I’m Trying to End This Possession - Chapter 144
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 144
He had clearly insisted stubbornly that he wouldn’t attend the trial, and yet.
‘Attending as Danae Windsor’s witness?’
Alice’s appearance left the surroundings wrapped in shocking silence. Receiving everyone’s surprised gazes, Alice approached Dana’s side.
Alice standing next to Dana.
Dana next to Alice.
The moment Lyos took in that sight, his mind snapped to attention as if he’d been doused with ice water.
“Alice Windsor, come here this instant!”
Lyos spat out in a low, threatening voice.
“I told you to come over here right now!”
At that, Alice flinched and trembled. As if frightened, she pressed close to Dana’s side.
Dana found it detestable but protested calmly.
“Do not threaten my witness, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“The Duke Windsor’s daughter speaks correctly. Please calm yourself.”
When even the Pope stepped forward to say a word, Lyos ground his teeth. His instantly bloodshot eyes glared piercingly at Alice.
“Wh-what the witnesses said, it’s all true.”
However, Alice asserted resolutely.
“Eight nights ago. I spent my wedding night with Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
At that, as if he could no longer endure it, Lyos shouted furiously.
“Alice Windsor!”
“Your Highness the Crown Prince. Let the witness speak.”
When an opportunity arose to take Dana’s side, the Pope didn’t hesitate.
The Pope cast an encouraging gaze at Alice as if telling her to continue. Alice took a deep breath.
“I was embraced by Your Highness that night, and I gave my purity to Your Highness… That’s everything.”
Then, Cardinal Theo, who had been silently watching, sharply furrowed his brow.
“How strange.”
“Pardon?”
“Losing one’s purity before marriage would be a flaw rather than something to boast about for a lady. What is your reason for becoming a witness even while creating enmity with His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“P-pardon me?”
At the pointed question, Alice stammered in confusion.
Cardinal Theo shot back with suspicious eyes.
“Perhaps you stand to gain if this broken engagement comes to pass? Are you committing perjury for that reason?”
At those words, the Cardinals beside him cried out in shock.
“Cardinal Theo! How presumptuous!”
“Please choose your words carefully!”
The Pope also threw out a word with a displeased expression.
“Cardinal Theo, please be careful with your words and actions. Lady Alice Windsor is a noble daughter who knows honor.”
“But Your Holiness, isn’t it rather suspicious?”
Cardinal Theo pursued sharply instead of backing down obediently this time.
“This is not something a noble daughter who knows honor would do, is it not? To confidently testify before several men that she lost her purity before marriage.”
Then he sent a condemning look.
“If she knew shame, she couldn’t do such a thing.”
Alice’s face turned bright red with a flush. Tears quickly welled up around her eyes. Thick tears rolled down her cheeks with a drip, drip.
“That’s, that’s too much.”
Dana, watching from the side, held back a sigh.
As expected, she really was a child who cried so easily.
“How, how can you say such cruel words.”
However, Dana waited calmly and quietly. She had no intention of interfering.
“I, I had no choice.”
There was no need to help Alice, no need to add words.
Because they were almost there now.
“I, I had no choice! I, I didn’t want to do this kind of thing either, but.”
Really, really almost there.
“I, I am. I am.”
Ah, yes.
Now is the time.
“I’m with child!”
The next moment, finally bursting into wailing tears, Alice dropped her bombshell.
“I’m pregnant!”
“…!”
Clack!
The wooden gavel that fell from the Chief Justice’s hand rolled across the marble floor.
Not only Cardinal Theo and the Pope, but even Lyos stared blankly at Alice with his mouth agape.
“I, I had to protect my child!”
Alice cried out with a pale, ashen face while embracing her belly.
“If, if Your Highness doesn’t acknowledge it, whose child will this be? I, I am a mother. As this child’s mother, I only want to secure this child’s rights!”
Afterward, Alice’s delicate sobbing echoed mournfully throughout the Grand Chapel.
How long did that shocked silence flow?
“…If it’s acceptable.”
Finally, the Pope, who had been in a daze, cautiously stepped forward.
“May I verify with Holy Magic?”
“V-verify?”
Alice sniffled.
“Yes.”
The Pope showed a very apologetic smile and cautiously suggested.
“Since the matter is grave, it would be best to verify it clearly. Please allow me to confirm with Holy Magic.”
Alice seemed to be contemplating for a moment.
Holy Magic was what the Ramun Religious Order called their shamanism in an elevated manner. And the Pope was a high-ranking Holy Magic practitioner.
In that case.
“Can Your Holiness confirm that my child is of imperial blood?”
“That is correct.”
At those words, Alice steeled her resolve.
“A-alright. What do I need to do?”
“Just provide a single drop of blood.”
The Pope also approached Lyos, who was completely frozen.
“Will Your Highness the Crown Prince also cooperate?”
