* * *

This can’t be happening.

It wasn’t the demon speaking—it was truly Piel making this proposal to me.

If it had been the demon, I would’ve interrogated its motives.

But Piel?

I was at a loss for words.

This man, once consumed by ambition, had now resigned himself to failure and planned to leave everything behind.

And he wanted to take me with him.

I couldn’t understand it—it was so out of character, so unexpected.

“Why me?”

“Because you’re entertaining. That’s why my brother cherishes you, isn’t it? I’ve never met anyone like you. I want to have you. If I can’t have the throne, at least I’ll have you.”

What am I, some kind of possession?

If I refuse, will he kill Baek Yigang and become emperor instead?

Honestly, that seems to be what the demon’s setting him up to do anyway.

“No—”

“If you refuse…”

In an instant, a sharp sword appeared in Piel’s hand, its tip gleaming as it pointed toward Baek Yigang’s chest.

“Then I’ll kill my brother and take the throne.”

Well, isn’t that just fantastic?

Normally, I’d feel triumphant about predicting the outcome, but right now, I couldn’t feel less enthused.

So, this is the choice I’m left with?

My life handed over on a silver platter for him to decide?

What kind of lunatic dumps a decision this big on someone else?!

This maniac is becoming more unhinged by the second.

At this point, the demon seems more rational than he does!

Then, a white magic circle glimmered on the back of Piel’s hand.

This must be the mark Ken had mentioned.

Externally, I’m still supposed to be unaware of Piel’s contract with the demon.

Maybe it’s time to pretend I’ve figured it out—to lure the demon into revealing its true intentions.

“W-wait a second. Don’t tell me… you’ve made a deal with a demon?”

At my words, Piel glanced at his hand, then let out a quiet laugh.

“Haha, a deal? That was ages ago.”

“Are you really Piel Derzio?”

“Well… Who do you think I am, Wizard?”

The atmosphere shifted dramatically as Piel’s demeanor changed.

The demon had taken over again.

Something was off.

For a demon to gain control of its host this quickly was no simple feat.

Piel, stubborn as he was, shouldn’t have been this easy to overwhelm.

What the hell had happened to him…?

“This pitiful prince sure is greedy. He wants to be an emperor, have a Wizard, and even desires a real bodyguard who would genuinely protect him, not some shadow he conjured up.”

The occasional bursts of laughter were eerily ambiguous, sometimes sounding like a little girl’s giggle, and at other times resembling the deep chuckle of a grown man.

The unsettling blend was downright bizarre.

‘It’s like I’m watching a horror movie.’

Just take my ticket back and let me out of here!

Devils or whatever—they’re the absolute worst…!

Even as my complexion grew alarmingly pale, the devil’s mouth kept moving ceaselessly.

“All of it—just coveting what Hail Derzio possesses. So, we struck a deal.”

“…A deal?”

“In exchange for granting him the emperor and the Wizard, he agreed to lend me his body.”

Deal, my foot. That’s nothing but a devil’s whisper.

Once a devil takes over a body, there’s no way it’d willingly let go of that sweet taste.

A human body, filled with warm, flowing blood, is the perfect vessel for a bodyless devil.

So, of course, it wouldn’t just give it back.

“As if you’d return it willingly.”

“Oh dear, what are you talking about? For a devil, a contract is sacred. I’ll return it. Someday… when this finite body becomes utterly useless.”

I knew it.

A sigh escaped me.

At first, I thought it might be frightening, but now it just felt like dealing with a typical stubborn devil—nothing extraordinary.

Honestly, I wanted to smack him over the head, but since Baek Yigang was still at the devil’s feet, I couldn’t act rashly.

And… truthfully, I didn’t think my magic would lose to that devil.

I’m usually pretty good at sizing up whether I can win a fight, and that devil didn’t seem like much of a challenge.

Granted, divine power works best against devils, but this one seems like a lower-tier demon.

I figure I could easily obliterate it with sheer magical force alone.

“Now then, since I’m in a good mood today, I’ll generously give you a choice: Will you come with me, or shall I kill your husband?”

That’s another lie.

No matter what I choose, the devil is going to kill Baek Yigang to make Piel emperor.

Seriously, how did Piel end up contracting with that thing?

