The Possessed Evil Woman Wreaks Havoc - Chapter 87

“Is that something to be proud of? Really?!”

Nigel raised his voice, apparently dumbfounded by my words. Then he began to speak in a low voice.

“…Normally, a soul vanishes upon death.”

“……”

“But in this world, there’s no such thing as absolutes. There are always exceptions.”

Another cryptic remark.

I furrowed my brows and reached toward Nigel.

“You… I’ve been meaning to say this for a while now…”

I grabbed Nigel by the collar and began shaking him vigorously.

“Hey! What are you doing?!”

“If you’re not going to say the whole thing, don’t bring it up in the first place.”

After shaking him thoroughly to release my frustration, I questioned Nigel again.

“Why did you say something like that?”

“……”

“What is the exception you’re talking about?”

“……”

“You can’t explain more because of a binding spell, right?”

Nigel gave a slight nod.

“Just what kind of being did you make a contract with to be restricted from saying so much? Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue but didn’t press him any further.

If I forced Nigel to answer and he broke the spell, I didn’t want to see him die as a consequence.

“Anyway, I think I need to rest now.”

Using rest as an excuse, I shooed Nigel out of the tent.

Today had been far too long. My head was so overwhelmed it felt like it might burst.

There were still countless questions left unanswered, but I no longer had the energy to think.

Left alone, I burrowed under the blanket and soon fell asleep.

***

The next morning.

Jessie had stepped away to fetch my breakfast.

With nothing to do, I sat on the bed and lazily kicked my legs.

At that moment, Nigel entered the tent and made an unexpected announcement.

“The hunting competition will proceed as scheduled.”

“Hm?”

I tilted my head at Nigel’s update.

“Do humans not have any sense of crisis?”

That couldn’t be, right?

From what I knew, humans generally valued their lives.

…Well, I’d seen a few exceptions.

But even though monsters had invaded the hunting grounds just yesterday, they were still going through with the hunting event?

“It’s all thanks to you. No one died… But actually, there’s a deeper reason.”

Nigel approached and whispered in a low voice, “If the hunting competition hosted by the Crown Prince were canceled, people would start asking questions, right? Then the fact that monsters appeared in the capital’s sanctuary would be exposed. They don’t want to cause panic among the citizens of the empire.”

“There were several nobles who witnessed it—how could they possibly keep it under wraps?”

“They’ll try to contain it as much as they can. And even if rumors spread, if word also gets out that the hunting event concluded safely, it’ll ease public concern.”

Citizens of the empire would naturally assume the monsters weren’t very powerful and were quickly dealt with.

There was another reason, too.

“If the Crown Prince’s hunting competition gets canceled like this, it’ll severely damage the prestige of his faction. Tensions between his side and Prince Kayden’s have been high since Prince Kayden returned to the capital.”

As I listened to Nigel’s explanation, a question formed in my mind.

“Where do you even get this kind of information?”

Nigel pointed to his ears. “You know beastkin have extremely sensitive hearing. We can pick up even the smallest whispers.”

In other words, he eavesdropped.

I shook my head. “Human politics are so hard to understand. Can’t they just settle things cleanly through force?”

Just throw the Crown Prince and the Prince into an arena and let the survivor be the next emperor. Wouldn’t that be so much simpler?

Hearing that, Nigel shook his head. “The Demon Realm is just overly simplistic.”

“The Celestial Realm isn’t much better.”

As far as I remember…

“The most fanatical one becomes the Archangel. That’s how Gabriel ended up in charge.”

“…I can’t tell if you’re committing blasphemy or just stating a fact.”

Nigel looked at me as if he didn’t believe a word I said.

The fact that the hunting competition wouldn’t end early was a tragedy for me.

I wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible and return to the duke’s estate.

Thanks to Jessie’s attentive care, camping hadn’t been too uncomfortable, but…

It was still unpleasant being in the same space as the Crown Prince.

