My Body Has Been Possessed By Someone - Chapter 104

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 104
“What in the world are you talking about!”
That’s right!
Rachel finally felt the tension ease. Count Jerome, who had been watching with visible displeasure, suddenly shot to his feet!
“What nonsense is this, Duchess? The madness won’t stop unless we perform a purification ritual!”
“That’s exactly why I’m asking.”
Kanna Adis gently cut off Count Jerome’s words.
“If anyone has experienced madness within the last few days, step forward.”
“….”
“That’s what I asked.”
But the villagers remained silent.
Not a single soul answered Kanna Adis. Their silence was as good as an admission.
“One more question. Has anyone eaten rye recently?”
Of course not.
I asked knowing full well the answer.
I had distributed trout and various other seafood delicacies—expensive ingredients—to every household in the village.
Why would anyone seek out tedious rye when they could taste such exquisite fare, delicacies that only a lord could have afforded before?
‘So, absurd as it sounds, they’ll have no choice but to believe it.’
I steadied my breath and spoke the truth that would send shockwaves through them all.
“The madness afflicting this village stems from rye.”
“….”
Silence fell.
Even those who had shown me goodwill now harbored doubt in their eyes.
“Hahahaha! Did you all hear that?”
That’s when Count Jerome burst into open mockery.
“The madness comes from rye? Miss, Lord, did you hear? How much longer must we endure this nonsense?”
At this very moment, the escort knight who had been at Kanna Adis’s side was absent. That’s why he dared speak so freely.
“Remove her at once, Miss! She’s deceiving the villagers with false words!”
That’s when it happened.
“P-please don’t say such things!”
Someone from the crowd found the courage to shout.
“Th-thanks to the Duchess sharing food with us, I tasted precious trout for the first time in my life! She’s a good person!”
“Yes, that’s right! Thanks to her, we’ve escaped that tedious rye, and you speak so harshly!”
“Don’t treat her that way!”
As voices erupted one after another, Count Jerome’s jaw fell open. This was a reaction he never could have anticipated.
‘What is this?’
Rachel too stared blankly down from the platform below.
“She’s a g-good person!”
“Yes! L-let’s hear more of what she has to say!”
Multiple villagers, their voices trembling yet their eyes unwavering and resolute, stepped forward to support Kanna Adis.
The villagers. The people she had protected!
‘This is absurd.’
Rachel’s fingertips trembled uncontrollably.
They were defending Kanna Adis over her, the saint of this village? They were listening to Kanna Adis’s claims?
‘How much have I contributed to this village all this time!’
Betrayal clawed at her chest savagely. Scorching rage flooded over reason like a torrent.
Yes, that woman is indeed a Black Apostle. That’s why she seduced the people with her filthy tongue.
Hadn’t she attempted the same with her? She had corrupted these ignorant villagers by tempting them with food and spreading evil!
Rachel glared at Kanna Adis.
From the beginning, something had felt ominous about her—no, she had reeked of dark magic from the start. The dark magic radiating from her now felt suffocating.
“Count Jerome, seize the Duchess of Valentino!”
Whether by divine providence or fortune, her escort knight was not present here.
In this moment, with no one to protect her.
This was the only opportunity to purify the village of its corruption!
“The Black Apostle is the Duchess of Valentino!”
Her command struck like lightning. That voice reached Kanna Adis, reached the villagers. And then.
“What?”
An unfamiliar voice sounded in that instant.
Rachel turned her head. Their eyes met.
“What did you just say?”
A man with crimson hair. When her gaze met his green eyes, Orsini came to mind—but it wasn’t him.
This man possessed far more delicate features.
‘Could it be that person…?’
The man, Kalen Adis, glared at her.
“I asked what you were spouting just now.”
* * *
Kanna Adis had departed for Paeylon Island upon receiving the Emperor’s orders. Kalen left the moment he heard the news.
It was an island already planned as his next destination anyway.
The Black Mist had appeared, and hadn’t Orsini gone missing? It was where he would go once he finished his business in Venice.
Though at least after resting for a day or so.
However, Kalen didn’t even dismount from his horse to step inside the house. He simply couldn’t.
‘My sister is on that dangerous island.’
Fragile Kanna Adis had been thrown into such a perilous place. Not merely because of the Black Mist.
What kind of island was Paeylon Island?
Insular and hostile toward Imperial citizens. Kalen knew all too well that barbaric acts occurred there without hesitation.
Kanna Adis was in such a dangerous place.
‘I’m going mad.’
Kalen couldn’t sleep the entire voyage to the island. Anxiety kept sleep at bay.
‘What if something happens to my sister?’
She has only me, and I’m the one who must protect her.
