My Body Has Been Possessed By Someone - Chapter 280

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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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Side Story Episode 11
* * *
‘I nearly died.’
Silvien gasped for breath, his chest heaving.
I had barely survived. My ship had washed ashore on a tiny, desolate island. And there was Raphael.
“Thank goodness.”
He was wringing out his drenched clothes, squeezing the water from the fabric.
“I knew you’d survive, Silvien.”
“You managed to survive as well, it seems.”
“I was fortunate.”
“Indeed.”
Silvien removed his garments and, like Raphael, wrung them dry before hanging them on a branch.
“Shall we try to build a fire?”
“I’ll handle it.”
Raphael’s tone was decisive.
“You rest. Your complexion looks terrible.”
….
So be it.
Silvien leaned his back against a tree and watched Raphael snap thick branches with methodical precision. The taut muscles of his back rippled with each movement, dynamic and powerful.
‘His body is like a weapon….’
As I gazed at the sight, I slowly closed my eyes.
Exhaustion crashed over me.
Not physical exhaustion, but a weariness of the spirit.
‘No, I’m fine.’
I’ve nearly died countless times before—surely not something to be undone by this alone….
‘Ah, yes. Of course that’s it.’
As the great tide of drowsiness pulled me under, I finally admitted the truth.
‘I truly despise water.’
Whenever I see it, I’m plagued by nightmares.
Sinking downward, deeper and deeper still… Yes, exactly like this.
This cursed nightmare haunts me.
* * *
“Save me!”
I remember it clearly.
That Frozen Lake.
My feet touching nothing. The biting cold of the water with each breath. The sharp, piercing pain that shot through my head.
“Please, save me!”
And her, watching over me from the ice above.
That woman. My….
“Mother!”
Mother.
Ah, Mother.
“Mother, please save me!”
There was no chance she would save me.
If she had any intention of saving me, she would never have pushed me into the lake in the first place.
Every time I tried to climb onto the frozen surface, Mother would jab my shoulders repeatedly with the tip of her long sword and push me back down.
The scene suddenly shifts.
This time, it’s before Mother pushed me into the lake.
“Silvien. My son. My beautiful son.”
Mother, always drunk.
“You truly resemble your father.”
And Mother, always weeping.
“Will you also love another woman like your father does?”
Mother, pouring all her rage toward my father onto me.
Her mind was already deeply corrupted.
“Will you also abandon your wife and play with another woman later, just like your father?”
Father had been kind to Mother. But he did not love her. Especially after I was born, he never shared her bed again.
“Your father fancies Josephine, that reckless girl.”
In the nobility society where arranged marriages were rampant, such things were commonplace.
Marry a suitable match, produce an heir, and conduct love affairs with a mistress.
But unfortunately, Mother loved Father. It was the beginning of her misery.
“Why? Why, of all people, a daughter of such a lowly house? Why?”
Mother gradually descended into madness day by day, consumed by rage and jealousy.
“If you disappear, he will turn back to me, won’t he?”
And she arrived at a grotesque conclusion.
“If the heir disappears, he’ll need to create a new one, so if you disappear, he’ll turn back to me, won’t he?”
Those sinister eyes. I can never forget them.
“Die, Silvien. Please die for me!”
And she truly executed that plan by pushing me directly into the lake. That I survived was nothing short of a miracle.
…Silvien realized something.
This is a dream. A nightmare. And.
Someone is watching it.
* * *
Silvien’s eyes snapped open.
I met a pair of violet eyes. It was Raphael.
“….”
The moment our eyes met, I knew. I understood with absolute clarity.
It was him.
He had seen everything.
“You….”
That dream. That memory.
His weakness, his shame, his humiliation.
There was no moment to comprehend it. By the time I came to my senses, I had already slapped his cheek.
“You.”
I muttered in a voice so chilling it made my skin crawl, then straddled his body. I struck his cheek again.
Blood sprayed. My head spun. My numbed reason whispered.
‘Kill him.’
No, this wasn’t reason.
It was pure emotion. Pure rage.
‘You must kill him.’
I had crossed the line. I had truly crossed it.
Raphael coughed up blood. His mouth was torn open.
Without hesitation, I seized his throat. As I squeezed tightly, Raphael’s breathing became ragged. Blood rushed to his face, flushing it crimson.
Yes. Die.
Just like this. A little more pressure and….
But….
Why wasn’t he resisting?
His hands were free; he didn’t even push me away.
His abnormal compliance returned reason to me.
“….”
The strength gradually drained from my grip.
I blinked. With each blink, the heat that had burned like a torch in my eyes visibly cooled.
“Then why….”
I rose to my feet. I helped Raphael up by his shoulders and smiled gently at him.
“Why do you peer into other people’s dreams like that?”
It was a voice so kind it was hard to believe it came from someone who had been as violent as a demon moments before.
“Oh, your lip is split. Are you alright?”
Raphael coughed a few times before steadying his breathing and speaking.
“Isn’t it okay to look?”
“….”
“I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
Suddenly, all my strength drained away.
Isn’t it okay to look? Of course it isn’t. And the one who nearly died by my hands is apologizing? What?
“You seem to be having nightmares constantly lately.”
Raphael wiped the blood from his lip as he murmured.
“I wanted to help if there was anything I could do.”
“Is that so? But looking into someone else’s mind without permission, especially their dreams, is something only the worst kind of person would do.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
“Then I was wrong. I won’t do it again.”
Silvien opened his eyes narrowly. Strangely, the anger had dissipated.
What good would anger do? He couldn’t even properly judge what was right and wrong.
“I knew you had some special ability, but I never expected it to be this unpleasant.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, that’s enough now.”
