DGDITMIAE 01

Chapter 1

Someone opened their eyes amid a musty smell and an eerie atmosphere.

Looking around, they saw humans dressed in black prostrating themselves on the floor, crying out.

“Oh, great demon…!”

Great demon? What was that supposed to mean?

The creature who had opened its eyes looked around, then, driven by curiosity, began slowly crawling toward the humans.

“Please descend upon this place!”

What did “descend” mean?

It was terribly curious, but perhaps because it was so small, none of the humans noticed it.

…Hmph.

Stupid humans. Maybe the demon you’re looking for is me!

So why aren’t you looking at me?

Pouting, I crawled a little closer.

“We have prepared a sacrifice worthy of the great demon…”

And what was a sacrifice?

I decided to climb somewhere higher so I could observe the humans.

I clung to the wall, my tiny body slipping and sliding against it, until I finally spotted something gleaming beautifully beneath me.

Marble.

And lying on top of that marble was a human.

Judging by the gestures of the standing humans, they seemed to be referring to the person lying there as the sacrifice…

The person lying there was a young woman who looked as beautiful as a carefully crafted doll.

Her tiny face was adorned with dangling jewelry, but it only complemented her pale skin and long, curly golden hair perfectly.

The woman lay perfectly still, her eyes closed and lips shut as though she were sleeping.

Or was she?

I watched her more closely, but she didn’t move at all.

Now that I looked carefully, there was an ornate dagger sticking out of her stomach.

It blended in so perfectly with her appearance that I hadn’t noticed it at first, but dark red blood was dripping down onto the marble below.

She was probably dead.

“Accept this sacrifice and grant us our wish!”

A wish? What was a wish?

If I wanted this woman, did I have to grant the humans’ wish?

But the moment the human in black shouted those words, a flash of black light burst from the staff in their hand, and the ground began to shake violently.

“Aaaah! I-It’s an earthquake!”

“Damn it! Someone must have noticed the ritual and interfered! Was it those people from the temple?”

“The ritual has failed! We need to escape first!”

“The doors are closed! Run this way!”

The earthquake was so powerful that the ground itself seemed to roar, and I fell straight down.

“Mweeeng!”

I hit the floor with a wet splatter and hurriedly curled myself into a ball, glancing nervously at the humans.

But apparently they were just as terrified as I was. They were too busy fleeing in complete panic to notice me at all.

Chunks of debris and clouds of dust rained down from the ceiling, making it seem as though the entire place could collapse at any moment.

Should I run too?

Just as I was wondering that, I looked at the marble where the sacrifice lay and decided I should hide underneath it.

As I approached the marble, the earthquake strangely came to a stop.

“Mweong?”

I let out a tiny sigh of relief.

With not a single part of the place collapsed, the only things left behind were me and the corpse of the woman who had been offered as a sacrifice.

Is nobody here?

They went through all that trouble to summon me, only to run away? Then…

I slowly crawled onto the marble.

The surface was so slippery that I slid back down several times, but I clenched my little mouth and stubbornly struggled upward until I finally reached the sacrifice.

Up close, the woman was even more beautiful, as though she had been sculpted with the utmost care.

Long eyelashes, porcelain-like skin, a high, elegantly curved nose…

She was dazzlingly beautiful—beautiful enough that even a creature who knew nothing about such things couldn’t take its eyes off her.

She’s so shiny! I like her!

She was several times prettier than the humans I had seen earlier.

Was that why they had offered her as a sacrifice?

But what exactly was a sacrifice?

They said that if I took this woman, I had to grant their wish!

How was I supposed to grant a wish?

As the creature became lost in thought, the surroundings fell silent.

Then, from somewhere in the distance, it heard the faint sound of approaching footsteps.

Someone was coming!

Were the humans who had fled earlier coming back?

Should I hide?

After a brief moment of frantic hesitation, I made up my mind.

I wanted the woman who had been offered as a sacrifice very badly.

And since I seemed to be the demon those humans had been searching for…

I came to a simple conclusion.

