PWH C2

How did I end up like this…

I stared blankly at the ceiling. The lattice pattern above was unfamiliar to me, but it wasn’t just the ceiling that felt foreign. This weak, powerless body devoid of any trace of magic—I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

Just yesterday…

“Master, the Demon King has come for you.”

“Lilith? Understood, I’ll come down now.”

I was one of the Nine Lords of the Demon Realm. We, nine demons endowed with great power, were known as the Lords of the Demon Realm. Though my martial prowess wasn’t greater than that of the other lords, I enjoyed the Demon King’s favor. In the Demon Realm, I wielded enough influence to bring even a flying bat crashing down.

Or so I thought.

But now, in this current body, I wasn’t even worthy of being called a lord, let alone a demon.

I glanced around.

A man with graying hair and a monocle, and a woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties, were watching me with worried expressions as I lay in bed. When I had coughed up blood, the human who had been with me earlier had rushed out of the room to fetch these two. The woman changed my clothes while the man examined my body.

‘The doctor and a maid, was it?’

The cost of tampering with the magic seal had been high. My best effort was to remain conscious. I couldn’t even lift a single finger.

The doctor was using some strange instruments to examine me, and I frowned at the sight.

“Get those disgusting things away from me, human,” I muttered weakly. I wanted to put up a fight, but my body was too drained.

“These aren’t disgusting, they’re medical instruments. It will be over soon, so please bear with it, my lady,” the doctor explained calmly.

A demon, examined by a human—if the other lords heard about this, how much would they laugh at me?

“Away with it. I’m perfectly fine.”

“As much as I’d like to follow your wishes, unfortunately, it’s the Duke’s command. You know well that his word is absolute in this house, don’t you, my lady?”

The doctor continued his examination, undeterred by my protests. The Duke he mentioned must have been that human who had hit me earlier. My teeth ground in frustration.

“That damned human… I’ll tear his soul to shreds.”

“Unfortunately, that damned human is your father, my lady.”

“What difference does that make?”

“…Unless you’ve changed your goal from becoming Crown Princess to inheriting the dukedom, please refrain from tearing souls apart.”

The doctor spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, then hesitated for a moment before cautiously adding, “Could it be that you’re upset because the Duke isn’t here? The Duke is very busy—”

“As if,” I cut him off with a hollow laugh. How could I be upset over something like that, especially since I wasn’t even his real daughter?

The doctor continued his examination without further conversation, and I, having given up resistance, let him do as he pleased.

Meanwhile, I started going through the possible culprits who could have done this to me. The magic seal on my soul was complex and sophisticated. It was powerful enough that even I couldn’t break it, so whoever was behind this was no ordinary being.

The first to come to mind was the Lord of Dominion—the strongest of all the demon lords. He had an unusually stern and composed character for a demon, and I had always found him unsettling.

His gaze… Especially the way he looked at me… I could never quite figure out what he was thinking. I had a nagging suspicion that if I ever faced an “unfortunate accident,” he would be behind it.

Or it could be the Lord of Illusion. Not too long ago, he lost his favorite villa to me in a card game.

‘Could he be taking revenge because I cheated with the cards that time?’

The Lord of Lust, Belial, was another possibility. Belial and I had quite the bitter history.

‘Come to think of it, this body is exactly to his taste—he’d drool if he saw it.’

Golden hair that shimmered like threads spun from sunlight, eyes that held the lush green of midsummer, and a naïve, innocent expression that seemed to know nothing.

But Belial wasn’t sharp enough to pull off something like this, so I put him aside for now.

The list of those who bore grudges against me was long. I felt a twisted sense of pride for a moment—a testament to my true demonic nature. But as the list grew into double digits, I gave up. I had too many enemies to single out just one.

I’d deal with them after I returned to my original body. They’d learn soon enough what happens when they mess with me.

But how could I return? Without magic, I couldn’t open a portal to the Demon Realm.

In the meantime, the doctor had finished his examination.

“My lady…” He hesitated for a while before finally speaking, “You do have some internal injuries… but otherwise, you’re fine.”

Of course, I was. The blood I coughed up was due to the magic seal, not because there was anything wrong with this body. But there was no way for humans, who couldn’t sense magic, to know that.

“But I can’t quite determine the cause of the internal injuries…” The doctor hesitated again before asking in a small voice, “My lady, did the Duke… do this to you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Did the Duke use violence against you, enough to cause internal injuries?”

