Chapter 14
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Angel and Demon (5)
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In the primordial era, when light exploded and gave birth to all creation...
The world knew no concepts of good or evil.
There were only those who sought to impose order and those who yearned for freedom.
Two stems sprouting from a single root diverged according to their own wills, splitting into the heavens and hell. For tens of thousands of years, they viewed each other as opposing poles and followed divergent paths.
The tragedy that shattered the long peace between the two realms began with the birth of the human world.
As fragile beings with short, finite lifespans began multiplying across the earth, the two races clashed over how to deal with these weak creatures.
The angels wished to bind humanity within laws and disciplines, fostering a radiant civilization. The demons sought to awaken the instincts and desires buried deep within human hearts, granting them primal freedom.
This ideological rift over a single soul eventually erupted into war between them.
The site of that colossal war was later enshrined in myths as the Hill of Holy Blood.
At the time, the skies above the hill were filled with the angels' silver-white feathers, while the entire land was engulfed in the murky flames spewed by the demons.
The war between angels and demons raged for seven days and nights. The sacred blood flowing from these near-immortal beings formed rivers that dyed the whole hill red.
In the end, the long conflict left not victory for one side, but ruin for both.
Eventually, the leaders of each faction established sacred commandments to withdraw from the human world. These became the Hill's Commandments, binding angels and demons to this day.
Even thousands of years after the war, angels and demons continued to regard each other with enmity and loathing.
It was only natural, for the immortal beings who had lived through it firsthand still walked among them.
Newly born angels and demons alike were raised with the education that they must be hostile to the other side.
This was as true for Bella, born a demon in hell, as it was for Rael, born an angel in heaven.
Demons hate angels.
Angels hate demons.
Therefore, the two could never become entangled.
"You... are you a demon?"
Rael's voice trembled as he gripped Bella's hand.
Bella, already bewildered by his question, stared at him blankly.
'How...?'
She couldn't immediately grasp what he meant.
Why on earth would he ask her something like that?
As she clamped her mouth shut, Rael asked again.
"Will you answer me?"
His voice was nothing like the gentle, kind tone he'd always used with her.
Bella, feeling suffocated, cautiously met his gaze.
Though his eyes had seemed stern at their first meeting, the warmth and softness he'd shown her since were nowhere to be found.
Instead, all she saw were eyes filled with wariness and suspicion, glaring at her.
'How does Rael know about demons...?'
Even as confusion swirled in her mind, refusing to settle...
The demon who had come to fetch her shouted at Rael.
"How dare a filthy angel lay hands on the young lady! Step back at once!"
'An... gel...?'
Memories flashed through her mind.
Their first encounter.
That alien sensation when he'd caught her.
A discomfort she couldn't put into words, incompatible with her demonic nature.
The book he'd been reading, which she'd dismissed as just some philosophy text: How Angels Survive in the Human World.
Every puzzle piece fell into place.
The source of every odd feeling she'd had.
He was an angel.
'No way...'
She wanted to deny it.
After centuries of life, she'd finally found someone who caught her eye.
Even if he was human, she believed love could overcome such a minor barrier.
But he wasn't human.
He stood at the opposite pole from her, a demon.
An object of hatred, incomprehensible, destined to point spears at each other eternally.
'An angel... This can't be real...'
Bella tried to speak, but her throat felt parched—no sound came out.
Instead, tears welled in her eyes and streamed down her delicate cheeks.
"Miss Bella, the Count is very worried about you."
"Father...?"
"Yes. He's been watching you the whole time, but he says if you return right now, he won't hold you accountable for anything."
"W-what are you talking about? Why would I go back there...?"
Bella's body trembled.
Back to hell?
After fleeing to the human world to escape that very thing?
If she returned empty-handed now, what awaited her was obvious.
"You have a wedding to attend soon. Running off like this without warning is disrespectful to the other family, Miss."
"No! Why would I marry that pig...? I'd rather die. I want to be with the person I love..."
Bella clenched her fists and shoved the demon away.
"We expected this reaction, so the Count left a separate message."
The servant demon pulled a letter from his pocket.
White stationery stamped with Count Asmos's seal.
Bella snatched it and tore it open immediately.
[If you don't want to see me hunt down and kill that bastard right in front of you, get your ass back here the moment you read this.]
The words alone radiated the Count's murderous intent.
"What will you do, Miss? I'm here on the Count's orders to escort you, but if you truly don't wish to return, I won't force you."
The words were polite, but to Bella, they sounded like nothing but a threat.
'If I go back to hell now... I'll never see this man again.'
Even knowing he was an angel,
Her heart still raced in his presence.
But staying meant he'd surely die at her enraged father's hands.
The Count was the type of demon who would do just that.
'...What should I do?'
After brief deliberation, Bella reached the best conclusion.
'I'll convince Father.'
Steeling her resolve, she spoke up.
"Fine. I'll go back to hell now."
"A wise choice, Miss. I'll escort you right away."
A dark, murky portal appeared before them.
The Gates of the Underworld creaked open—
So pitch-black beyond that nothing was visible.
Yet they stepped toward it with familiar ease.
Just before crossing the threshold,
Bella turned to look at him.
"..."
His face held a storm of emotions.
She couldn't read them all,
But in her eyes, he was gazing at her with worry.
Perhaps it was just her wishful thinking, but she wanted to believe it.
"See you again."
The Gates slammed shut with a heavy thud.
Rael stood alone, utterly dumbfounded.
His mind burned white-hot.
If the old him had learned her true nature, he would have accused the demon of deceiving him all this time and cursed his own foolishness.
Or at least reviled her as a demon...
So why did his chest feel so tight?
Demons were the most hated existence for an angel like him.
'But why...?'
He couldn't fathom why his heart felt so restless.
Bella's image lingered vividly: those lingering, reluctant eyes as she left him with her final words.
When he'd caught her stumbling in the rain, she'd felt so light and dry.
Walking awkwardly under his umbrella, he'd thought her terribly shy.
Sipping coffee across from him at the café, her hesitation before speaking had seemed a little cute.
And those pure eyes tearing up over the injured kitten—they had surely moved his heart.
All of it just a demon's seduction...?
Rael shook his head.
'No... no way.'
Her tears were real.
Her worry for the hurt creature was real.
The way she flustered and blushed looking at him was real.
Rael clutched his throbbing head and locked the clinic door.
"Meow~?"
The little kitten they'd saved together mewed.
"..."
"Mrow."
The cat pawed at a book on the table.
Romeo and Juliet.
A memento from the woman he'd never see again.
"Ahh... why..."
Rael placed a hand on his chest.
His heart still pounded fiercely.
This wasn't some arrhythmia.
An emotion the long-lived angel had never felt before.
He knew what it was.
Love.
He loved her.
How had he not realized it sooner?
Or had he known deep down but refused to admit it?
What baffled him most was realizing it only now, after learning she was a demon—
After she'd already left this world.