My Body Has Been Possessed By Someone - Chapter 286

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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 17
Side Story 5. His Longing
【To Alex.】
I hesitated, fountain pen in hand.
What should I say? There was so much I wanted to tell him….
【How have you been?】
In the end, I found myself writing the most mundane greeting. I laughed softly at myself.
“Of course he’s doing well.”
Several months ago, Alexandro Adis awakened from his long slumber. But that was all.
Alexandro Adis did not return. He chose not to return.
He remained in that small Coastal Village.
“I need rest.”
Yes, of course he did. No one in this world needed respite more desperately than he did.
So I let him go. My very presence would be such a profound torment to him.
‘I want to be with him, but….’
I gazed at the letter with a bitter smile.
Alexandro Adis harbored a secret so ancient it had likely been his intention to carry it to his grave. He must have believed that when everything ended, his life would end as well.
But life continued, and his secret was laid bare for all to see.
So now he had to make a choice.
Whether to acknowledge that secret or bury it forever.
I don’t know what decision he’ll make.
But after his rest is over, he will decide. Whatever it is, I’ve resolved to accept it without resistance.
That’s why we’re apart for now.
Since parting ways at the Coastal Village, we haven’t met even once. We only exchange letters.
When will I see him again?
That’s when it happened. Knock, knock. A sound at the door.
“May I come in?”
It was Orsini. He opened the door without waiting for my answer.
“If you’re going to do that, why knock?”
I rebuked him while folding the letter.
“What’s with the formality between us?”
“What are you talking about? There’s nothing between us.”
“There’s something hot and passionate.”
“….”
Is this bastard insane? I glared at him with contempt.
“There’s nothing like that.”
“There is.”
“There isn’t.”
“Think carefully, Kanna Adis. There has to be something.”
“Shut up. You vulgar pervert.”
“So you know I’m a perverted scoundrel—that means there’s something to this, doesn’t there?”
Orsini chuckled, his shoulders shaking with amusement.
‘Look at him. He’s absolutely delighted.’
The fact that he was cracking jokes—so unlike him—suggested his mood was exceptional today.
“Hey, scoot over a bit. Let me sit.”
Orsini tapped my shoulder repeatedly as he squeezed himself into the space beside me.
“What are you doing? Go sit over there.”
“I prefer it here.”
“It’s cramped—our bodies are touching!”
“That’s exactly why I like it.”
“It’s cramped, I said! Hey!”
I struck his shoulder, but only my palm ached for it.
Fine, do as you please.
As I exhaled in defeat, Orsini seemed to grow even more pleased with himself.
“What brings you here? Isn’t this supposed to be your working hours?”
“I have something to discuss.”
“What is it?”
“Well, you see.”
Orsini cleared his throat awkwardly, stealing a glance at my face.
“The thing is.”
“Mm-hmm.”
I fixed him with an unwavering stare, meeting his eyes directly, and he seemed momentarily flustered.
“The thing is.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“So.”
“….”
“It was… well.”
Why was he like this? From the way he was stammering, it was clear he’d forgotten what he meant to say.
‘He really is a strange one.’
Orsini often did this. Whenever I stared at him intently from up close like this, he’d malfunction like a broken machine.
“Were you coming to talk about that?”
Unable to wait any longer, I broached the subject first.
“Your successor.”
“Ah. Right. Yes.”
As if it had just come back to him, Orsini nodded.
“You knew.”
“Well, I do have ears.”
Recently, Orsini had been facing subtle pressure from his retainers—the duties of a house lord, namely to hasten marriage and the production of an heir.
“Why didn’t you just have one when you were married to Princess Lilienne back then?”
At my lighthearted jab, his expression twisted into a deep scowl.
“Stop spouting nonsense.”
“So what are you going to do? Remarry?”
“There’s no need for that. All I need is one heir to carry on the title.”
“….”
“So here’s what I’m thinking, Kanna.”
A sinister premonition began to creep over me.
The same feeling I’d had when Orsini made that absurd proposal before—’Will you marry me?’
“Will you have a child with me?”
“….”
I knew it would come to this.
Kanna glared at him with a look of utter exasperation. This man truly knew nothing of growth.
