PWH C5

“—You!”

Gabby alternated his gaze between the blood on my hand and my face.

“It’s nothing,” I said with a dismissive expression. Was this his first time seeing blood? He was reacting far too dramatically.

“This is real blood. Are you actually sick?” Gabby yelled at me, then asked in a more subdued voice, “I didn’t believe it when they said you had internal injuries… but now you’re suddenly coughing up blood? What’s wrong with you?”

His expression looked genuinely concerned, which puzzled me.

“Why do you care? It’s not like we’re close or anything.”

And it was true—Gabby hated Isabella. Jessie had told me how much he despised her, to the point that he never treated her like a sibling. Now that I experienced it firsthand, I could understand what Jessie meant—the way he looked at me when he entered the room, his disgusted reaction when he thought I used a nickname for him—it was clear animosity. If I were truly human, I imagined it would have hurt quite a lot. But as a demon accustomed to malice, it meant nothing to me.

Yet his reaction just now almost seemed like… concern.

‘Could humans actually care for someone they dislike?’

That was something a demon would never do. I imagined the Lord of Lust, Belial, coughing up blood in front of me. Even if I wasn’t the cause of it, I’d still enjoy the sight.

‘Foolish Belial. Spit up all your blood and disappear right where you stand.’

I’d laugh and have a blissful sleep that night. Just imagining it made me feel better, and I couldn’t help but smile faintly.

But my smile seemed to provoke Gabby.

“What—what’s with that smile?”

The concerned look vanished from his face. It was clear he truly did hate me, given his reaction to my smile. I must have lost my touch in reading human expressions during my time away from the middle realm.

“You—!” Gabby began to shout at me again, but Jessie suddenly interrupted.

“My lord! There’s something I need to tell you!”

She had been quiet until now, and I’d almost forgotten she was there.

“Hah. And who are you, again?” Gabby, clearly annoyed at being interrupted, snapped at her.

“It’s about the young lady’s condition…”

“Spit it out, then.”

“If you could step outside for a moment…”

Jessie stubbornly insisted on a private conversation, and Gabby, grumbling all the while, had no choice but to follow her out of the room.

A moment later, Gabby returned, looking somewhat shocked.

From then on, he seemed to want to say something to me but couldn’t bring himself to speak. I watched him quietly as he struggled. Finally, he changed the subject.

“Ha. Never mind. I’ll call a priest to treat you. As the heir, I have the power to summon one.”

“No,” I rejected his suggestion outright. He wanted to bring a priest to a demon? I wasn’t about to let that ridiculous farce happen.

“You’re sick. Just accept the treatment,” he insisted.

“I’m not sick.”

“You—!” Gabby’s patience finally snapped. “Are you trying to get attention? Do you think this will make us care about you?”

“Why would I need your attention?”

By “us,” he must have meant himself and the Duke. I had no need for either of their attention, and honestly, I was starting to find him incredibly tiresome.

“Gabby, you thought I was lying about being sick.”

“That’s because you always—!”

“Enough. Keep that attitude. I want there to be distance between us.”

Gabby froze for a moment at my words.

Then, “Fine. I’m the fool here. Why would I care enough to summon a priest for someone like you?”

With that, he stormed out of the room without even looking back.

Bang!

He slammed the door so hard it made my ears ring. I glanced briefly at the empty space where he had been. Humans were truly difficult to understand. For a moment, I worried that he might have noticed something was different about his sister’s soul, but it seemed like the thought had never crossed his mind.

How indifferent had he been to Isabella that he didn’t even notice her soul was gone? Yet he still acted as if he had some authority over me.

But just then—

‘Huh?’

I noticed a small change within my body. A tiny bit of my magic had returned. If my original power was like a lake, then what I had now was barely enough to fill a small cup. It wasn’t much, but it was undeniably my magic.

‘Why now?’

I stood there for a long moment, pondering.

***

Why did this human’s bedroom seem better than my chamber as a lord of the Demon Realm?

I lay sprawled on the soft bed, watching Jessie. She was trying to light a candle, but no matter how many times she did, the flame would quickly extinguish.

“Don’t bother,” I said. Demons preferred darkness, and I was no exception.

Jessie, her eyes welling with tears, said, “It’s too dark in here. I need to light it. But my lady, I think there’s something wrong with these candles.”

“I said, don’t bother.”

There wasn’t a draft in this room. The reason the candle kept going out was me. Whenever she managed to light it, I used my magic to put it out again.

Jessie, now visibly frustrated, pulled out a fresh box of matches from her pocket. Already, dozens of burned matches lay scattered across the bedside table. I watched her with a bored expression.

Then I sighed, thinking about my current state. Right now, all I could manage with my magic was to control that tiny candle flame. Normally, a snap of my fingers would be enough to make lesser demons explode… My current self was beyond pathetic—it was disgraceful.

‘Enough. I need to stay focused.’

Before my thoughts could spiral into despair, I forced myself to stay composed. A minuscule amount of magic had returned to me. Eventually, the rest would come back too. But if I wanted to regain my power, I needed to understand why it had begun to return after my encounter with Gabby.

“Jessie, what did you tell Gabby earlier?”

