The Possessed Evil Woman Wreaks Havoc - Chapter 68

“Nigel. Where exactly is this place?”

“This is the basement of the Graham estate.”

“…What?”

At the unexpected answer, my eyes widened.

So this was Isabella Dunkeld’s maternal family home?

It seemed I had far more to ask Nigel than I initially thought. For instance, why he was in the basement of the Graham estate and what his relationship was with the demon worshippers.

But now wasn’t the time to hear his answers.

“First, get rid of those ears.”

At my words, Nigel snapped his fingers, and his ears transformed to look human.

Now, from appearance alone, he was indistinguishable from a human.

Footsteps echoed from the distance. Someone was approaching through the passage.

“It’s a man. Judging by the aura, a Sword Master?”

Nigel, who had also heard the footsteps, whispered quietly.

“You can sense that?”

“Bella. Did you forget that I’m beastkin? My senses are as sharp as a demon’s. And aura is originally a power of beastkin. Detecting aura is much easier than sensing magic.”

So that’s why Nigel hadn’t been surprised when I appeared in the passage earlier.

He had already sensed my approach from the corridor.

One mystery was solved.

Yet, I had too many other questions clouding my mind.

I would get my answers later, no matter what.

I gestured for Nigel to leave quickly and spoke, “It was good to see you after so long. For now… hide yourself. I’ll come find you later.”

At my words, Nigel shook his head. “When will we meet again? ‘Later’ is an uncertain promise.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Don’t you remember? The last thing you said to me.”

I remembered.

“Ethan! Take Bella and go! I’ll handle the pursuit!”

“Nigel—I’ll come find you later—”

“Save your strength. …Let’s meet again, Bella.”

Yes. Back then, I had definitely said that.

“…Even so, I thought you’d come to see me in the middle realm at least once. I never imagined you’d stay holed up in the Demon Realm for five hundred years.”

Nigel’s voice carried a tinge of disappointment.

Hmm.

Well, I couldn’t say his reaction was incomprehensible.

Maybe I should have visited the middle realm at least once to show him I was okay, that I was alive.

But what was done was done.

“Should I… apologize?”

Not being used to apologizing, I nearly bit my tongue trying to say the words.

Hearing my feeble attempt at an apology, Nigel wore an odd expression.

“…I suppose I should apologize too?”

“……?”

What? Why was Nigel apologizing to me?

A demonic instinct flared within me.

Nigel hadn’t shown the slightest bit of surprise upon seeing me. Even though I was in Isabella’s body.

Could it be—

“Since you wouldn’t leave the Demon Realm… I had no choice. There was something I had to tell you.”

Though Nigel was still withholding words, I understood what he was implying.

“You…?”

I had been wondering who had taught Isabella how to form a contract with a demon.

The unexpected culprit stood right in front of me.

And Nigel was now saying he did it just to lure me into the middle realm.

Why? None of this made sense.

Just as I was about to press Nigel for details—

Tap, tap.

The footsteps in the passage grew closer.

Now was not the time for this. I could track Nigel down later.

I hurriedly told him, “Leave now.”

But Nigel ignored my words and continued speaking.

“…You’re staying at the Duke’s estate, right? Let me in. I need to stay by your side for now. And I don’t want to wait indefinitely again.”

It wasn’t surprising that Nigel knew I was at the Duke’s estate. Since he had worked with Isabella to trap me in this body, of course, he would know.

A wave of betrayal surged through me, and I clenched my teeth.

But the more pressing issue was ensuring Gabby and Nigel didn’t cross paths. I needed to act quickly.

“Later—”

“That cursed ‘later’ again—! I’m sick of hearing it!”

Nigel suddenly raised his voice. Five hundred years seemed to have made him quite sensitive.

“Fine. Just go for now.”

“Not until we decide on a time and place.”

“There’s no time for—”

“Hey! Troublemaker!”

Just then, Gabby arrived in the basement.

His face lit up when he saw me—only to immediately stiffen upon noticing Nigel standing beside me.

“Where is this—no, more importantly, who the hell is that guy?”

Gabby clenched his teeth and glared at Nigel.

Hmm. This was a mess.

The situation looked suspicious, no matter how you framed it.

At this point, trying to sneak Nigel out was impossible—Gabby wouldn’t let it slide.

But explaining my relationship with Nigel to Gabby wasn’t an option either…

‘I can’t exactly tell him I’m actually a six-hundred-year-old demon, not his sister.’

At that moment, a brilliant idea struck me.

Correction.

It wasn’t a brilliant idea, but it was the only viable solution.

I pointed at Nigel and declared, “This is the Graham estate, and that guy is an intruder. Let’s capture him.”

“……?”

Nigel’s eyes widened in shock. He looked at me with pure betrayal.

Gabby, too, was bewildered.

“The Graham estate? What the hell—why is our maternal family’s house connected to a shady bookstore?! Ugh, whatever. Let’s capture that bastard first.”

