My Body Has Been Possessed By Someone - Chapter 123
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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 123
* * *
The day before the annulment ceremony.
In the late hours of dawn, after concluding his conversation with Kanna Adis, Silvien Valentino returned to his own chamber. Rather than succumbing to sleep immediately, he settled onto the sofa, lost in contemplation.
Within a mind that had always been serene, a foreign presence had taken root, sending forth ripples of disturbance.
He found that undulation deeply unsettling.
What was this? This sensation that scraped sharply at his insides and pressed down upon his chest?
Perhaps… guilt?
A faint laugh escaped through his parted lips.
Guilt, of all things. How absurd. He knew himself well enough to understand that he was not virtuous enough to harbor such an emotion. If anything, cruelty came far more naturally to him.
He knew this all too well.
Yet why did his heart feel so turbulent?
Silvien exhaled a weary sigh and let his head fall back against the sofa. His dark blue eyes gazed meaninglessly toward the ceiling.
In that moment, words flickered before his vision—dense reports meticulously detailing the countless sufferings Kanna Adis had endured since her marriage into the Valentino Duchy, each one passing through his mind like a phantom.
Suddenly, her words echoed in his memory.
“A rope for salvation, you ask?”
“Of course. I was in hell. And with a single gesture from you, I could have escaped that hell.”
Yes, that was true.
He possessed the power to guide her toward the light whenever he wished.
Just as he had banished Josephine to distant, savage lands with mere words, he could have freed her from her torment.
Yet he had done nothing. He had simply left her to suffer in the flames of that inferno.
Because he had felt no concern whatsoever.
It was not only Kanna Adis. He had never been interested in others to begin with. She was merely one among countless multitudes.
Moreover, she was a woman who managed to irritate him in the most unexpected ways.
How many times had her clinging to him like a leech caused him to arrive late to monster subjugations? How many lives had he failed to save because of her?
An irritating, vexing woman—he had no desire to involve himself in her misfortune. After all, everyone in this world carried their own suffering.
Whether one endured it or was crushed beneath it was one’s own burden. He had lived by this principle.
At eleven years old, when he inherited the Duke’s title as a mere boy, countless adults had coveted his position, his wealth, his very life.
Who had extended a helping hand to him then?
No one. And he harbored no regret over that fact. Bearing hardship alone had always been the most natural thing in the world to him.
So he felt no concern. It did not trouble him.
No—it did trouble him.
He was not curious about her.
No—he was intensely curious.
Kanna Adis was insignificant as dust, and yet she burned through his vision like wildfire.
Such contradictory emotions were unbearable.
This clash of opposing colors, as if directed toward two different people, defied all logic and reason.
Silvien closed his eyes. Yet ultimately, he could only acknowledge the truth.
Contrary to his nature, whenever he recalled what Kanna Adis had endured, it troubled him. And he desired to know who she truly was.
Though it might be nothing more than a fleeting whim, that desire burned with unmistakable clarity.
‘I need to call off the divorce.’
“And you still claim to be a nobleman who understands honor?”
Kanna Adis’s fierce voice, swearing she would hate him, suddenly echoed in his mind.
In that moment, he had been completely swept away and unable to regain his composure, but now, looking back, it seemed almost laughable.
Hatred.
What did it matter?
For Silvien Valentino, who had endured countless threats from political rivals—threats that had even escalated to assassins—it posed no threat whatsoever.
There was something he desired to obtain. Would he lose anything in the process of obtaining it?
No. No matter how many times I considered it, the answer remained no.
‘So then, I will not divorce.’
Thus, on the day of the annulment ceremony, he waited for Kanna Adis with perfect composure.
Finally, the doors opened, and she walked in, bathed in cascading light.
Silvien extended his hand. Kanna Adis placed her fingers over his. Even through the silk gloves, the warmth of her touch was pleasant—remarkably soft, in fact.
Perhaps that was why the thought occurred to him: seven years ago, when he had married Kanna Adis, it might not have been amiss to have held a proper wedding ceremony.
“Duchess Kanna Adis, do you wish to annul your marriage with Duke Silvien Valentino, whom you accepted as your lifelong husband?”
“Yes.”
Yet at her answer, Silvien Valentino’s mood plummeted in an instant.
Did she truly wish for the divorce so desperately?
Now, genuine displeasure welled up within him. Contrary to her wishes, his answer was already decided.
No. I will not annul the marriage.
That would suffice.