At that moment, Jessie peeked her head into the tent and said, “Young lady, the Duke says the whole family should have breakfast together.”

At Jessie’s words, I flinched involuntarily.

Was it because of the word “family”? Memories from yesterday began to surface.

Yesterday, I’d mostly felt baffled, but with time, today… how should I put it? It felt more complicated.

Anyway, the Duke considered Isabella and Gabby as his family, right?

I couldn’t possibly keep such an interesting fact to myself.

Following Jessie’s lead, I walked toward the Duke’s tent.

There, Gabby and the Duke were quietly eating breakfast.

The moment I saw Gabby, my face lit up.

“Gabby—no, Brother.”

“…How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. Were you very worried about me?”

“You think? Hey! Quit that damned saintess act already.”

“Hm?”

I sat down across from Gabby. As soon as I did, he continued speaking.

“That damned High Priest said you might not be a real Saintess or whatever. Can you believe that nonsense? Even after seeing what you did yesterday?”

“Did he, now?” I replied nonchalantly.

Now that I had recovered a considerable amount of my magic, the temple no longer posed any threat to me.

If need be—bam!

Then I remembered I was still in Isabella’s body and changed my mind.

I couldn’t let Isabella be branded a mass murderer.

Gabby began muttering to himself.

“A Saintess like you… huh, that’s not quite right.”

He glanced at me, and as if something dawned on him, his face turned pale.

“No way… you’re not, right? You’re really the Saintess, right?”

To ease his unnecessary—though fairly justified—concern, I reassured him.

“Don’t worry. In this empire, no one is closer to the Celestial God than I am.”

It wasn’t entirely a lie. Strictly speaking, as a demon, I was probably closer to a god than a human was.

Plus, I’d spoken to the Celestial God several times. The god was certainly aware of my existence.

I popped a slice of bacon from my plate into my mouth.

The crisp, grilled meat tasted excellent.

After quickly emptying one plate, I remembered something I had forgotten.

“Ah, right.”

There was something I’d wanted to tell Gabby since yesterday.

It would be a shame to keep such an interesting fact to myself.

“Brother. Father said he loves you.”

“……”

Gabby froze at my words.

Then, regaining his senses, he pushed his plate toward me.

“If you wanted my breakfast, you could’ve just said so. Saying something like that to ruin my appetite and steal my food… that’s just too much.”

He conveniently reinterpreted my words to his liking.

“It’s true. Yesterday, Father said he loves both me and you very much.”

“Isabella.”

The Duke gave me a quiet warning.

But he didn’t deny my words.

Seeing that, Gabby’s face began to turn even paler.

“Unbelievable. That shameless old man. If he wants to play house, can he leave me out of it?”

“He said you and I are his family, that he loves us.”

“Pfft! Has the old man lost his mind? He didn’t really say that, did he?”

“……”

“No, don’t answer that. Just stay silent.”

When the Duke’s silence confirmed it, Gabby’s face grew even paler.

Watching him, I smiled in satisfaction.

I couldn’t be the only one feeling uncomfortable. Who does Father think he is, trying to play family all of a sudden?

“An invitation to a tea party arrived.”

The Duke hastily changed the subject. I tilted my head at his words.

“Tea party?”

“It’s a tea party for young ladies and noblewomen who aren’t participating in the hunting competition.”

“I decline—”

“I heard the Imperial Palace’s head chef personally prepared the desserts.”

“Well, I suppose attending wouldn’t be so bad.”

I quickly changed my mind.

Isabella was a loner with not a single friend in high society. Attending the tea party and making at least one friend wouldn’t be a bad idea.

I justified it that way in my head.

The word “friend” reminded me of Nadia, whom I’d met yesterday.

Even though a commotion broke out shortly after our encounter, there were no casualties, so she was probably fine.

So chances were high that Nadia would attend the tea party as well.

Come to think of it… what exactly is a tea party?