Even if he was blinded by inferiority, this is a new level of stupidity.

As I kept silent, the devil, without taking its eyes off me, began pressing the blade in its hand closer to Baek Yigang.

Honestly, using magic against a devil is a bit reckless.

While the quality of my magic might be higher, the sheer amount of power a devil possesses is likely greater.

Regardless, I quietly began gathering magic at my fingertips.

I’d been doing so subtly for a while now to avoid detection, but it was slow going.

For now, I just needed to buy time until Baek Yigang woke up…

Maybe I should just say something.

“So, it wasn’t Piel using the beast to monitor me?”

“Hmm?”

The devil tilted its head at my words, and before I knew it, Piel’s eyes had turned pitch black.

It was a scene straight out of a horror movie.

Not even ghosts have this kind of visual horror…

This was a moment of forced courage training.

“It was you watching me through the beast’s eyes, wasn’t it?”

Everyone thought Piel was using the beast to keep an eye on me. I thought so too.

But that wasn’t the case.
From the beginning, the devil had been watching me through the beast’s eyes.

It had been monitoring me, waiting for the right moment, and then seized Piel’s body to approach me.

“Oh, you’re not completely clueless. You’re quite interesting, you know? Two souls in one body… It wouldn’t be so bad to make a contract with one of them. What do you think?”

The devil smiled brightly, a seductive grin.

Using Piel’s face, it really did look stunning, but… those pitch-black eyes ruined the whole effect.

Still, being a devil, it had noticed that I had two souls.

That’s also the reason why I can’t die, no matter how many times I get stabbed here.

I have two souls: the one that belongs to this world after my possession, and my original soul back in Korea.

The soul belonging to this world is tied to the premise of the novel, so no matter what happens, it won’t vanish.

The reason is simple—I don’t truly “exist” in this world.

Since I don’t exist, I can’t die.

The very concept of death doesn’t apply to me.

That’s why I tried to avoid getting married.

Marriage would make me exist in this world.

In simpler terms, forming a bond with someone who is a real part of this world would anchor my existence to the current timeline.

And once I exist, my death would become real.

The devil chuckled as if it found this amusing and began approaching me.

The distance between Baek Yigang and the devil widened.

Just a little more—if it gets a bit closer to me, I could kill the devil without worrying about Baek Yigang.

“You know, the more I look at you, the more you’re my type… Do you know what devils love the most?”

Those pitch-black eyes curved into crescent moons filled with arrogance.

As if luring it closer, I stepped back slightly.

“It’s humans like you, with two delicious souls.”

Finally, the devil stood before me, grabbing my chin and flicking its tongue.

“Kuh-heuk!”

Suddenly, the devil coughed up black blood and collapsed next to me.

Huh? What’s this? I haven’t even attacked yet. I was just about to—

Confused, I looked down at the fallen devil and saw a blade embedded in its back.

“Huh.”

I staggered back in shock, and then I saw something unbelievable.

“Ba-Baek…”

Baek Yigang, who had been lying motionless, stood up nonchalantly, casually pulling the blade out of the devil’s back.

“Talks too damn much.”

He swept his disheveled hair back with an air of annoyance, letting out a short sigh.

“Baek, Baek Yigang… Weren’t you unconscious?!”

“I told you—I’m resistant to poison.”

As I pointed at him in disbelief, Baek Yigang replied with a calm expression, as if asking why I was so surprised.

Okay, sure, you said that, but still! You collapsed!

I saw it with my own eyes!

The devil even grabbed your hair!

“Then why were you lying there all this time?”

“I figured attacking head-on would get us both killed.”

His curt reply left me dumbfounded, and I let out a hollow laugh.

“You… you weren’t planning to kill Piel, were you? That’s a relief.”

For some reason, the first thing I felt was relief.

Maybe it was because I didn’t want to see Baek Yigang, like in the original story, killing his own kin with his own hands.

“Why would I? Now come here.”

“Still, don’t you think you woke up a bit too late? I almost died.”

“Why would you die? I’m here.”

Scoffing as if my words were ridiculous, Baek Yigang pinched my cheek, then turned his head away with a smirk.

Our clasped hands were cold yet comforting.

* * *