My Body Has Been Possessed By Someone - Chapter 148

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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 148
“That’s not the right one.”
Claude spoke quietly.
“The child you were supposed to take wasn’t her. It was someone else, or so His Grace instructed.”
I couldn’t possibly forget those words—I’d heard them with my own ears, standing right beside him.
“The Maid’s account appears accurate, Your Grace. It seems the Duchess planned this affair quite deliberately.”
Alexandro Adis didn’t bother responding.
He’d already witnessed and heard everything himself.
“How could Mother do such a thing?”
Kalen made no effort to conceal his contempt.
Orsini said nothing either, but his gaze upon Chloe was as though he were staring at something utterly repugnant.
Chloe was at a loss for words.
She didn’t know what to say. Her mouth felt utterly destroyed, unable to produce even a whimper.
“Answer me, Mother. Which one did you wish to have kidnapped—not Isabel?”
“….”
“I asked which one was supposed to be kidnapped!”
“I…”
After a tremendous effort, Chloe’s trembling voice emerged.
“I couldn’t bear to watch Isabel being kidnapped. So I said they should take Kanna instead, or failing that, take me.”
“That’s not what happened.”
Claude’s expression grew stern.
“You clearly stated: ‘Take Isabel, not Kanna.'”
“….”
Had she really said such a thing?
Chloe’s mind spiraled into chaos.
The thought of Isabel—her own daughter—being kidnapped had driven her mad. She’d completely lost her grip on reason.
Alexandro Adis glared at her.
Kalen glared. Orsini glared. The household’s Knight Guards glared. Their eyes were those of people regarding a heinous criminal.
‘No.’
Chloe shook her head.
‘No, that’s not it.’
A criminal? That wasn’t true. I was…
‘I simply did as I was ordered!’
A single escape route suddenly illuminated in Chloe’s cornered mind.
Yes—wasn’t the Empress the one who started all of this?
Chloe’s bloodshot eyes fixed upon the Empress. She cried out desperately.
“This was all ordered by Her Majesty the Empress!”
Yes, the Empress had orchestrated everything. She herself was merely guilty of accepting the board she’d laid out!
‘The truth is, I didn’t even want to accept it!’
Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t wanted to. Hadn’t she regretted it countless times when the bandits arrived?
I regretted being forced to do something against my will!
“I had no choice. She threatened me, saying she’d ruin Isabel’s future if I didn’t obey her commands!”
The Empress’s eyes narrowed sharply.
“Silence! How dare you spout such nonsense!”
Unlike Chloe, who had completely lost her composure, the Empress’s face remained utterly unmoved.
“Though the Adis name may be powerful enough to fell even the birds of the sky, you dare accuse the Empire’s Empress of wrongdoing? Is this not treason itself!”
Treason.
The word drained all color from Chloe’s mind. Was she truly trying to frame this as treason?
‘No, I have evidence!’
She possessed evidence—documents bearing both their seals, divided between them.
Yet Chloe’s lips had gone rigid, immobile.
Perhaps it was the brutal weight of that single word—treason—that had restored a fragment of her shattered reason.
Chloe swallowed hard and glanced around her surroundings.
“….”
Far too many eyes were watching.
Knight Guards from the Imperial Palace and Knight Guards from Adis alike.
She could not afford to speak carelessly—not unless she could fully take responsibility for every word. Silence was her only refuge now.
‘Right, yes. Calm down first, return to the mansion, and think this through carefully.’
* * *
The Empress hastened back to the Imperial Palace.
“First, I must destroy my seal. I’ll claim it was stolen long ago. As for the documents with Chloe, I’ll simply deny I ever wrote them.”
The Empress, who had been fuming moments before, could no longer contain her rage and hurled a vase across the room.
Crash!
“Why has everything gone so wrong! Why was Isabel Adis kidnapped in the first place! And how did Duke Adis even arrive!”
“That is… somewhat peculiar.”
Her brother, Marquis Mercy, spoke with a darkened expression.
“I made inquiries with the Mercenary Guild the moment I heard the news.”
“Yes! I certainly gave them orders to kidnap a young woman with black hair!”
“That is precisely what troubles me. A few days ago, they received a letter ordering them to kidnap a woman with red hair instead—not black hair.”
“So those incompetent fools simply followed the new instructions without proper verification?”
The Empress muttered in a hollow, exasperated voice. Marquis Mercy bowed his head deeply.
“My apologies. I had strictly ordered them never to make contact without explicit instructions from me….”
In truth, this was standard procedure—the foundation of covering one’s tracks.
“Moreover, since only we knew of this plan, they naturally assumed the new orders came from our side.”
“Curse it!”
The Empress clenched her teeth.
Her head felt as though it might burst from fury, yet her mind raced with clarity.
“Someone discovered this plan beforehand and deliberately sabotaged it.”
“Yes, that appears to be the case.”
The Empress drew ragged breaths, then fell silent in thought.
“I hear it was Kanna who lifted Isabel’s confinement.”
“That is what I’ve been told.”
“The mercenaries received a letter ordering them to kidnap a red-haired woman a week ago, correct?”
“Yes.”
“And Isabel Adis’s confinement was only lifted today.”
Crash! The Empress slammed her hand against the desk.
“Unless one were divine, there’s no way to have known in advance that Isabel’s confinement would be lifted and that she’d attend the party!”
That wasn’t all.
“And then, by the most absurd timing, the Adis family appeared! As if to flaunt this spectacle before me!”
The Empress suddenly burst into laughter.
Then her expression hardened abruptly.
“That wench!”
It could only be Kanna. No one else.
“She’s been toying with me!”
