My Body Has Been Possessed By Someone - Chapter 171

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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 171
* * *
“Tatiana!”
That evening, Yoanna Friedrich came to find me.
“I heard you’re leaving for Britzk tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Good thinking. It’s better to stay away while Lord Orsini is visiting.”
Yet Yoanna’s face was flushed, as if she were brimming with anticipation.
“You seem pleased about it?”
“What? No, of course not.”
“….”
“Sorry. Truth is, I’m rather excited. Lord Orsini is quite handsome, after all. Such beauty is rare.”
She was incorrigible when it came to her weakness for attractive faces.
It was so familiar that I didn’t find it particularly surprising.
“Not just me—the other young ladies are equally eager. Most of them have never laid eyes on Lord Orsini before.”
“Tell them to be careful. Getting too close after seeing his face might result in a bite.”
“I doubt it would come to that.”
Yoanna’s eyes narrowed knowingly.
“From what I hear, his temperament has changed considerably. He’s not as brutish as he used to be.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. Quiet and reserved, they say.”
Him?
I found that claim utterly unbelievable.
A quiet and reserved Orsini—it simply didn’t fit.
“After he became the heir to the Adis household following Lord Kalen Adis, he seems to have changed greatly.”
Yoanna’s expression darkened. I fell silent as well.
Kalen Adis.
Unable to bear the shock of my death, he had thrown himself from the Cathedral Spire, they said.
‘That fool.’
Thinking of him, I could no longer smile. The shock of first hearing that news came flooding back.
‘This was never what I wanted.’
I had harbored no intention of reconciling with Kalen.
I had no desire to live well with him, nor any thought of forgiveness.
Yet I had never wished for such an ending.
I had never wanted him to die that way.
* * *
Not long after Yoanna left, Alexei came to visit.
More precisely, he slipped in through the window, evading the eyes of others.
“Your Highness, you must maintain your dignity.”
A Crown Prince who sneaks in through windows in the dead of night.
Yet he entered without hesitation and pulled her into his embrace.
“I’m no thief—why are you climbing through the window?”
Though she complained, Kanna’s heart was genuinely delighted.
She loved Alexei.
She loved this life as Tatiana Evgenia.
‘Yes, this is what living truly means.’
Giving one’s heart freely, sharing affection without suspicion or vigilance.
‘I will never surrender this life.’
But regarding Crown Prince Alexei, I had no idea what to do.
Alexei was destined to become the King of Yalden. Between us stood an insurmountable mountain that could never be crossed.
If I were to accept a noble title and become his queen?
As the Queen of Yalden, I would inevitably encounter the head of House Adis at some point.
Not only Adis—I would also face the Imperial Family of the Isaberk Dynasty.
‘So that is impossible.’
This was not a problem that my desire alone could overcome.
Therefore, this romance was merely a fleeting dream on a summer’s night—a slumber from which I must eventually awaken.
‘But what of it?’
To love, to reach one’s limits, and then to part.
Then I would weep a little and rise again. That is life.
‘The fact that I can see the end does not make this moment’s emotion a lie.’
Kanna resolved simply to savor this present moment.
“I feel dizzy.”
Alexei buried his face in the nape of her neck, exhaling warm breath.
“When I’m with you, the world spins. My mind feels as though it’s unraveling.”
“Shall I prepare medicine for you?”
“I’m afraid.”
“Of what?”
Alexei pulled her close, as though she might shatter.
“Tatiana, I fear you will leave my side one day.”
“….”
“Why do you ask nothing of me? Why do you never speak of a future with me?”
“….”
“Promise me. No matter what happens, you will always remain by my side.”
Kanna smiled with gentle sorrow, caressing his hair and whispering sweetly.
“I promise.”
“Truly?”
“Yes.”
Then Alexei’s lips twisted.
“You’re lying, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
Alexei chuckled softly, stroking my cheek as he murmured low.
“You’re truly a wicked woman.”
* * *
The following morning, I prepared for departure.
“You need only rendezvous with the mercenary at the Kantasi Inn.”
I was told to find the mercenary there—a young man with snow-white hair and emerald eyes.
“Can I really find him with just that information? Snow-white hair is rare, but still, he’s a complete stranger to me….”
