Bella sat on the devil’s throne and waited quietly for the novel to end.

“Is it a holy thing?”

Bella had practiced her lines several times, but these lines, more suited for middle schoolers, didn’t feel right in her mouth.

‘Eh, let’s skip the exclamation. It’s too awkward.’

“It’s a holy thing.”

While Bella was practicing her lines with her neck straightened, an injured devil rushed into the throne room.

“They’ve arrived at the entrance to the devil’s castle!”

“I volunteer to go!”

“I’ll go and cut it in pieces!”

The general beside Bella rushed to volunteer and said, “I will go.”

“Wait,” Bella said.

Since she had possessed this character, Bella had made a fair share of mistakes. But right now, making mistakes wasn’t an option for her. This was her only and last role.

“Let’s have Zanbar and Talam go to the first section of the entrance to Mawangseong, and Roxan and Beelzebub go in the second section.”

A moment later.

In District 3, the door to the throne room opened violently. At last, the main character of the novel, Kiel Herian Elysia, appeared.

Although he stood in the dark castle of the devil, where no light filtered in, he still shined.

Bella looked at the main character of the novel for a moment, stupefied.

“I found you.”

Bella missed her line.

She should’ve said, “That’s a shame, little man.”

Bella rushed to recite her next line. “I’ll deal with it myself.”

She made eye-contact with Kiel’s amber eyes.

Kiel glared at Bella like an eagle.

“I’ll take your heart,” he said.

The scene Bella had longed for was finally unfolding before her eyes.

In the love story between Kiel and Rosanna, this scene was so short you could hardly call it part of the story.

This was where Bella was supposed to die in the hands of her favorite male lead.

It all began when she first possessed Bella’s body.

* * *

After Hong-yeon died, she enjoyed her free time while waiting for her reincarnation. By now, civilization had developed, and the afterlife became digitized.

There was no time to be bored, especially when the Angel of Death gave her a smartphone to use while waiting for reincarnation.

What Hong-yeon desperately missed right now was a good web novel.

While Hong-yeon was alive, she had been so preoccupied with her life that she never had time to enjoy herself and read some books.

After her death, Bella experienced a period of denial, but before long, she found herself spending more than 80% of her time reading web novels.

She wasn’t even lonely. After all, she had some friends to keep her company.

[Oh, this artist’s work is so lovely. Why isn’t it more popular?]

[Looks like it’s only popular with dead people.]

[This shouldn’t happen year-round.]

After she died, Bella hadn’t been allowed to meet someone else waiting for their reincarnation. However, those who had similar tastes could become online friends and communicate over text.

With her thumbs, Hong-yeon hurriedly tapped away at her keyboard.

“If I reincarnate, I’ll collect all of this artist’s works,” she said to the chatgroup.

There were many similar underrated works. But because they were dead, the views on the chapter never went up.

Sadly, the work only seemed to be popular amongst Bella’s dead friends.

[When will our reincarnation take place? Judging by how many web novels we’ve read, it’s been at least ten years! ]

“I hope we reincarnate soon.” Bella spammed an assortment of hearts, books, and crying emoticons.

[Oh, come to think of it, I’ve heard a lot about a novel jumping system these days.]

When Hong-yeon read the message, she jumped up from her seat.

[Is it like a replacement for reincarnation?]

[I’ve heard that it’s similar to reincarnation. But the system hasn’t been finished yet, so only a few people have been chosen to test it.]

“Oh, I wish I could try it, too.” Hong-yeon spammed crying emojis to emphasize her desire.

[Do you know which novels you get to transmigrate into? What if you enter an apocalyptic novel? LOL]

[Maybe you possess a novel you recently read? I recently read a thriller book.]

“I’m all for it. I hope they choose me to test the system!”

A smile flitted across Bella’s lips.

[Hong-yeon, what if you become the villain of the novel?]

“I’ll twist the plotline.”

[Kya! You better be a good actor! I want to know how much you can change the original plot. It sounds so fun!]

Hong-yeon laughed so hard that she was afraid her mouth would become glued open.

After waiting for a long time, the Angel of Death appeared before Hong-yeon.