But right now, he was not by Kanna Adis’s side.
He couldn’t protect her no matter what happened to her.
What if she was being beaten by someone again, like before?
What if she was cut by a blade? What if she was pushed into the Pond and drowned…?
The mere thought made his fingertips tremble. Yet all Kalen could do was urge the captain to go faster.
“Can’t you go any faster?”
Splash!
A violent wave crashed against the ship. The vessel tilted sharply, and wooden crates slid across the deck, slamming against the railings.
“Aaaahhh!”
“Everyone be careful! Hold onto the ropes!”
The sailors screamed, but Kalen remained resolute.
“The wind is actually helping us. Increase speed.”
“Lord Kalen! This is a day when the ship shouldn’t even be sailing! Isn’t the downpour severe!”
“Downpour? You’re being overly dramatic. This is barely a drizzle.”
Kalen ignored the captain’s desperate pleas.
“We’re capsizing! The ship is capsizing!”
“Drop the anchor immediately!”
“Pull the ropes!”
While the sailors rushed frantically across the deck, Kalen stood firm at the bow, gazing into the distance.
‘Sister Kanna, are you safe?’
Behind him, chaos and danger unfolded, yet his eyes held a distant, melancholic gaze.
He had done well to assign an escort. Claude Azel was a knight Kalen acknowledged, and among the Adis Knights—the finest on the Western Continent—he ranked within the top five.
If Claude hadn’t accompanied her, Kalen would have been swimming across the sea by now.
‘Claude Azel, I trust only you.’
* * *
When they arrived at the Island, the downpour ceased and the storm clouds vanished. And there, he encountered Orsini.
“Brother Orsini?”
Had he somehow known Kalen would come?
He sat casually atop wooden crates stacked at the Harbor. For someone supposedly missing, his appearance was far too natural.
“You came?”
“Yes. Are you unharmed?”
“As you can see. You didn’t bring the Knight Guards, did you?”
“No. As you instructed, I came alone.”
Kalen had many questions he wanted to ask.
Why he had forbidden him from coming with the Knight Guards, what had become of the fallen soldiers’ bodies, what the Black Mist was like.
But.
“Where is Sister?”
….
At the question that burst forth, Orsini’s eyes grew strange.
“Where is Sister?”
“The Town Square. She was summoned for a purification ritual.”
“…A purification ritual?”
A purification ritual.
Something ominous emanated from those words. Orsini mocked Kalen’s anxiety.
“Yes. They say they hang people upside down from trees and burn them alive.”
“…!”
The moment he heard those words, Kalen bolted forward without thinking.
And when he reached the Town Square, he witnessed the insane spectacle of someone daring to accuse Kanna Adis of being a Black Apostle.
“I asked what you were spouting.”
Kalen leaped from his horse and strode forward with purpose.
His gaze fixed upon the woman on the platform—Rachel.
Count Jerome hastily stepped into his path.
“Stand aside.”
“This lady is the daughter of Baron Dale. She is the daughter of the Lord of Paeylon.”
“A baron’s daughter?”
One corner of Kalen’s mouth twisted mockingly.
“A mere baron’s daughter dares accuse the mistress of Valentino of being a Black Apostle?”
“But—!”
“Count Jerome, step back.”
At that moment, Rachel spoke calmly. She stepped forward past Jerome and faced Kalen directly.
“Lord Kalen Adis, I am honored to meet you.”
“You will need to explain this matter very thoroughly, my lady.”
Otherwise, you will lose a great deal, Kalen warned.
“Lord Kalen, I believe you understand well what happens on this island. Every year, madness spread by the Black Apostles has swept through, and each time I have conducted this purification ritual to….”
“So.”
Kalen cut off Rachel’s words without mercy.
There was nothing more to hear. Nothing he could bear to hear.
“So, my sister is a Black Apostle?”
“That is correct.”
“If you cannot prove it, the lady must forfeit her life.”
Count Jerome answered in her stead.
“Our lady is a noble saint who purifies this island.”
Kalen glared sharply at Jerome. Jerome steadfastly defended Rachel.
“Should the Duchess of Valentino be proven to be a Black Apostle, Lord Kalen must apologize for the disrespect of insulting a saint…!”
At that moment, Kalen lifted his sword sheath entirely and struck Jerome’s solar plexus.
“…!”
Jerome could not even cry out as he fell backward. He had lost consciousness.
Rachel rushed to catch him.
“Lord Kalen! What are you doing!”
“Before a descendant of the Holy Knights.”
Kalen looked down upon them with an arrogance more pronounced than ever before.
“I merely punished the audacity of those who dared desecrate the Saint’s name.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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