My Body Has Been Possessed By Someone - Chapter 174

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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 174
* * *
Silvien Valentino walked through the corridors of the Imperial Palace, lost in thought.
The Emperor was completely ruined.
No one knew exactly when he had begun taking the drug, or when his condition had deteriorated so thoroughly.
The problem was that not only the Emperor but the Empress had fallen into addiction alongside him.
They had deteriorated so severely that neither could attend to matters of state any longer.
Prince Argon’s wanderlust had grown worse with each passing day, leaving him scarcely present in the Imperial Palace, so the duty of affixing the imperial seal had fallen entirely to Concubine Teresa.
It was absurd.
Once a commoner, she had become the supreme decision-maker determining all matters great and small throughout the Empire.
“Duke, where are you headed?”
Silvien Valentino turned around.
Princess Lilienne, daughter of Concubine Teresa and the Second Princess, was approaching.
“It’s been terribly difficult to see your face.”
“My duties have been overwhelming. I apologize.”
“Have you given thought to my previous proposal?”
“If you speak of remarriage, my answer remains unchanged.”
Princess Lilienne let out a scornful laugh.
“I simply cannot fathom it. Is there a better match for the Duke than myself? I wonder how much longer you intend to delay remarriage.”
Marriage proposals flooded in like a tidal wave not only from the Empire but from across the entire Continent, yet Silvien Valentino seemed to have no intention of remarrying whatsoever.
“One might think you cannot forget your late wife, hearing you speak so.”
It was hollow mockery.
No one truly believed that. Silvien Valentino had treated his wife like stone.
Silvien Valentino merely smiled silently. The conversation ended, and he turned away. He walked with measured steps.
‘Cannot forget?’
No, I had forgotten.
Not long after my former wife’s death, I returned to my ordinary life.
There were moments when I would think of her, but that was all.
Perhaps because I had lost everyone dear to me since childhood, I was accustomed to death and skilled at recovering from its shock.
But when was it?
About two years ago, I was poisoned for the first time in a very long while.
Yet such incidents had become so tedious that I took no particular action. I did not summon a physician; I simply drank a bottle of antidote and continued working.
As I was casually reviewing documents.
“You place too much confidence in your own health.”
I spun around sharply.
There was no one there.
Only emptiness, without even the faintest warmth of presence.
Yet her voice continued to reach me.
From within my old memories.
“You display such composure without even knowing what poison you’ve been exposed to.”
“It was a foolish thing to do.”
Yes, it was.
It truly was.
You said it was arrogant and foolish of me.
Did I thank her for it back then?
There’s no need to dredge up the memory.
I certainly did not.
Silvien Valentino attempted a self-deprecating laugh—or so he thought. Yet no laughter emerged.
There were so many words left unsaid. Far too many.
Silvien Valentino rang the bell and summoned the Butler, issuing a command.
“Fetch the Physician for me.”
There were days like this—rare occasions when, amid the mundane flow of existence, a festering wound would suddenly rupture, throbbing with dull anguish.
Was this forgetting, or the inability to forget? Or perhaps the process of forgetting itself?
I could not say.
“Bring that Physician.”
After commanding the Servant, he settled onto the sofa to wait in the Palace where the Physicians lodged.
Moments later, the door burst open with haste.
“Duke Adis?”
A woman’s breathless voice reached him, as though she had rushed here. Silvien Valentino turned his head. She was entering with an animated expression.
A Physician from the Eastern Continent who had appeared one day without warning.
This Physician had cured the Empress of her severe skin affliction.
The woman hailed as a genius was younger than Silvien Valentino by several years—a young woman with smooth ivory skin, lustrous black hair, and dark eyes bearing an exotic allure.
Since the opening of cultural exchange with the Eastern Continent, people with black hair and dark eyes had flooded in like a torrent.
Their appearance was captivating, their knowledge abundant, and their wares ingenious and practical.
Thanks to this, perceptions of those with black hair naturally improved.
Had the opening occurred even slightly earlier, Kanna Adis’s life might have been different.
Perhaps that was why—whenever Silvien Valentino saw this woman, he thought of Kanna Adis.
“I have a matter to discuss with you.”
She gazed at him with an entranced expression.
“Please, speak freely. Anything at all.”
* * *
“Welcome. I have heard much praise from Her Majesty the Queen.”
Days later, Kanna Adis finally arrived at Britzk Territory.
“So this is the renowned Mercenary who serves as your escort.”
The Lord of Britzk examined Ren with obvious interest, his gaze openly appraising.
“I hear your skills are quite formidable. Have you no interest in taking the Knight Order entrance examination?”
“I do not.”
“What a pity. Do consider it during your stay here.”
The fact that even the Lord coveted him so openly suggested that Ren had indeed made a name for himself in mercenary circles.