The Queen’s Attendant laughed in an odd manner.
“He will stand out.”
“Pardon?”
“He’s a youth with such a striking appearance that you’ll recognize him at a glance, no matter where you are.”
With that, he handed me a blue rose-shaped hair ribbon.
“If you wear this, he will find you first, Physician.”
“….”
They want me to wear this gaudy ribbon?
“Be cautious. He possesses an extremely aggressive and insolent temperament. He lives as though there is no tomorrow, so he may commit acts beyond redemption.”
“I understand. I’ll be careful.”
To avoid drawing anyone’s attention, I departed alone.
The Kantasi Inn lay on the outskirts of the Capital, a bustling place where countless travelers came and went.
That had been the case before.
‘Now it’s mostly mercenaries….’
I settled into a corner of the dining area, avoiding the men drinking raucously.
The inn was filled almost entirely with mercenaries.
Over the past three years, the mercenary market had exploded exponentially.
‘It’s because of the Black Mist.’
The Black Mist had grown rampant, infecting many with its corruption. Infected individuals proliferated, and monsters spilled forth from the Black Mist itself.
As their numbers increased, even the Knight Guards could no longer contain them, and naturally, demand for mercenaries surged.
‘The world has truly changed so much.’
Priests from the Divine Temple now stationed themselves in every city, the mercenary market flourished, and.
‘Ah, there’s someone from the Eastern Continent.’
With the complete opening of cultural exchange between the Eastern and Western Continents, an era had dawned where one could freely traverse between them.
Thanks to this, I could practice medicine without worry.
Eastern Continent medicine was similar to mine, so I was no longer treated as a curiosity as I once had been.
‘Yet the current era’s medicine still falls far short of what I learned….’
So I lived by concealing my abilities appropriately. Being called a genius would draw unwanted attention, which would be troublesome.
Instead, rumors had spread of a genius physician appearing in the Aslan Empire.
A young woman from the Eastern Continent, or so I’d heard.
That physician had cured the Empress’s skin affliction. Whenever I recalled that fact, a discomfort gnawed at the corner of my heart.
‘It should be impossible.’
The Empress’s skin disease was an alchemically-crafted affliction.
So a physician appeared who cured that illness?
‘I don’t know. I won’t concern myself with it anymore.’
I was already overwhelmed just living my own life and had no desire to pay attention to anything else.
“Hey there, miss. Did you come alone?”
That’s when the mercenaries who had been circling nearby and stealing glances at her approached. When she lifted her head, their eyes met.
“Oh.”
“A beauty.”
“Quite something.”
They snickered among themselves and burst into laughter before casually taking seats at her table.
“Since you came alone, why not have a beer with us? We’ll buy.”
That’s when the noisy inn fell silent as if cold water had been poured over it.
“…What?”
“Why did it suddenly go quiet?”
The mercenaries, sensing something amiss, turned their heads. And immediately froze.
A man with snow-white hair was walking in.
Thud, thud—only the measured sound of his footsteps echoed through the frozen silence.
The man’s eyes were fixed on Kanna.
More precisely, they were fixed on the blue rose hair ribbon tied around her bright brown hair.
“H-he’s coming this way?”
“Hey, hey, get up.”
The mercenaries scrambled to their feet and hurried away to another spot.
Thump! Finally, the man approached and took a seat before her.
Then he stared at Kanna and asked.
“Tatiana Evgenia?”
A low, deep voice—calm and measured.
But Kanna couldn’t hear his words.
“Is that correct?”
“….”
Kanna’s lips parted involuntarily.
Was I dreaming?
Or were my eyes deceiving me?
When Kanna said nothing, the white-haired man’s brow furrowed. He glared at her with piercing eyes and asked once more.
“I asked if you are Tatiana Evgenia.”
A familiar voice.
A familiar face.
‘How…?’
How was such a thing possible?
It couldn’t be.
Because he was dead.
Yet the person before me was someone I knew. It couldn’t be a mistake. I couldn’t possibly confuse him with anyone else.
Even in a crowd of hundreds, I would be able to find him!
‘Kalen.’
The White-haired Mercenary.
He was Kalen Adis.

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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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