Mysterious Presence

"Which one would you like to hear first? The good news or the bad news?"

Kalliope became speechless. They were already in this predicament right now and this demon still asked such a stupid question? It wouldn't matter where to start. Kalliope became frustrated as she glared menacingly at him.

"Will choosing either be any different? Just out with it! Tell me, what happened?" she glowered, watching him like a hawk.

The demon shrugged. He decided to summarize both news and deliver them together. He didn't really want to surprise His Lady since her condition in the new body seemed unstable. But, Kalliope was deeply agitated as she was. So, he relented.

With a sigh, he said, "We did successfully transfer ourselves to Earth. But, it seems that only your soul is able to travel through the portal and not your physical body."

Kalliope was relieved when she had listened to the first half of his explanation. As she had expected, the information on the ancient scroll was true and there was nothing wrong with her calculation. However, as soon as she heard the second half, her body stiffened.

She subconsciously touched her cheek. It felt very warm unlike what she had felt just now within the portal. She was indeed alive. This was not a dream.

"I felt it not long after we dove into the portal," he continued, "There was a disturbance in your soul like something was trying to rip it out of your body . You felt it too, didn't you?"

When he mentioned it again, Kalliope did remember feeling queasy before she felt herself getting breathless. After that, everything went awry as her condition got worse. She knitted her eyebrows.

"You told me to fight back."

The demon nodded. His expression turned solemn as he pointed out, "My Lady, I sensed a presence at that time. I'm not sure what or who they were, but I know they are more than we can handle."

Kalliope knitted her brows. She was a bit skeptical at this fact, or maybe she just wanted it to be untrue since if it was the case, then she might be in trouble because Kalliope was suddenly reminded of that enchanting voice. They had spoken to her just before her consciousness slipped away..

'Don't worry. You won't die. I will keep you safe until your return.'

Although Kalliope didn't detect any malice from them, this unknown factor still made her especially wary. Besides, what did they mean by those words?

One thing was certain though, it seemed they had saved her. To be totally honest, Kalliope also didn't know the complete information of Crystal Lake and Glass Flower since some portions of the text had faded due to its age. So, arriving safely on Earth could be due to them.

But, even then, it raised one important question. Why did they do that? After all, there was no free meal. Kalliope didn't believe for a second that it was a generous act on their part. There was no such thing as a saint!

"How do you come to that conclusion?" Kalliope asked.

"Well, first of all, they easily found my existence in you even though I tried to conceal my presence the moment I felt their oppressive might. After that, they clouded my sight, rendering me completely powerless. Nothing I did was able to free me from their bind."

Kalliope nodded in silence as she contemplated the whole thing. However, the most crucial thing right now was her current situation. Where is she and who did she possess? What happened to the original host, Lady Alice?

The demon seemed to be able to guess His Lady's thoughts as he spoke, "My Lady, if you can easily enter Lady Alice's body such as presently, that can only mean one thing."

Kalliope arched her brow as she gestured her chin for him to go on.

"The original host is already dead."

She lowered her eyes. As she had expected from the start. She didn't feel anything weird beside feeling slightly weak. But, that was not strange since based on the two people's conversation just now, she was suffering from a fever. If there had been another soul in this body, then she would have felt them fighting back.

"My Lady." The demon solemnly called upon her. Kalliope looked at him once again with a questioning gaze. He then proceeded to tell her, "I have to warn you that this body is incompatible with your soul."

Kalliope's expression froze slightly. She frowned.

"This vessel is too weak to contain your powerful soul. Perhaps you have noticed it as well, but there's not a single speck of mana flowing in this body. In fact, I can't even sense her mana core."

"She doesn't have one," Kalliope responded. She didn't really notice it at first since her concern had been on something else, until the demon had mentioned it.

The demon appeared worried upon this situation. "My Lady might not feel anything weird at the moment but the symptoms will arrive soon."

Kalliope felt a headache coming from all of this. Not to mention she didn't know a single thing about this girl, Alice. She was perfectly aware that she needed to put up a pretense right now.

All of the sudden, amid the silence, her lips curled in disdain. "Heh...ain't this fabulous? I trespassed to Earth solely to get my revenge and yet, got stuck in a dead girl's body that could not be any weaker than an ant."

Both the demon and Kalliope stared at each other in knowing gaze. Everything felt too much like a coincidence which made it suspicious. Besides, there was the thing with the mysterious presence in the portal. Then, she somehow possessed this body that made her unable to utilize her full magic.

However, they had yet to come up with a conclusion, when the door was suddenly opened. The demon swiftly concealed himself.

A young girl about Alice's age wearing a beautiful light-colored gown with elegant lace immediately rushed to hug Alice upon entering the room. "Cousin, thank God you're awake! Do you know how worried we are?"

The girl looked at Kalliope with large beads of tears falling down her cheeks. She looked absolutely lovely and pure like a blossoming lily in Spring. However, towards such a lovely sight, Kalliope only felt deeply irked. She felt disgusted by this stranger's touch.

Then, in the next moment, she felt herself shaking and all the hairs on her body stood up in goosebumps. Kalliope frowned in confusion. 'What's wrong with me?'

But, the demon's voice rang in her head. [My Lady, it's not you. I believe this reaction belongs to Alice.]

"Cousin, what's wrong? Why are you silent? Do you still feel unwell?" The young girl caressed Kalliope's cheeks and the goosebumps became worse. She was about to slap the girl's hand away when the doctor spoke from behind.

"Lady Ophelia, your cousin still suffers from a fever. But, her condition is stable now."

But, Ophelia didn't look pleased as she turned around to ask sternly, "Then, why do you request Uncle to bring a priest? You scared us!"

That was when Kalliope noticed the other three people by the door. One of them was dressed in a white robe with gold lining and a zucchetto on his head. A benign smile was plastered on his kind face.

Kalliope raised an eyebrow. In all her life, this was the first time she met a priest. But, suddenly, she heard the demon muttering.

[Something... is familiar about that priest.]