My Body Has Been Possessed By Someone - Chapter 290

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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 21
“Orsini.”
I gasped, my breath catching sharply. My head snapped up.
“Are you not listening to me?”
Alexandro Adis was regarding me with displeasure in his eyes.
“I asked what you wanted to drink.”
“…I…”
I parted my lips. My voice emerged hoarse and fractured, heavy with tension.
“Water will suffice.”
“Strange fellow. Is that really something to deliberate over?”
Alexandro Adis turned away again. His footsteps resumed, carrying him toward the Kitchen.
Watching his retreating figure, I exhaled a ragged breath.
‘I’ve lost my mind.’
To entertain such thoughts of attacking him. He merely offered to fetch a drink, yet seeing him turn his back so defenseless ignited a murderous impulse within me.
‘Damn it—why provoke me like this?’
It was he who provoked me, asking if I didn’t wish to kill him.
And yet he presents himself so unguarded. Could he actually be hoping for a confrontation with me?
I don’t know.
I cannot fathom it.
I simply wanted to end this—the conflict, the torment. Perhaps things would improve if that man vanished.
Only one person could drag me into such an abyss….
Only Kanna Adis.
‘Kanna Adis.’
The moment her name crossed my mind, the tension drained from my fists.
Clang!
I hurled the fork to the floor. Then I shoved back from my chair and rose abruptly. I strode toward the Door with long, purposeful steps.
I had to leave.
Now. Before I did something reckless.
Before I committed an act that would reach Kanna Adis’s ears and spell my ruin.
“Oh, Orsini… or rather, Duke Adis?”
The moment I yanked the Door open, I collided with Claude. He beamed at me with a radiant smile.
“What perfect timing. I’ve crafted a sweater with you in mind, and I’m offering you the opportunity to purchase it for merely 500 gold….”
As I moved to pass by, Alexandro Adis emerged behind me.
“Claude. You’ve arrived.”
“Yes. Surely you’re not going with him, are you?”
Going together? Where? Now that I noticed, Claude had a fishing rod slung across his shoulder.
“We’re going fishing.”
Alexandro Adis was already holding a fishing rod as well.
“Will you join us?”
How absurd. I let out a scoff of exasperation.
“Who would do something like that?”
“Then I’ll ask you to clean up after.”
“Pardon?”
“Wash the dishes and clean the kitchen.”
“….”
“If you’ve eaten delicious food, it’s only proper to do at least that much.”
Delicious food, he says—this shameless bastard….
Alexandro Adis tapped Orsini’s shoulder lightly.
“I’ll bring in a big catch, so make sure everything is clean.”
* * *
“Damn it all.”
What in the world is this insane kitchen!
I was too frazzled earlier to notice, but the kitchen looked like it had been bombed.
Orsini grabbed a rag and fumbled about before finally hurling it away.
“No! Why should I do this garbage!”
I shouldn’t have come to this ridiculous village in the first place. As I turned to leave—
‘…Wait.’
I’d discovered something.
A glass jar of seasonings, and behind it, a small glass jar hidden away. The moment I opened the lid and caught the scent, I was certain.
‘This is a hallucinogen.’
A drug I’d once been addicted to.
‘Why does that person have this?’
Orsini pondered for a moment before slipping it into my pocket.
Kanna Adis despises people who use such things. If she ever found out that person was using drugs like this, her affection might….
“Ah, damn it.”
The curse escaped my lips unbidden.
So ugly, so contemptible.
It was my own affection that was crumbling away.
* * *
“Fresh squid just caught yesterday! Buy some squid!”
My head was muddled the entire walk away from the house.
“How about these clams for tonight’s dinner! Fresh clams, buy some clams!”
That person and a hallucinogen? They don’t match at all.
As for me, I’m nothing but a pathetic wretch before Kanna Adis, so I sought out such drugs in my anguish.
“Healthy asparagus! Eat asparagus and become healthy!”
But isn’t Alexandro Adis strong?
I can’t even imagine someone like that being cornered enough to seek out such a drug.
So why…?
“Tomatoes! Tomatoes at half price!”
Why on earth…?
“You there, Carrot Bachelor Brothers! Buy some carrots! My younger brother’s picky eating is getting serious! We need to fix those habits!”
…This noise is making it impossible to think.
I crossed the Market Square irritably. I was thoroughly sick of this provincial backwater.
Why on earth had that person chosen to settle in such a place? I couldn’t begin to fathom their dark intentions….
“….”
In the next instant, my footsteps halted abruptly. Then I slowly turned my head.
At the end of my gaze stood a merchant.
Brown hair, an ordinary young man’s face—there was nothing remarkable about him at all, but….
‘That man… could it be him?’
The report on the Southern Continent artifact merchant that Silvien Valentino had given me—this merchant matched that description perfectly.
As I drew closer, the merchant smiled faintly.
“Good day, customer. Have you come to purchase something?”
In that moment, I understood.
Silvien’s information had been genuine.
“…What is this?”
When I pointed to an item displayed on the counter, the merchant smiled secretively.
“This is what we call a Healing Potion. Drink it and your depleted stamina surges back, apply it to a wound and even deep gashes seal shut in an instant.”
To the eye, it looked like nothing but murky sludge.
“And this is an Attack Scroll. Tear this parchment and it unleashes fire arrows. Powerful enough to demolish an entire mansion.”