First it was ‘Want to be with me?’ then ‘Will you marry me?’ and now ‘Will you have a child with me?’
“Listen, think about it. How much does Adis possess? Now imagine your child inheriting all of it. Doesn’t that sound appealing?”
Orsini spoke rapidly, a hint of desperation creeping into his voice.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a daughter or a son. Just one. What do you say?”
“….”
“Or if you want, two would be fine. Three would be fine too. Actually, four might….”
“What are you saying, you fool!”
Kanna finally couldn’t help herself and burst into laughter.
“Don’t say such ridiculous things, Orsini. Have you lost your mind?”
“….”
“A child? Me? With you? Does that seem possible to you? Where are you getting such absurd ideas?”
I laughed for quite some time, my mirth seemingly endless.
“Is it funny?”
My laughter stopped abruptly. Orsini’s face had grown cold and frozen.
‘Is he angry?’
But I answered honestly.
“Yes. Very much so.”
“You’d better stop laughing. I’m being serious.”
“And I was being serious with my answer.”
“Don’t mess with me. If you’re going to lie, just shut up.”
Kanna shrugged her shoulders.
“Fine. It was a lie. Honestly, this doesn’t even deserve serious consideration. I hate it. I really do.”
At this point, it seemed like he should explode…
But surprisingly, Orsini continued with patience.
“Kanna, think about this seriously. In our current situation, that’s the best solution. Otherwise….”
He trailed off, then quickly added:
“Otherwise, I’d have to have a child with another woman. Are you telling me to do that?”
Kanna fell silent.
The image unfolded in my mind unbidden—Orsini and some other woman standing beside him, their child between them.
‘Not really. I don’t care.’
So why was I irritated?
‘…Could I possibly be jealous?’
No, no. That couldn’t be it. I knew what jealousy felt like from experience.
When I saw Alex with the Cooking Instructor, hadn’t my insides churned violently?
Back then, I hated that Cooking Instructor outright. I didn’t even know what kind of woman she was, yet she became the person I despised most in the world.
But the woman in my imagination beside Orsini didn’t displease me. Instead, it was Orsini himself who felt utterly insufferable.
It was a different caliber of irritation from the jealousy I’d experienced then—a pure, crystalline annoyance, a twisting revulsion itself.
“Do as you wish, then.”
“What?”
“I’m saying do whatever you want. What does it matter to me what you do with another woman? I’m not interested.”
“….”
“Remarry if you want, take a mistress, or bring a bastard child home from outside.”
I regretted the words the moment they left my mouth. I shouldn’t have said that. This might have been too harsh….
‘Is he angry?’
I glanced at him sideways. Orsini was clenching his teeth, clearly restraining something.
Something like pain.
Seeing that sight, a sigh escaped me unbidden. I really had spoken too harshly.
“Orsini, don’t do that. Let’s find another way.”
“Another way? Should I take a mistress? Like how you used to play mistress to that bastard Alexei?”
He was definitely angry. I deliberated for a moment, then made a decision.
‘I need to smooth this over.’
After all, I had spoken like a demon.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Who do you take me for, an idiot? It amounts to the same thing. Words that don’t even make….”
Orsini’s voice, which had been pouring out vehemently, gradually subsided. Eventually it trailed off unfinished.
“….”
His gaze lowered.
My hand. My hand had come to rest on his knee.
“Calm down and think it through properly. There has to be another way.”
“…Another way, you say.”
“It’ll come to you if you think about it.”
“There’s no way something like that…exists.”
Orsini tried to respond coldly, but I could see all his attention was concentrated on where my hand touched him.
“Isn’t it premature to reach that conclusion before you’ve even properly considered it?”
I squeezed his knee firmly once. In that instant, Orsini’s breath caught. I felt his thigh muscles tense sharply.
“Isn’t it?”
“That’s… perhaps so.”
“Yes. It is premature.”
I moved my hand slowly upward.
Orsini crumpled the armrest in his grip, his knuckles whitening. Curses and groans tumbled from his lips, mangled and scattered.
“You’re absolutely insane. Just because you’re doing this doesn’t mean I….”
But that was all he managed.
The rest of his words never came.
His breath grew warm.

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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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