PWH C13

Sher, perhaps not truly expecting an answer, quickly shook off any signs of disappointment and spoke again.

“You may not know exactly who made the contract, but surely you have some suspicions about which demon it might be. If someone was powerful enough to seal your magic, it would have to be one of the Demon Lords—”

Only the Demon Lords could form a contract without my permission, so Sher’s guess was correct. However, aside from Lilith, I couldn’t name a single Lord who didn’t hold a grudge against me.

“Lady Bella, is there anyone among the Lords who truly holds a grudge against you? From what I can tell, they all seem rather fond of you…”

“What do you know about it?”

How many Demon Lords had I consistently and persistently attempted to assassinate over the past centuries? I flatly denied his assumption, and though Sher looked like he had much more to say, he held his tongue. He then shared his own theory with me.

“Well, if I had to choose one, I’d say the Lord of Dominion.”

I tilted my head at his words. While I had my own suspicions about the Lord of Dominion, I was surprised Sher would name him so readily.

“Why do you think that?”

“Well, there’s a rumor that he bears a grudge against you for rejecting his advances—”

“Sher. If you ever end up dead one day, it will be because of that tongue of yours.”

I cut off Sher’s words.

At my warning, Sher hesitated. Still unable to contain his curiosity, he asked cautiously, “Aw, come on, just tell me. It’s true, isn’t it? The Lord of Dominion, Dantalion, confessed to you and was rejected, right?”

“You seem to enjoy wagging that tongue of yours. Perhaps splitting it in two would double your fun.”

Then you could enjoy twice as much entertainment, right?

Sher finally shut his mouth when he heard my final warning.

Sher had good instincts, though. He seemed convinced there was something between Dantalion and me, and he wasn’t entirely wrong. However, it wasn’t that Dantalion courted me and got rejected.

Rather…

Thinking about my relationship with him only made my head hurt.

At one time, I considered Dantalion a good friend—until I discovered what kind of feelings he harbored for me. After that, our relationship was completely ruined.

‘Someone I must eventually kill with my own hands.’

That was how I thought of Dantalion.

I briefly reconsidered the possibility that Dantalion was the one who sealed me in this body. However, as I sorted through my thoughts, I quickly shook my head. Initially, I thought of him first, but the more I thought about it, the less likely it seemed.

Dantalion despised my closeness with humans more than anything else. Someone like him wouldn’t have sealed me in a human body.

Enough. Right now, finding the culprit was less important than returning to my original body.

I hurriedly erased any lingering thoughts about Dantalion from my mind.

***

As my conversation with Sher dragged on, the bartender returned once more, refilling our empty teacups and serving more desserts.

By the way—

Seeing Sher, who was as crafty as a rat, reminded me of Blackie, whom I had left behind in the Demon Realm.

“I am worried about Blackie.”

In the past few days, I had been busy adapting to Isabella’s body and hadn’t had time to think about anything else.

How could I forget Blackie? I inwardly berated myself.

Blackie was my pet beast. I had found him as a cub, abandoned by his mother, and raised him ever since.

“Blackie? Who’s Blackie?”

“My pet beast. You’ve seen him before, Sher.”

“…A beast that ferocious, and you gave it such a cute name…” Sher looked bewildered.

Ferocious? Blackie was so adorable. I had to question Sher’s taste.

Now that I’d thought of him, I truly was concerned.

“With his owner suddenly gone, Blackie must be frightened. And without me, who will take care of his meals?”

“Lady Bella, Blackie is more than capable of getting his own food. It’s the other demons who should worry about becoming his next meal.”

Sher muttered something about a beast that could chew through dragons, but I ignored him.

Even though Blackie had long since reached maturity, to me, he was still my precious baby. I couldn’t leave him alone in the Demon Realm. If I couldn’t return to my original body soon, I needed to think of a way to bring Blackie to the middle realm.

“Sher. I think I’ll have to bring Blackie to the middle realm.”