“Kim Hong-yeon, it’s been a long time,” he said. “I’ve created a new system. It’s trendy, and I recommend it to you.”

“No way…” Hong-yeon gasped.

“You can live your life in a web novel while waiting for your reincarnation.”

Hong-yeon’s eyes sparkled. It was finally here! She could finally enter a novel!

“Right now, the queue for reincarnation is nearly 800 years. People who wait a long time are bound to go crazy, so if possible…”

“I’ll do it!”

There was nothing to worry about.

“I want to enter the novel . Can I be the mistress?”

“Oh, that’s not how it works. Kim Hong-yeon, you’ll enter a novel you’ve recently read.”

How unfortunate.

“Then, will you still do it?” the Angel of Death asked.

“Yes!”

Hong-yeon’s mobile phone vibrated.

“Hold onto your phone. You will be able to use it in the novel. It will answer some of your questions.”

As it turned out, Hong-yeon would enter a story about Prince Kiel and the young Countess Rosanna.

It was a story about love that overcame the status boundaries.

In particular, Hong-yeon’s favorite character was the male lead, Kiel, who seemed to have everything going for him.

Her second favorite was the princess named Shria, a wicked woman.

“If I possess the heroine, Rosanna, I’d love to have a romance with Kiel,” Hong-yeon thought to herself.

In the novel, Hong-yeon wanted to enjoy all the luxuries she could get her hands on for as long as possible.

Hong-yeon was confident she’d do well, no matter which character she possessed.

* * *

“Princess, did you wake up?”

The lovely title made a sweet smile form at the corners of Hong-yeon’s mouth.

In her head, she imagined gorgeous dresses, accessories, amazing food, and a victorian-era room.

Hong-yeon opened her eyes.

“Kyaaaaa!”

“Why, Princess!”

A b-b-bear!

As soon as Hong-yeon opened her eyes, she was met with a bear.

And the bear was wearing an apron! It was also a really big bear!

‘Don’t tell me I’m the princess of Bear Kingdom…’

“Ahh, what’s this? Ahh!”

The bed Hong-yeon woke up in was made from flesh-covered leather. It was as if she was in the house of a nasty murderer.

‘I think I’ll throw up!’

Hong-yeon instinctively looked toward a mirror: red eyes with pitch-black hair. She looked pretty, but Hong-yeon wouldn’t have minded if she was ugly.

‘I’m a person… I’m a person…”

Hong-yeon was relieved to not be a bear and took her cell phone out of her pocket.

The cell phone contained the entirety of the novel .

Soon after, a name popped into Hong-yeon’s head.

‘Bellatrix.’

Every novel had important characters as well as insignificant ones. In a hurry to find out who she was, Hong-yeon searched for her name, ‘Bellatrix’. There were nearly zero results.

With trembling hands, Hong-yeon found where she was located in the novel. She played a rather pitiful part, and her name was only mentioned four times.

She was the Demon King’s daughter, one of the final villains that Kiel, the emperor, had to kill.

In the entire novel, she only had a mere three lines.

“That’s a shame, little man.”

“I’ll deal with it myself.”

“Ugh- Is it a holy thing?”

So much for her life as a brilliant and beautiful noble.

“No! Even the Demon King’s daughter can live well!”

In the novel, the demonic world frequently invaded and harassed those in the human world. Bella could stop that from happening.

‘Even a devil can be good.’

Bella had to live somehow.

The Demon King could live for 5,000 years, so although Bella’s previous life was short, she’d make sure her current one lasted nice and long.

She looked forward to her future, hoping that she’d be able to have lots of fun.

But Bella’s intuition told her that the future she wanted might not be the future she got.

If her chat group, full of people waiting for their reincarnation, saw this, they’d be sure to pass out.

“Princess, in the future, I’ll prepare raw intestines right away without pickling the food,” said the cook, who stood beside the bear…

“The cook is a mantis.”

Bella couldn’t believe it was cooking with the arm of an insect.

As Bella sighed out loud, the bear maid, Pur, grabbed the mantis’s neck.

