I’m Trying to End This Possession - Chapter 348

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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 348

* * *

That night, the festival was in full swing.

Dana sat with Diane and Karl by the fountain in the plaza, drinking while watching people dance. Karl, who was very weak with alcohol, held a teacup instead of a wine glass.

“So, where are you two going now?”

Diane, completely drunk, asked while hiccupping.

“Will you keep heading north?”

No. We’re going to the Sanctuary now.

However, instead of speaking, Dana smiled like a painting. How did she interpret that? Diane suggested.

“Go to the Southern Continent. The Southern Continent is the best for lovers’ elopement.”

“Pardon?”

“You two are eloping for love, aren’t you?”

Then Karl shook his head.

“It’s not like that.”

“What do you mean it’s not? Who do you think you’re fooling?”

Diane spoke with slight irritation and poured absinthe into her glass. The clear green liquid swirled.

“I live in the Northern Region so I know well, northern people really hate western people. If they find out you’re from the Western Continent, you might have problems, so go to the Southern Continent. It’s safe there.”

Gulp, gulp, Diane downed the glass filled with absinthe in one go.

No, drinking absinthe like beer… Dana asked inwardly shocked.

“Do you know the Southern Continent well?”

“Yes. I’ve lived there before.”

Diane said casually.

“There’s also the Church of Diana in the Southern Continent, right? Rodrigo once sent me there to spread radical doctrine to the southern Church of Diana.”

Perhaps thinking of that time made her stomach burn, as Diane began filling her glass with absinthe again and drinking.

“The result was, naturally, failure. That man’s radical doctrine is hard for the masses to accept. Orgiastic rituals, human sacrifice – the people of the Southern Continent have higher moral standards than here, so their rejection was severe.”

Having said that, Diane poured absinthe into another glass and thrust it right in front of Karl’s nose.

“Don’t be like that and just try one drink, Karl.”

“I’ll pass.”

Karl gently pushed the wine glass away. As if she knew he would refuse, Diane shrugged and continued speaking.

“Well, anyway, I still made an effort because of Rodrigo’s orders, but I failed. In the end, Viego Windsor took over the Church of Diana in the Southern Continent too.”

“Viego did?”

“Didn’t you know? While Viego was importing moonlight flowers from the south, he seems to have built solid connections there. Plus, the moderate doctrine that Viego advocates would be popular with the younger generation.”

Moonlight flowers…

At the name of the flower she hadn’t heard in a long time, Dana glanced at Karl.

Come to think of it, moonlight flowers were the beginning.

By crashing the price of those flowers, Dana had led Karl to ruin.

‘By now he must know everything I did.’

Even if he didn’t know at the time.

Now he would have realized that Dana had deliberately cornered him. That everything she had done since then was to destroy him.

She was curious about his inner thoughts, but Karl was just drinking tea with an utterly peaceful expression. It was a face that had already completely forgotten about Dana’s past betrayals.

That’s when Dana realized.

‘Come to think of it, this person has never actually acted to harm me.’

He might have had plans in his head.

But Karl Windsor had never once caused her actual harm.

On the other hand, she had trapped Karl multiple times, driven him to bankruptcy, urged divorce, pushed him out of the deputy family head position, and even cut off his finger…

Perhaps because she now knew Karl physically better than before, Dana was now curious about his heart too.

Aren’t you displeased now that you must know I deliberately ruined you? Weren’t you angry when I cut off your finger?

I’ve hit you in the back of the head and betrayed you countless times, do you really not hate me even a little, and can you still trust me despite that, and even so, do you still…

‘Do you still…’

Dana blinked.

Come to think of it, how does that person think of me? We’ve never talked about such things even once.

“Anyway, there were many people who believed in Diana, the Moon God, in the Southern Continent too, but it wasn’t established as a proper religious order. There are so many religions in the Southern Continent.”

Diane spoke passionately with a reddened face as the alcohol took effect.

“Southern people like to worship anything, so they attach gods to everything. God of sand, god of earth, god of stone, they even divide night by seasons and worship gods for each? God of spring nights, god of summer nights, god of autumn nights, god of winter nights…”

Then she let out a laugh as if it was ridiculous.

“To me it looks like one god, but people have subdivided and multiplied it into several gods.”

It was an interesting story.

The Southern Continent. Even though she had lived here quite a long time, she had never been there.

Diane poured another glass of absinthe and laughed.

“Anyway, there are so many religions in the south that no religion has particularly strong influence. The Church of Diana was the most popular and mainstream. In the Southern Continent, the Moon God is called the god of purity and passion, god of love, and jokingly, the god of hot nights. Young lovers would like that, right?”

“Diane, drink in moderation… That’s not beer, it’s absinthe.”

“On the other hand, the Church of Ramun isn’t popular. There, Ramun is called the god of abstinence, god of punishment, god of suffering. And this is malicious, but some people mockingly call him the god of impotence.”

“Pfft!”

Dana almost spat out her drink. She coughed repeatedly, choking. Diane continued speaking calmly.

“What I realized is… what name you attach to something, and how you interpret and accept it, all of that is entirely up to humans. Like people who arbitrarily judge you as either a saint or witch, Dana.”

That’s when it happened.

Plop, patter, raindrops began falling on the ground.

