My Body Has Been Possessed By Someone - Chapter 143

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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 143
* * *
【Kanna Adis’s Remarriage Imminent? Her Betrothed Is Prince Argon Isaberk!】
【Two figures slipped away discreetly from the party venue and vanished into the darkness aboard a carriage. Where could they have gone? And what could they have been doing?】
Silvien Valentino’s brow furrowed as he rang the bell to summon his butler.
“You called for me, Your Grace?”
“I’m curious when such vulgar tabloids began appearing on my desk.”
The butler’s eyes widened in alarm upon seeing the newspaper’s name.
【Aslan Scandal】
It was a disreputable rag notorious for sensationalizing unverified gossip into headlines.
“My sincerest apologies, Your Grace. It was my oversight.”
“An oversight, you say.”
Silvien murmured with a hint of amusement in his voice.
“For the butler of Valentino to commit such an error—I fear my judgment in hiring has proven regrettable.”
The butler’s heart sank at those words.
Despite more than a decade of service, Silvien had rarely rebuked him so sharply—one could count such instances on a single hand.
The butler immediately dropped to one knee.
“Please forgive me, Duke Valentino. I swear I shall never repeat such negligence.”
“Yes, you had better not.”
Fortunately, he pressed the matter no further. Silvien gestured dismissively.
“Rise.”
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
“Count Josephine Elester sent a letter, did he not?”
“Yes, that is to say…”
The butler trailed off as he awkwardly rose to his feet.
“He requested an increase to her allowance for maintaining appearances.”
“An allowance for appearances?”
The term seemed to amuse Silvien, and his lips curved upward.
“An allowance for appearances, indeed…”
Silvien interlaced his fingers and fell into contemplation.
“How much are we currently providing?”
“Two thousand gold, Your Grace.”
“My, that must be quite constraining. In her former days, she would have spent that sum in an hour or two…”
Indeed, two thousand gold was scarcely more than the price of a single dress Josephine once wore.
However.
“Reduce it.”
“Pardon?”
“One-third of the current budget should suffice.”
The butler’s words caught in his throat.
One-third? Not even half? That would amount to little more than a commoner’s living expenses…
There’s no way Josephine Elester, who has lived a life of extravagance, could survive on such a pittance!
“…I understand.”
Yet the Butler offered no objection. After he departed, Silvien Valentino returned his focus to his work.
Hours passed in this manner until fatigue overtook me, and I set down my fountain pen to massage the corners of my eyes.
In that moment, a newspaper entered my field of vision once more.
【Kanna Adis, Young Lady of the Duchy, on the Brink of Remarriage?】
Ha.
Laughter spilled from my lips unbidden.
I seized the newspaper impulsively and thrust it into the fireplace. It was a gesture uncharacteristic of my usual composure.
The flames consumed the paper voraciously, burning with fierce intensity. I watched the embers in silence, and soon reached a conclusion.
Whether she remarried or not was of no consequence to me.
I harbored not the slightest interest in the matter.
Yet as I thought this, a memory surfaced unbidden—the moment before the annulment ceremony.
For a brief instant, it seemed I had been reluctant to divorce her. An uncharacteristic anxiety had washed over me.
It must have been because I disliked the familiar life being disrupted, disliked breaking free from ingrained habit.
“I’m truly sorry. I lost my balance when I collided with the Noblewoman.”
“You cannot reach your back yourself, so allow me to clean it for you.”
Now that I think of it, where did I place that handkerchief?
I cannot recall.
Since I did not discard it, it must be stored somewhere. A truly pointless action.
‘I must find it and dispose of it.’
I cradled my face in both hands and massaged my temples. Fatigue pressed down upon me with unusual intensity today.
Perhaps that was why my head throbbed relentlessly.
That night, I suffered from a severe headache.
For a very long time.
* * *
“Pardon?”
Kanna Adis doubted her own ears.
“Your Majesty, what do you mean by that?”
“Surely you should begin considering a suitable match? You have failed once in marriage, but you are far too young to end matters there.”
The Empress smiled benevolently and set down her teacup.
“I believe Crescent would make an excellent husband for you.”
“…”
“That child speaks very highly of you as well.”
A heavy silence descended. Kanna Adis found herself unable to formulate any response.
‘This woman has lost her mind.’
She barely maintained a composed expression, though her insides burned with indignation.
How could it be otherwise?
The Empress was proposing remarriage to Crescent, her own son—and not even as a primary wife, but as a concubine!
“It is a most generous proposal, Your Majesty…”
Kanna Adis held back the curses threatening to spill from her lips, carefully choosing her words instead.
“I’m afraid I haven’t yet healed from the wounds of separation. As you know, I’ve harbored affection for Duke Valentino for a very long time….”
“Sometimes a new encounter can be the finest tonic for the soul.”
The Empress cut off her words with a smile.
“Crescent takes after me—he’s quite kind. He could gently soothe the wounds the Duke’s daughter has suffered.”
What audacity from this viper of a woman!
Kanna Adis marveled at the Empress’s shameless nerve. Here was a woman who had tried to poison her own daughter, yet she dared call herself kind!
“I beg your pardon, Your Majesty.”
At Kanna Adis’s firm refusal, the Empress’s eyes turned glacial.
“Are you refusing my son?”
How dare you, you insignificant creature?
The Empress restrained herself from speaking such words aloud.
Kanna Adis was still a talent she needed. She couldn’t afford to treat her carelessly.
‘A divorcée ungratefully rejecting a concubine’s position! She should be thanking me!’
Crescent was the Crown Prince who would become the next Emperor.
A position as concubine to such a man should be considered an honor!
‘The next Empress must come from the Merci Family.’