“I’ll kill this guy and find a new cook!”

Tears poured out of one of the mantis’s orifice, but Bella couldn’t tell where his eyes were.

“Can warts be cooked? In the human world, mice are also cooked.”

That’s not a cartoon.

“I’ll find the rat chef,” Pur said confidently, thumping his big chest.

Bella couldn’t figure out how the hell they were going to find a rat chef.

‘No. Let’s think positively.’

“No. Find a human chef,” Bella said as if she were talking to a small animal.

“Okay! I’ll kidnap him!”

Bella covered her face with both of her hands to stifle her incredulity.

‘Please… these crazy guys.’

* * *

Bella doubted that the Demon World would transform into a glittery fantasy world full of fairies just because she wanted it to.

‘Let’s use power to change it.’

Bella was the highest authority here, with the exception of the Demon King, who was hibernating in preparation for the Demon King’s succession.

She hastily gathered all the members of the demon world and headed to the throne room.

As expected, the Devil’s Castle, which Bella saw on the way to the throne room, was dark, wet, and gloomy.

The Demon King’s throne was situated in the center of the throne room, but I didn’t want to sit down because it was all made of human skeletons.

“Make the castle a little brighter.”

“Yes!”

“Gather the items used by nobles.”

Even a gloomy castle would be luxurious if Bella decorated it with expensive furniture.

“Yes! I’ll steal everything!”

Bella took a deep breath and exhaled, “No, don’t steal it. You have to buy it.”

I’m not coming home, but I have to buy it.”

“What do you mean by ‘buy’.”

“Use money to get it.”

Everyone began to murmur.

“The humans have money!”

“Then, you can kill a human and take their money!”

Bella wanted to facepalm when she remembered what her team leader had said in her previous life: “Hey, Kim Hong-yeon. Where’s the criminal?”

He’s here!

“No, you can’t kill humans!”

Bella had explained this to them so many times that she began to get a headache. She’d been repeating the same thing over and over again like a broken record.

“Then shall I just take out the eyeballs?”

“No! Don’t take out their body parts!”

Bella hated this place.

“Can I just bring you leather to eat?”

“No! Leather smells horrible!”

Everyone in the demon world was a beast with a hideous appearance.

Moreover, they smelled horrible.

‘Why are these guys around me?’

Everyone in the novel, including the supporting actors, were all handsome. So why was she surrounded by these guys?

Bella was doomed.

But she clung to the hope of being able to travel to the next novel.

Bella recalled what the system staff had said before she entered this novel: When the novel ends, the staff will decide whether you continue to live there until you die, or if you’ll enter another novel.

“If you don’t follow the original script, you will be expected to live there until you die.”

This would mean that Bella would be a villain who tragically died in the book.

“Now-”

The novel was currently in the year 1163—the year when the male and female lead meet.

Kiel, the emperor’s illegitimate child, entered the imperial palace at 15, but just like the current emperor, he was unable to control his magic.

Four years later, he comes out of the palace to collect sacred objects to restore the Mana of the imperial family. On his adventures, he would fall in love with the female lead, Rosanna.

‘And when that happens, I’ll die….’

Bella turned around and used her cell phone to find the scene of her death.

In the novel, Kiel ventures to the underworld and kills the Devil, and by doing so, he is able to restore his Mana.

‘It’s the part where the main character Kiel kills me and pulls out my heart.’

In 1167, Kiel would be 22 years old.

Bella had to hold on until then.

‘That’s in four years.’

In comparison to her four years at college, this would feel like such a long time. Bella sighed.

Life was hard, no matter where she went.

In her original life, Bella’s parents had died young, and her greedy relatives had sought after her inheritance.

Everyone disregarded. Bella and her sister because of their young age.

Nevertheless, Bella was able to pull through thanks to her sister, her only blood relative. They could depend on and take care of each other.

‘Can I do this alone?’

When Bella thought about it, she missed her sister and three-year-old nephew.

Initially, Bella had thought it would be nice to enter a novel.

Suddenly, a bright centipede approached me with his feet hidden behind his back.

“Princess, if you don’t feel good, can I give you a present?”

