My Body Has Been Possessed By Someone - Chapter 132
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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 132
* * *
The Day of Great Purification.
During this period, the Divine Spirit conducted purification ceremonies.
The purification lasted a week, and on the final day, the Imperial Family held a grand banquet.
‘Finally, today.’
I would meet Argon at tonight’s banquet and gather information. I dressed with eager anticipation. But then.
“What did you just say?”
All color drained from my face.
“The Duke is escorting me?”
“Yes. He’s waiting for you in the Lobby right now.”
I wondered if Lea was lying. The news was that shocking.
‘He’s escorting me?’
I had planned to attend the party without an escort. Normally Kalen would have done it, but that was impossible with his betrothed, Princess Joanna, in the picture.
So I’d decided to go alone, but Alexandro Adis was offering to escort me?
Why?
‘This can’t be real.’
I kept doubting it, but Alexandro was truly waiting for me in the Lobby.
“You’re here.”
He glanced at me and extended his hand. He was genuinely asking to escort me!
‘I think I’ve finally lost my mind.’
* * *
“Why are you suddenly doing this?”
The moment I stepped into the Carriage, I couldn’t help but ask.
“Why are you escorting me?”
“You’re divorced.”
Alexandro spoke with his eyes closed, as though opening them was too much effort.
“Yes. And?”
“It will help.”
Help? Help with what?
‘What on earth is he talking about?’
I soon understood.
Divorce was an enormous disgrace for the nobility.
Especially for women. It was a catastrophic event that could topple every reputation painstakingly built over years.
But if I appeared with Alexandro Adis as my escort, no one would dare look down on me.
‘He condensed all that into just two sentences?’
You’re divorced. It will help.
And that was it.
Wasn’t he omitting far too much?
‘What’s with making me deduce everything myself?’
I was so exasperated I nearly laughed.
“Of course. But what does that have to do with the Duke?”
“Why would it have nothing to do with me?”
“You’re not even my real father, yet you concern yourself so meticulously. It’s rather puzzling.”
“You are Adis.”
Brief as always, but I had grown accustomed to his manner of speech by now, and I understood perfectly what he meant.
Which was precisely why I found it infuriating.
If he intended to look after me, he should have done so from the beginning—not pretend ignorance for all this time and suddenly treat me as Adis now.
My insides churned with heat.
Yet I laughed coldly and prepared to respond. Or rather, I tried to.
‘I’m grateful, but I fear it might damage your reputation. Perhaps it would be better if I entered the Party Venue separately.’
If I said that, how would Alexandro respond?
‘Would I have come to persuade you otherwise?’
Yes, he would undoubtedly answer exactly that.
The mere thought irritated me so much I clenched my fists. I would have given anything to punch him right then!
‘No, no. Calm down, calm down.’
In any case, he was trying to help me now. Not that I was grateful in the slightest, of course.
‘This is the first time he’s helped so openly.’
Looking back, his kindness was not new.
When the Empress accused me of poisoning and tormented me, he took me away while I feigned unconsciousness.
He even forged Prince Casil’s letter to turn the trial in my favor.
It was likely him who tortured Aizek, the Physician who had aided Casil, until he testified readily.
‘What on earth is he thinking?’
He seemed to hate me.
Yet occasionally, it seemed he cherished me.
Alexandro Adis oscillated between these two attitudes constantly. His whims were truly impossible to predict.
‘But at least for now, he’s leaning toward cherishing me.’
No one knew when his attitude might shift. So shouldn’t I make the most of this opportunity?
I stared intently at Alexandro Adis.
His face, eyes closed in repose, resembled a sculpture. So defenseless, unlike his usual demeanor, my heart began to race.
Perhaps this was my chance.
“You’re not my father, Duke.”
“That’s true.”
“Then what should I call you?”
“As you wish.”
“May I continue calling you Father?”
Father.
I never wanted to call him that again.
Though my tongue felt as though it were rotting, I spoke sweetly like an affectionate daughter, for I had a purpose.
Then Alexandro Adis opened his eyes and answered quietly.
“I’m not your biological father.”
Ah. A failure, then?
“But if you wish, you may call me that.”
Is that a refusal or permission?