“Um… I told him that you no longer wished to have a harmonious relationship with the Duke or him…”

“……?”

“And that perhaps you had closed off your heart?”

Even after hearing her answer, I was still puzzled. I examined the magic seal carved into my soul. Upon closer inspection, I realized there were intricacies I’d overlooked because of its convoluted structure.

I had assumed this seal was merely meant to bind my magic and soul to this body. But now I saw that it wasn’t just a sealing spell…

‘It’s a combination of a sealing spell and a contract spell.’

A contract spell—a mark indicating a contract with a demon.

‘It’s also part of my power.’

Demons, notorious for lying and breaking promises, could never break a contract once it was sealed. The demon’s contract was simple: the demon would grant the contractor’s wish in exchange for something of value. In this process, I would lend my power to other demons.

‘Power of the Contract.’

With it, I could bind the contracting parties and extract double the price from both sides if the contract wasn’t fulfilled. For an average demon, breaking a contract meant instant annihilation. Even a high-ranking demon would struggle to bear the consequences.

Despite these risks, many demons were eager to make contracts, as they were an effective way to expand their influence. For that reason, contracts with demons were almost always honored. I had never heard of a case where a demon broke a contract.

Seeing the contract spell embedded within this body, it was clear that Isabella had made a contract with a demon.

‘But why am I in this body if another demon made the contract?’

I had no memory of making a contract with a human named Isabella. As far as demon contracts were concerned, it only mattered that the contract was fulfilled—who fulfilled it wasn’t important. However, it was rare for anyone other than the original contracting demon to fulfill the contract. Without being the original contractor, there was a risk that the contract would go unfulfilled, so it was typically handled directly.

‘So that’s why my magic was sealed.’

I finally understood the nature of the seal engraved on my soul. A mixture of a contract spell and a sealing spell. To fully regain my power and return to my original body, I had to fulfill the contract forcibly made with another demon.

“My lady! I finally got the candle to stay lit!” Jessie cheered, jumping up and down, but I ignored her.

Finding the demon that made a contract with Isabella could wait until I returned to my original body.

‘When I do find them, I’ll make sure they permanently part with their head.’

The magic seal on my soul wasn’t something I could break on my own. Just thinking about being caught in another demon’s scheme made me grit my teeth, but there was no other choice. If I wanted my power back, I had to grant Isabella’s wish.

So what had Isabella wished for?

I recalled what had happened earlier. After my encounter with Gabby, a small amount of my magic had returned. That meant Isabella’s wish was partially fulfilled. It seemed likely that her wish had something to do with her family.

I didn’t want to, but it looked like I needed to see them again.

“Where are they—the Duke and Gabby?” I asked Jessie.

“Uh… Do you mean the Duke and the young master?” Jessie asked, and I nodded.

“They’re having dinner in the dining hall on the first floor.”

At the mention of dinner, I glanced at the meal Jessie had brought me—a plate of greens that looked fit for a rabbit. Could it be that the Dunkeld family was short on money?

Why was I eating in my room while they dined in the hall?

I had several questions, but they weren’t ones I particularly cared to have answered. I shrugged it off.

“I need to see the Duke and Gabby.”

Jessie looked startled. “Now, my lady? But—”

“Yes. Now.”

I stood up, ignoring Jessie’s protests, and made my way out of the room.

***

The moment I reached the first floor, where the dining hall was, I sniffed the air.

The smell of meat.

Incredible. They were eating meat while they gave me greens? Even the most lowly and despicable demon in the Demon Realm wouldn’t differentiate food based on status. Even if it was an enemy I’d kill tomorrow, I’d feed them well today.

Humans truly were vile.

I twisted my lips upward and pushed open the door to the dining hall.

The moment I entered, all eyes turned to me. As a demon, I was highly sensitive to malice, and I could feel the blatant hostility directed at me from all sides.

‘It’s not just her family that dislikes Isabella.’

“Isabella. What is it?”

The Duke had just finished his meal and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief as he addressed me. Seeing the oil still on his lips made rage boil up inside me.

This body might have a different soul inside, but it was still his daughter’s body. And yet they fed me greens while they had meat?

“I want meat.”

“What?”

The Duke scoffed at my request. “You’ve always been so obsessed with keeping your figure, and now you want meat?”

Just then, Gabby, who was sitting beside the Duke, muttered, “F*ck.”

It was the first vulgar word I’d heard since taking over this body, and I raised an eyebrow. Nobles, especially, were supposed to pretend to be refined, but it seemed Gabby wasn’t one to care.

I glanced at the Duke, but he showed no reaction. It seemed Gabby’s crude language wasn’t unusual.

“She says she wants meat, f*ck. Don’t tell me the Dunkeld family can’t afford to feed her?”

Gabby shouted for the chef, “Chef! Bring out steaks of every doneness, right now!”

Soon, steaming steaks were piled high in front of me.

I stabbed a piece of steak with the table knife and began to tear into it. The juices from the meat burst onto my tongue, and my eyes widened in surprise.

It was delicious. The taste was worlds apart from the meat of the Demon Realm’s monsters, which required heavy seasoning to mask its gaminess.

I glanced at Gabby. If I ever had to kill him, I’d spare him once for this.