“…Very well.”
He spoke stiffly.
Shortly after, a servant brought a silver needle and silver tray.
The Pope collected one drop of blood from Alice’s thumb, and one drop of blood from Lyos’s thumb, dropping them onto the silver plate.
Then he chanted an incantation in an incomprehensible ancient language.
After a moment, pure white light burst forth from the silver plate. The Pope narrowed his brow and stared intently at that light.
How long did he examine the silver plate like that?
“This cannot be!”
As if surprised, the Pope let out a low exclamation.
Had the results come out?
Curious, Cardinal Liber, who had been watching from behind, urged him on.
“Your Holiness. How is it? Have the results come out?”
The Pope looked at Alice intently with a stern face.
“Yes.”
Then he turned his gaze to Lyos and stared at him.
“The results have come out.”
The Pope looked at Lyos with disappointed eyes and declared firmly.
“Lady Alice Windsor is carrying an imperial heir!”
A heavier silence than ever before descended.
The Grand Chapel became frighteningly quiet.
All that could be heard was Lyos’s rough breathing and the sound of Alice wiping away her tears.
“That can’t be.”
After a moment, Lyos spat out menacingly.
“You’re lying. Your Holiness. That can’t be!”
“Accept it now. Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
The Pope shouted as if scolding a foolish boy.
“In Alice Windsor’s womb is an imperial heir of Grants blessed by the Sun God Ramun!”
“No. I can’t believe it!”
“Then Your Highness the Crown Prince should personally arrange for another holy mage to confirm it! They will surely reach the same conclusion as I have!”
The Pope declared firmly.
“I swear by the Sun God Ramun, I have not spoken falsely! If this is a lie, I will immediately remove my clerical robes!”
At those words, Lyos trembled like someone who had been whipped on the back.
He finally realized.
That the Pope was not lying now. That he was speaking the truth.
But he stubbornly denied it.
“No, that can’t be. That can’t be.”
Then Alice, unable to bear it any longer, burst into tears like a child.
“Waaah. Your Highness. Please stop! How can you do this to me!”
Now Alice’s eyes held even anger and resentment.
“You’re too much, Your Highness. I really hate you!”
“…”
“I hate you, I hate you!”
Were those words shocking?
As if slapped, Lyos stared at her blankly.
His complexion gradually turned deathly pale.
Dana noticed that Lyos had stopped breathing.
‘Why is he acting like that?’
The frozen Lyos fumbled in his chest pocket with his hand, then soon pulled out a silver cigar case. Before long, with trembling fingertips, he picked up a cigar and put it in his mouth.
“Your Highness! What are you doing right now!”
Cardinal Felix was startled and tried to stop him.
“This is the Grand Chapel, and Your Highness is currently undergoing divine judgment! How can you irreverently try to smoke!”
Then Lyos gasped and trembled his lips.
“Just one puff, just let me smoke one puff…”
“You cannot! This is an act that insults God!”
Dana frowned at Lyos’s completely hoarse voice. An instinctive revulsion washed over her.
She had never seen him like this before.
Such a weak voice, terrified by deep, deep fear…
‘Why is he acting so pathetic?’
She really hated seeing Lyos’s face like that.
His arrogant and cocky appearance would be better!
“Your Holiness. Please render your judgment.”
So Dana deliberately said something more provocative to him.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, the trial will end soon, so smoke your cigar to your heart’s content after that.”
Then Lyos’s trembling eyes turned toward her. Uncomfortable with his gaze like a beast just before slaughter, Dana averted her eyes.
‘I really hate it. You bastard.’
You son of a bitch. Don’t show me such a weak side…
“I will receive Soul Judgment.”
“…”
What?
Dana looked at him again in surprise.
Lyos had already put down his cigar and muttered like someone who had lost his mind.
“Your Holiness. Please render Soul Judgment upon me with holy magic.”
“Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
Soul Judgment.
At those words, the Pope was horrified and shook his head.
“What do you mean, Soul Judgment!”
“That cannot be, Your Highness!”
“Please calm down!”
Even the Cardinals tried to dissuade him. Then Alice asked from beside them in a puzzled voice.
“Wh-what is Soul Judgment, Sister?”
“…Long ago, when the persecution of heretics was extreme, it was holy magic used to catch heretics and demon worshippers.”
Ah, my head hurts.
Dana held her throbbing head and said.
“In other words, it’s holy magic that discerns the truth. It can determine whether someone is lying or telling the truth.”
Then Alice flinched as if startled.
Dana sensed it.
What’s with her, right now…
“Soul Judgment is not ordinary holy magic. If one lies, their soul will be annihilated!”
But soon the Pope’s shouting disrupted Dana’s concentration.
“It’s holy magic so excessively cruel that it’s not even used when interrogating the most vicious criminals, so how dare we use it on Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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