The people preparing the burning ceremony in the middle of the plaza, the people dancing and playing, everyone made long faces and complained irritably.

“Hey.”

Ignis, who had been playing cards with the villagers of Shalom, also approached while shaking off the rain.

“It’s raining, are you going to keep drinking here?”

“We’ll just get a little wet, so what.”

Diane giggled and offered absinthe to Ignis. Ignis downed it in one gulp then stuck out his tongue, going “Ugh.”

“What is this drink? It looks pretty but why is it so harsh?”

“It’s a drink called absinthe, and it’s extremely strong. You can only drink it properly by dissolving sugar in it, but Diane has been drinking it straight like water this whole time. Try to stop her…”

Dana added as if tattling. Ignis looked at the absinthe suspiciously then offered it to Karl.

“Do you want to try it too, brother? This is no joke.”

“I’m fine.”

Karl shook his head and refused this time too.

Then Diane snatched that glass and downed it all at once again. Dana was starting to think of Diane as a monster.

“Anyway. Do you know what my conclusion is? Diana might actually not be the Moon God, but a sect derived from lust among the Seven-Headed Serpent. In the end, the two might really be the same being.”

Then Noct, who had been dancing and playing in the plaza, hurried over.

“Sister Diane. The rain seems like it’ll get stronger, so let’s go back now. The burning ceremony has been cancelled.”

“I don’t think of the Seven-Headed Serpent as a demon. The humans who abuse that power and corrupt it are the demons. Bastards like Rodrigo, those kinds of bastards are demons…”

Thud.

Diane leaned her head against Dana’s shoulder. Completely drunk, she muttered vacantly.

“Karl Windsor, you bastard. I loved you to death… You bad bastard… Live well and eat well with Dana… Huhuuung.”

“What a sight. What is she going to do tomorrow acting like this.”

Ignis looked at Diane with eyes mixed with sympathy and contempt. Dana looked at Karl with some surprise.

Karl had a calm expression.

“We should go in and rest now.”

Everyone nodded and agreed to that suggestion.

The rain continued pouring without stopping.

* * *

And at dawn, when everyone was fast asleep.

Dana quietly opened her eyes.

She slowly sat up and looked down below.

Diane and Dana were on the bed, while Noct, Ignis, and Karl were sleeping on the floor covered with blankets.

‘They must be sleeping deeply by now, right?’

She hoped so. Because.

‘I need to go to that place.’

Actually, all day long, her mind had been filled with thoughts of that place. The sheep ranch said to be in the upper mountain valley.

She had to go there.

‘I need to visit that place before we leave tomorrow.’

She and Karl had agreed to leave this place tomorrow.

So, now was the only time.

Dana carefully tiptoed over to Ignis. She crouched down beside him and gently tapped his cheek.

Ignis opened his eyes wide in surprise.

Dana immediately placed her finger over her lips. As if telling him to be quiet.

‘Just for a moment, outside.’

After mouthing the words, she quietly slipped out of the cabin.

Fortunately, the rain had almost stopped.

“What is it.”

A moment later, Ignis followed her out with a very guarded expression.

“I’m sorry for suddenly waking you.”

“What is it. Why at this hour.”

“There’s a place I’d like to visit briefly, could you possibly come with me?”

“What?”

“It’s not far, it’s the mountain village above here. I only have time now, but going alone at night seems… it might be dangerous.”

“Why there.”

“There’s something I want to look into briefly.”

Dana said carefully.

“I’m sorry for the sudden request. But you’re the only person I can ask, Ignis. I don’t want to tell Uncle Karl.”

Ignis looked very reluctant. Having no choice, Dana spoke honestly.

“If you refuse, Ignis, I’ll have no choice but to go alone.”

Ignis looked toward the cabin as if something was bothering him, then said very quietly.

“It’s a secret from my brother.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Karl had fallen into an unusually deep sleep due to smelling alcohol up close.

He was having a dream.

It was from over ten years ago.

In the dream, he could smell the lower village burning. He could also hear the constant gunfire and people’s screams.

The sanctuary where Danawin Windsor and Viego Windsor had been hiding was being destroyed and demolished.

Karl Windsor listened to it all like a tedious musical performance, took out a cigar from a silver case and lit it. Then he said indifferently.

“I’ll finish smoking this and then chase after you…”

Saying that, he looked straight into that woman’s – Danawin’s – eyes.

The eyes of the woman who was looking at him like a monster, paralyzed with deep terror.

Gazing quietly, he declared.

“When I catch you, I’ll kill that thing.”

At that moment, Karl Windsor clearly witnessed the humiliation and anger that crossed his nephew Viego’s face, who still hadn’t shed his boyish appearance.

It was a grudge that would be deeply carved into a man’s lifetime.

It was understandable.

Right now he had shot an arrow. That arrow was piercing through that beloved lover and destroying their private paradise.

Someday this arrow might return to me. He had a faint premonition.

“Uncle Karl.”

His nephew calmly spoke words of curse.

It was a voice sharp with determination to never forget today’s humiliation.

“The day will come when you’ll regret today.”

Finding it amusing, Karl smiled faintly.

“How ridiculous. Why would I have regrets?”

The next moment, Karl Windsor woke up from the nightmare.

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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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