Chapter 5
Only then did the others realize the gravity of the situation. Just as the servants rushed to Wilhelm, Cecilia collapsed.
Cecilia’s body trembled like a fish pulled out of water. Blood flowed with every ragged breath. The stench of blood was nauseating.
Lloyd shouted for a doctor, but the ones who burst in were armed assailants. Without a moment’s hesitation, they plunged a sword into Lloyd’s torso.
Blair was next. Thanks to the butler’s protection, Blair survived, but only for a few more seconds at best.
Aiana stood rigid, staring blankly at the scene. What was happening to her family?
She heard screams.
She smelled blood.
She couldn’t understand anything. Who were these men, and why was there so much blood on the floor?
The servants’ screams felt oddly distant. Maids collapsed onto the blood-soaked floor.
Aiana sank to the ground. The soldier pulled his sword from Jane’s body and approached Aiana.
She looked up at him with a dazed expression. She didn’t even think to run away. The soldier grabbed her slender arm. Only then did she come back to her senses.
She screamed and struggled. A futile struggle.
“Oh, God. Oh, God…!”
Aiana found herself calling out to God. God, please save us. Please, please…!
Just as she was trembling and screaming in terror, the soldier’s head vanished in an instant.
The headless soldier collapsed limply. She saw the soldiers rushing at someone.
It was Diabel, wielding his sword alone among the soldiers. He swung his blade like a beast, cutting down the soldiers.
He managed to take down all the soldiers in the dining hall, but the sounds of battle still came from outside.
“Young lady, you have to get out of here!”
Diabel reached out his hand to Aiana with an urgent expression. His hand was stained with someone’s blood. She took it.
“Back then, Diabel seemed like a guardian angel sent by God.”
But he wasn’t an angel—he was a demon, and God had utterly abandoned her. During all those years of suffering, He had never once answered her prayers.
Aiana quietly bit her lip. She had learned one valuable lesson through thirteen years of trials and tribulations:
That God does not exist, but demons do, and a capable demon is better than an incompetent God.
There is no such thing as good or evil in this world. There is only what is useful and what is not.
Diabel was the former. He was useful. And for the sake of revenge, Aiana would even kiss the mouth of a traitor.
Aiana sat still on the sofa in her room. She drummed her fingers on the armrest, impatiently.
Knock knock.
Her hand stopped only after the knock. Aiana spoke toward the door.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and Diabel appeared. She still wore a displeased expression.
“What business did you summon me for, Lady Aiana?”
Aiana looked at Diabel with sharp eyes. The chair across from her was empty, but she didn’t invite him to sit.
She didn’t want to see him ever again, but she had to. She spoke bluntly.
“A strange mark appeared on my body. Was it your doing?”
At that question, Diabel was silent for a moment. Then, with a natural expression, he asked back.
“A mark? What mark do you mean?”
“The mark that appeared on my chest.”
The girl spoke without a trace of shame. If she were still in her teens, she would have blushed and fumbled for a word to replace “chest.”
But her actual age was over thirty. She had slept with a man and borne a child. Gone was the innocent girl who would blush at the mere word “chest.”
“If you don’t know what I’m talking about, shall I show you?”
Her voice was emotionless. Diabel smiled softly.
“No, that’s fine. If you’re planning to rip my dress again, I’ll decline.”
His face was loathsome, more than irritating. As Aiana continued to stare at him silently, Diabel finally opened his mouth as if he had no choice.
“All demons have their own marks. When a human contracts with a demon, the demon’s mark appears on the same spot on the human’s body.”
“Having something like this is a problem. Erase it right now.”
A tattoo on a noble lady’s body—others would be horrified if they knew.
Moreover, the mark looked quite suspicious. If it were discovered that it was related to a demon, things would become even more complicated.
Diabel smiled as if apologetic. Though his voice didn’t sound sorry at all.
“That’s impossible. It’s proof of the contract.”
“Then can you at least move it to a less visible spot?”
“That’s also impossible. If you truly wish to remove it, you could cut it out with a knife or burn it with fire.”
Hearing that answer, Aiana frowned. A scar would be just as unbecoming as a tattoo on a woman’s body.
“At this rate, I’ll never be able to get married.”
A petulant remark slipped out before she could stop it. Diabel smiled with satisfaction and asked.
“Did you summon me just to ask about the mark?”
She was tired of looking at his shameless face, but she couldn’t send him away just yet. Aiana sighed and said.
