Ever since that day, Royce and Elizabeth never came to bother me again. My life suddenly became peaceful. As the injury in my leg slowly improved, I could finally throw away the crutch and walk with a limp. To be able to walk on solid ground was once such an impossible dream for me in my previous life. You only learn to cherish things after losing them. And once you get them back, you treasure them even more.

Knock knock knock—!

Someone was tapping on the window. I forced myself to stand straight and pushed open the thick wooden shutters with all my strength.

Sure enough, it was John again. Grinning, he handed me two wild persimmons, then ran off like the wind. Looking at the fruit in my hands, I couldn't help but smile. In my previous life, John was already dead by this point. He died miserably from an infected wound after being whipped. It seemed he'd listened to me and stayed away from Elizabeth's pretty flowerpot, changing his fate in the process. Some people say fate is fixed. That's only because they don't understand resistance. If you fight hard enough, even a destined future can still shift, if only a little.

I wiped the dirt off the persimmons with my tattered dress, leaned on the windowsill, and ate with great relish. Then, by accident, I noticed a figure standing in the distance, secretly watching me.

It was Royce.

He was hiding behind a tree, half his body exposed, glaring this way while pretending not to. Sneaking around to spy on someone wasn't exactly honorable. But the distance between us was less than five meters. Was this some kind of brazen threat? Then again, for an eight-year-old boy, this really was quite the "feat." Too bad he'd already completely exposed himself.

"Victoria." The black cat jumped onto the windowsill. "Get me some dried fish, will you?"

Ever since this guy had some from the kitchen lady, he'd gotten completely hooked. But... you're a demon! Even if you're mimicking a black cat, demons should have some dignity! You can't fall to the temptation of cat treats! Then again, no cat seems able to resist dried fish. That included this demon-cat too.

"I don't have any. Go ask the kitchen lady."

"The problem is, that lady just wants to lure me in with dried fish so she can pet me to her heart's content."

"Isn't selling your body for compensation the natural order of things?"

"Hey, there is something seriously wrong with how you phrased that!"

The black cat lay down on the windowsill, arched its back, and stretched lazily in boredom.

"Haaah, that feels good." It turned its head and glared at me with golden eyes. "Anyway, how's your revenge plan going? You're not just talking big, are you? Every day you either play with gilding, or make that eyeball fly around. Are you actually preparing for revenge? I'm a demon. I need sacrifices. If you don't give me any, I'll take your soul."

"Relax, boss." A trace of a cold smile appeared on my face. "At this hour, it should be about time. Heh heh heh."

Maybe my laugh was too sleazy, because the black cat shot me a look.

"As an adorably cute little loli, that smile just now was way too awful. Hurry up and apologize to all the little girls in the world."

"Hah? How I laugh is none of your damn business."

"Swearing. Rating minus one."

Was this thing my mom or something? Since when was the way I talked any of your business? Then, without meaning to, I caught sight of my profile reflected in the window glass. A very frail girl was glaring sideways at me. Her hair was gray and badly neglected, like dead winter weeds. Her thin cheeks were even slightly sunken, making her malnourishment obvious. And those golden eyes shone with a dim light. Combined with the slight upward tilt at the corners, they looked like a demon's eyes. It was as if this girl were some little freak born from the Abyss itself, a demon in human form, ready to stab children with a knife at any moment.

That's right. This was me. Neither cute nor beautiful. If anything, a little frightening.

"To prove I'm actually working, let me show you something big."

"Hm? Don't tell me it's your 'Eyeball' Mark II."

"That's right. But this one isn't for peeping."

As I spoke, I shut the heavy wooden window, completely ignoring Royce. I'd done a little work on the glass, so even if he pressed himself against it, he still wouldn't be able to see what I was doing. I dragged a wooden box out from under the bed and took out a spherical object. It looked like a modified version of the previous Observer. Sixteen cylindrical rods were inserted into its surface. Right now, all of them were buried deep inside the sphere, making it look like a sea urchin with all its spines cut off.

"That thing... isn't it an arcane power core?" the black cat said. "But it seems to be missing something."

"That's right. It's missing the safety control system."

"Wait, what are you trying to do? A core meltdown?"

"Yep." I gave it a sinister smile. "This is the tool I'll use to wipe out everyone in the castle in one go. The Arcane Fusion Bomb."

