The Possessed Evil Woman Wreaks Havoc - Chapter 48

[Well, that’s my burden to bear. So, what about you? What are you going to do?]

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Though I had a vague idea, I feigned ignorance.

Fluffy looked at me with a pitying expression. [You made a pact with Zachary, didn’t you? The deal was that you’d lend your power to seal the Demon God, and in return, you’d get his soul. Now that the Demon God is sealed, isn’t it time to collect?]

“…Do I have to take it right now, though?” I answered reluctantly. In truth, I had been mulling it over for the past few days.

If I took Zachary’s soul, he would die on the spot. Of course, the soul retained consciousness for a while, but once the body was gone, that consciousness would soon disappear too.

It was only right, per our contract, to take his soul… but for some reason, I didn’t want to.

If I made that decision, wouldn’t it mean I actually had feelings for a mere human?

That’s why, recently, I had been avoiding Zachary. I thought that not seeing his face would help me make the right decision.

At first, Zachary would search for me, but eventually, he seemed to get used to it and stopped looking for me.

Fluffy snorted and said, [Is the Lord of Contracts saying she’s not going to keep her word?]

“It’s not that I’m breaking the contract… It’s just that it shouldn’t matter if I take it later, right? Like maybe in a few years…”

Considering a human’s lifespan, maybe fifty years? To someone like me, who lived for an eternity, waiting that long was nothing.

[Just admit it. You like Zachary. That’s why you don’t want to see him die.]

“There’s no way I’d like a human.”

I denied Fluffy’s words without hesitation. No sane demon would truly care about a human whose life lasted only a fleeting moment.

…At least, that’s what I still wanted to believe.

Fluffy, however, looked at me like he didn’t believe a word I was saying.

[Are you saying you’re not in your right mind, then? Sigh… Demons really are the most complicated beings in this world. I guess you can’t help it, constantly battling dark magic in your head.]

I looked at Fluffy with a bewildered expression. “How do you know about dark magic?”

[Well, I’m a beastkin. Just like you—. Wait, haven’t we had this conversation a few times already?]

“The library in my head. When something’s not important, I write it in one of the books and close it right away. It’s in my memory, but I just… don’t remember it.”

[…Are you saying what I said wasn’t important?]

“Hmm… I guess so.”

[Sigh. If you’d lived tens of thousands of years like Lilith and had trouble remembering everything, I’d understand, but you’re only a hundred years old! Isn’t that a bit thoughtless?]

“Amon used to always tell me that it’s the privilege of the strong to live without thinking. If worst comes to worst, you can solve everything with power.”

I proudly laid out my logic. Fluffy seemed ready to argue, but eventually burst out laughing.

[Ha, unbelievable. You’ll be in big trouble one day with that attitude.]

Boom—!

It had been quiet for a while, so I thought the fireworks were over, but apparently, they weren’t.

This was the biggest firework yet, lighting up the sky so brightly that it almost felt like daytime.

As the firework dimmed, Fluffy spoke to me, [Bella, did you know today is the day the Kingdom of Aizen becomes an empire? Zachary will be crowned emperor.]

“…This is the first I’m hearing of it.”

[Everyone knows you’ve been avoiding Zachary lately. Anyway, you should go see him today. The contract isn’t complete yet, so he’s still your contractor. Talk to him—maybe once you face him, all the confusion you’ve been feeling will vanish.]

“……”

[…Humans have short lives. To you, it’s just a fleeting moment, but to them, it feels different. Didn’t you say you’d live without regrets? Then go to him now.]

“Your own love story ended miserably, yet you give such good advice to others.”

[You little…]

Fluffy seemed annoyed with me, nudging me repeatedly with his head. I laughed and patted his head. His fur was warm and soft.

After a moment of hesitation, I spoke up, “Nigel… thank you.”

[Wow—you knew my name this whole time!] Nigel said, sounding incredulous.

Of course I knew it. I just chose not to remember.

“Alright, I’m going now!”

I left Nigel and ran toward the banquet hall where Zachary would be.

[Wait a moment.]

Fluffy called out to me, and I turned my head slightly, eager to leave.

