My Body Has Been Possessed By Someone - Chapter 19
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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 19
Isabel’s lips trembled uncontrollably.
I’d been discovered.
Discovered! Kalen had figured it out!
“I… I’m leaving! I don’t want to waste any more time on this foolish nonsense!”
Isabel let out a sharp cry and bolted from the room, kicking the door open behind her. There was no mistaking it—she was fleeing.
Kalen watched Isabel’s retreating figure, then buried his face in his hands.
“Isabel…”
After a moment, he drew a deep breath and lifted his head.
“What on earth is mixed into the tea leaves to cause such a reaction?”
“This.”
Kanna pointed quietly at the scattered dried leaves on the table.
“Most of the leaves are stiffly unfurled, but if you look closely, you’ll see some here that are rolled into little balls. Their color is also slightly darker.”
“I can barely tell the difference.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to.”
Completely dried tea leaves become so similar in color and shape that distinguishing them becomes nearly impossible.
“This is the flower of the adzuki bean tree. More precisely, the flower bud.”
But for me, who had handled countless medicinal herbs, it was unmistakable.
This was a medicinal herb used even in Korea, one I’d touched dozens and hundreds of times.
“The adzuki bean tree has almost no scent to begin with, so you’d never notice it by smell alone. Unless you drank it directly like Lucy did.”
“Is it a poisonous plant?”
“No, it’s a medicinal herb.”
Kalen’s eyes widened. A medicinal herb? This?
But if it’s a medicinal herb, why did Lucy end up like that? Why did Isabel flee in such panic?
“However, when consumed in large quantities, it becomes a poison. That’s why it requires a physician’s prescription…”
Poison. At that word from my lips, Kalen’s face went pale.
“Is it a dangerous poison?”
“Actually, it’s not particularly dangerous. When poisoned, you’d experience abdominal pain, diarrhea—symptoms like that.”
“Lucy was vomiting blood.”
Anger dripped from Kalen’s voice.
“She’s vomiting, convulsing, having seizures, and struggling to breathe. This is hardly mild abdominal pain!”
“It has properties that directly contradict the medicinal ingredients I prescribed.”
The adzuki bean flower is a medicinal herb when used correctly, but a mild poison when misused.
However.
“Lucy’s current decoction contains licorice root. When adzuki bean flowers meet licorice, the toxicity amplifies several times over.”
The adzuki bean flower becomes an extremely dangerous poison when combined with licorice.
That’s why the poisoning had become so severe.
“Whoever orchestrated this probably didn’t expect it to escalate this far. They likely just wanted to make Lucy a little ill.”
Silence descended once more.
I continued speaking quietly.
“It’s probably because of me. If Lucy keeps getting sick, it means I’ve broken my contract… I’ll have to leave this mansion.”
“….”
“Whoever dislikes my presence here must have orchestrated this. Since things have become more serious than expected, they’re probably trembling by now.”
I didn’t speak the name. I made no accusatory statements.
Yet the same person was crystallizing in both of our minds.
“Here, this is the list of medicinal ingredients.”
Now that I’d identified the source of the poisoning, the antidote was straightforward. I wrote out the prescription and handed it to Kalen.
“Brew it according to these instructions and she’ll recover quickly. I guarantee it.”
Kalen kept his lips sealed, staring down at the paper. Watching his profile, I added:
“Just be careful. We don’t know if someone might try something again.”
That should be all.
Completely drained, I turned to leave. I simply wanted to escape this room and rest. But….
“Miss.”
Kalen’s voice rooted me in place.
“I apologize for earlier.”
What?
I let out an involuntary laugh. I’d just heard something absurdly ridiculous.
I slowly turned back to face Kalen. My expression betrayed an awkwardness I couldn’t quite conceal.
“You apologize?”
I laughed again, utterly bewildered. I couldn’t suppress the laughter.
“Why now, of all times?”
In that moment, Kalen’s eyes wavered.
“I told you there was no need for that, didn’t I? Whether you apologize or not, I’ll see Lucy’s treatment through to the end. So stop acting strange, Kalen. It doesn’t suit you.”
“Miss, I….”
“And why do you keep calling me ‘Miss’?”