The Empress’s shoulders trembled violently. Never in her life had she been mocked by anyone to such a degree.
Kanna. I wanted to kill that girl immediately! And yet….
I couldn’t do such a thing.
A sense of helplessness washed over the Empress’s face. It was utterly impossible. No, not only was killing Kanna out of the question.
‘What if she refuses to give me the medicine?’
Terror suddenly crashed down upon me.
Kanna knows everything. The Empress belatedly grasped how grave this situation truly was.
I don’t know how she discovered it, but Kanna had seen through the Empress’s and Chloe’s scheme beforehand.
In other words, she knows that I tried to harm her.
Would such a woman truly provide me with medicine?
‘This cannot be!’
In that moment, the terror of the past flickered through my mind.
That burning, unbearable itch. That agony I would have rather died than endure!
‘Anything but that!’
As the Empress’s complexion turned a sickly pallor, Marquis Mercy tilted his head.
“Your Majesty, what troubles you?”
“Ah, no. It’s nothing at all.”
The Empress hastily shook her head.
Marquis Mercy had no idea that the Empress depended on Kanna’s medicine.
An Empress who couldn’t live without the medicine. This was such a critical weakness that she kept it hidden even from her own brother.
Only my son, Crescent, knew of this matter.
‘What if Kanna refuses to give me the medicine?’
The anxious Empress bit her lip hard.
* * *
“Haaah.”
Kanna let out a wide yawn.
“Ugh, I’m dying of exhaustion.”
Perhaps it was the effect of soaking in the warm water, but every muscle in my body felt deliciously loose and relaxed.
I leaned back against the bathtub and tilted my head.
‘Finally, I’ve completed everything I needed to do.’
It was all finished.
I’d obtained the ancient alchemical texts and delivered the bombs to the Empress and Chloe.
I knew exactly what Chloe treasured most.
The three men of Adis.
But as of today, she would lose them forever.
What the Empress feared most was also Adis.
I’d made Adis their enemy. And they would never receive medicine from me again, condemned to a lifetime of suffering and agony.
So that was that. My revenge was complete.
There was nothing left for me to do here, not a shred of attachment remaining.
‘Now all that’s left is to depart.’
To the Yalden Kingdom.
Anywhere would do, as long as it wasn’t this hell filled with people I despised.
I could never find happiness in this terrible place called Adis.
Recently, I’d come to realize that nothing mattered more than relationships with people.
Without someone I loved, without someone I could open my heart to, I could never achieve true happiness.
Unless I escaped this dreadful Adis and severed all ties completely, I would remain unhappy forever.
I gazed up at the ceiling and dreamed vaguely of living a new life with a new identity in Yalden.
‘I’ll work as a Physician. I’ll find new hobbies. And in time, I’ll meet good people. Perhaps I’ll even come to genuinely care for someone.’
Filled with hope, I rose from the bathtub. I intended to go to my Bedroom and sleep, ending this day.
But then.
“Sister, are you alright?”
“….”
That tiresome man.
I had a feeling he’d show up.
“Why don’t you worry about Isabel instead? She was kidnapped, even if only briefly.”
“Isabel will be fine.”
Kalen sighed and approached.
“I’m relieved you’re safe. If it hadn’t been for that Maid… I don’t even want to think about it.”
“A Maid? Ah, you mean your mother’s Maid?”
“Don’t call her that!”
Kalen cried out as if in revulsion.
“That woman is not my mother. I don’t know anyone like that.”
I shrugged my shoulders and probed subtly.
“But what did your mother—no, Chloe—say? Did she confess everything?”
“No. She admits she ordered the Maid to obtain poison, but she denies ever exchanging secret letters with the Empress. She claims the Maid is lying.”
Kalen spoke with a cold expression, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
“You’re a heartless person.”
“….”
That part was unfair, at least. Chloe had never actually exchanged secret letters with the Empress.
It was I who had orchestrated it through the Maid Eriel to frame her.
But in this situation, no one would believe her words.
“I’m worried about how much of a shock this must have been for you. So I was thinking….”
Kalen smiled gently.
“Why not take some time away to recuperate?”
“What?”
“Things will be chaotic here for a while. Father seems intent on divorce, and this matter is connected to the Empress as well….”
“….”
“So taking refuge elsewhere for a time would be a good solution.”
“Refuge?”
“Yes. Actually, I have a gift for you.”
A gift. That word stirred a memory from not long ago. Don’t tell me it’s a whip again!
“I don’t have those kinds of tastes, Kalen.”
“Pardon?”
“You didn’t prepare another whip or something, did you?”
At those words, Kalen’s smile deepened.
“If that’s what you desire, I can have it brought immediately.”
Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be a whip.
“Look at this.”
What he offered were two pieces of paper. One was a map, and one was a deed.
“Actually, I purchased an island in your name not long ago.”
“….”
“That island belongs to you.”
I stared at the documents.
The island’s name was Liben, and the owner was Kanna Adis.
I gazed intently at those letters before slowly lifting my head.
“You’re giving me this island?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Pardon?”
“Why are you going this far for me?”
“I told you, didn’t I? I love you.”
“I told you that phrase disgusts me. Stop saying it.”
“In any case, please take some rest there for a while.”
Normally, I would have said it was unnecessary and thrown the documents away.
I would have shouted at him to leave and driven him out. But.
‘This isn’t so bad, is it?’
It was quite a reasonable proposal.
This island would certainly be easier to escape from than the Adis Mansion, where Alexandro Adis and Orsini prowled about with their elite Knight Guards.
I shrugged my shoulders as if I couldn’t refuse.
“Well, I’ll think about it.”

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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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