount of magic was more than a human body could handle.

My breathing grew labored, and my vision began to blur. No matter how hard I tried to suppress the magic, it wasn’t enough.

“Isabella! What’s wrong? Isabella!”

Through my hazy vision, I saw the duke’s face, looking at me with concern.

Cough.

I coughed up blood, my legs giving out beneath me as I collapsed on the spot.

“Isabella!”

My last memory was of the duke calling my name desperately. Then I lost consciousness.

***

Bang!

Gabriel burst through the door and into the room.

“Where is she?!”

Lately, Gabriel’s biggest interest had been his younger sister, Isabella.

‘Her nonsense has gotten worse, but if you listen closely, it’s quite amusing.’

Despite his sullen expression, her bold actions and words entertained him.

Gabriel usually didn’t care much about what others thought, but Isabella was on a whole different level.

In the past, he would have been ashamed of their shared blood, but now, the thought that “being with her is actually quite fun” had begun to pop into his head from time to time.

So as soon as he heard that Isabella had collapsed after coughing up blood, Gabriel came running.

In the room were the family doctor, the duke, and Isabella, lying in bed.

Seeing Isabella, who always acted like a wild troublemaker, lying quietly in bed made Gabriel’s heart drop.

On top of that, the metallic smell of blood filled the air, and there were bloodstained cloths from cleaning up after her.

Gabriel grabbed the doctor’s shoulder and demanded an answer. “What’s her condition?”

The doctor answered dutifully. “The young lady—there’s nothing seriously wrong with her body.”

“You’re a quack! She coughed up blood, and you’re saying there’s nothing wrong?!”

Gabriel’s grip tightened, and the doctor frowned at the clear anger he felt from him.

The doctor held back his frustration. He was the family doctor of the ducal household—surely he wasn’t incompetent?

He genuinely cared for the young lady of the family and, of course, had examined her with all his heart. However, he couldn’t find anything wrong with Isabella.

‘In fact, she seems healthier and has gained weight since the last time I checked.’

Hearing that Isabella was perfectly fine, the duke frowned and spoke, “She coughed up blood twice. There’s no way she’s fine. Examine her again.”

“It wasn’t twice—it was three times,” Gabriel corrected the duke.

The duke, surprised by the new information, asked Gabriel, “When did that happen?”

“A few days ago. We were talking, and she suddenly coughed up blood.”

“Why didn’t you report that—”

“Ugh. She was even wilder than usual afterward, so I thought she was fine!” Gabriel shouted, then clenched his teeth and tried to suppress his anger.

Gabriel was confused as to why he was so upset.

“So what are you going to do about her? We can’t just let her keep coughing up blood. We need to find the cause.”

Gabriel demanded an answer from the duke. The duke remained silent, lost in thought.

“What if we sought help from the temple?” the doctor suggested.

If she kept coughing up blood, something had to be wrong with Isabella’s body. But since he couldn’t find anything medically wrong, there was no way to treat her.

Unlike medicine, divine power directly restored a person’s life force. There were cases where divine power cured illnesses that medicine couldn’t.

However, divine power wasn’t all-powerful. Its effects varied from person to person, and in some unlucky individuals, it had no effect at all.

Still, divine power might be able to cure Isabella’s unexplained hemoptysis. Right now, a priest was more necessary for Isabella than a doctor.

“Wait here for a moment.”

As soon as the doctor finished speaking, Gabriel moved to leave the room.

“Gabriel. Where are you going?” The duke felt uneasy and quickly tried to stop him.

“Where do you think? To the temple.”

I’ll grab a priest strong enough to endure having all their divine power drained.

Gabriel spoke casually, as if he were talking about hunting a fox. Despite the meaning of his words, which were anything but casual.

The duke suddenly felt a headache coming on. It was often overlooked because of Isabella’s notorious deeds, but Gabriel was no less of a troublemaker.

Just as Isabella was called the evil woman of high society, Gabriel had a similar nickname: The Mad Chimpanzee of High Society.

One noble had remarked that Gabriel looked like a chimpanzee let loose at a party as he swung his long limbs about, causing chaos. The nickname had stuck.

Of course, no one dared to say such things in front of Gabriel. Unlike Isabella, who had fallen out of favor within the family, Gabriel was the heir to the ducal house.

Moreover, he was one of the few swordmasters of the empire. Who would dare speak carelessly in front of Gabriel?

It was a matter of power. Without power, you were insulted to your face; with power, you were insulted behind your back.

This was why Gabriel remained unaware of his nickname.

Of course, the duke had heard it, but he had simply said, “It’s quite a fitting nickname,” and left it at that.