Snip. At those words, Kalen’s tongue seemed to have been severed—he fell silent.
I regarded him with peculiar suspicion and made a suggestion.
“Would you call me ‘you’ like you did before? It would be more comfortable for both of us, wouldn’t it?”
With that, I left the room without hesitation.
‘How ridiculous.’
An apology? For something so trivial?
Back then, he’d done far worse things. He’d tormented me. He’d despised me. He’d inflicted wounds upon me that could never be healed… and now?
He’s sorry for something like this?
‘Lucy must be so precious to him.’
To apologize so readily for his half-sister—truly, such devotion is remarkable.
‘Yet he’s never once done so for me.’
So there was nothing left but to laugh.
* * *
“Sister!”
I was taking tea on the Terrace.
The door swung open and the girl rushed in. Kanna Adis spread her arms wide with a brilliant smile.
“Lucy, did you sleep well?”
“Yes, sister! Good morning! Did you sleep well too?”
Oh, how adorable.
I pulled Lucy, who sat on my lap, into a tight embrace and stroked her violet hair.
“Yes, I slept well. And you, Lucy? Did you have pleasant dreams?”
“Yes! I played with you in my dream!”
“Really? What did we do?”
“We went on a picnic to a flower field. We ate sandwiches and drank milk, and looked at the flowers! Kalen was there too!”
At those words, my smile vanished.
She went out to play with Kalen? That’s not a pleasant dream for me at all…
In that very moment.
“Am I truly so disagreeable to you?”
Had he come along with Lucy? Kalen leaned against the doorframe at an angle.
But I didn’t even glance in his direction, nor did I deign to respond. The question wasn’t worth answering.
“Lucy, how is your body feeling now?”
“It’s wonderful! Since you healed me, sister, there’s nothing wrong at all!”
One week into treatment, the taut eyelid muscles began to gradually relax.
By the second week, the right side of her face had returned to normal.
In the third week, the paralysis on the left side slowly subsided until she appeared perfectly comfortable, and now, a month later.
Lucy’s face looked completely normal to anyone’s eye.
‘This is quite rapid recovery, all things considered.’
Her face, her health—everything had returned to normal.
With the facial paralysis gone, Lucy was a girl of modest appearance.
She possessed the cuteness characteristic of her age, but she lacked the striking, refined features inherited by Alexandro’s children.
Orsini and Kalen, who resembled their father, and Isabel were so strikingly beautiful that they commanded attention wherever they went.
‘She must take after her mother.’
The rare violet, wiry hair and plain face were clearly inherited from her mother. Only her vivid emerald eyes bore any resemblance to Alexandro.
“Let me see. Yes, it truly seems you’re completely recovered now.”
Which meant.
‘I should broach the subject with Father now.’
The time had come to face Alexandro Adis.
“Sister, let’s go out and play!”
“Hmm? Where to?”
“I want to see the town! With you and big brother!”
I couldn’t answer immediately.
Then Kalen, who had been listening quietly, spoke softly.
“If it’s because of me, I won’t accompany you. Rest assured.”
“No, it’s not that.”
I’m sorry, Lucy, but I have no time for leisure. I want to leave this mansion as soon as possible…
From the very beginning, there were only two reasons I remained in the Adis Mansion.
First, to obtain Alexandro Adis’s permission for a divorce.
Second, to gather my alchemical tools.
Beyond that, I harbored not a shred of attachment.
I was carefully selecting only the necessary alchemical equipment and packing them away. The task was nearly complete—all that remained was to secure the divorce approval.
Once that was accomplished.
‘I would bid the Adis family farewell forever.’
But for that to happen, I absolutely needed Duke Adis’s consent.
In this world, a woman cannot even change her residence without permission from her male guardian—her husband or father. To establish a new home and live independently, she requires authorization from her male relatives.
Truly, a society of the most appalling inequality between men and women!
“Let’s discuss that later, Lucy. You understand, don’t you?”
“Y-yes, I understand, Sister.”
Such an obedient child. Only seven years old, yet she didn’t whine or complain.
I stroked Lucy’s head before rising from my seat.
My destination was the Study of Alexandro Adis—the Duke of the Adis household.
It was time for the final confrontation.
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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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