The Possessed Evil Woman Wreaks Havoc - Chapter 31

Yum.

I scooped up a large spoonful of pudding, put it in my mouth, and swallowed. The unique texture made my eyes widen.

“The outside is crispy, while the inside is soft and moist.”

“Ah, that’s because the sugar is caramelized to create a crispy surface—but, Lady Bella, isn’t this really not the time to talk about pudding?”

The crown prince, who had been watching me eat the pudding, sighed.

After I declared that I would summon the divine beast, the temple had been thrown into an uproar.

Amidst all the commotion, the crown prince somehow found me and rescued me from the priests who were trying to detain me. And that was how I ended up eating pudding in the crown prince’s palace.

Ignoring his sigh, I opened a book. It was the holy scripture I had taken from the temple.

The book was said to contain the temple’s main doctrines, and I had taken it earlier out of curiosity. There were so many scriptures in the temple that I figured taking just one wouldn’t be much of a problem.

The crown prince looked at me, his expression complicated. “Why are you reading the scripture now of all times—ha, more importantly, why did you say you’d summon the divine beast?”

“They told me to summon it. They said they would recognize me as the saintess if I did. So, I said I would. Is there a problem with that?”

“Problem—there are many problems. The priests never actually expected you to summon the divine beast. It’s been five hundred years since it disappeared. How could they expect anyone to summon it? They were simply trying to make things difficult for you.”

I lifted the corner of my lips. Did they think I wouldn’t notice that? Most of the priests I had met at the temple made no effort to hide their disdain for me.

“So, I said I’d summon it. I plan to make them regret their arrogance. I can’t tolerate younglings acting so cocky.”

Cough!

The crown prince, who had been drinking tea, suddenly choked.

“Calling the priests younglings—how old are you exactly, Lady Bella?”

“A little over six hundred.”

“Ah.”

The crown prince’s expression turned complicated for a moment.

Clicking my tongue at his reaction, I said, “You can’t think of a demon’s age by human standards.”

Demons with significant magical power could live almost indefinitely unless affected by external forces. In the Demon Realm, I was still considered young and full of life.

Hearing my explanation, the crown prince let out a dry laugh. “Six hundred years old and still in your youth… Well, that’s not important right now.”

He straightened himself and asked, “Lady Bella, do you actually know how to summon the divine beast?”

“Not at all.”

“…Haa.”

The crown prince rubbed his face wearily. Seeing him, I asked, “You seem to worry a lot. Why are you so concerned about me?”

Thinking about it, the crown prince had been helping me for a while now.

He had made my magic appear as divine power to hide my identity from the priests. Now, thinking I was in trouble, he had pulled me out of the temple, and was trying to help with the divine beast issue.

After hesitating for a moment, the crown prince opened his mouth.

“To be precise, it’s not you, Lady Bella, but Isabella that I’m concerned about. For when she eventually returns to her body.”

His words made the corner of my lips curl up. “So, you’re saying you’re willingly helping me? Very well. The more subordinates, the better.”

“I didn’t say that… but fine. It seems someone needs to stay by your side.”

The crown prince looked at me as if I were a child prone to causing trouble the moment he looked away.

Though his gaze annoyed me momentarily, I had to admit it. After all, demons are beings who bring chaos and conflict wherever they go.

The crown prince probably wanted to follow and watch over me. Not that he could stop me, but allowing him to watch might not be so bad.

‘Besides, this way I can keep an eye on Dantalion’s contractor.’

This was an opportunity to figure out why Dantalion, who had kept his distance from the middle realm, suddenly made a contract with the empire’s crown prince.

The crown prince seemed lost in thought for a while. I ignored him and began reading the scripture.

After flipping through a few pages, I realized something.

“It’s all lies.”

“The scripture, you mean?”

“Yes.”

Clicking my tongue, I turned another page. “Ha. It says here that those who serve the celestial god will be welcomed into the celestial realm after death? What nonsense.”

Except for special cases, when a human dies, their soul dissipates. And there was no way these people could see the celestial god, who had been missing for five hundred years.