“No. Don’t give it to me. Don’t give it to me!”

“Why, it’s the princess’s favourite finger necklace-”

The centipede, using his numerous feet, lifted the necklace and held it out to Bella.

“Hahaha…”

She was so dumbfounded that she could only nervously laugh now.

She could hardly stand this grotesque scene.

How would she be able to survive four years here? She couldn’t.

Suddenly, the knowledge of the Devil’s daughter entered Bella, and she absorbed it like a sponge.

Bella’s brain fog receded, revealing methods to harness in Mana.

‘They’re in.’

‘Wait a minute. I’m the daughter of the Devil, right?’

Without any power, Bella would have fallen into despair. However, she now had a way to use the magical power of the demon world.

‘That’s it! I don’t need to wait for four years!’

Bella lightly smiled and stretched her arms forward.

She felt as though wings had sprouted from her back. Her eyes grew increasingly red, and the surrounding air fluctuated.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to memorize any cheesy spells when using magic.

She gathered all the magical power she could with her fingertips, and a large magical circle surrounded the whole demon world.

Kiel gently pulled aside a colourful curtain of gold embroidery.

The setting sun cast beautiful colours into the sky, which reflected on the numerous windows of the imperial palace.

Everything he could ever imagine was beneath his feet.

Three years ago, Kiel would have never imagined his birth father to be the emperor. After all, he’d been living as a wandering commoner for many years.

But now, he was trapped on top of this castle, where the windows were sealed with bars.

The room could only be opened from the outside, was more like a prison than a room. Suddenly, Kiel heard a knock from the door behind him.

“Your Highness. We’re ready.”

Today, things would change. Kiel was disguising himself as a guard and sneaking out with his escort.

“Do we really have to risk this much to collect the holy artefacts?”

“It can’t be helped.”

He was the only crown prince since the country’s father that could not use many. He was the emperor’s illegitimate child.

That was Kiel’s nickname.

Despite his countless efforts, the label had not fallen off, but rather had become worn out.

One could recover their Mana by gathering the holy artefacts and receiving the protection of heaven.

There was no other way to prove that Kiel was a member of the Imperial Family.

“Hurry up and meet the twins… ”

Kiel was on the way to meet his guards.

Only his closest aides knew of his escape plans.

Suddenly, an arrow zipped through the air toward Kiel.

“… Your Highness!”

Kiel quickly unsheathed his sword and sliced the flying arrow in two.

“There’s one enemy. We need to join the twins quickly.”

Kiel ran away, knowing that he was being watched from afar.

An arrow brushed past his shoulder with a ‘tap’ sound.

“Your Highness!”

Fortunately, the wizard hurriedly created a protective shield around Kiel.

“I hit the shield!”

Another guard chased the assassin with an arrow.

“Let’s start with the treatment.”

“It’s okay to get out.”

This was Kiel’s first time outside in three years, but he didn’t seem to be welcomed anywhere.

How hilariously disappointing.

Kiel had grown tired of his monotonous day-by-day life, but he had no choice but to bear the weight of the world on his shoulder.

Suddenly, a blinding light filled the world and lit up the night.

***

A strong wind engulfed Bella, but surprisingly, nothing happened.

It didn’t happen.

The smelly creatures were still staring at Bella with their beady eyes.

‘Did it not work?’

Bella awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck.

She had used magic for the first time.

The plan had been to speed up time until four years later, when she could fulfil her original role. Then, she could happily move on to the next novel.

Unlike when she had first entered Bella’s body, she couldn’t feel the sensation of magic twisting her body.

‘What’s going on?’

Bella felt strange, and as she looked around, she realized she was much smaller.

But the clothes she was wearing hadn’t changed, and the burdensome creatures were still staring at her.

‘Do I get smaller if I use a lot of magic?’

I asked the people in front of me, “What year is it in the human world?”

“It’s the year 1153!” someone replied from afar.

Oh, but that wasn’t the answer Bella wanted.

Bella asked again, “Say it again. What year is it now?”

“It’s 1153!”

“Mm. No. Say it again.”