Peaceful days unfolded thereafter.
I had only assumed that was the case.
* * *
The incident erupted suddenly.
“My Lord!”
A Knight Guard from Lord’s Castle rushed in with his report.
An hour ago, the Black Mist had suddenly appeared and swallowed the village whole before vanishing just as abruptly.
In that brief span of time, the village descended into chaos.
Fortunately, a Priest happened to be in the village at that moment. He managed to contain the mist from spreading into the residential areas, but he lost his life in the process.
“The Priest was killed in an attack by an infected person.”
“How could this be.”
The Lord of Britzk’s complexion turned ashen as he received this news during dinner.
“However, fortunately, Lord Orsini, who happened to be passing through the territory, arrived and dealt with the infected and the monsters!”
Clang!
At that moment, a fork clattered to the floor.
The Knight Guard turned in surprise at the sound.
“Physician? Are you alright?”
“Yes. My apologies.”
Kanna Adis smiled softly and dabbed her lips with a napkin. A Servant quickly approached and brought her a fresh fork.
She calmly lifted her wine glass and asked.
“So he’s heading back to the Capital?”
“No. Several of the Knight Guards sustained injuries, so they’ve come here for treatment. They arrived together with me.”
Orsini was here in this castle right now?
The Lord of Britzk jumped to his feet in shock as well, though his alarm was of a different nature than mine.
“What excellent fortune! We have the finest physician in the realm right here in this castle. Physician Tatiana will be able to treat them!”
The Knight Guard then puffed out his chest and spoke with pride.
“Yes, I informed them that the greatest physician in the Yalden Kingdom is staying in this castle.”
“…”
“That’s why they came to receive treatment from you.”
Did I do well? The Knight Guard’s eyes sparkled with hope for praise. I wanted to throw my fork at his face.
At that moment, the Lord of Britzk, unaware of the situation, stepped forward.
“Physician Tatiana, this is a good opportunity for both me and you. Building connections with House of Adis will be tremendously beneficial to your career.”
“Indeed. Let us go together now, Physician. I shall guide you to the wounded’s chambers.”
My face drained of color. This was a crisis I had never anticipated.
Should I claim I was unwell?
But I had just been cheerfully eating and conversing with the Lord?
I couldn’t reveal the nature of my relationship with Orsini. That secret was known only to the Queen, Princess Joanna, and Crown Prince Alexei—a secret of the highest order.
So there was only one option left.
“Very well. Let me gather my instruments from the Medical Room.”
In the end, I had no choice but to escape this castle.
“Let us go together.”
“No, there’s no need for such trouble. Just tell me which floor I need to go to.”
After shaking off the Knight Guard, Kanna hurried toward my medical room. Then I spoke to Ren, who was following behind me.
“Ren, I have a favor to ask.”
At least while I was in this castle, it would be problematic for Ren to encounter them.
There wouldn’t be a single Adis Knight who could recognize Ren.
“What is it?”
“While I’m treating the knights, ask the cook to prepare roasted turkey for me.”
“Roasted turkey at this hour?”
“Yes. I stopped eating just now and I’m hungry. I want to eat it after I finish the consultations.”
“You should have a servant do that. My duty is to guard you.”
“Watch over the cook while he makes the turkey. Make sure he doesn’t put anything strange in it.”
At that, Ren gave me a suspicious look.
“When did you become so sensitive about poison?”
“New people have entered the castle. What if some madman poisons my food to prevent me from treating the Adis Knights?”
“You’re being overly cautious.”
However, since poisoning a physician responsible for key military strength was actually something that happened quite often, Ren grumbled but complied with my words.
Since roasted turkey took a very long time to prepare, I’d bought myself that much time.
‘That should be enough time for me to slip out of the castle.’
First, I’d leave my post and then request cooperation from the Queen. That was the best plan.
“Are you Physician Tatiana?”
But the plan crumbled to dust.
There was a Knight Guard waiting for me in front of the medical room. She wore the uniform of the Adis Knights.
‘A woman?’
Was there a woman in the Knight Order?
To my knowledge, there wasn’t. She seemed to be a knight who had joined after I disappeared.
Perhaps that’s why. The Knight Guard didn’t recognize Kanna and spoke.
“Lord Orsini Adis is inside. Please treat him first.”
What? Who did she say was there?
Kanna tried to back away, but the Knight Guard quickly grabbed my back and pushed me inside.
“Go on, step inside.”
Unable to resist that force, my body twisted forward. The moment I entered the room.
Slam!
The door closed behind me.
“….”
The room was silent.
With only a single candle lit, moonlight streaming through the darkness illuminated the man on the sofa.
Kanna swallowed hard and held my breath.
There lay a man with crimson hair, his legs stretched out long as he reclined.
“Are you the physician?”
Then a weary voice flowed out.

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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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