The Duke's Daughter's Confession and the Demon’s Thoughts
1355 Words
"Very well. I will listen. Tell me your situation."
The demon said this, and Irene, as if someone had finally been willing to listen, began to shout.
"Lord Park... my fiancé has been deceived by a shameless woman!"
By the way, Irene's fiancé, Park, is the third prince of this country.
They got engaged at the age of five, attended the same academy, and had a relatively good relationship. However, a year ago, everything changed when "Rachel," the adopted daughter of the Neville border earl, transferred to their school.
Park became infatuated with Rachel.
They were inseparable in everything they did. Park no longer cared about Irene and merely dumped work on her. At the academy's ball, Park left his fiancée Irene aside and danced with Rachel the whole time.
Of course, Irene protested. She believed that as a royal, Park shouldn't be getting close to this woman of dubious origin.
However, the people around her just said things like: "Let them be." "Just bear with it."
It was impossible to communicate.
Finally, yesterday, Park took Rachel, instead of his fiancée, to a four-month overseas exchange study, a customary event for royals.
"I can't tolerate this! This is absurd!"
Irene voiced her anger loudly. As she vented, her rage grew stronger, and she began to release the pent-up pressure.
"I've always supported Lord Park selflessly! I've endured strict princess education for him!"
But! She clenched her fists.
"Lord Park took that woman to study abroad! Leaving me humiliated alone! I've been so dedicated, yet he treats me like this. It's too much! The student council work, everything, is done by me, but I'm seen as a nuisance!"
Irene continued to vent various grievances, her emotions erupting violently. The demon watched her thoughtfully.
Finally, Irene finished her rant and, gasping for breath, closed her mouth.
(...I feel much better now)
Having vented her grievances accumulated over more than ten years, Irene felt unprecedentedly relieved. The earlier anger vanished, and her mind became slightly clearer.
(...It seems I've been holding in more stress than I thought)
She thought, now calm. Perhaps, this didn't warrant summoning a demon to resolve.
Summoning a demon to make a wish means paying the price of life. Thinking calmly, it's not worth giving up her life for that woman.
(This, what should I do)
She felt flustered.
Half an hour ago, she thought she could only rely on the demon's power. But now, she felt, "It's not worth going this far."
Realizing the trouble she had caused, her face turned pale.
Actually, she really wanted to tell the demon:
"Just listening to me made me feel better, you can go back now."
But she didn't have the courage, fearing she might be killed if she said it.
(This, this is bad)
Cold sweat dripped down Irene's back as she desperately thought of a solution.
On the other hand, the demon slightly lowered his long eyelashes, falling into thought.
Though his face remained calm, his mind was quite puzzled.
(...What should I do about this)
Despite his calm exterior, the demon was also troubled inside.
(So, what to do now)
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Shortly before Irene activated the summoning circle, in the demon world—a place filled with black sky and earth.
He was lying on a couch on the roof of his palace (home), playing cards with his fellow great demons.
The sky was covered with black clouds, and young demons were flocking to the occasionally appearing glowing summoning circles (entrances to the human world).
"Ah, youth."
"Indeed. I used to be like that too."
Listening to his friends' conversations, he yawned, lightly sighed, and thought how dull things had been lately. Then, lazily lying down, he looked up at the sky—
(Hmm?)
He saw a faintly glowing small summoning circle directly above him.
(That is a summoning circle without a sacrifice.)
The brightness of the summoning circle depends on the sacrifice. The more sacrifices, the greater the harvest, so the more popular the brightly glowing summoning circles are. And these faintly glowing ones, with little harvest, are almost unpopular.
Summoning circles avoided by demons would disappear but then immediately glow again. Watching the persistent glowing summoning circle repeatedly, the demon thought it was quite tenacious.
Suddenly, a sharp voice came from the summoning circle.
"Come out! I said I would make a contract with you!"
The demon's interest was piqued. Hearing the voice from the other side meant a considerable amount of determination.
(...Let's go and see)
The demon stood up, and his friends looked up at him.
"Where are you going?"
"Over there. I'm going to check it out."
He pointed to the faintly glowing summoning circle, and one of his friends laughed.
"Hey, don't go there. It's definitely nothing good."
"It's definitely boring."
The demon smiled.
"Not necessarily. My intuition tells me it will be quite interesting over there."
"Really?"
"Yeah, absolutely."
Leaving his doubting friends with a "Wait for a good story," he flew into the sky, approached the summoning circle, cut down young demons trying to approach it, and jumped into the circle.
After 300 years, he returned to the human world and saw Irene with a stunned face.
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He looked at Irene. Blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin. Though a bit thin, she was quite well-formed for a human.
She was very angry, and when the demon asked about her situation, she started speaking like a machine gun.
The demon listened and thought, what is this?
Firstly, the wish was too small.
There's a rule in this world: the bigger the wish granted, the more souls can be harvested. A wish like dealing with a lover's affair would, at best, harvest the soul of the summoner.
The demon thought, if it wasn't me being summoned, this girl would have been killed instantly by an angry demon.
(And this girl's soul seems rather unpalatable.)
Having become a great demon, he had tasted all kinds of human souls. Quantity was no longer needed; he now cared about quality, but Irene's soul seemed quite unappetizing.
(This soul feels like that of a zealot.)
Souls of those not living for themselves are bitter. Irene had a strong scent of such people.
Watching Irene with a perplexed expression after finishing her story, the demon thought.
Returning to the human world after 300 years, only to grant such a small wish and eat an unpalatable soul was very unappealing to him. Moreover, appearing so grandly and then leaving after this would make his friends laugh. Though turning it into a joke wasn't bad, he wanted to avoid the unappetizing meal.
(So, what to do now...)
A strange silence hung between the two.
—At that moment.
The demon heard footsteps and the sound of a dog. He changed his expression, and Irene looked at him with a "what's wrong?" expression.
The demon put his index finger to his lips and whispered:
"...Someone is coming this way."
"Huh?"
"Three men with bows and arrows, and two dogs."
"...Forest rangers."
Irene looked troubled. It seemed it wouldn't be good to be found here.
Seeing her expression, the demon thought.
Although not entirely clear, this summoner seemed to be hesitating. If so, why not guide her skillfully?
If the wish is too small, make her have a bigger wish; if the soul is unpalatable, make her soul delicious.
The key to a delicious soul is "selfishness in one's life." Perhaps it might be interesting to corrupt her.
It's like cooking what you want to eat yourself.
(...Well, there's time anyway, and this approach isn't bad.)
Deciding so, the demon decided to leave before things got complicated. He stepped out of the summoning circle, approached Irene, and gently picked her up.
"Ah!"
Irene blushed with surprise.
The demon smiled.
"It would be troublesome if we were found, right? Let's leave here for now."
One side, the summoner Irene regretted impulsively summoning a demon. On the other side, the demon thought her wish was small and her soul unappetizing, making this summoning after 300 years quite disappointing.
For some reason, their interests strangely aligned。
- Writer
