The original novel, “I Hate the Obsessed, Devastating Male Lead’s Love,” had a somewhat common, tacky title, but its content was brutal and full of adult (19+) elements.
The author’s writing was great, and she remembered it had been hugely popular. She was an enormous fan of that work herself.
Aisha appeared right at the start of the story. She was trapped in some kind of tower, barely able to walk or speak — only making groaning sounds — and Jeron looked at her with pity, saying,
‘I used to hate you with a passion, but now I feel sorry for you.’
‘Ugh…ah…’
‘It would be fine if you lived and died like that for the rest of your life, but I want to be the one to decide your end. That’s my revenge.”
Saying that, Jeron smashed the iron bars of the cage trapping Aisha, entered, and with his own hand killed his mother.
‘Goodbye.’
‘…’
‘…Mom.’
That was the one and only time Jeron called Aisha “Mom.”
After she was trapped in that cold cage, the next person to be confined was the heroine, Ella Winter.
In the original story, Luzbel claimed that Aisha killed herself after Jeron killed her.
Aisha and Luzbel’s debut scene was just that; the rest — the neglect and so on — came out of Jeron’s mouth.
“Hmm.”
Even so, the fact that Luzbel supposedly killed himself made one wonder if it had been true love, but Aisha and Luzbel were little more than extras — their roles were almost negligible.
“Jeron…”
She must never let the young Jeron grow into the madman from the novel.
“Knowing the original story doesn’t help much.”
This was set long before the original story began, so Jeron was different now. In a way, that was good news.
“…Having more time means there’s enough leeway to change one person.”
That was crucial — even for the heroine Ella.
Changing Jeron was the top priority, more urgent than worrying about what roles people had in the original or how Luzbel behaved there.
After all, no one wanted anyone to die.
Well, the first meeting had been so shocking that she couldn’t help feeling protective, but she was still only human.
Each day was precious, and on top of that Reed had been gaslighting Jeron.
Thinking about it made her choke up again.
“Were you here?”
“Hm? You were looking for me?”
Luzbel came then.
“Yes. I have something to say about Reed.”
“What is it?”
“Since I wanted something definitive, I dispatched an inquiry team to check the village. In the process, we found evidence that Reed had been bewitching the villagers.”
“Bewitched, you say?”
“Yes. There wasn’t a single person in the village who seemed mentally sound.”
“In what way, exactly?”
“They looked as if they had no will of their own. Without Reed, they seemed incapable of doing anything.”
That lunatic bastard.
So Jeron hadn’t been the first.
No wonder. His sly way of talking did seem practiced.
But since this world didn’t seem to have the word “gaslighting,” Luzbel called it “bewitching.”
If they had given him a light punishment and simply driven him away, he would have strutted back to that village in no time.
“One more thing.”
“There’s more?”
“Yes. The documents that made Reed look like a brilliant counselor — they actually belonged to someone else.”
Gaslighting and theft?
Another item added to the list of punishments.
“I’m sorry. I should have been more cautious in checking him out.”
Hadn’t she already told him before that it wasn’t his fault?
“It’s fine. Don’t blame yourself too much.”
“…Very well. Have you decided on his punishment?”
“Yes. I’d like to see him first.”
“I’ll come with you.”
As if afraid she’d leave him behind, Luzbel immediately insisted on coming along.
She didn’t really mind, so they went to see Reed together.
***
So this was the dungeon. The atmosphere was fitting.
In the corner, a stairway led down into a basement. The air was damp and musty.
The walls were rough stone, with moss growing here and there.
It was such a grim place that someone could die there and no one would even notice.
“Are you cold?”
Startled by the eerie atmosphere, she shivered without realizing, and Luzbel, thinking she was cold, quickly pulled out a blanket he had brought and wrapped it around her.
“When did you bring this?”
“Your body is weak. I worried you might catch a chill.”
Surprised, she asked, but his answer was matter-of-fact.
Apparently, the original Aisha had been quite frail.
But recently, since she had been eating and sleeping well, she hadn’t felt weak at all.
And Luzbel had been taking good care of her.
It was as if he thought Aisha would die if she missed even a single meal — that was how obsessed he was about her eating. Well, truthfully, when she looked in the mirror, she was terribly thin.
At first she’d been shocked to see a skeleton-like figure staring back at her.
So it wasn’t unreasonable for Luzbel to worry that much.
She didn’t know how she had gotten so emaciated, but it must have had a lot to do with psychological reasons.
At least now, Luzbel seemed intent on looking after her.
