A Handsome K*nky Gangster Reporter - Chapter 90

#90

Bella felt utterly desperate as she faced Betty, who was screaming in rage again.

“I’ve always hated her. Even though she’s the same age as me, she acts like she’s the only protagonist in this world! Why can’t I ever be the main character, huh!? If I get rid of her, I—I could take her place. Isn’t that right?”

Tears flowed from Betty’s eyes as she laughed maniacally, her demeanor resembling that of a madwoman. Even though she remained frozen in place, her expression was grotesque, like a bizarre clown.

‘Yeah, that’s right. She was always angry at me too.’

Now a queen, Fionia had also schemed to make Bella’s life difficult when they both trained as witches under Mama Buta. Memories of the past flashed through Bella’s mind. But in the wake of the horrific loss of her daughter, what good was reminiscing?

Bella turned with vacant eyes toward the demon beside her. The demon, still wearing Daniel’s guise, looked at the hapless woman with a mocking gaze.

“So, no wings to give me now? Let’s head up to heaven. Even though the gods will be angry seeing you without any angelic power. You can just pretend to be repentant and stay quiet for a while.”

The demon was thrilled at the thought of the woman he once loved descending to his level.

“… Give me … one more … chance.”

“What?”

“Give me one more chance. Turn back time. This is the last time. Please.”

“If that’s the case, what can you offer me?”

With almost all her angelic power gone, what could she possibly offer the demon?

“Let’s make a bet. If I lose, I’ll give you my soul.”

To turn back her life once more, Bella needed the demon’s power. For her daughter, she was determined to make her life happier this time.

“Ah, your soul is of no value to me. What use is there for such a tame creature? Isn’t there something more corrupted?”

Being an angel’s plaything was such a delight. Though he trembled with hidden ecstasy, he couldn’t openly show his pleasure during this crucial negotiation.

“Then what about this woman?”

Bella pointed to Betty, who was frozen in place. Betty was baffled as Bella suddenly pointed at her and said something strange. But upon reflection, the offer wasn’t so bad if she could get what she wanted.

“Turning back time … Is that possible? Are you both just messing with me? Since the crime scene has been discovered, I’m supposed to suffer before going to prison. Right?”

The demon wearing Daniel’s body smiled at Betty’s words, then revealed his true form. His massive form filled the ceiling and exuded a dark aura. Betty, unable to withstand the terror, closed her eyes tightly.

Demons are beings that feed on human fear to grow larger. They enjoy the chaos of the world like watching an entertaining comedy. Seeing the demon in its terrifying form shocked Betty deeply.

“So? You’ll also have to offer your soul to me. If you do, I’ll turn back time for you.”

The demon’s sweet words slipped gently into Betty’s ear. It was a request, threat, and brainwashing all rolled into one, typically given to ordinary humans. Betty responded as if in a trance.

“Okay! But I also want to live as a noble. I want to live as a lady, or Gloria. And my mother should be very rich. I want to meet her and …”

Before Betty’s wishes could extend further, the demon quickly interrupted her.

“Haha. Alright. Deal accepted.”

The demon blew hot breath over Betty’s head. Betty’s body collapsed limply to the ground.

“What do you want?”

“Huh?”

“Since you’ve been given another chance because of this woman, how do you want to live? We’ve known each other for quite a while. With a fresh soul obtained, I’ll grant you one request.”

The demon, pleased to extend such a significant favor to Bella, though his body trembled in a manner unbecoming of a grand demon, made Bella feel oddly treated like a pet.

However, she wasn’t going to waste the opportunity and favor granted by the demon. Even if the demon might have other hidden agendas, that was a problem for later.

“If time is turned back, I want my daughter’s first life’s memories to be revived.”

“Is that all?”

“Ah, no. One more thing! I want her memories of other lives to be like a novel. Of course, without the part where she dies.”

“Alright.”

“And I want my daughter to recognize Betty. So it’s clear that she’s a threat.”

“Such a chatterbox.”

Continuous favors made it feel like she was being treated like a fool.

The demon snapped his fingers and rewound time. He quickly hid himself and eagerly awaited what would unfold before him. Watching an angel and a witch writhing and collapsing in the end was always exhilarating.

‘Hihihi. No matter how hard you try, your daughter will still live in unhappiness, won’t she?’

A child who completely satisfies their parents is rare. This witch will likely beg for mercy once more before her daughter’s final death. When will they realize they’re worse than hamsters spinning in a wheel?

People who experience miracles tend to ask for another chance as if handing it over to God. Without realizing that God is a demon. Just like that foolish angel.

***

Betty’s request had a big flaw. Even though she wanted to live as Gloria, Betty’s mistake was not specifying which life as Gloria she meant.