I opened my mouth as wide as I could, stuffed the woman inside in a single bite—

And swallowed her whole.

The moment I did, the woman’s memories came flooding into me.

They poured through me like a raging wave, an endless stream of memories that left me struggling helplessly in their current.

“Mweee…”

It’s so dizzying! I can’t move!

I staggered, unable to keep my balance.

Unlike before, my body tumbled off the marble with a loud crash, sending me rolling across the floor.

“Ow!”

Unlike before, this body actually hurt.

Where did it hurt?

My legs, first!

Then my butt!

My back, too!

As I groaned in pain, I realized something strange.

My voice had changed.

It was soft and beautiful, almost alluring.

Even the scream that had escaped me sounded completely different from before.

Only then did I regain my senses and look down at myself.

Long, slender legs.

A much higher field of vision.

Soft, flawless hands without a single scar…

Huh?

I blinked blankly.

And then I realized.

The ‘me’ who had been lying on the marble as the sacrifice had become the woman herself—

Terestia Inyument.

“Wow!”

Since the creature had swallowed the sacrifice and absorbed all of her memories, it was only natural that it came to believe it was a demon.

According to the memories of the woman it had eaten, Terestia, there were creatures known as ‘demons’ that devoured humans and pretended to be human themselves.

Demons were feared by humans.

They were hated and despised.

So why had those humans been so desperate for a demon to descend upon them?

Furthermore, Terestia wasn’t simply a beautiful woman.

She was the princess of the Pavellon Empire and the Grand Duke Inyument, ruler of the empire’s northern territories.

Though she had an overwhelming love for pleasure and lived a reckless, extravagant life according to her own whims—in other words, she was what people called a ‘brat’…

There was no denying that she was a person of extraordinarily high and noble status.

The demon liked the sacrifice that had been offered to it, Terestia.

More precisely, it was delighted that it had become Terestia.

I’m going outside and trying that alcohol Terestia used to drink!

Just as it thought this and began to get up, it heard footsteps approaching.

Ah, it must be one of those humans who ran away earlier.

But what if they discovered that I had eaten Terestia and asked me to grant their wish?

I had no idea what wish they might make, but I wasn’t confident that I could fulfill it.

I didn’t even know who I was yet, let alone what abilities I possessed.

So the young demon decided it would be best to hide.

It hurried behind the marble.

Just like before, it curled up into a tiny ball and tried to conceal itself behind the marble.

Unfortunately, it had no idea that its new body was completely different from its previous one—or that the elaborate folds of its dress made it painfully obvious that someone was hiding there.

Thinking it had come up with a brilliant plan, the demon, Terestia, smiled happily and held its breath as the footsteps came steadily closer.

It sounds like they’re alone…

If they see there’s nothing here, won’t they just leave again?

“……Hmm.”

But contrary to Terestia’s expectations, the human who entered had no intention of leaving anytime soon.

Instead, the footsteps grew closer and closer.

Straight toward Terestia.

What should I do? Should I swallow this human too?

But what if I change into this human’s body as well?

I like being Terestia!

Anxious, Terestia held her breath and quietly turned around, intending to crawl away unnoticed.

But—

“Kyaaah!”

The moment she turned her head, she screamed at the sight of the legs standing directly in front of her.

Her gaze naturally traveled upward from those long legs.

The person standing before her was a tall, long-legged young man.

And he was incredibly handsome.

According to Terestia’s memories, there were hardly any men in the world as handsome as him.

What was more, Terestia had never seen this man in her memories.

With a face like that, there was no way she could have forgotten him!

But then again, there was no way this man could fail to recognize Terestia, the empire’s infamous and beautiful wastrel.

The man with gray hair and red eyes looked down at Terestia arrogantly.

After slowly studying her, he made a strange sound, his expression filled with interest and disbelief.

“……Huh?”

For some reason, his presence was so imposing and eerie that I froze completely, unable to do anything.

The man slowly bent down until they were at eye level.

Blinking his red eyes, he opened his mouth.

“What are you doing here, Your Highness the Grand Duke?”