I recalled the unpleasant priests I had met at the temple. To think they dared to act so arrogantly towards me, all while believing in these false doctrines?

“Maybe I should put them in coffins and nail them shut.”

“Suddenly, what—?”

“I mean the priests. Isn’t that a merciful act? According to this scripture, I’m just helping them meet the celestial god sooner.

“That’s not mercy; that’s burying them alive—Never mind, there’s no point in arguing. Anyway, Lady Bella, you must not put the priests in coffins and bury them. Understand?”

“……”

“Understand?”

“Fine. I’ll try to restrain myself.”

It was disappointing, but the crown prince wasn’t wrong. With only half of my power back, causing trouble in the middle realm was too risky.

“Humans are amusing beings. They reject demons as evil, yet they fabricate lies just as much as demons do. The divine beast, too—”

The crown prince cut me off. “What do you mean, the divine beast is a lie…?”

“That beast is not a divine beast. Didn’t you know?”

“…No.”

I exchanged glances with the crown prince, who looked bewildered.

“It’s not a divine beast, just an ordinary flying creature. The reason it’s called a divine beast—”

I paused, trying to remember.

“It must be because of its name.”

“Its name?”

“The hero’s party felt the name lacked dignity, so they began calling it Shinsu, meaning ‘divine beast,’ even though it was clearly just a flying creature from the middle realm.”

“What kind of ridiculous—what was its name…?”

I answered the crown prince’s question, “The divine beast’s name is Fluffy.”

“Fluffy?”

The crown prince blinked repeatedly, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“So, the legendary divine beast mentioned in various histories, the one honored annually with rituals—that divine beast’s name is Fluffy? What kind of name—”

“Once you meet it, you’ll understand why it’s called Fluffy. The beast’s tail is extremely fluffy.”

I briefly recalled the past.

I first encountered the beast at the entrance of Sylvester Forest, at the northernmost edge of the continent.

We were deciding whether to take a longer detour or cut through the forest, as an unusual presence had been detected there.

Then, the trees of the forest parted, and a massive wolf emerged.

It wasn’t an ordinary wolf. Its body was the size of a carriage, and its eyes carried an intelligent glint.

The wolf looked at our group before opening its mouth, speaking in a language only I could understand.

[What is a demon doing among humans?]

“……”

[I will ask you more later, demon. For now, tell the humans that my name is Nigel. I have come to join your journey to stop the demon god.]

The beast spoke the divine language, a rare occurrence. The divine language was used by the gods in the past, and anyone possessing power could instinctively use it.

Though it was possible to learn the divine language even without power, it consumed a considerable amount of energy to use, so only the strongest beings could handle it.

I, too, as someone with power, knew the divine language but rarely used it—to me, it was a wasteful language that drained energy.

Most other demon lords felt the same way, so we typically conversed in a common tongue.

For a beast from the middle realm to use the divine language was indeed surprising. There was no trace of power, so someone must have taught it…

But back then, I was preoccupied with something else and didn’t think much of the beast using the divine language.

[Who do you think you are, giving orders? What makes you think you can speak to me like that?]

That arrogant tone—I couldn’t tolerate such insolence from a beast that had just appeared out of nowhere.

So, I told the humans:

“Its name is Fluffy. It’s here because it wants to join us.”

I played around with its name. Naturally, the beast was furious.

[Demon? Are you out of your mind? My name is Nigel, not Fluffy.]

[Ha. Why should I listen to an idiot who doesn’t even know how to properly ask a demon for a favor? If you’re upset, why don’t you speak in the common tongue?]

“Fluffy loves having its tail petted.”

[You insane demon! Wait—don’t touch my tail!]

And that was how the beast ended up with the name Fluffy.

Later, as we continued our journey, people reacted oddly whenever we introduced Fluffy.

Eventually, the hero’s companions started calling it the Divine Beast one by one…

Come to think of it, I suppose I was partly responsible for the flying creature being called the divine beast.