When the witch returned to the time when Betty was born as a baby, she left the baby in the care of the villagers and went looking for Betty. More precisely, she was looking for Betty’s birth mother.

“You’re not in a position to raise the child, are you? I can adopt her into a loving, normal family,” the witch said.

Ferronel had been kicked out of her home after suffering abuse from her stepfather and even giving birth. With the newborn baby, Ferronel struggled to find a job and a place willing to take in a young, unmarried mother with no known identity. Occasionally, some kind-hearted people would help her out, but a few weeks later, her stepfather showed up and disrupted her life again.

“I’ve kicked your mother out of the house. Come live with me!”

Her adoptive father was obsessed with Feronel and relentlessly pursued her. Feronel, suffering greatly because of this man, had taken to fleeing to unknown places with her child almost daily. After a few months, a sudden thought struck her:

‘If only this child were gone, I might be free.’

The child, who was half like her and half like the wicked man, was both despised and loved. Though the child hadn’t even been given a name, Feronel couldn’t bring herself to take the child’s life. So, as she was searching for a nearby orphanage, she encountered a woman with red hair.

“If you give me this child, she’ll grow up with three meals a day and a normal life. How about it?”

The stranger’s offer sounded tempting. If she could give the child a normal family, there could be no greater gift.

“Alright.”

With a heavy heart, she looked at the crying child and then turned towards the capital to find work. In her desperation, she handed over the child to a stranger without a second thought. She later regretted not naming the child, but it was something she couldn’t avoid.

The witch handed the child over to a troubled couple, much like her own daughter’s second chapter in life. At that time, she felt as if she was letting an unwanted child endure hardship.

“Name her Gloria. If you raise her as your own, I’ll give you a large sum of money.”

The child, who was originally destined to live with the name Betty, was given to the man who would move into the house next door in the future. She gave her daughter a new name, Hailey. Names weren’t that important. This time, she wanted to raise her daughter with more freedom, away from the restrictive life of a noble.

Meanwhile, Bella rescued Claude, a child involved in a carriage accident, as a sort of insurance for her daughter. Although she tried to move before Gloria’s family arrived in the village, it was too difficult to go far with Claude, who was physically and emotionally ill.

The demon kept his promise faithfully. However, he warned the witch not to give any hints about the future to her daughter.

One day, Hailey confronted Gloria and prevented her from meeting Baron Stephan. According to the agreement, the demon was to have Betty live Gloria’s life. Since Betty was a commoner, the only way for her to live as a noble was through marriage. Thus, the demon obstructed Gloria’s path to the lake where she was heading for her date.

That evening, the witch warned her daughter with a false threat that if she interfered with Gloria’s life, the world would fall apart. Later, when Gloria was imprisoned and poisoned, the demon, enraged, caused a flood in the southern region.

The mark on Gloria’s head was a kind of warning sign for Hailey. The content of the warning wasn’t that important.

This time, her daughter also formed a friendship with Gloria, the girl next door. To Bella, this was a dangerously precarious moment. However, because the demon was watching closely, she couldn’t prevent her daughter from proceeding.

“Ugh! Hey, you! You’re the woman who handed over the child to me, right?”

One day, a heavily drunk man from the neighboring house confronted Bella.

“If it weren’t for you, we’d be living happily. If you hadn’t given that money back then, we wouldn’t be in this mess!”

The man shamelessly blamed all his gambling problems and his wife’s death on Bella.

“If you’re not going to return that money, why don’t you just forget about it and live quietly? Or should I report you to the police for killing your wife?”

Bella used a cunning method to knock the man out. After that, the frightened man never spoke of the past again. Gloria’s adoptive father fled far away, leaving everything behind. Some time later, his empty house was taken over by his legitimate daughter, Brie.

***

Madame Ferronel, who runs ‘P&P Couture,’ was considering temporarily closing her shop due to an overwhelming number of orders. The influx of customers had become too much to handle. The surge in interest was partly due to the popularity of her new book, ‘Ferronel Designs,’ but the main factor was the palace’s official announcement of a ball to find a new princess consort.

A noblewoman in a bright yellow dress walked into the boutique, only to be taken aback by the nearly empty store with no dresses on display. The shop seemed to be on the brink of closing.

“Are the clothes here really popular among the capital’s nobles? But why are there no dresses in the store at all?”

The noblewoman, who seemed to have just come from the countryside, looked around, doubting if this was really ‘P&P Couture.’ She went outside and then came back in. Madame Ferronel approached her directly and explained the current situation.

“Ah, dear customer, I’m sorry, but we’ve had such a rush that all our dresses have sold out. For now, our custom orders are also fully booked, so we’re unable to take on new customers. I apologize for the inconvenience.”