Silvien leaned his back against a wooden pillar.
Perhaps it was the exhaustion washing over me, but everything felt tedious.
Suddenly, the absurdity of the situation struck me as funny. Two dark-skinned men on a deserted island—what were we even doing?
“It’s common in Nobility Society. So don’t pity me. If you do, I might actually kill you.”
“Understood.”
“No… it’s still unpleasant. Should I just kill you?”
“I’m sorry. I can’t die.”
Silvien let out a short laugh and closed his eyes. It was just a joke.
Though jokes would never land with someone like him anyway.
‘Whatever. Let it be what it will be.’
Perhaps this could become dangerous later, but Silvien decided to simply let it be.
No, wait.
This wasn’t simply letting it be.
This was…
“I won’t tell anyone about this. I promise.”
I know.
You’re a taciturn one.
Yet Silvien didn’t bother responding. Trusting another’s nature felt strangely unfamiliar to him.
* * *
And so I found myself stranded on the Deserted Island with Raphael.
Perhaps it was guilt over glimpsing his past through dreams—Raphael complied with my every request.
I gladly indulged in his devotion. After all, my vile temperament was already exposed; what did I have to hide?
So I abandoned the pretense of virtue.
“Raphael. Massage my shoulders.”
“Of course.”
“Raphael. Aren’t you hungry?”
“Wait a moment. I’ll go hunt.”
“Raphael, it’s cold.”
“I’ll build a fire.”
After displaying my vicious temperament so freely, I eventually began to worry.
‘This man is far too indulgent with those he’s given his heart to.’
If he ever fell into the hands of a wicked person, it would be disastrous. I should be careful… I thought, then let out a faint chuckle.
‘Careful? That ship has long sailed.’
He’d already fallen into my hands.
Poor soul.
* * *
A rescue ship appeared a week later.
“Duke Valentino! There you are! Thank heavens you’re safe!”
It should have been a moment of joy. Yet in that instant, what Silvien felt was regret.
‘I was at peace here.’
This isolated island had taught me the meaning of freedom.
A place without obligation or responsibility, a wild land where nothing needed to be calculated—that was what it had been.
During those raw, primal moments devoted solely to survival, I had forgotten the name Valentino for the first time.
Perhaps such a moment would never come again in my life.
“Thank you for finding me so quickly.”
Yet Silvien boarded the ship without hesitation.
“Let’s head straight for Cretia Island.”
Reality awaited him.
And he loved his reality.
* * *
“Thank you for taking care of me all this time.”
Raphael declared his departure once all business on Cretia Island was concluded.
“We part ways on this island.”
Silvien couldn’t immediately comprehend those words. They were far too strange.
“Thanks to your teachings, I think I’ll manage to live well enough.”
Raphael continued, peeling a banana that had been served for dessert.
“While reading the Eastern Continent texts you gave me, I made my decision. So I gathered information about the Eastern Continent here.”
This was no spontaneous answer. It was the result of careful thought and planning done in solitude.
“If I pioneer new trade routes and monopolize trade agreements, I could accumulate considerable wealth. That’s what I’m going to do.”
Ha.
Silvien couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.
‘I was foolish.’
I had underestimated Raphael. I had dared to.
He was the successor of a Divine Spirit who had abandoned the Grand Temple—that golden tower of wealth, honor, and power.
“Raphael. You can’t even be certain that place exists.”
“It exists. I can see it.”
“You can see it?”
“Yes. I can go there, Silvien.”
“Is that one of your abilities?”
“Yes.”
Silvien interlaced his fingers and rested his hands on the table. Then he deliberated.
The reason I was gathering information about the Eastern Continent was because I shared the same thoughts as Raphael. I wanted to be the first explorer. Truly, it would yield immense wealth.
But if Raphael could reach that place with his unique ability to “see”….
“I’ll support you.”
The calculation came swiftly.
“A long voyage will require preparation, won’t it?”
“….”
“I’ll provide everything—the ship, the crew, provisions, and resources.”
“Why are you helping me so much?”
Because if you succeed, I plan to leverage my investment to claim a portion of the profits.
“I told you. Friends help each other through life.”
“Is that so? You really are a good person.”
Raphael believed me once again.
“Friendship is a wonderful thing.”
Silvien answered only with a smile, the corners of his mouth lifting upward.
‘Does this fool actually think of me as a friend?’
Friends—what an absurd notion. Yet it seemed better to let him believe it, so I left it alone.
“Yes. Friends help each other, Raphael.”
…But when did I start speaking to Raphael without formality?
* * *
They parted ways on the Island.
“Take care of yourself, Silvien.”
“Stay healthy and safe on your journey.”
Raphael shook hands with Silvien, then boarded the ship.
As I watched the ship recede into the distance, something strange stirred within me.
Raphael had departed.
I likely wouldn’t see him for years.
Or perhaps never again. The exploration of the Eastern Continent was an extraordinarily perilous undertaking.
At that thought, a faint sense of loss bloomed within me. Finding it utterly ridiculous, Silvien let out a quiet laugh.
‘Loss? That makes no sense.’
I must have become too absorbed in this game of friendship.
After all, that fool is a golden goose. It would be a waste to lose him like this, so I can only hope for his safe return.
Silvien closed his eyes. The rough sea breeze swept through his silver hair, leaving it disheveled.
For the first time in his life, Silvien sought out divinity in that vast breath.
He had never sought nor expected the mercy of a god, for he was beyond redemption—a hopeless human.
Yet Raphael was the one closest to you, was he not?
‘So please, I beg you—watch over Raphael and bring him home safely.’
Not quite a friend.
But still, a prayer of this magnitude….

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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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