“Thank you.”
“…I-it’s nothing.”
It had only been a small word of thanks, yet he looked so happy and flustered — it was hard to believe someone like that could ever have done anything cruel to her.
Anyway, once they descended all the way down the stairs, they saw Reed locked in the cell.
“M-Madam!”
So quick to ignore her before, yet now, at the sight of her, Reed clung to the bars like a drowning man to a rope and began begging.
“I was wrong! Please spare me!”
“What did you do wrong?”
She asked, wondering if he at least knew what he was pleading for.
“…Eh? Th-that is….”
But he really didn’t seem to know. He’d lived that way his whole life.
“I won’t do it again. I only spoke harshly to try to guide the Young Master onto the right path…!”
In a place without the concept of gaslighting, that kind of nonsense gets dressed up as “tough love.”
Aisha snorted in disbelief.
“I honestly feel wronged. What on earth did I do so wrong…?!”
“You’re hopeless. As a counselor you’re useless. When you first introduced yourself, you called yourself a doctor, didn’t you? You don’t look like you have any of the qualities of a physician.”
“Wh-what… You’re the ones who invited me!”
Still clinging to some pride, he shouted back when she trampled his pretensions.
“Why are you like this? I only spoke out of concern for you — does that make you feel bad?”
When she turned his words back on him, Reed’s face flushed as if about to burst.
“…Th-that….”
“To boast about being a doctor with such pathetic skills is unforgivable. And you admitted you looked down on me because you thought I was a worthless Duchess, didn’t you?”
“N-no! Who would do such a thing?!”
“Did the physician lie?”
“It’s a lie! It’s slander!”
Reed screamed hoarsely.
“How dare you say such things?”
Luzbel, who hadn’t heard that before, radiated an icy chill as if frost had taken hold.
“Eek… P-please… spare me…!”
Reed nearly lost his mind, dropping to his knees to beg.
“Lie or slander, I don’t care. I trust the physician more than I trust you, whom I only just met.”
“Ugh…”
“Moreover, the materials you submitted — they were stolen, weren’t they?”
“…!”
“And you’d gone and trained that village to act to your tune. How dare such a scoundrel touch my son…”
One could imagine how delighted he’d been when he came here — thinking that he could make a puppet of the only heir of the Valencia Duchy and live high forever.
“Rot in prison for the rest of your life.”
He was dangerous.
They’d keep him under Valencia’s control — neither free to die nor able to leave that cramped place.
“What?!”
Reed, trembling, went berserk at the prospect of a life in prison, shaking the bars wildly.
“How dare you?”
Even that, however, stopped as soon as Luzbel stepped forward; Reed cowered and flattened himself again.
“P-please… spare me….”
Seeing Reed this way would be the first and last time.
Aisha turned away, not caring whether he withered and died.
***
As they left the basement, she half-wondered whether Luzbel might be upset that she’d punished Reed without consulting him.
“Um, is it all right if I keep using the dungeon as I please?”
She asked cautiously; Luzbel, however, acted as if there were no problem at all.
“Whatever you want, Aisha.”
With a reverent air, he even kissed the back of her hand and whispered.
It was an embarrassing gesture, but somehow, when Luzbel did it, even that looked like a picture.
His decadent beauty shone even brighter — like a fallen angel.
It was almost hypnotic, and Aisha found herself nodding slowly, murmuring yes, yes in reply.
As for Reed rotting away in the dungeon for the rest of his life — that didn’t seem like any problem at all.
“What about dealing with the village?”
“For now, since life there will be difficult, I plan to relocate the residents to our territory.”
That was unexpected.
She hadn’t thought he would care about that sort of thing, but he was even thorough with the follow-up.
“Is that all right?”
Luzbel asked as if checking her reaction, and Aisha quickly smiled and answered,
“It’s perfectly fine.”
She even stroked his hair softly as if praising him.
His lips curved upward slightly, looking pleased.
“…Yes.”
It seemed like he was about to start purring like a cat.
“By the way, did you also find the owner of the documents Reed stole?”
If possible, she wanted to meet them once.
“Yes.”
“What kind of person are they?”
Their methods of discipline could be useful in theory, but whether they could truly heal Jeron’s wounded heart was uncertain.
Since Reed had already broken his trust once, she wouldn’t leave them alone together, but if it was the person who had written those documents directly, it might help.
“…Why do you ask?”
But Luzbel twitched his eyebrows as if displeased.
Hm?
What kind of reaction was that?