I could achieve my goal and obtain what I desired. And yet…
“Do you wish to annul your marriage with Duchess Kanna Adis, whom you accepted as your lifelong wife?”
The moment he was about to answer, Kanna Adis’s voice brushed past him.
“I will hate you until I die.”
That threat, which had seemed so laughable.
Those eyes that had burned like fire.
“No—I will hate you even after death.”
His lips would not move.
What was such a threat, really?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“Duke Silvien Valentino?”
The Priest urged him for an answer. Silvien Valentino looked down at Kanna Adis, searching for words.
The moment his gaze met her obsidian eyes.
In that instant, he understood.
Her threat was remarkably—devastatingly—effective.
He could not believe it. It was utterly absurd.
Aversion? How could Kanna Adis’s hatred, such a trivial thing, make him hesitate so profoundly?
“Yes.”
Yet in the end, he could only answer thus.
“I will annul it.”
The moment the words left my lips, a crushing wave of helplessness washed over me. Silvien Valentino conceded, his expression darkening with defeat.
He did not want Kanna Adis’s hatred.
* * *
Seven years and six months of marriage.
Kanna Adis divorced Silvien Valentino.
* * *
“Are you pleased?”
Kanna Adis turned around. Silvien Valentino, still dressed in his tuxedo, leaned against the doorframe.
“Your face is absolutely radiant.”
The annulment ceremony had just concluded, and the Divine Temple had given its final approval of the divorce.
The end.
It was truly over.
“Of course I am.”
Kanna Adis broke into a brilliant smile.
Finally divorced. And because of it, I could smile brightly at Silvien Valentino now in a way I never could before.
Silvien Valentino let out a low chuckle and walked into the room without permission.
“Is there something you need to say? I was about to take off this dress.”
The implication was clear—leave and do not enter—but he casually ignored it.
“There is no need to rush.”
“Pardon?”
“You are dazzlingly beautiful right now.”
Silvien Valentino smiled with a hint of mockery.
“Had I known it would suit you so well, I would not have skipped the wedding ceremony.”
“….”
What is this? Kanna Adis regarded him with wary eyes.
“What is wrong with you since yesterday? Did you eat something bad?”
“Ah, perhaps so.”
“….”
Kanna Adis frowned.
He seemed strange now, as if he had shed a mask. Until now, he had been like a beautiful statue—utterly devoid of sincerity.
But now he appeared almost human.
‘Why does he seem displeased?’
I made my own guess. Perhaps he had not wanted the divorce after all.
‘Does he resent being labeled a divorced man?’
It made sense—in this world, divorce was considered a tremendous disgrace.
“You should have paid more attention to your marriage.”
At those words, Silvien Valentino’s smile deepened.
“I apologize. I was at fault.”
I’m sorry. It’s my fault.
Kanna Adis froze. Was he… apologizing just now?
“If I had said this last night instead…”
He paused mid-sentence.
“Would you have reconsidered the divorce?”
“No.”
Kanna Adis answered without hesitation.
“Not at all.”
The air turned cold and heavy. The corner of his mouth twisted upward in a bitter smile.
“Why?”
“I’m sorry?”
“I asked why.”
“….”
Kanna Adis found herself at a loss for words.
Why?
Well…
“Because I don’t love you…?”
There were countless reasons, but that was the most fundamental one.
After speaking the words aloud, Kanna Adis felt certain. She said it again.
“Because I don’t love you.”
In that moment, Silvien Valentino exhaled sharply, as though struck by an arrow.
“How shallow the love you speak of truly is.”
His voice carried an edge—wounded, or perhaps intent on wounding.
“You said you loved me so deeply you’d gladly die to be with me. It seems that was never the case.”
Yes, that was true.
Kanna Adis reflected on Ju-hwa’s love. A bitter smile crossed her lips.
“That version of me is dead.”
The smile that had formed at the corners of Silvien Valentino’s mouth faded.
“The day you abandoned me.”
When Josephine beat her until her calves were torn and bruised. When Silvien Valentino knew everything yet did nothing.
“The me you knew is dead.”
What if Silvien Valentino had helped her then?
If he had come with medicine.
If he had asked if she was alright.
If he had become a refuge she could lean on in this painful world.
Perhaps a different story would have unfolded.
But now, such imaginings were meaningless.
“We are strangers now.”
Kanna Adis smiled faintly. And to the man with blue eyes who gazed upon her, she made her declaration.
“Farewell, Silvien Valentino.”
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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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