Isabella rubbed her still-blurry eyes and stretched languidly.
A single tear slipped from the corner of her eye, as though she had just remembered something painful.
She wiped it away.
The scene before her gradually came into focus, and she saw the silver-haired girl sitting at her bedside.
“Wife?”
“Lady Isabella~”
Gabriella called her name without thinking. Her heart raced.
She’s awake! Lady Isabella is awake—she’s alright!
I was worrying too much.
It was only the awakening of her old power—how could anything happen to her?
If anything, she should be even stronger and more energetic now.
“You… just now…?”
Isabella’s consciousness cleared.
She touched her lips, eyes widening as she looked at Gabriella.
Of course she knew what the other girl had done while she was half-dreamed.
“Gab… riella?”
“You slept the entire morning. You really worried me~”
“That’s because I…”
Isabella’s gaze dimmed.
How could she forget what had happened this morning?
She opened her mouth to apologise, but Gabriella cut her off.
“How did it feel… to regain the Evil God’s power?”
Isabella’s eyes flew wide.
For a moment, she didn’t know how to answer.
She remembered everything: the moment the power returned, what she had done, the emotions that had surged through her.
But those memories and that strength, things that should have belonged to her distant past, were still fragmented, like shards of glass scattered across the floor.
“Nn… I…”
Isabella hesitated before finally asking in a small voice,
“That power is too strong… I didn’t hurt Gabriella, did I?”
“…”
Instead of answering, Gabriella gave her a faintly accusing, pouty look.
“Lady Isabella, isn’t regaining your power a good thing?
“A good thing?”
In a daze, Isabella recalled the emotions that had flooded her right before the awakening.
She remembered.
Back then, her heart had been filled with anxious longing…
She had desperately, desperately wanted to hold Gabriella.
Not the gentle embrace she gave when petting Gabriella’s horns.
A deeper, soul-searing need to seize her, to claim her very essence, to make Gabriella irrevocably hers.
That desire had overwhelmed her.
Just as Gabriella said.
Long ago, she had felt the same thing.
When Gabriella was on the verge of defeating her, when everything had spiralled out of control, that same power had awakened.
The power of the Evil God… or rather, the power of her former self.
With it, she had crushed Gabriella, dominated her, sealed her memories, and, in an excessively cruel way, turned the proud hero into an obedient little maid who only knew how to follow orders.
But… five years of love had changed her.
She had learned respect, learned how to cherish someone precious.
She fell in love with Gabriella.
She discovered that when two burning hearts slowly drew closer, even the lingering warmth between them was enough to make her smile in bliss.
She loved Gabriella… yet somehow, she had drifted further and further from her true self.
She had controlled Gabriella once, and now love was making her lose control all over again.
Isabella had actually begun to retreat.
At some point, she no longer dared to bare her heart as she once had. Instead, she waited, hoping Gabriella to take the initiative, to approach her with the same blazing passion.
That longing wasn’t baseless; their five syrupy-sweet years together really had been like that.
A fleeting glance, a suggestive gesture, then the two of them tangled together without reservation, like true lovers with nothing left to hide.
But…But was that really okay?
They weren’t a normal couple.
Gabriella was the strongest human.
And I am the Evil God.
What if Gabriella truly regained all her memories and left me?
At first, Isabella’s answer had been simple.
Get stronger. Surpass Gabriella.
Yes.
What was wrong with embracing that power?
She should never have feared it.
She should have accepted it eight years ago.
Letting Gabriella go would be disrespecting her loyalty and her love.
It would be irresponsible.
Gabriella is mine.
Why should I imagine loosening my grip and letting her fly away like a little bird?
I will never let go.
That way, I will have her forever.
Isabella made up her mind.
She would stop asking about memories.
Even if she got an answer, there was nothing she could do about it.
What she needed was 【Shadow】, a power above all else, enough to rule the world and the strongest woman in it, enough to truly possess Gabriella.
And I would never hurt Gabriella, because the Evil God is me, isn’t she?
Isabella closed her eyes, took a slow breath, then snapped them open.
Black mist surged from her palms like living ribbons of silk, dancing in the air.
This was 【Shadow】, purer and more primal than ordinary dark magic.
It could corrupt anything, or become the sharpest blade.
Once, Gabriella had fought desperately against this terrifying force.
Yet now, she showed no fear at all.
On the contrary, her cheeks flushed, her eyes glazed with intoxicated fascination.
“Gabriella, there’s something… no, a little request I have for you.”
“Mmm~? Yes, Lady Demon King?”
Gabriella tilted her head, not a hint of refusal in her voice.
Isabella wrapped one arm around Gabriella’s soft, yielding body.
So warm, so trusting.
She was always like this, completely unguarded around me. Like a pet that would never sense danger even if I held a knife to her throat.
If I poured malice into her right now, she wouldn’t even notice.
I could turn her into my kin while she was unaware. By the time she realised, she would already belong to me completely.
But… I don’t want to lie to Gabriella.
There’s no need to lie.
Isabella smiled.
“My memories and power are gradually merging with the ‘me’ from the past.”
Her eyes did not turn into cross-stars this time, nor did her hair shift to dark gold and violet.
Yet the determination in her voice and the possessive tenderness in her gaze were exactly the same as the Evil God’s.
“Soon, I will become the Evil God who destroys the world.”
“Yes, Lady Isabella.”
“I intend to fulfil the wish I couldn’t eight years ago… and perhaps the wish from countless ages past as well.”
A glint of wicked light flashed in Isabella’s eyes.
More 【Shadow】 spilled from her, writhing over the sheets and bed like living nightmares, infecting the tiny space.
This time, there was no hesitation, and she had no intention of allowing refusal.
“Gabriella, I’m going to make you mine, my apostle.”
She gently stroked Gabriella’s chin.
“No one will ever take you from me again.”