She would make her niece the Empress and Kanna Adis a noble concubine. It was a perfectly flawless plan!
“I beg your pardon, Your Majesty. I must ask that you forget this matter entirely.”
Yet Kanna Adis refused with absolute firmness and departed. Left alone, the Empress’s fury began to boil over.
‘How dare she refuse my son?’
In that moment, a crumpled newspaper caught the Empress’s eye.
【Is the Remarriage of Kanna Adis, Duke’s Daughter, Imminent? The Suitor: Prince Argon Isaberk!】
Could the rumors linking Kanna Adis and Argon actually be true?
‘No. That cannot be. Absolutely not.’
Despite her divorce, Kanna Adis’s position had become remarkably solid of late.
She enjoyed the full support of Kalen Adis, and even Alexandro Adis—famous for his aversion to social gatherings—had been escorting her!
‘Kanna Adis now commands the power to move the House of Adis.’
If she were to be united with Argon?
If the Adis Duchy Family were to support Argon?
‘No, that is absolutely unacceptable!’
She would sooner eat dirt than witness such an outcome!
The Empress slammed her hand against the desk.
Kanna Adis, now linked to Argon by rumor, had become a fatal threat to the Empress.
She longed to have her assassinated, but she herself depended on the woman’s medicines. Kanna Adis was indispensable to her survival.
‘I’ll ruin her so thoroughly that she cannot marry into any family—let alone Prince Argon. Then she’ll gratefully accept Crescent’s concubine position.’
What method could reduce a noblewoman to such ruin that no family would have her?
The Empress found the most powerful and certain method.
For instance, she could be kidnapped by street ruffians and violated.
Once such rumors spread, Kanna Adis would be unable to marry Argon—or anyone else.
‘Of course, I despise the thought of bringing such filth into Crescent’s concubinage as well.’
Kanna Adis was dangerous, yet equally indispensable to me. Thus, I would break both her legs if necessary to make her mine.
The Empress commanded her servant.
“Send an invitation to Chloe Adis, the Duchess.”
Chloe Adis—Kanna Adis’s stepmother—would surely aid me.
The Empress smiled with satisfaction.
I knew that Kanna Adis was crafting medicine for me, and once I was grateful for that fact, but now….
Upon reflection, it was only natural.
To serve the Imperial Family with utmost devotion.
Wasn’t that the duty of nobility?
It was infuriating that she rejected my gracious offer to become my son’s concubine, as if it were something cute.
‘An ungrateful wretch of a woman.’
* * *
A week had passed since Princess Joanna’s departure.
Just before leaving, Kanna Adis had forged a secret pact with her.
‘And they say the Alchemy Research Laboratory will be completed by tomorrow.’
It was right at my fingertips now. My heart raced with anticipation.
‘I can finally leave House of Adis, leave the Aslian Empire.’
With that thought, the Empress’s insane proposal evaporated from my mind entirely.
“Sister, aren’t you sleeping?”
The door burst open, and Kalen Adis entered. I quickly closed the cover of the ancient alchemy tome I’d been reading.
“How rude, Kalen Adis. You need to relearn proper etiquette.”
“My apologies. I was so eager to see you, even for a moment.”
I furrowed my brow.
In the hands of Kalen Adis, who had just uttered those sickly words, lay a gift box and an armful of roses.
“I don’t need it.”
“No, I think you will.”
Kalen Adis smiled gently and offered the bouquet first. In that instant, I caught sight of his hands, marred by countless small wounds.
“I picked these flowers from the Garden myself and arranged them.”
Kalen Adis spoke as though those wounds were something to be proud of.
“I hurt myself while making this bouquet. How is it? Are you pleased?”
Is he insane? I made no effort to hide my contempt.
“Why would I be pleased?”
“Well, don’t you dislike me, Sister? I thought you’d be happy if I suffered.”
He spoke as though it were nothing and sat across from me.
“You dislike me, don’t you, Sister?”
I didn’t deny it. At that response, Kalen Adis offered a bitter smile.
“But I love you, Sister.”
My stomach churned, and I fought to suppress the nausea.
Now, even after it was revealed that we shared not a drop of blood, to hear him speak of familial love was unbearable.
Kalen leaned forward from his seated position, staring intently at my contorted face as if admiring a work of art. A deep, resonant voice escaped him.
“I love you.”
I felt genuinely nauseous.
“Stop it. You’re making me sick.”
“I disgust you, don’t I?”
“You know it well.”
“That’s only fair. Even I think my past self was utterly pathetic.”
Kalen finished speaking and slowly straightened his posture, his hand gently caressing the gift box resting on his lap.
“So I’ve been thinking about it. How can I earn your forgiveness? And I’ve reached a conclusion—shouldn’t I suffer as much as you did?”
With that, he extended the gift box toward me.
“You may punish me as you see fit.”
“What do you even mean by that?”
“Of course, I believe I’ve already suffered enough in my heart. But since you cannot see the anguish that stains my soul with your own eyes, you naturally won’t be satisfied.”
I accepted the box he offered with an uncomfortable expression. Kalen’s face gleamed with an eerie fervor.
“But wouldn’t visible suffering ease your heart?”
I opened the box. And my breath caught.
“Do you like it?”
Kalen whispered quietly.
“Use it to punish me until your anger is satisfied.”
Inside the box lay a whip.
Before I could find words, Kalen casually unfastened the buttons of his jacket. As he removed it, his fitted shirt came into view, clinging to his toned frame.
“Let’s begin right now.”
“Begin what, exactly?”
I was so exasperated my hands trembled.
I spat out a scathing curse.
“You’ve completely lost it. You’re out of your mind.”

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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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