It merely appeared to be moldy sheepskin parchment.
To the untrained eye, it would seem like worthless garbage not worth taking even if offered. Upon hearing the explanation, most would curse the merchant as a swindler and move on.
But I harbored no doubt that these were artifacts from the Southern Continent.
“I’ll take them all. And what about this?”
Because of that white stone.
The pure white stone resting in the corner of the display—sacred power was emanating from it.
“Ah, this is a Sacred Stone. A stone imbued with sacred power.”
My lips parted.
A Sacred Stone? Such a thing existed in this world?
‘If sacred power is embedded in stone….’
In that moment, an intense desire bloomed within me.
This is for Kanna Adis. This is what Kanna Adis needs.
Isn’t Kanna Adis’s life absolutely dependent on sacred power? So if I gave her this, she would be delighted.
Perhaps she might even forgive me for burning that letter and my subsequent outburst.
And more than that? She might be overjoyed. She might smile brightly and say to me….
“Thank you, Orsini.”
In that instant, my lower body grew taut. Merely imagining it had this effect on me.
There was only one time Kanna Adis had smiled radiantly at me. When I was a young boy.
That was the first and the last.
If only once, just once, I could see Kanna Adis smile at me like that….
“I’m sorry, but this one is not for sale.”
In that instant, his sweet reverie shattered. Orsini’s brow furrowed deeply.
“What?”
“It is far too precious, you see. This is not for sale, and I must ask for your understanding.”
No. That would not do. That gemstone had to be his. Absolutely. No matter what it took.
Even if it meant eliminating this merchant….
“For now, allow him to strut about freely.”
Damn it all.
Orsini swallowed the curse. Silvien Valentino must be plotting something. He could not afford to obstruct his grand design.
“You truly have no intention of selling?”
“That is correct, sir.”
“I will give you anything you desire. Just sell it.”
“I refuse.”
“Think it over once more.”
Fury ignited within him. Had he ever in his life begged so pathetically? Yet Orsini suppressed his pride and made his plea again.
“I will give you whatever you wish.”
“You speak dangerously, sir. How could I know what I desire?”
“Anything. I do not care.”
“Well then, if you insist….”
The merchant’s eyes gleamed with avarice.
“Cut off a part of your body for me.”
Then his gaze swept rapidly across Orsini’s entire form.
“Any part will do. If you offer me a piece of your flesh, I shall surrender the gemstone. For nothing else shall I….”
Before he could finish, Orsini drew his dagger and brought it down in one fluid motion.
A sharp, searing pain erupted through his left pinky finger like lightning, but he clenched his teeth and bore it.
“Take it. Go on.”
“…Good heavens.”
“Take it, I said.”
“Y-you’ve lost your mind? How could you actually do such a thing?”
“Shut your mouth and hand over the gemstone.”
“Ah, I cannot. I intend to sell this gemstone to someone else….”
“Now you change your terms?”
Orsini bared his teeth in a mirthless grin. Then he raised his hand, blood dripping steadily from the wound.
“I have already cut it off, have I not?”
The merchant’s face drained of all color. Orsini fixed him with a sinister glare.
“Then I shall take compensation from your fingers instead.”
He set his dagger down upon the display counter with a sharp tap.
“Cut.”
He spoke quietly, his voice low and menacing.
“Or shall I do it for you?”
Silence.
There was no response. The Vegetable Merchant had completely lost his senses, his spirit crushed beyond recognition beneath the weight of despair.
“It seems the transaction has been concluded.”
Orsini wrapped the severed portion tightly with his handkerchief to stanch the bleeding. Then he picked up the gemstone.
“Now this belongs to me.”
* * *
“This bastard Orsini really….”
I walked through the village. Where on earth was Orsini holed up?
“Before the burning colt burns to death, you should visit once.”
Silvien Valentino had spoken those words and revealed this location to me.
Of all places—where Alexandro Adis lived!
‘What will I do if I run into Alex!’
My heart was uneasy. I had intended not to meet him until he wished to see me first… but if we crossed paths, it would become complicated.
‘That’s right, I don’t want to torment that person anymore.’
I bit my lip firmly. How on earth should I handle Orsini?
It would have been easy in the past.
I would have shattered his heart into pieces. I would have trampled him underfoot, telling him to be grateful for being allowed at my side.
But now I had no desire to do such things.
Was this pity, or was it love and hate intertwined?
What was certain was that I no longer wished to wound Orsini as I once did.
After all, Orsini had become mine. It was only natural to wish for what is mine to remain whole.
“Ah, you mean that young man? The brother of that gullible youth living at the Seaside Mansion?”
While asking the villagers about Orsini’s whereabouts, a merchant offered me a clue.
But a gullible youth?
“You mean that handsome red-haired young man, right? The one who dislikes carrots.”
…Could that gullible youth possibly be Alex?
“That young man’s brother came visiting. Word spread all through the village.”
“Do you happen to know where that person went?”
The merchant then pointed his finger.
“Over there. I saw him enter an inn room. But it looked like he was injured somewhere.”
“What?”
“He had bandages on his hand.”
“….”
Injured? Orsini?
Who in this village could possibly wound that man?
‘It couldn’t have been Alex.’
Yes, so he must have been mistaken. That man couldn’t possibly be injured.
…Unless he had chosen to injure himself.

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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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