No matter how many times I realize it, his way of speaking truly makes it difficult to discern his true intentions.
“I apologize for the harsh words I spoke in shock before. I didn’t mean them.”
Of course I meant them.
“In any case, you raised me.”
Raised me? More like abandoned me.
“I heard that when I was born, you raised me despite being branded as a Black Apostle. If you would tell me why, I promise to repay that debt someday.”
“Why?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know either.”
“….”
Ah, is that so? You didn’t know. Well then, who would? Should we ask for a show of hands from anyone who knows?
I suppressed the urge to be sarcastic.
‘Is this really not enough?’
Even in his rare “caring mode,” he seemed to have no intention of actually conversing.
‘Should I rattle him like I do Kalen? Would that make him talk?’
But my opponent was Alexandro Adis. It would be incomparably more difficult than dealing with a young fool like Kalen. Besides, if I did that, separating from the family would become far harder.
‘I need to speak with Argon first. He said he’d uncovered information about Father, so I’ll listen and decide afterward.’
I glanced at him. His eyes were closed again.
Looking at that serene face, as though lost in eternal slumber, I felt a strange disconnect.
A mistress for someone like that?
‘Quite vigorous indeed. No wonder he fathered four children.’
Alexandro Adis’s mistress.
Who on earth could it be? I couldn’t imagine it at all.
* * *
“Duke Alexandro Adis and Lady Kanna Adis have arrived!”
It was as expected.
The moment Alexandro and I entered the party venue, the scene unfolded exactly as I’d imagined. Everyone stared in shock, then erupted into frenzied whispers.
‘Where’s Argon? Where is he?’
Where are you, Argon?
“Father, you’ve arrived?”
Kalen and Princess Joanna approached. Kalen looked quite startled.
“I didn’t expect you to escort my sister, Father.”
Then Alexandro stared directly at Kalen’s face and spoke bluntly.
“You seem displeased.”
“Don’t jest, Father. What reason would I have to be displeased?”
Yet Kalen felt as though his true feelings had been exposed. And he couldn’t understand why.
It was true. I was genuinely displeased.
But why?
Why was I displeased?
Wasn’t it fortunate that Kanna Adis hadn’t arrived alone?
I thought it was fortunate.
I thought so, but….
‘Escorting my sister was supposed to be my role.’
I never imagined someone else would escort her.
Rather than that.
‘It would have been better if she arrived alone, without an escort.’
Kalen Adis discovered his own ugly selfishness. And smoothly concealed it.
“Please don’t say such things. I’m simply grateful that Father is looking after my sister.”
Meanwhile, Princess Joanna observed Kalen Adis intently.
‘Something’s off, as I suspected.’
Recently, Princess Joanna had been focusing all her attention on the relationship between Kalen Adis and Kanna Adis, and she didn’t miss this subtle undercurrent.
Kalen Adis became strange whenever it involved his sister Kanna Adis.
‘He doesn’t act this way toward his twin sister Isabel. Why is Kanna Adis so special?’
Isabel unfortunately couldn’t attend this party. It was because of Kalen Adis’s confinement order.
For a woman of marriageable age like Isabel, it was a cruel command—as good as severing her life.
So why did such a heartless person react so hypersensitively when it came to Kanna Adis?
‘Something’s suspicious.’
And then Kanna Adis observed Princess Joanna in turn.
‘Kalen Adis’s fiancée, Princess Joanna. She’s the princess of the Yalden Kingdom, right?’
The princess alternated her gaze between Kalen Adis and me. It seemed she had sensed his peculiar obsession with me.
‘She wouldn’t be pleased to see her future husband being swayed by his sister-in-law.’
A brilliantly convenient idea flashed through my mind.
‘If she’s a princess of the Yalden Kingdom, she could easily fabricate a false identity for me, couldn’t she?’
Seeing how Kalen Adis was being swayed by his sister-in-law, she would surely view me as an eyesore. She might even wish for my disappearance.
If I gently coaxed Princess Joanna, she might help me escape.
‘If my attempt to establish a cadet branch fails, I’ll have no choice but to flee. In this regard, my interests might align with Princess Joanna’s.’
Then I should show her just how foolish Kalen Adis becomes in front of me for a while. I concealed a secret smile.
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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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