Gabby drew his sword from the sheath at his waist. The blade overflowed with pure aura, and upon seeing it, I slightly adjusted my plan.

Although Nigel was an experienced beastkin, if he were to be struck by that aura-infused sword… he might get hurt.

I gripped Nigel’s arm tightly and injected my magic into him. In an instant, the magic took over Nigel’s body, causing him to lose consciousness.

Thud!

Nigel collapsed to the ground.

Gabby raised an eyebrow at the scene and asked, “What the hell? What did you just do?”

“That’s absurd. He must’ve fainted out of fear after sensing your terrifying aura.”

I shamelessly feigned innocence.

Gabby seemed to sense that something was off, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.

Tilting his head in confusion, he stepped closer to tie up the unconscious Nigel.

“Let’s toss this bastard into prison for now,” Gabby muttered as he looked down at Nigel.

I whispered into Nigel’s ear as he lay unconscious on the ground, “I granted your request.”

Since what he wanted was entry into the Duke’s estate… and the prison was technically part of the estate, I suppose he got his wish in the end.

***

Inside the underground prison of the Duke’s estate.

I stood outside the bars, watching Nigel, who was locked up inside.

‘He should be waking up around now.’

As soon as I thought that, Nigel twitched and slowly opened his eyes.

Our eyes met through the bars, and before I realized it, an excuse slipped out of my mouth.

“…I granted your request. Thanks to me, you entered the Duke’s estate naturally, didn’t you?”

“This?”

Nigel rattled his shackled hands mockingly. The clinking of chains echoed through the cell.

I scratched my head and offered another excuse. “Don’t get the wrong idea. These chains aren’t my preference.”

Nigel wasn’t a threat to me, nor did I have any reason to keep him restrained. But Gabby had insisted on securing Nigel’s hands and feet to the wall with shackles.

I added an explanation, “It’s Gabby’s preference.”

“Gabby? You mean Gabriel Dunkeld?”

“That’s right. So you know him.”

“Not personally… but as Isabella’s older brother, I at least know his name.”

I raised an eyebrow at Nigel’s words. The way he spoke suggested he had some sort of relationship with Isabella.

“Still, for this to be his preference… he must be an unusual man.”

Nigel muttered as he ran his fingers over the chains on his wrists.

“I could probably break these.”

“But don’t. Gabby put effort into this, so don’t ruin it.”

To be more precise, if Nigel broke them, it would be hard to avoid Gabby’s suspicion. No ordinary human could break such iron chains with their bare hands.

It was best to keep Nigel’s identity as a beastkin hidden. Hardly any humans were aware that beastkin existed.

Not wanting to explain any further, I kept my response vague.

Nigel tilted his head. “What kind of person considers this ‘putting in effort’?”

It seemed like a misunderstanding was brewing, but that wasn’t my problem, so I ignored it.

“Anyway, you have a lot to explain to me,” I spoke with a slightly hardened expression.

I was glad to see Nigel again after so long, but I couldn’t deny that he was suspicious.

I had gone looking for demon worshippers—so why did I find Nigel instead?

“Wait a second. Let me say this first.”

Nigel took a deep breath before continuing, “…I’m under a restriction. There’s a limit to what I can say.”

A restriction? A restriction was a type of contract. Which meant the only ones who could impose a restriction were… not just me.

‘Other lords of the Demon Realm also possess the power of contracts.’

Now that I thought about it, it was about time I reclaimed that power.

Regardless, with things as they were, I had no way of knowing who had placed the restriction.

At the very least, it wasn’t me. Or… was it?

I asked Nigel just in case.

“Was it me who placed the restriction on you?”

Nigel looked at me like I was ridiculous.

“If it was you, wouldn’t it be strange that you don’t remember?”

“I—”

“If you’re about to say something like ‘Maybe I erased an unnecessary memory and forgot I placed the restriction,’ just shut up.”

I obediently shut my mouth.

If a restriction had been placed on him… I just needed to ask my questions carefully.

First question.

“What’s your relationship with the demon worshippers?”

I had found Nigel in the secret passage of a bookstore known to be their base.

So Nigel definitely had some connection to them.

“I’m their leader.”

“……”

That was an answer I hadn’t expected at all.

I blinked a few times before finally speaking, “I’m sorry for not recognizing your true feelings all this time.”

“…What true feelings?”

“Your devotion to me, of course. To think you became the leader of the demon worshippers. If you had told me sooner, who knows? Maybe I would have let you kiss my foot—”

“Aaah! Please stop!”

Nigel suddenly tried to slam his head against the wall. The chains were too short, so after a few attempts, he failed.

Keeping my expression composed, I thought to myself.

‘His reactions are as satisfying as ever.’

No matter what kind of prank I pulled, Nigel always reacted in such a colorful way that, as a demon, I simply couldn’t resist teasing him.