“1153-”

Bella gave the guy next to her a hard time. “Hey! You tell me! What year is it now?”

“1153! I’m sure of it!”

“No! Are you guys unable to count?”

Bella seemed to be listening to the nagging of her team leader in her previous life: “Kim Hong-yeon! What are you doing? Work harder!”

Bella flung herself to the floor and began to pound the ground with her fist.

‘And this is why I died in my brilliant twenties.’

She had been too greedy.

***

Kiel sighed and opened his eyes, but nothing was visible in the darkness he was surrounded by.

“…sigh.”

His head throbbed, and he struggled to hold back a groan.

In this situation, he had to stay calm.

I’m sure there was a light-

That night, a flash of light had gone through the sky. If Kiel had worn the shield, he wouldn’t have been harmed. But he hadn’t worn it.

Kiel wet his lips as he carefully groped the floor with his hands.

He heard a clang. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Kiel was able to make out something around his hand.

‘A chain?’

His eyes followed the chain, which wrapped around his ankles with cold shackles.

Something was strange.

“……?”

Kiel looked down and touched his body in embarrassment.

It was a child’s body.

Bella had gone back in time ten years, when she had first gathered the demons as a princess.

Everyone was looking forward to what the little princess would say.

“I’m screwed. I’m screwed,” Bella muttered as she sat on the ground.

The horses warily spoke to Bella to improve her distraught mood.

“Princess, shall we give you the gift we prepared?”

“No! ****! Please don’t!”

The curses unconsciously spilled from Bella’s lips. She tightened her lips, wondering whether she should be embarrassed or not.

I often cursed when I was a police officer. Haah, I need to endure. Why did I have to enter this novel? There are so many other novels I would’ve preferred to enter.

Wait a minute… People… Humans…

A variety of thoughts consumed her small body.

Until Bella became an adult and inherited the Demon King’s powers, there were only two ways she could exit the demon world: someone had to summon her, or she had to sign a contract with a human being.

“I can’t go into the human world until I’m an adult?”

Bella’s role in the novel occurred when she was 24, and Kiel was 22.

“What should I do before then?”

Bella was currently ten years old. If she hid in the human world for ten years, she’d have to come back and endure this rotten place for another four years.

Bella raised her head and stood up proudly. “Guys, I’m going to the human world.”

The atmosphere instantly turned awkward.

It had already been ten years since the Devil gave birth to a daughter and went into hibernation. Everyone had been looking forward to Bella’s spectacular performance, but the first thing she was doing was going to visit a lower race.

After Bella’s initial excitement cooled, she cleared her throat and announced. “If I know the human world well, I’ll be able to bully them well.”

She looked triumphant, but she was very nervous on the inside.

Did I do well?

“AAAA!”

Fortunately, the demons cheered on Bella, lauding her as a future hopeful who would lead the world.

“Moving all the horsemen to the human world will take very little power. I’d like one of the generals to assist me,” Bella said.

“I’ll go.”

Bella shrieked when General Talam stepped forward. “Kyaaa!”

“What’s wrong?”

Who in their right mind wouldn’t scream at the sight of a giant cockroach?

“No! I’ll go with a human-type demon because we’ll be travelling to the human world.”

“I can turn into a human because I’m a general.”

Talam’s cockroach body gradually began to morph into a figure with a surprisingly nice face.

But I don’t like cockroaches…

After Talam changed his appearance, the generals next to him began to transform themselves as well.

“I can skin a human every day for you!”

“I don’t think that’s appropriate…”

The generals began to brag about how outstanding they were, but Bella ignored them.

“Leopard, let’s go.”

Bella had very little choices, so she chose the weird leopard with three tails.

 My name is General Zhanbar! I’ll catch young and fresh humans for you.

Although he looked somewhat normal, he, too, wasn’t normal.

It wasn’t easy for the horsemen to venture into the human world.

It was easy for them to go to the human world, but it wasn’t easy for them to return.

Low-class demons like slime could easily venture to the human world, but upper demons like Bella and Zhanbar could only get out if they were summoned.

Bella had been waiting to be summoned for a week.

