Chapter 47: …Just a Little Bit in Love With You

She had probably known the reason for a long time.

“Ahem… So in the end, only you stayed loyal to me? How ironic…”

“Thank you back then, Gabriella. You saved me. I… will never ignore you again.”

“Gabriella, I only just realised how much I like you. I prepared a surprise for you~ Chocolate, hehe. I’m really looking forward to that little cake.”

“Gabriella, I, Isabella, King of all Demons, sincerely propose to you~”

“If you can let go of past grudges and look forward to the sweet, beautiful future we’ll share… from this day forth, you are my wife~”

“Gabriella… just hypothetically… if you regained all your memories as a human, would you betray me?”

Every word Isabella had ever spoken echoed in her ears, clearer and more heart-stirring than even the memories of those unbearable punishments.

The Demon King… had fallen in love with a mere maid like her?

I used to be human. Doesn’t the Demon King hate humans?

Yet Isabella loved her.  

For five whole years she had showered the maid Gabriella with resources, authority, and endless affection.  

They talked about the future together, held a lavish wedding, and in front of every demon in the realm Isabella had openly declared her love. 

She gave countless gifts, accepted Gabriella’s past, returned all of her power, and trusted her completely.

She loves me.

For eight years, I was the one who remained most loyal. 

Even when everyone else betrayed her, I stayed by her side and carried her out of the flames of war. 

Perhaps it was then that Isabella first noticed this former Silver-White Sword Empress turned maid.

She really, really likes me.

And how exactly have I repaid her?

Gabriella’s heart clenched.

Her pulse hammered, as though simply forming that one word was the hardest thing in the world.  

She had said it countless times with her lips, yet facing it with her heart felt impossible.

Unknowingly, noon had already passed.

Gabriella pressed her thighs tightly together and gazed at Isabella’s sleeping face. 

There was still no sign of waking.

Her eyes were closed, her breathing steady.

Perhaps because Gabriella was holding her hand, or perhaps her sleeping posture simply wasn’t as poor as usual.

Will she ever wake up again?

…

A soft knock sounded at the door. Liya had come with lunch.

Knock knock knock…

“Come in.”

Liya pushed the meal cart to Gabriella’s side and quietly arranged the food on the bedroom table.

“Lady Gabriella.”

She greeted her, but Gabriella didn’t react, didn’t even glance at her.

Liya shook her head inwardly. 

She did not sit, nor did she look at Isabella. 

Instead, she watched the hesitation on Gabriella’s face.

“Lady Gabriella, do you know what demons truly are?”

…

Gabriella remained silent. Liya continued on her own.

“Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of years ago, demons did not exist.

After Lord Evil God perished, her body became mountain ranges, her blood a strange purple river.

Humans tried to fill that river. 

They succeeded, but they overlooked the 【Evil Tree】 growing at its source.

That uncanny tree released a terrifying aura, cursing the land. 

All humans within a thousand li fled, leaving behind only black earth and crimson waters.

A young girl discovered the Evil Tree. 

She was unafraid. 

She plucked its fruit and planted the seeds in every corner of that land.

The seeds took root and sprouted, nurturing more and more life, until they gave birth to a special kind of dark creature.

A century later, fearing future calamity, humans launched another war and uprooted every Evil Tree by the roots.

The girl could wield the power of the Evil God. Humans branded her a devil, and the creatures who followed her were named 【demons】.

The girl madly chanted the name of the Evil God until the day she fell into eternal slumber beneath one of the remaining Evil Trees.”

…

…

Gabriella slowly raised her head.

“Are you that girl?”

“I am merely one of the countless demons born from those Evil Trees. Now, I have recovered only a fragment of those memories.”

“What will happen to Lady Isabella?”

“With time, she and the Evil God will become one and the same existence.”

“The same…?”

Liya nodded. 

“Isabella is the Evil God. She simply has not yet fully awakened her previous memories.”

She explained patiently,

“Actually, today was supposed to be the day she regained them completely. But it failed.”

“Why?”

“I do not know~” Liya gave a small, mysterious smile.

She wasn’t lying.

If Liya had not intervened at the critical moment, Gabriella would already have been devoured by the Evil God and would be preparing, perfectly willingly, to destroy humanity at her side.

Even now, with her mind restored, Gabriella could still clearly recall how it felt to be dominated by the Evil God: memories intact, sense of self crystal clear, yet absolutely certain she was the Evil God’s kin, ready to offer everything without condition.

She didn’t understand why she hadn’t even had the chance to resist, why the instant she touched the darkness she had knelt.  

Perhaps the demonification curse had made the Evil God’s dominion over her that much easier.

She looked at the black ring on her ring finger.

That girl from the story… was probably the shadow dwelling inside this very ring.

Perhaps the seed had been planted inside her eight years ago.

And, though she hated to admit it…

Being dominated by the Evil God, having her mind emptied and then filled with darkness and shadow…

The sensation had been unnatural, utterly perverse.

Yet knowing the one controlling her was the same Isabella who had once brainwashed her…

Somehow it felt…

…really…

…

Gabriella didn’t want to finish that thought, but her heart gave another painful lurch anyway.

She sat in a daze for a long time, unaware that Liya had already left.

On the table sat the little cake she had baked earlier while making dumplings. 

Because of everything that happened, she had forgotten to take it out of the oven. 

Liya must have rescued it for her.

The meal and the pre-baked cake still gave off gentle warmth, filling the bedroom with a sweet fragrance.

By the time Gabriella noticed, afternoon had already arrived.

The cake had cooled a little…

But her lips were burning.

She stood, picked up a small piece of cake, took a gentle bite, and let the sweetness bloom warm and soft across her tongue.

Then she leaned close to Isabella’s cheek

and kissed her softly.

When she pulled away, only the lingering scent of sugar remained on Isabella’s lips, and a faint pink flush painted Gabriella’s cheeks.

Half-lidded eyes stared at the sleeping face before her. 

Gabriella pressed a hand over her wildly beating heart and stammered,

“Lady Isabella… I’ll only say this once.”

“I hate you. I resent you. I really, really hate you.”

“But…”

“I…”

“I’m… just… a little bit… in love with you…”

She lifted Isabella’s hand, cradled it gently in both of her own, and pressed another trembling kiss to the back of her fingers.

As though in answer to the confession, Isabella’s eyelids fluttered.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the Demon King opened her eyes.