“…Are you planning to conquer the middle realm or something?”

“What nonsense. I just can’t leave my pet beast alone for too long. Don’t you understand that?”

“My goodness, Lady Bella.”

Lady Bella is about to unleash a disaster on the middle realm.

Sher muttered under his breath, and once again, I ignored his comment.

“So how exactly are you planning to bring him here?”

Lady Bella’s power is sealed, and the Gate to the Demon Realm is closed. How will you bring him here?

In response to Sher’s question, I raised both corners of my lips and answered, “Why are you asking me?”

“Pardon?”

“You’ll figure out how to do it.”

I watched Sher’s face twist in real-time.

A true demon always passes difficult tasks on to others. Since the parlor was in the basement, it was hard to gauge the time, but it seemed about time for me to leave.

I brought up the real reason I had come here. “Sher. My purse is rather empty.”

With a brief explanation, I told Sher to give me some money.

Sher adjusted his posture and looked at me. “Lady Bella, aren’t you asking me for a loan right now?”

He rubbed his hands together as he spoke. His eyes gleamed as if he saw an opportunity. I watched him closely for a moment.

“Of course I’ll lend it to you, but how much are we talking about? And what are the terms for repayment and interest?”

Though I was penniless at the moment, the situation would change once I returned to my original body.

I was one of the wealthiest in the Demon Realm.

When I reached maturity, Lilith gave me half of her treasury as a congratulatory gift. Over the centuries, I diligently conquered and plundered other demons’ territories, steadily growing my wealth.

Sher seemed to be calculating what he could get from me. It was unfortunate for him, but—

“I’m not here to borrow money.”

My words made Sher freeze for a moment.

“Then…” Sher cautiously asked, as if he already knew what my answer would be.

“Plunder.”

The naive thought that a demon would borrow money and repay it made me smile.

“Hand over the money.”

I confidently held out my hand.

***

In the end, Sher handed over 100 gold coins.

“Give me more.”

“Lady Bella, that’s all the money I can give you right now.”

“Only this much?”

“Running an information brokerage is expensive. I would give you more if I could.”

“Fine. Be prepared to give me more next time.”

Humming to myself, I climbed the stairs with a heavy purse. I could hear someone sniffling behind me, but I ignored it.

When I reached the first floor, I saw Jessie, looking terrified, sitting in a corner of the pub, glancing around nervously.

“Jessie, look at this.” I proudly showed her the purse full of gold coins.

Shouldn’t she be happy when I bring in this much money? But Jessie just looked back and forth between me and the coins, her expression stiff.

Then, in a careful tone, she whispered to me, “My lady, you didn’t actually plunder it, did you?”

Well, I did. I glanced around.

The small pub was filled with Sher’s men, all disguised as customers. They were all burly fellows. There was no way Isabella’s frail body could take them down.

Jessie might not be the sharpest, but if I told her I had robbed these men, she might grow suspicious. First, I led Jessie out of the pub and lied about the source of the gold.

“That place is an information brokerage. I just sold some information.”

Hearing my words, Jessie looked relieved, but then she grew worried again. “My lady, what kind of information did you sell to get so much money?”

“I’m the daughter of the Dunkeld Ducal House. It’s not like I wouldn’t have information worth their interest.”

“—You didn’t sell the family’s secrets, did you?”

“I did.”

“My lady! No matter how much you need money—”

One lie led to another.

With Jessie making such a fuss, I came up with a fitting secret on the spot.

“Gabby sucks his thumb when he sleeps.”

Of course, it was a lie. It’s not like I’d ever watched that brat sleep.

“Pardon?” Jessie blinked at me. “Is that really valuable information? Who in their right mind would pay for that?”

“Why not? It’s amusing.”

“Well… I suppose.”

After thinking about it, Jessie eventually agreed.

“To think Lord Gabriel has such a habit.”

Jessie’s expression was peculiar. Whatever Jessie thought of Gabby was none of my concern.

With a full purse, my steps were light.