The black cat sucked in a breath like a human. It stared at me, and in its golden eyes there seemed to be a hint of pity and sympathy. Being pitied by a demon... as a human, I was really a failure, huh? But I didn't care. As my prepared Plan B, this explosive device was enough to blow away the entire count's castle, along with everything within ten kilometers.

"You're insane, Victoria."

"Thanks for the compliment."

"I was not complimenting you!" the black cat snapped. "Leave this place with me right now. Immediately! Forget the sacrifices, I don't want them anymore. If I let you keep twisting yourself like this, who knows what you'll become? A demon contractor wearing human skin? No. I didn't bring your soul back to the past so you'd turn into this!"

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Regrettably, I'd already twisted long ago. The moment I was burned by the flames, I had already cast away every shred of human kindness.

"Don't worry, Chris." I switched to a gentle voice. "This is only Plan B. An emergency measure for after all other plans fail. I don't want to blow away Brother John, who brings me persimmons every day, for no reason. Plan A won't fail. I promise. You'll get your sacrifice, and my heart will be satisfied by revenge. We'll... each get what we want."

The black cat stared at me with its golden eyes, then suddenly looked away.

"Victoria, I can't even tell anymore which one of us is the demon."

"Then why not just devour my soul right now and turn me into an Abyssal Demon?"

"I would never do that! Know your place, Victoria. You're my sacrifice! My food! Not my companion!"

With that, it nimbly leaped onto the cabinet and left through the vent. When this castle was first built, the founding lord had designed this complex ventilation system. Now it was serving my purposes. The Observer could move through it perfectly freely, and because of that, my plan was advancing steadily.

"Ah... maybe I really am the demon." I sat on the bed, my voice hollow. "But whatever."

Just then, a commotion rose outside. It sounded like someone had come calling, and not alone. I linked to the Observer waiting on a tree branch and watched through its optical camera as knights and soldiers poured into the courtyard. Leading them was a judicial officer in black robes. He rode a gray horse and held a thick law code in his arms. In the middle of the group, Thomas was tied to a mule with his head hanging low, looking like some ridiculous piece of cargo.

"What's going on? Why are Duke of Northberg's knights here?"

My stupid and selfish father made his grand entrance. He stormed out of the castle in anger, followed by several soldiers. But compared to the duke's knightly order, our soldiers looked pitifully under-equipped. Most of them only had a metal helmet and a spear, while the duke's men wore chainmail and carried shields. The gap was obvious at a glance.

"It's been a while, Lord Luther." The leading knight lifted his visor. "But I'm in armor, so it's inconvenient for me to dismount. My apologies."

The meaning beneath those words was clear: I'm here to hold you accountable.

"Young Master Freud, what brings you here?"

Father forced a smile. After all, the other party was the duke family's eldest legitimate son, the future Duke of Northberg—Freud von Northenberg.

In terms of appearance, the future Duke of Northberg was an outstandingly handsome man. He had silver hair and blue eyes, and that cool, pale-toned composure made countless noble girls scream. But inside, this man was a war fanatic. The kind who wanted the world in chaos.

In my previous life, Freud had once been an important partner of mine. But he wanted to use my arcane technology for military purposes, so in the end we parted on bad terms. To be fair, Freud helped me a lot, and me packing up and running away really wasn't the most honorable move. I did owe him a tiny bit.

By the way, the Arcane Fusion Bomb hidden under my bed was Freud's idea. He had many unique insights into weaponizing arcane technology, and some of them left me dumbfounded. This guy was especially good at creating all kinds of killing weapons. His designs always pursued maximum efficiency—the most efficient way to kill people. But at this point in time, Freud was twenty-one and I was six. Our paths wouldn't cross until ten years later, so right now neither of us knew the other.

Still, I had to thank Freud. He'd given me plenty of ready-made "ideas," like that bomb.

In my previous life, I was willing to act for the Empire's interests, but I didn't dare create weapons meant to kill. I was too kind. I couldn't even bear to see innocent blood spilled. But after being burned to death, when I looked back on my old self, I suddenly realized what I had been: a naive, soft-hearted fool who didn't understand what "sacrifice" really meant. The greatest value of weapons isn't in killing. It's in deterrence. Especially those powerful war machines. Their very existence alone is enough to keep the Empire's enemies from acting rashly.

Well, whatever. I've already gone mad. That's all there is to it. So let Freud's brilliant ideas be used for my revenge.