As expected, I can hardly survive in this place for just a week.

Bella refused to face the nightmarish looking demons, so she locked herself in her room and waited to be summoned.

She could hardly even eat the meals they prepared for her.

“Princess, there’s a summoner!”

“Get out of my way, you beggar!”

Bella’s increasingly violent and brash personality scared even herself. She wasn’t sure if her environment caused the change, or if she was gradually turning into the original Bella.

After a while…

“Cough, cough.”

After the summoning, Bella came to the human world with Zhanbar. A stale smell was the first thing that greeted her.

Bella waved her hand in front of her face to clear the smoke. The dark space was dreary.

Looking around, she saw dozens of small cages along the wall holding dogs and children.

In front of Bella, there was a man smoking.

“I-Is this slavery?” Bella stuttered at the sight of all the caged children and dogs.

“Devil, I called you…”

After seeing the man’s inhumane business, Bella ordered Zhanbar, “Zhanbar, kill him.”

The good thing about being a demon rather than a police officer was that she didn’t have to send people to court.

Zhanbar, in his leopard form, rushed to the man and excitedly ripped at his neck.

Is that too much?

But when Bella saw the children, her fleeting thought immediately vanished.

“They’re children.”

“Princess, can I eat them?”

“What?”

Zhanbar had transformed into a man from his leopard form. He was wearing a robe and asked, “Those kids—they look delicious.”

“Are you crazy? How many times do I tell you? Don’t touch the old and the weak! A man should have a conscience!”

“I’ve already told you. We’re demons, not humans.”

“Hey! Don’t throw up!”

Even after so much training, Bella still struggled to rehabilitate the evil demons.

Bella flicked her wrist, and all the bars, locking the children inside, collapsed.

“Go back home, kids.”

The children in the cages were terrified, but when the first one sneaked out and ran for his life, the rest followed suit.

The human world is alright.

Bella saw the children running out and followed them. If she followed them, she’d probably find a settlement.

I’m hungry. I hope they have rice.

Suddenly, Bella noticed something from the corner of her vision.

It was a small boy that would grow up to cause a huge tidal wave of change.

***

When Kiel realized he was young again, he brushed it off as a dream.

But after several nights, he realized that he wouldn’t change.

Kiel stopped counting after day one or day two and simply lived in despair.

Dozens of cages were lined up against the walls. Other children, like Kiel, as well as dogs, were locked behind the steel bars.

I really went back in time…

Kiel’s uncle had sold him to a dark sorcerer.

“Ma-Is it Magic?”

Kiel heard the dark magician’s voice, and the smoke that had piled up in the lab was instantly lifted.

“Devil, I called you…”

“Zhanbar, kill him.”

At the sound of the little girl’s voice, the leopard leaped at the magician.

After slashing his neck, the leopard looked around with the magician’s blood dripping from its mouth.

Surprised, Kiel looked at the magician’s corpse.

This was very different from the past he remembered.

He couldn’t remember his past all that well, but Kiel knew this had never happened.

In the past, the magician attempted to stab Kiel, but at the last moment, the relic from his mother saved him.

Holy power had protected Kiel.

In the past, the sorcerer had offered himself up to magic. But now, the sorcerer was dead.

How much longer could Kiel live without divine power? He didn’t know.

Could he survive?

Kiel wanted to avoid all the unfortunate events that had happened when he was a child. Kiel quietly closed his eyes and recalled the past.

His life was pathetic.

Suddenly, a voice interrupted his train of thought.

“My dear.”

Kiel slowly opened his eyes.

In front of him was a red-eyed girl.

“Are you all right?”

Seeing her used the leopard scared Kiel, but she looked like an ordinary ten-year-old girl seeing her up close. Her eyes slightly slanted upward, and she looked sad.

“Go home. There’s no more evil sorcerer.”

Kiel couldn’t find the right words to say. He had no home.

He dropped his head and sighed.

“If you have nowhere to go, will you come with me?”

This was the first time anyone had offered Kiel a hand.

The young girl reminded him of the darkness: black hair and fearful red eyes.

This was Kiel’s first encounter with Bella, a black angel.