Chapter 105: Chapter 105: Face To Face

"Let's go talk somewhere else!" Bella said in one quick sentence before flapping her wings and lifting Aengus into the sky.

Bella's heart was far from calm. If she hadn't been there at the right time, she wouldn't have believed that Aengus had reached Elder Demon rank in such a short period of time. It was unbelievable. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes she would have never believed it.

It had taken her years of hard work to achieve what he had done so quickly. She had a growing sense of foreboding that Aengus was slipping out of her control, and she wanted to test him.

Her subordinates didn't follow after receiving her instructions to leave them alone.

Aengus could feel Bella's inner turmoil as she held him tightly against her chest, but he remained silent.

He realized this might be the moment to clarify everything between them once and for all.

When they landed, Bella's gaze locked onto his, and a flicker of anxiety crossed her face. She noticed the absence of the respect and flattery he used to show her, a stark contrast to their previous interactions.

"I never imagined you could become this powerful in just a week, Aengus," she said, her voice steady, calling him by his name. The familiarity signaled that she was being serious this time.

Her piercing purple eyes bore into his as she continued, "Why don't you call me Mistress anymore? Why can't I see the obedience you once had? Or was it all just a facade—some fake persona you used to wear?" She searched his gaze, as though hoping to uncover the secrets he had been hiding.

The tension between them thickened, the weight of unspoken truths hanging in the air.

Aengus's silence confirmed her suspicions, and her heart panicked for a moment.

She quickly calmed herself and used one of her abilities to activate the Hex poison she had secretly placed in his body. The poison, made from her own blood, was meant to enslave him under her control.

"Why isn't it working?" Her beautiful brows furrowed in frustration.

"No. I can't accept this, Aengus. After so many years, I finally found hope, and I'm not going to let you go just like that," she said, almost in desperation, her eyes slightly teary.

Aengus was confused by the sudden emotional outburst of the Succubus woman.

In hurried motion, Bella took out a leather collar made of unknown components.

"Love?" Aengus paused for a moment, then spoke coldly. "That wasn't love. You were just trying to enchant me."

"Paah!" Bella slapped him hard again, sending him stumbling sideways.

"B-Bastard! You're not just ungrateful—you're an emotionless creature as well! Do you think I would kiss someone just to enchant them? Do I seem like a whore to you?

I'm not like my other sisters, Aengus!" Bella shouted in frustration, her chest rising and falling with her breath.

Aengus, holding his cheek, asked, "Why would you fall in love just after meeting me? And if you did, why would you try to enslave me? It doesn't make sense." He seemed genuinely confused, momentarily forgetting that he had just been slapped twice..

Bella's face flushed with both anger and frustration. Her emotions, which she usually kept tightly controlled, were unraveling in front of Aengus, the one person she thought she could easily manipulate.

"You think everything is so simple, Aengus?" Bella shot back, her purple eyes flashing dangerously. "You don't understand anything about me or why I did what I did. Yes, I tried to control you. Yes, I used my power to bind you, but it wasn't just for my own gain!" She paused, her voice breaking slightly, as if the weight of her feelings was too much to bear. "I was... afraid.

Afraid of losing you to the world, just like my mother.."

He wasn't expecting such raw emotion from someone like Bella, who had always appeared calculating and powerful. "Afraid? You're one of the most powerful beings I've ever met. What could you possibly be afraid of?"

Bella's fists clenched as she turned her back to him, trying to regain her composure. "Just like how I lost my mother, I was afraid of losing you too."

"She left me alone here when I was just a child, going to the human lands, and I never heard from her again."

"I can't really blame her. If I were in her shoes, I might have done the same. She was forced by her illustrious family—and, more importantly, by the demon lords who opposed my parents' relationship for their own selfish reasons.

My father and mother had no choice but to end their relationship to protect a half-breed child like me." She spoke as though she were letting out years of pent-up frustration.

"From that moment on, I vowed to overthrow their rules. But no matter what I did, it always fell short because of their power and influence."

"I'm still helpless against them. But when I saw you, Aengus, I saw hope. You're also a half-breed like me, and our goals are the same."

She turned to face him, looking into his dark eyes. "Now, tell me, what did I do wrong?" she asked, her voice firm, still standing by her principles to the very end.