The Demon God's Masochistic Whisper
Dullahan had somehow succeeded in forging a connection with Chris—one of the few goals he had set out to achieve at this banquet.
After all, he had now placed her beneath him... It had to be a success.
“Master... From now on, how do you plan to deliver your orders? I’m ready to obey your every request at a moment’s notice... It would require an efficient command system, wouldn’t it?”
“...Correct. In truth, using a communication stone is possible, but given the academy’s restriction on magic, the limitations seem rather severe.”
“Then why not entrust it to me?”
“...You?”
Chris’s attitude toward him had changed completely since the moment they met. It felt as though she was acting with genuine sincerity on his behalf.
Was this woman really capable of hiding her emotions so well...? She must have had ample reason to suppress her noble-born instincts after gaining the title of crown princess.
{...Ugh. Human speech is truly maddening.}
“What’s wrong all of a sudden? Did you eat something bad?”
{Silence, you foolish and pitiful master.}
The slave dares to command her master... How utterly wretched the world has become these days.
While Pelican continued spewing cryptic nonsense aimed at him, Dullahan found himself questioning whether her behavior was truly off. He dismissed the thought at once, reasoning that Pelican had always been an enigma he could never fully understand.
Well, Pelican was never one I could truly read. So, what exactly is her game?
He studied Chris with a suspicious gaze, yet she hid her emotions with remarkable precision, offering no cracks in her composure.
“As long as you don’t cause me any harm... do as you wish.”
“Yes, Master. I’ll be ready and will come find you tomorrow.”
Come find him? Where?
Before Dullahan could voice his confusion, Chris slowly lowered her head and began walking toward the banquet’s exit.
[I will meet you tomorrow, Master.]
Her lips formed the words without sound.
...I must have misread her. How could she suddenly call me Master?
He had no choice but to sink into deep bewilderment over her departure, a state of mind mirrored in the black crystal necklace that hung around his neck.
That thief of a cat... She called him Master. My Master?! She dares to look at my Master?!
Jealousy had sprouted in the darkest corner of the Demon God’s heart, unnoticed until this moment—a rival had appeared.
Dullahan had not anticipated that a contest between two former Demon Gods and one former princess would ignite over him.
**
Exiting the banquet hall, he left the chaotic corridors and reached the hidden base of the Black Dawn. Only then did the tension drain from Chris’s body.
She clutched her chest and let out a long, trembling sigh.
The joy and relief of having her eyes restored after so many years shone in them.
Though she had never spoken of it, after losing her sight she had endured endless fury toward the crown prince alongside an unspeakable terror.
If she lost again this time, what would she lose next...?
That fear had been born from the memory of her helpless former self suffering the agony of her eyes being torn out by the same man.
“It’s fine... It’s fine now... I can see again... These memories no longer matter.”
She was different now. The burned eyes had returned with the fire of life.
The scars of the horrific past that once bound her began to heal, and she herself realized it.
She had already escaped the tragedy of yesterday. The only feeling left was the pure rage for revenge against those who had killed her mother.
All of it because of the man she had met today: Dullahan Franz.
“...Master.”
When she first met him, horror and paranoia had made her regard him as an enemy.
Yet the words he had spoken afterward struck her like lightning itself.
“You were the one who granted me a second chance at life.”
Believing him had been difficult, but his actions and the healing magic that restored her eyes confirmed the truth.
“You truly are collaborating with the Demon God... A being capable of using such immense healing magic to regenerate eyes after reversing time itself.”
Though grateful to the Demon God for helping her, her heart now belonged solely to Dullahan.
Perhaps... the Demon God merely listened to Master’s words and healed my eyes...
Normally, if a commoner knight saved someone in danger, to whom would the gratitude be directed?
Of course, the knight would become friendly, but...
“If the noble family had not ordered the knight to act, the person would never have been saved.”
Thus, the saved person would typically seek out the noble who issued the order to express gratitude—a habit she had followed as well.
Nevertheless, while basking in the joy of regaining her sight, he had uttered cruel words...
“Yet if he had truly meant to harm me, he would never have healed my eyes in the first place.”
In other words, Dullahan had not spoken those words to wound her; they had been given solely for her sake.
In fact, when he had glanced at her earlier, he had been checking their surroundings to ensure no one saw her cry—something he had not wanted to witness.
[I did not grant you your eyes so you could cry in front of me.]
Those words meant he wanted her to focus on her core goal—revenge against the nobility—rather than wallow in fleeting happiness.
“As Master said... I am not yet ready to be happy. My revenge... has only just begun.”
Chris had interpreted every subsequent word as an instruction to put aside past happiness and pursue her fundamental objective. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
“To show me such mercy and even call me an ally... I cannot begin to express my gratitude.”
Most people in her position would demand something in return—perhaps her body, or some favor.
After all, the underground world was full of such exploitation.
The powerless were devoured, used, or crushed by the strong.
Yet for her, Dullahan demanded nothing more than ordinary cooperation from an ally.
“Of course, Master issues these demands through commands... but aside from that, we are equals.”
From her viewpoint as the weak, he had shown immense mercy.
The only emotions she had felt while living in this world were endless betrayal and despair.
Her mother’s love had been crushed by tragedy, and her own happiness had ended the moment the crown prince stole her eyes and the nobility stripped her of her identity.
Only a miracle granted by her mother had allowed her to survive the underground world.
The harshness of this place had forced her to claim it as her own through sheer will.
Yet the only emotions carved into her heart were negativity toward the entire world.
She had believed her life would forever be cruel to her and that she would remain in darkness forever.
...So I lived in despair until today, when I finally met the one who shone a ray of light into that darkness.
“Ah... Master. I will work hard. I will become a good slave who lives only to please your heart.”
The first person to wipe away her despair had made her feel something new for the first time: the desire to impress him, to earn his praise, and to remain by his side.
“If that is what Master wishes... I will become the emperor of this empire. And I will offer the entire empire to you.”
Perhaps then he would not look away.
From that day onward, the black magician who had lived only for revenge would live for the sake of one man.
“Hah... Master... Please give me your orders... Use me however you desire...!”
From today, her heart belonged entirely to him.
Of course, Dullahan viewed Chris with a completely different perspective.
Chris is clearly plotting something. I’ll have to give her a commanding order next time, and it should be as humiliating as possible.
{Master, I think I messed up the regression. Should I reset and try again?}
“...I’m already thinking about it. Stop spamming nonsense. I’m not in the mood to hear jokes...”
{I’m serious! That woman is dangerous...!}
Dullahan ended the telepathic conversation with Pelican and turned his attention back to the banquet hall, now empty.
“...Where is Karl, anyway?”
He needed to locate his old friend and the transmigrated protagonist who had diverged sharply from the original novel’s path since his return.
Just as he was scanning the hall, he spotted a familiar figure. Without hesitation, he began walking toward the corner.
“Hey, come here for a moment.”
The moment he spoke, the person jumped in surprise. Dullahan closed the distance slowly.
“It’s a surprise to meet you here... isn’t it?”
He seized her arm in an instant and dragged her into the nearest shadowed alcove.
She trembled at his sudden grip, but once he released her, his voice dropped to a lower, colder tone.
“So, what happened to Karl?”
“How would I—?”
“In your last life you were all over that guy, yet now you don’t even care? Do you think that makes sense?”
Dullahan pressed the other regressor with icy words.
“Isn’t that right, Dia Grilite?”
The former Sword Saint, the one who had ruined his academy life in his previous existence.