[I know you want to go see Zachary right now, but I have a strange feeling. I was going to tell you later, but it seems like now’s the only chance.]

Fluffy hesitated for a moment before speaking, [It’s a secret of my tribe, but I think you should know. Actually, your predecessor is still alive—]

—Bella. Where are you? We need to talk.

At that moment, Zachary’s voice echoed in my mind. Since Zachary and I shared magic, we could communicate telepathically regardless of where we were.

“I really have to go now! We’ll talk later!”

I ignored Fluffy calling out to me and hurried toward Zachary.

And that day, Zachary drove a sword through my heart to kill me.

I lay on the ground, staring blankly at the ceiling. The blood flowing from my body made my back feel warm.

Zachary had called me to a small chapel within the castle. There, a trap awaited me.

Hundreds of priests were stationed to capture me.

I hadn’t doubted Zachary for a second, and I was caught in an instant.

“Why?”

Amusingly enough, at that moment, I wasn’t angry—I was genuinely curious.

Why had Zachary betrayed me? Was he trying to kill me simply to avoid fulfilling our contract?

“The Kingdom of Aizen… no, the Empire of Aizen now.”

Zachary mumbled as he looked down at me, who was dying.

“The empire is still in turmoil from the remnants of the Demon God. It needs a strong emperor to quell the chaos. You are… no longer needed.”

In fact, I was just a blemish to the new imperial family.

Hearing his words, I burst out laughing. Even in the face of death, I couldn’t hold back my laughter.

“All for that?”

Nigel was right. Time flows differently for humans and demons.

For the fifty or so years of power Zachary hoped to enjoy in the middle realm, he was willing to kill me.

I was willing to wait those fifty years for him…

At that moment, I remembered the Demon God’s final words to me.

“Isabella, you will regret this. Acting so foolishly for a mere human.”

At the time, I had laughed at those words…

I never thought I’d feel something like regret in my life, but right then, I wondered if I regretted ever making a contract with Zachary.

It felt like such a hollow end.

But then, something happened.

“Bella!”

Someone broke through the tight security outside the chapel. It was Nigel, and on his back was Ethan.

[I had a bad feeling about this.]

Nigel rushed toward where I lay. Ethan leaped off Nigel’s back, swinging his sword at Zachary.

Clang—!

Zachary deftly deflected Ethan’s attack.

Ethan, losing his balance and rolling on the ground, quickly got back on his feet, pointing his sword at Zachary.

“Zachary, how could you do this to Bella…?”

A moment of silence passed between them. Then, sparks flew as their swords clashed.

I couldn’t remember how their fight had unfolded. When I came to, Ethan was carrying me on his shoulder, running.

Grrr…

Behind us, Nigel was engaged in a fierce battle with someone.

Ethan kept talking to me as he ran, trying to keep me conscious.

“Bella, you’re losing too much blood. You can’t pass out! If you die, you’ll die by my hand!!”

Being a former foreign slave, Ethan had a peculiar way of speaking. I used to pick fights with him over it all the time…

“Daphne knows. She sent me. She said she’s sorry she couldn’t come herself.”

Strangely, hearing that put me at ease.

And that day…

Ethan died saving me. I shed tears for the first time over Ethan’s dying body.

***

Silence filled the drawing room. I froze, not knowing how to process what I had just heard.

Zachary had taken his own life. Just a year after becoming emperor.

“Lies.”

I knew instinctively that the crown prince wasn’t lying to me.

But it had to be a lie.

If not…

‘Then what about Ethan, who died that day?’

We were like oil and water, constantly at odds. Yet, Ethan had died to save me.

Even leaving Daphne behind.

Zachary had betrayed me for the empire, for the power and luxury he’d enjoy in the middle realm.

Then he should have enjoyed it until the end. How dare he…

“It’s not a lie.”

The crown prince spoke cautiously.

“There’s a record. The imperial family and the temple disguised it as an illness to protect the dignity of the first emperor and preserve the very foundation of the empire, but the truth is documented in the imperial archive, accessible only to the emperor and his heirs.”