“You said you would work for me, didn’t you?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“If you’re truly a demon, you must have supernatural abilities. Like being able to use magic.”
At that question, Diabel’s eyes widened. He smiled gently.
“Does that mean you’ve forgiven me and decided to take me in?”
“Just answer the question.”
She hadn’t forgiven him yet. But she thought it would be a loss not to use him just because she hated him.
If he had the power to turn back time, he must have other supernatural abilities. If so, perhaps she could achieve revenge without relying on Wilhelm.
“I’m not sure exactly what you want…”
The moment Diabel paused, the air in the room seemed to ripple.
A pressure like the feeling of being on a high mountain peak, crushing one’s lungs. Even so, Diabel simply smiled.
“Anything is possible, as long as you pay the appropriate price.”
“Then…”
Aiana swallowed dryly.
“Is it possible to create an army?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I need an army. A great army that can sweep away Rosell.”
“…”
Neither of them moved. Only the lamplight in the room flickered silently.
After a long silence, Diabel smiled softly. The air was still heavy.
“I’m sorry, but I cannot accept that command.”
Aiana’s brow twitched. She rose from her seat and strode toward Diabel. Her shadow on the wall followed behind her.
“Are you defying me?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Give me a reason.”
The voice flowing from the girl’s lips was thin and faint, yet it carried an unapproachable authority. Diabel’s shadow tilted slightly over Aiana’s shadow.
“As I told you, I require a price.”
“I’ll pay the price.”
“Lady Aiana. When we made the contract, didn’t you say you would give me everything?”
“…”
Perhaps a window hadn’t been shut properly; it seemed wind was blowing from somewhere. The lamplight flickered in the breeze, making the shadows seem even darker.
“So you’re saying I can’t contract with you any further?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Useless creature, truly. If you won’t lend me your demonic power, there’s no need to keep you around. Get out.”
“I refuse.”
“Get out, before I tell Father that you’re a demon. Then you’ll be spared being burned at the stake.”
At that, Diabel smiled regretfully. Like wine gleaming in many colors under light, his eyes sparkled on the border between purple and red.
“Well, do you think your voice will reach him?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
He chuckled softly, amused. Diabel whispered quietly into her ear.
“Words about contracts with demons cannot be heard by anyone else’s ears. Only the demon or the contractor can hear them.”
Diabel tilted his head and smiled playfully.
“Secrets are important, after all.”
Aiana looked at him with eyes full of irritation. To have to keep a creature that only angered her and was useless.
As if reading her thoughts, Diabel whispered softly, as if granting great generosity.
“While it’s impossible for Diabel the demon to help you, it’s possible for Diabel the human to cooperate.”
“What does that mean?”
“Exactly what I said. As long as it’s something a human can do, I will do anything.”
Aiana looked at him silently. Anything a human can do.
It sounded like he was asking to live once more as her knight. That was why Aiana could not answer easily.
She didn’t want to let him by her side again, only to give him her heart, be betrayed, and get hurt.
She wanted to send him far, far away. Perhaps if he were out of sight, this hatred would also disappear.
As Aiana wavered between practicality and emotion, Diabel spoke as if tempting her.
“Right now, Lady Aiana, you have very few people you can command. The guards in particular won’t obey you. Isn’t keeping me around worth it?”
That was true, which made it all the more irritating. Aiana could command only a handful of maids.
She might be able to go out with the guards, but she couldn’t command them freely.
“Hah… I wish I’d been born a man…”
If she were Lloyd, she could have used the authority of the eldest son to do something.
As Aiana sighed, Diabel whispered softly. His voice was warm.
“Lady Aiana, you weren’t born a man, but instead you have something that Lloyd and Blair don’t, don’t you?”
“What is that?”
“Memory. And rage.”
Diabel smiled quietly. He looked remarkably gentle.
“If this had been a hopeless game, I would never have contracted with you. I chose you because I thought you were more valuable than Lloyd or Wilhelm.”
Listening to Diabel’s voice made her feel strangely languid, as if incense had been lit in the room.
“You can do it, my lady. Anything at all.”
His voice was clear and earnest. Aiana was genuinely taken aback by those words.
She was just a noble lady. Yet Diabel was saying she was more outstanding than the lord of a domain.
She knew it was empty flattery. Still, somehow, she believed him. She felt that, as he said, she might be able to solve her problems.
“Well, then—will you keep me?”
Diabel looked at her with a playful smile.
