The Possessed Evil Woman Wreaks Havoc - Chapter 89

After finally shaking Nigel off, I arrived at the tea party venue and noticed something strange in the way people were looking at me.

What’s this…?

If it were just looks of dislike toward me—or toward Isabella—I wouldn’t have cared.

But some of the young ladies were eyeing me with a peculiar gaze.

It didn’t feel hostile, but for some reason, it was unpleasant.

“Lady Isabella, it’s been a while.”

Someone approached me and greeted me. I looked her up and down.

Aside from her unusually dark black hair, she had no distinguishing features.

I couldn’t recall her name—not from my own memory, nor from Isabella’s.

“I’d like to say it’s been a while… but honestly, I don’t remember your face. Let’s just call this our first meeting.”

“…I see.”

Nigel had told me before that being overly rude could make one seem like an amateur.

So I had responded as politely as possible.

The woman opened her mouth as if she wanted to say more, then closed it again, repeating the motion.

But in the end, she must’ve lacked the courage to speak and walked away.

I looked around.

Everyone here was sneaking glances at me while pretending not to.

But aside from that woman earlier, no one had come up to talk to me.

They said tea parties were supposed to be a place to enjoy refreshments and engage in refined conversation with other nobles…

But if no one talks to me, then there’s no need for conversation.

Which means all that’s left is the refreshments.

I walked over to the table with the most desserts and sat in the most comfortable-looking seat. Then I began helping myself.

As I did, people slowly began to gather around me.

With both cheeks stuffed with macarons, I glanced around.

Were they watching me eat?

I didn’t know their intent, but it didn’t really bother me.

After all, I had more important matters in front of me.

“My, you must’ve been quite hungry, Lady Isabella? I can’t even touch sweet desserts like that because I have to maintain my figure.”

Just as I was savoring the desserts, someone spoke to me.

I gave the woman who said it a quick glance. She was clearly quite thin.

And she was giving up food for something as trivial as figure management?

“You don’t seem to know the value of food. Back in my day—ah, forget it.”

You couldn’t get desserts like this in the Demon Realm.

I briefly wondered if I should bring a chef back with me when I return.

Besides, food was scarce in the Demon Realm. As the Demon Lord, I never went hungry, but for lower demons, going an entire day without a meal was normal.

Why did the Demon God choose the Demon Realm as our domain anyway? When the Middle Realm is so abundant…

Clicking my tongue inwardly, I focused back on the desserts.

“By the way, Lady Isabella, your tone of speech has changed quite a bit since I last saw you.”

At the voice pointing out my speech, I deliberately smiled gently.

“Oh? I see. I suppose speaking with the Celestial God every day has influenced my manner of speech. I’ll be sure to relay what you said to the Celestial God.”

“……!”

And who do you think you are to criticize my way of speaking?

Seeing the woman’s face turn pale, I suppressed a satisfied smile.

I thought people would stop talking to me after that—but I was mistaken.

“Lady Isabella, you’re quite rude.”

I turned my head slightly toward the voice.

Wait a second. That one’s a redhead?

The moment I saw the woman’s hair color, my mood plummeted.

It reminded me of my original hair color.

Of course, mine was much more vivid than that dull shade, but just seeing a similar color irritated me.

I frowned without saying anything, and the redhead seemed encouraged to keep going.

“Isn’t it customary to greet the other young ladies and madams upon arrival?”

“……”

“Lady Florence came up to greet you first, and yet you responded like that. How rude.”

“……”

“And how much dessert are you eating, anyway?”

“I need to focus on eating, so shut your mouth.”

Thanks to her constant nagging, I hadn’t been able to properly enjoy the food.

Upon hearing my words, the redhead’s face turned as red as a beet.

“That comment was quite rude as well. I wonder if a Saintess is allowed to behave so disrespectfully.”

“Hmm. So if I’m rude, do I lose my qualifications as a Saintess?”

“Well, of course—!”

“Of course?”

When I asked back, the redhead couldn’t give a proper answer.

“I just asked the Celestial God. He says even if I spill wine on you right here, He won’t hold it against me.”

Obviously a lie, but no one here would know that.

It would serve both to insult that arrogant human and to blaspheme a little on the side.

At the mention of wine, the redhead flinched.

Seeing that, I sifted through my memory—or more precisely, Isabella’s memory.

She had once poured wine on someone before…

“Have I ever poured wine on you before?”

“You mean you don’t remember?”

When I asked, the redhead glared at me as she replied.

Sure enough, just looking at her brought wine to mind. It made me want to pour it on her again.

Isabella, you and I think alike, huh?

Seems she’d been holding a grudge over that incident all this time… What a petty human.

If memory serves, the reason for the wine was because she mocked Isabella, suggesting she’d been abandoned by her family.

I smiled sweetly at the redhead and said, “Of course I don’t remember. But seeing your hair color, I can guess why I did it.”

“What do you mean…”

“Your hair looks like embers. I must’ve poured wine to put out the fire, just in case it spread.”

“How dare you be so rude!”

“Seems the Celestial God agrees. He’s smiling down at us from above.”

Again, a complete lie.

But I’m the Saintess, so what can they do about it?

The redhead’s face flushed red again.

She looked like she wanted to argue, but since I invoked the Celestial God, she was clearly holding herself back.

Contradicting the Celestial God would be a perfect excuse for an accusation of blasphemy.

The redhead took a slow, deep breath to calm herself down.

Then she spoke again, “By the way, Lady Isabella, you must be very busy these days. So many people are seeking you out.”

What’s she trying to say now? I decided to let her speak, just to see where she was going with this.

“His Highness the Crown Prince, Prince Kayden too… and then there’s that servant from earlier.”

What now? I didn’t grasp the connection at first.

Then I realized what those three had in common.

They were all men.

“Wait, are you asking about my relationships with men?”

“Well, you could say that.”

“It’s a misunderstanding.”

I wasn’t particularly concerned with clearing up other people’s misunderstandings, but being associated with Nigel was a different matter.

That would be an insult to both of us.

“Hey, redhead. A servant is just a servant.”

“…You don’t even know my name, do you?”

“Hmm… correct. Ah, but even if you tell me now, I won’t remember, so don’t waste your breath. I forget unimportant things quickly.”

“Hah!”

I thought I was being rather considerate, but her eyes started to burn with venom.

“It’s just—you seemed so friendly with that servant earlier… he didn’t look like just a servant to me.”

I calmly picked up a sandwich from the table and took a bite.

The blend of fresh vegetables and ham was exquisite.

After savoring the food in my mouth for a while, I finally spoke.

“Redhead, you seem curious about my relationships, so I suppose I’ll tell you.”

“……”

“Just yesterday, someone other than those three told me he loved me.”

“Who was it?”

“My father.”

“Excuse me? So his nickname is ‘Father’…?”

“No. I mean literally, my father. The Duke.”

“What?”

“I’m a beloved daughter. A precious child of House Dunkeld.”

“……”

“I’ll make sure to tell the Duke everything you said today.”

Normally, tattling wasn’t my style, but… the Duke needed to know.

That because he’d neglected Isabella, she had suffered all kinds of abuse in high society.

“Ah, you can tell me your name now. I’ll remember it—just this once.”

I smiled brightly at the redhead.