Chapter 91 - Chapter 88: Episode 86 - The Demon King's Consort
The Demon King remembered the boy's name.
Lee Seon-ah.
He was the son of Min-ah, the original owner of this body.
Through the memories she had absorbed, she understood how deeply Min-ah had cherished her son. She had risked everything—her very life—to enter the Demon World just to rescue him.
'To think she'd throw her life away for her own child...'
The Demon King felt a strange admiration for this woman. She was like a hero, venturing into this hellish realm to save her only remaining family after her husband's death.
And she felt a profound sense of gratitude.
Because Min-ah had not only offered up her body as a vessel but had also provided the 'foundation' needed to create a new royal bloodline, the Demon King couldn't help but be thankful—even if the boy was just an inferior human.
The Demon King stared at that 'foundation.'
His face bore a striking resemblance to the body she now occupied, currently sprawled on the ground; the shape of his eyes, in particular, was nearly identical.
His skin looked clean and soft, and she imagined he would feel cozy if held in her arms.
Feeling the weight of her gaze, Seon-ah shuddered.
As the monster wearing his mother's face stared at him, its eyes roaming over him as if licking his skin, a surge of raw, nameless emotion rose in his chest.
Desperate to believe his instincts were wrong, Seon-ah called out to her.
"Omma..."
His small voice trembled, devoid of any real certainty.
"I have taken over your mother's body. I am sorry."
Hearing those words from the mouth of the thing wearing his mother's form, Seon-ah realized his worst fears were true.
No, it was worse—it was coming from the mouth of what had been his mother.
The Demon King spoke with genuine feeling.
She was apologizing in advance for what was to come, but Seon-ah completely misunderstood the reason for her remorse.
"Please give me back my omma... Please..."
Seon-ah pleaded earnestly, looking up at the Demon King from where he lay, broken and pathetic on the floor.
The Demon King had already decided to make the boy her consort.
She viewed him as a benefactor, the key to continuing her royal bloodline.
She didn't just see him as a sex slave; she intended to keep him as a mate for the rest of her life.
Part of her motivation was the fear that Min-ah's burning spirit might eventually swallow her whole, but strangely, looking at this child, an unknown emotion surged within her.
It felt like a sharp prick against her heart.
That feeling only intensified as she watched him look up at her with tear-filled eyes.
The Demon King didn't quite understand what it was.
Having lived many lives, she suspected it might be love.
"Is she that precious to you? Do you want her back?"
The Demon King wasn't just teasing him.
She was asking with the genuine intention of returning her, provided he met the conditions she was about to set.
"She is my one and only omma. Please, I will do anything—anything at all—so please, just give her back."
Seon-ah cried out to the terrifying being before him.
He was willing to sacrifice his own life if it meant getting his mother back.
"If so, let us make a contract. If you fulfill two conditions, I will vacate your mother's body."
The Demon King laid out her terms.
"I'll do it. Whatever it is."
Hearing his answer, the Demon King nodded, pleased.
"First, I need a vessel to transfer my spirit and soul into. You will create it. I will tell you the second condition once the vessel is ready."
From the listener's perspective, it sounded like a reasonable contract.
Seon-ah thought so too, but something felt wrong.
He had a sinking, ominous feeling.
Desperate to believe his intuition was wrong, he asked, "But a vessel... why do you need to put your soul into that?"
"Naturally, I need a new body to be reincarnated into. I intend to use the offspring born from our mating to create that vessel."
A massive shock hit Seon-ah's mind.
He couldn't even process it.
In other words, she was telling him he had to impregnate the thing wearing his mother's body.
Seon-ah was trapped in a nightmare.
The spirit was a monster, but the body was his mother's.
His head spun with confusion.
"You seem quite confused. Think about it slowly; it won't be a bad deal for you, either."
In truth, the Demon King intended to bind Seon-ah to her forever through this contract.
She had no intention of leaving Min-ah's body after the first condition was met.
Since the first condition was merely to create a new body, she could simply invent an impossible second demand—like claiming she didn't like the first vessel and needed to create hundreds or thousands more.
And to extinguish the flame of revenge burning in Min-ah's heart, she would simply hunt down and kill everyone Min-ah hated—targets she had already identified from her memories—and absorb her spirit entirely.
Honestly, it was a difficult, long-term plan with no guarantee of success.
There were even beings that didn't exist in this world, like the human woman named Yu-rin on Earth who had tormented Seon-ah, or the succubus named Miel.
Still, she figured that if she dealt with every possible grudge to dampen the spirit's fire before swallowing it, she might have a fifty-fifty chance of success.
It was a massive gamble she wasn't eager to take.
She felt a twinge of pity for Seon-ah, who would become her consort, but it was best to keep him bound by contract until she won his heart.
If she could win his heart before the first condition was finished, she intended to bind her soul to him, reincarnate into a new body, and share their destinies forever.
That was how high the value of this male, Seon-ah, was to the Demon King.
Since the inability to create more vessels meant her eternal extinction, her next life effectively depended on him.
Of course, she could just keep him bound and squeeze him like a sex slave, but if the fragile male suddenly died from stress, it would be a catastrophic loss.
Moreover, she felt she should treat Seon-ah with care until this emotion, which felt so much like love, was properly confirmed.
Her emotions were reviving for the first time in ages, but as if to shatter the atmosphere, the First Elder stepped forward.
The First Elder's heart was bitter that her own plans had been thwarted, but she consoled herself with the thought of her family's rising status as the primary contributors to the Demon King's resurrection.
"I congratulate Your Majesty on your resurrection."
The First Elder spoke with practiced politeness.
"First Elder... your devotion will be rewarded. First, tell me the current state of the Demon World so I may attend to its affairs."
The Demon King responded with a show of gratitude.
She demanded an account of the last thirty years and the current state of her realm.
A long conversation ensued between the First Elder and the Demon King.
As the details of the last three decades unfolded, the Demon King felt a surge of cold fury.
The division among the nobles, the rampant rise of rebel forces led by a high-ranking traitor—
They had managed to sway over thirty percent of the Demon World's nobility.
She shuddered at their audacity, their plans carried out with such thoroughness, as if they were certain she would never return.
But now that she had returned, they were no longer a problem.
There was, however, one remaining issue the First Elder hadn't mentioned, but which she knew all too well.
Her descendants, who had lost their purity.
Only the matter of dealing with the royals remained.
First, she wanted to tear to pieces the soldiers and the interrogator who had gang-raped Seon-ah—a memory still fresh in Min-ah's mind.
It wasn't just to avenge Min-ah; it was the price for touching the male who would become her consort.
"First Elder... there is work I wish to handle quietly. Gather as many elite troops as possible, but keep the number under one hundred. You likely know what I intend to do without me saying it."
The Demon King wore a ferocious expression, exactly like Min-ah's, imagining how she would tear those culprits apart with her own hands.
"Understood, Your Majesty."
Because the First Elder bowed her head to deliver the order, she didn't see the Demon King's expression.
Had she seen that glare, she would have been paralyzed with terror.
Since the First Elder didn't realize she was the primary culprit behind the consort's abduction and abuse, she remained blissfully unaware of the danger she was in.
Expecting that her hands would soon be stained with blood, the Demon King's heart raced at the thought of finally moving her body again after so long.
For thirty years, she had been trapped in a void, forced to think in isolation without a body.
Even talking to a wall would be enough to drive one insane after thirty years.
But to exist only as a consciousness, stripped of all five senses, was a far greater agony.
The pain she had endured because the royals failed their duties was a debt they would now have to pay.