Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot
Chapter 85 - 84 - A deal with a devil.

Chapter 85: Chapter 84 - A deal with a devil.

As Raven remained occupied with his thoughts, the demoness replied to his inquiry.

"Oh, I planned to come talk to you directly," Mistress said with a casual shrug. "But your little pet—" she glanced at Nibbles, who bristled and bared tiny teeth—"sniffs out demonic mana like a bloodhound on caffeine. If I even got near, I’d be fried."

Raven raised a brow. "You were scared of a squirrel?"

"Not really," Mistress shook her head. "If I could, I would still have preferred coming to meet you face-to-face. But you see, I’m too strong to be able to cross over to your realm."

Raven squinted his eyes. "So, you decided to... puppet someone."

"Hm~, not just someone," Mistress said with a small smile, caressing Selena’s face. "I needed someone close to you. Someone emotionally tethered. But not weak either."

Her tone, strangely, softened.

"Selena was... perfect. She’s smart. Strong. And most importantly, she had potential."

Jessy narrowed her eyes. "So you manipulated her."

Mistress didn’t flinch. "I offered so much to her, but she never took more than necessary, making it hard for me to take control of her body even for a second."

"Then why—"

Raven stopped.

His eyes narrowed as something clicked.

The beast.

It had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Then, it suddenly ran toward Selena.

The way it tanked his attacks without flinching—the singular focus.

"You sent that beast," Raven said coldly, finally realizing who was behind the demonic beast.

Everyone turned to him in shock.

Mistress clapped slowly. "Well done. Took you a while."

Clara took a step forward, her face pale. "You... used her? You nearly killed her just to take control?"

"I never said I was a good person," Mistress said flatly. "But I never meant her harm."

"YOU NEARLY GOT HER KILLED!"

Mistress snapped back with unusual sharpness. "It was the only way. Do you think Selena would ever voluntarily give me control? Even dying, she refused. That girl is made of steel and stubbornness."

She sighed, her tone softening again.

"But I knew... if her life were truly in danger, she’d accept. And I never lied. I kept her alive. I protected her. I just... nudged the circumstances."

Raven stared at her for a moment, then asked, "Why her? Why Selena?"

It was a simple question one would be curious about.

After all, there were many people stronger than Selena in this world, and if Mistress had contacted someone else, they would’ve given in by now.

The answer he received, however, wasn’t something he had expected.

Mistress’s gaze sharpened, and she replied without hesitation. "Because she was on the top of the priority list."

Raven’s brow twitched as his danger bulb flared in his mind. It was as if his brain’s computer system was telling him that it was a file containing a virus and he shouldn’t poke it.

But his curiosity got the better of him. "...Priority list?"

’Please. Just let it be my instincts playing tricks on me.’ He prayed inwardly, but where were his prayers heard?

No.

"An order from the Demon Overlord himself," she said.

The moment he heard that, his brain stopped functioning for a second as he realized something.

’Fuck... I’m an atheist.’

He didn’t even believe in gods, so how would his prayers be heard?

Mistress continued, "Every young genius across the world. Every nation. Every family. Every bloodline. The demons have been ordered to infiltrate and take over as many as possible. We’re targeting the prodigies."

Her words settled like ash across the group.

"And Selena, while not the greatest genius by raw talent, still ranked among the highest for some reason."

Raven’s expression didn’t change, but inside—

’Wait. Wait, wait, wait... this feels wrong. I-I don’t want to hear anymore.’

This priority list sounded like something that would mess up many things.

"I had help from some active subordinates in the Demon Realm," Mistress didn’t stop. "They pulled strings. Got me the ticket to Selena."

She smiled faintly.

"At first, I just wanted to use her to find you. All high-priority targets were expected to meet the ’anomaly’—you—sooner or later. But... after spending time with her... I started to pity the girl. So I helped her. I made a contract not to harm her but to help her."

Raven’s brain short-circuited for a second.

’All high-priority targets were expected to meet the ’anomaly’—you—sooner or later.’

Those words kept echoing in his head for a while before he turned his quivering gaze toward Mistress.

"And how many others are on this list?" He asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

He felt like this was going in a very wrong direction.

Mistress tilted her head thoughtfully. "Quite a few. Your little friends over there—" she pointed lazily toward Clara and Jessy "—were also on it. But they were from the Vaise family... problematic. They were removed."

Clara and Jessy blinked. "We were... what?"

"There are more," Mistress added. "Many more. In fact..."

She turned her glowing gaze toward Prince Lio.

"...that one was on the list too."

Raven blinked.

Clara blinked.

Siris blinked.

Jessy raised a brow.

And Lio—no, Lia—froze.

"...she couldn’t progress past Circle-Two, though, so they scrapped her."

’Wait—!’ Raven’s brain hiccupped mid-thought.

’Did she say she?!’

Lia’s heart slammed against her ribs, her soul halfway to the astral plane.

Raven’s eyes widened just slightly before darting around.

No one noticed.

’...Okay. Breathe. Crisis averted. Nobody noticed the "she." We’re good. We’re good... right?’

Lia was busy sweating bullets. Raven was busy pretending to look interested.

’But that’s not even the scariest part...’

