Chapter 195
She said she expected nothing in return. That she would love him even if he did nothing at all.
Could he really believe that?
‘Don’t be fooled.’
It was because of Ashtel’s mistakes that he’d ended up here.
Reduced to this pitiful state—e******n on display, his purity lost, fallen from grace as a priest.
All that awaited him now was death, and he’d resigned himself to quietly waiting for the day his head would fall.
And now—
‘Now she was asking him to live.’
It was the persuasion of a demon. Maybe it was just another lie.
‘…Had Ashtel ever lied to me?’
Had she ever hidden her feelings or turned cold toward him?
No. Not once.
Ashtel had always whispered to him.
That she loved him. That she wanted him.
Knowing he shouldn’t, Payne found himself asking,
“How… How can you become human?”
For the first time, Ashtel’s face brightened. She took Payne’s hand and spoke quickly.
“My specialty is shapeshifting. I can transform into a human.”
“But isn’t that just temporary?”
“No.”
Ashtel smiled softly. She wanted to answer the small measure of faith he’d shown her.
“I can become human forever.”
Even if it meant making a choice she could never undo.
* * *
It wasn’t as if Ashtel had always made up her mind to go this far.
For a demon, such a love was unrealistic. A love worth tearing yourself apart for.
That didn’t mean she had no affection for her Asti sisters or the demon realm.
But Roman’s words had shaken her.
“Father Payne’s crimes are mainly twofold. First, he fell by accepting a demon. Second, he brought a demon into Mediale.”
The cause or process didn’t matter—in the end, Payne’s fall started because of Ashtel, and it was true that Ashtel had freely come and gone inside Mediale.
“But… It’s not all Payne’s fault.”
“Right. That’s why you have to defend him.”
“How?”
“What, you want us to hire a human lawyer for the religious trial?”
“I could try seducing someone, I guess…”
Chacha and Liz looked puzzled. Luckily, Roman had an answer.
“You’ll have to do it yourself, youngest miss.”
“Me?”
“Yes. You’re at the center of everything that happened.”
It almost sounded like he was telling her to take responsibility.
Hela immediately bristled.
“So what, you want Sue to turn herself in? Let herself get captured again?”
“Exactly.”
“You’re really insane, aren’t you?”
“But you’d be going in human form.”
“In human form…?”
“Yes, and you’ll declare.”
The genius wizard and the only human capable of standing against Carmen said,
“Father Payne didn’t fall because of a demon. He’s innocent.”
He simply fell in love and ran away with Sue, a maid serving in Mediale.
“The demon incident at the temple had nothing to do with him.”
“So… you mean I need to take the stand at the trial myself?”
“Yes, exactly.”
Thinking back, what had she felt when she first heard this…?
Surprisingly, she wasn’t afraid. Ashtel had always seen humans as weak, frail, and inferior. She hadn’t changed her mind about that—except for Payne.
But so what?
“Even if you disguise yourself as a human, they might have ways to detect a demon. Isn’t it too risky?”
“It’ll be fine. I’ll stop being a demon, that’s all.”
“What?”
“What are you saying, Sue?”
“Sis Hela, Liz, Chacha.”
Even if she was fragile enough to break with a single blow, wouldn’t live even a hundred years, and was vulnerable to every sickness—
If she could be on equal footing with Payne…
“I can become human.”
Ashtel had made up her mind.
Even if Payne rejected her, she wanted to save him. She wanted to be his strength.
Even if it meant breaking her wings and crashing to earth.
If this was the price for a feeling demons were never meant to have, so be it.
Just as Payne had sensed his own fall as a priest, Ashtel felt her own fall as a demon.
But so what?
“Payne, I’ll turn wherever you fall into paradise.”
She could do anything for him.
* * *
It was unbelievable.
How could a demon become human?
Why not just ask Sermedes for help?
Liz, Chacha, and Hela all tried, in turn, to persuade Ashtel otherwise.
But after talking with Payne, her determination only grew stronger:
“I’ll become human. It’s the only way to save Payne.”
Hela, and the other sisters too, felt their hearts sink and their minds go blank.
Their one and only youngest sister, their beloved Ashtel, was going to become human.
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