“He did slap me, but…”

“That wouldn’t cause internal injuries…”

The doctor looked doubtful. He hesitated for a moment before whispering to me, “If you ever change your mind, please let me know. I can’t do much, but I can at least testify for you.”

Ahem.

The doctor cleared his throat and then spoke in a louder voice, “The young lady is in no serious danger. The internal injuries should heal if you’re careful for a few days.”

“What? That can’t be true,” the maid, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up.

Her name was Jessie, if I remembered correctly.

“Look at all the blood! How can you say she’s fine after coughing up so much?” Jessie said, pointing at my bloodstained negligee.

“Jessie, I know you’re worried about her, but the young lady is in no serious danger. Well, her nutritional status is a bit lacking—”

‘But most noble young ladies eat so little that it’s not an urgent concern,’ the doctor finished. Despite assuring that I was fine, his expression remained grim. After a long pause, he spoke again.

“Still, I’ll speak to the Duke separately regarding her health, just in case.”

With that, he led Jessie away to the far corner of the room, away from the bed. They began whispering to each other.

“Jessie, what do you think of the young lady’s condition? Mentally, I mean.”

“Well, her manner of speaking… Why did she suddenly start talking like that…?”

Was it because I had possessed a human body? At first, their conversation had been hard to hear, but luckily, by focusing a bit, I could make out their words clearly.

I took a deep breath. I had been so agitated by the fact that I was trapped in a human body that I had acted rather rashly.

The original owner of this body, Isabella, surely hadn’t acted this way. At least among humans, they had specific ways of addressing each other—she wouldn’t have called them “human, human” like I did.

It seemed like those two had already realized I wasn’t really Isabella…

With all my magic sealed, I wouldn’t be able to handle multiple humans. This body looked like it couldn’t even lift a fork.

My heart began to race at the unfamiliar feeling of helplessness. But their conversation took an unexpected turn.

“You know, the young lady has always done eccentric things… Could it be that this time she’s pretending to have amnesia?” Jessie asked.

The doctor shrugged in response. “Given her strange way of speaking, I’d say this is more like regression. Didn’t she already play the amnesia card a few months ago?”

“No, that was a terminal illness last month. Amnesia was three months ago.”

“Oh dear. You’ve had it rough, Jessie.”

“Not at all! I love serving the young lady.”

As I eavesdropped on their conversation, I began to piece together what kind of person the owner of this body was. Her name was Isabella Dunkeld. She seemed to be notorious for both her misdeeds and her eccentricities.

To garner her family’s attention, she had pretended to have amnesia and even claimed to be terminally ill.

It wasn’t as bad a situation as I’d initially thought.

It meant that while I was in this body, the humans around me would just assume it was another one of her “performances” rather than suspecting I wasn’t really her.

After all, that was just how Isabella was.

Come to think of it, it was quite a coincidence that this body’s name was also Isabella. My real name was Isabella too. Most demons called me Bella, though.

Well, it was probably just a coincidence. I brushed it off without much thought.

I had survived for hundreds of years as a lord in the Demon Realm. I had endured far more dangerous situations than this and come out unscathed. I wouldn’t fall to such a petty trick.

With that thought, my tension eased, and I began to formulate a plan.

First, I’d adapt to this body while pretending to be human. With all my powers sealed, I couldn’t afford to let anyone realize that a demon had possessed this body. I wasn’t sure how humans would react, and there was always the chance of encountering an angel.

Next, I’d figure out a way to contact my subordinates back in the Demon Realm. If I pushed them hard enough, they’d find a way to return me to my original body.

Also…

‘I need to figure out what’s happening in the middle realm.’

The Demon Realm belonged to demons, the Celestial Realm to angels, and the Middle Realm was home to humans. This wasn’t my first time in the middle realm.

Five hundred years ago, I had made a contract with a human. In exchange for lending him my power, he promised me his soul.

Together with that man and his companions, I had ventured across the land, and I learned just how wicked humans could be. In some ways, they were even worse than demons.

Thinking back on that time, I clicked my tongue. If anything, that experience had helped me become an even more ruthless demon—I had learned a lesson or two from humans.

The contract had ended on bad terms, and I hadn’t so much as glanced at the middle realm since then. Humans had lifespans of less than a hundred years. After five hundred years, several generations would have passed, and the middle realm must have changed significantly.

Since I didn’t know when I’d be able to return to the Demon Realm, it was necessary to understand what was happening here. The relations between humans and angels, how demons were perceived in human society…

And perhaps…

‘Who knows, I might even come across that man’s descendants.’

If I ever did…

A twisted smile spread across my face.