He narrowed his eyes at Mistress. "So all of them—Selena, Clara,Jessy, and Lio—were on the list?"

Mistress frowned when she heard the last name. ’Lio?’

It was Lia Hector. There was no Lio—

But then she saw Lia, dressed as a guy, and something clicked in her head. ’Aha!’

With a knowing smile, she nodded. "Mhm. The top priority list."

Raven’s face didn’t change, but his soul just took psychic damage.

However, there was one more question he wanted to ask. "...were the others on the list all girls?"

This question made others, especially Clara, frown, but before they could think deeply about it, the demoness, who was a bit surprised by the question, answered.

"Yes. But how did you know?"

She couldn’t help but be curious since this was something only demons—the ones who were sent to the human realm—were supposed to know.

Raven, however, was too busy with his thoughts to answer the demoness.

’Fucking fucker shit. That’s the entire damn harem lineup.’

Clara, Jessy, and Clara were his supposed harem members according to the plot.

Lia was still a mystery, but the way Raven had ’accidentally’ met her when she was naked—a cliche way for the protagonist to meet a female lead—he was sure she was also supposed to be in his harem.

And the remaining girls the demoness talked about?

’—All of them. They’re the main heroines. The ones I was "supposed" to gather like limited edition waifus in an RPG gacha. The demons are targeting the heroines?!’

He stared at Mistress, calm on the outside.

’Why?! Why are they targeting the girls? What do you want with my plot, you bastards?! Go take over the finance minister or something!’

Mistress stared back at him, waiting for a response, but Raven was already spiraling internally.

’Is this like a villainous reroute? Is the demon lord trying to steal my harem?! IS THIS HAREM THEFT?!’

It was then that Siris stepped forward, her bone dagger clenched. "...why am I not on the list?"

Her frosty eyes were locked into Mistress’s, and the way she held her dagger told that a wrong answer might cost heavily, but the demoness didn’t seem bothered.

"Who are you again, tiny psycho?"

As Mistress spoke, the shadow behind her shifted again.

"Why are those two on the list but not me?" Siris, however, ignored the demoness’s question and pressed forward, her dagger raised.

This earned her a frown from Mistress, but before things could explode, Raven, who had broken out of his thoughts, stepped between them.

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down, Siris."

He couldn’t tell her that she wasn’t on the list because she was supposed to be a villain, but he didn’t want her to fight with Mistress, especially when things seemed to be going alright.

Above all, he didn’t think Siris would be able to defeat Mistress right now.

It was when he saw Siris turn away with an annoyed frown that he turned toward the demoness, his expression shifting.

"And you..." Looking into Mistress’s eyes with his stone-cold red eyes, he continued, "If you are here to make a deal, then act like that."

The demoness shrugged, unbothered by his expression, and Raven asked the main question.

"...now, tell me," he said finally, "what’s your goal?"

Mistress tilted her head, smiling. "To help you. And to survive. I’m no friend to the Demon Realm anymore."

"You could’ve told me all this without using Selena."

"Could I?" She asked softly. "Would you have listened?"

Silence.

"I’ve told you what I know. I even warned you. The demon agents are out there, Raven. They could be enemies. Friends. Maybe even family."

"And you?" Raven asked, tone unreadable. "You’re just... what? A concerned fugitive?"

She smirked. "Something like that. My body is still in the demon realm, but my consciousness is within Selena. I can see everything Selena sees and listen to everything she does."

Jessy scoffed. "How romantic."

Mistress ignored her. "I have no intention of hurting Selena. When I’m done, I’ll leave. She’ll be untouched."

"You should never try to take control over Selena," Raven cut in before Clara could speak. His eyes locked onto the demoness. "If you agree to that, then I will continue the conversation."

Mistress stared into those glowing red eyes, flickering with gold, and raised a curious brow. "What if I say no?"

The moment those words fell, Raven’s eyes turned golden, surprising everyone, but he ignored that and looked right into Mistress’s eyes. "You don’t want to know."

There was another bout of silence. This time, the tension was high as everyone had their hands on their weapon, ready to attack at a moment’s notice.

But then, the demoness chuckled. "Oh, I like you more and more as we talk."

Raven, however, didn’t take his eyes off her. His stance was clear.

The demoness shook her head with a sigh. "Alright. I won’t do anything like this again."

Raven’s eyes returned to the normal red color as he nodded. "Let’s hear your deal now."

She nodded, her smile fading into seriousness.

"I’ll provide you with information on demon movements, their targets, their techniques, and all the dirty secrets behind the curtain."

Raven narrowed his eyes. "And in return?"

"When the time comes... and you’ve grown strong enough..." she said, voice low, "I want you to come to the Demon Realm and fight alongside me. Against the Demon Overlord."

The air thickened again, the weight of her words sinking in.

Finally, Raven tilted his head, a hint of a grin at the corner of his lips.

"...You know what the funny part is?"

Mistress raised a brow. "Do tell."

"I was gonna kill the beast anyway."

She blinked.

"But thanks for saving me the trouble."

With that, Raven turned around and walked off.

Everyone stared in stunned silence.

"...Is that a yes?" Mistress called out.

Raven waved a hand lazily over his shoulder. "You’ll know if it’s a no."