My Body Has Been Possessed By Someone - Chapter 308
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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 39
* * *
The next day, I reported to work.
“Professor, you’ve arrived?”
I taught Eastern Continent medicine and medicinal materials at the Royal Academy twice a week.
Despite being the youngest lecturer and lacking formal credentials, my status and unparalleled expertise in the field meant there were no objections whatsoever.
In fact, my reputation in academic circles was excellent—though my standing in High Society was an absolute disaster.
“Professor, here are the lecture materials.”
My dedicated assistant extended the documents with a haggard expression.
“Ellic, did you not sleep?”
“Surely you don’t expect me to have slept after you assigned me such an enormous workload?”
Always so prickly. I studied my assistant Ellic carefully.
Pale platinum hair, silver-rimmed glasses, and an intellectual bearing with eyes that held a certain coldness—he was a young man of refined composure.
“You’ve worked hard. If you need anything, just say the word.”
“Then raise my salary. Give me a bonus too. And pocket money as well.”
“Pocket money is out of the question.”
This was a familiar routine, so I responded calmly.
“I can manage a salary increase and a bonus. I was planning to do so anyway. You do excellent work.”
“And please arrange for me to be hired as an Associate Professor around this time next year.”
Ellic spoke with utmost seriousness.
“To be frank, I want to abandon this assistant position of cleaning up after others as soon as possible and become an Associate Professor. Please open a path for my advancement.”
“Aren’t you being rather too candid?”
“With your influence, there’s nothing that couldn’t be done, is there? Please become the lifeline of my future.”
“Then what can you offer me in return?”
“As you know, I come from a poor commoner background and possess nothing. All I have is this beautiful body my parents bequeathed to me.”
Ellic spoke with grim determination.
“I will do anything within my physical capabilities. If you demand it, I could even attend to your nights starting today.”
“Calm yourself. I don’t need that sort of thing.”
Since Ellic looked ready to unfasten his buttons right then and there, I waved my hand dismissively.
“Besides, I have no authority over Academy hiring decisions. Though I could certainly write you a letter of recommendation…”
“Your recommendation letter would be more than sufficient. Thank you.”
Ellic adjusted his silver-rimmed glasses as he spoke.
“Since you’ve granted my wish, please ask anything of me, Professor. I’ll do anything. Even if it were an immoral request…”
“Don’t you realize that’s crossing a line?”
“Not at all. I’m simply trying to repay your kindness.”
I exhaled deeply.
‘There’s something odd about Ellic too.’
It seemed my fate was to be surrounded by peculiar people throughout my entire life.
* * *
On my way home after the lecture, the weather was absolutely splendid.
‘Spring has truly arrived at last.’
Simply opening the carriage window lifted my spirits. As I savored the gentle spring breeze, I eventually ordered the carriage to stop.
“I’ll walk from here.”
It was then that I set out on foot, accompanied by several Guard Knights, treating the journey as a leisurely stroll.
“What a peculiar young lady.”
Someone called out to me.
“Truly peculiar indeed.”
I turned to look beside me.
An Old Fortune Teller sat on the street with a blanket spread beneath her, a large crystal sphere placed before her.
‘A fortune teller?’
Yet that crystal sphere bore a striking resemblance to the artifact from the Southern Continent that had once tormented me.
‘That also appears to be from the Southern Continent.’
I would have to mention this to Silvien Valentino later. With that thought, I quickened my pace.
“You have many counterparts?”
The Old Fortune Teller spoke freely toward my retreating figure.
“Let me see. Ah, yes. Your soul is fragmented, divided into many pieces. Fractured. That is why you have not just one soulmate, but many.”
I stopped in my tracks. I looked down at the Old Fortune Teller.
She grinned, revealing yellowed teeth.
“You shall never want for love, young lady with so many counterparts.”
“….”
“But you must be careful. You are currently living by force.”
“How dare this wretched woman….”
The Guard Knight behind me reached for his sword, but I raised my arm to stop him. The Old Fortune Teller continued without fear.
“You are now hiding, deceiving the eyes of fate. Ah yes, a great power conceals you.”
The Old Fortune Teller peered more closely at the crystal sphere and cackled.
“So beware. The moment you are exposed, the arrows of fate that passed you by will return to strike you down.”
Unable to bear it any longer, the Guard Knight spoke with displeasure.
“Lady Kanna Adis, ignore this senile old woman. If you wish, I shall remove her from your sight.”
“No, never mind. Let us simply go.”
Yet something felt unsettling, so I flicked a gold coin to the Old Fortune Teller—a diviner’s fee.
“I shall heed your words of caution. But there is no need for concern.”
I spoke with conviction.
“I shall live long and happily.”
* * *
Upon arriving at the Valentino Estate, I read through the letter Lucy Adis had sent.
Currently, Lucy was traveling with her biological mother.
‘It seems she is in Yalden at the moment.’
But you know, the other day while I was out, I encountered a thug threatening a young boy, and I was so terrified that I rushed over and kicked the robber.
Well, his shin bone broke.
I was truly, truly frightened.
‘Well, Lucy. I think the thug was probably more frightened.’
I let out a laugh. Lucy had grown increasingly healthy and was becoming as strong as an ox.
‘The blood of Adis runs true.’
I handed over the next letter. This one was from Yoanna Friedrich, the princess of Yalden Kingdom.
So they’ve implemented the monogamous marriage system? As expected, the Aslian Empire is the most advanced nation on the Western Continent!
That’s why I’m thinking of immigrating to the Empire. I’m serious. We only live once—shouldn’t we live the way we want to?
I burst into laughter. Yoanna, with whom I now spoke casually, was truly a perfect match for me.
Four lovers? I’m really envious, Kanna. You’re my idol. I’m absolutely going to live like you!
Her handwriting grew increasingly wild, as if she had become excited while writing.
You know, Kanna, I’m curious about something. Do you love all of them? I’ve tried loving two people at the same time (I won’t tell you who), but I can’t even imagine four.
“Love, you say….”
If I were ‘Kanna Adis’, I would confidently—
“Of course. I love them all. Each one has their own unique charm! They’re all mine. No one can have them!”
That’s what I would say.
‘But I could never say it like that.’
It was an impossible thing to say unless one was extraordinarily shameless.
Yet I don’t disagree with it. Whether it’s a lingering trace of Kanna Adis’s nature or something else, my possessiveness had grown remarkably strong—so much so that it surprised even me.
‘Or perhaps this is simply my true nature.’
The feelings I held for each of them were different. They each possessed their own distinct colors, temperatures, and forms.
What was certain was that they were all precious to me, that I cherished them deeply, and that I wished for their happiness.
And I was quite firmly convinced that they were mine. Now I truly saw them that way.
‘Yes, now they feel like companions in life.’
I unfolded the remaining letters.
There were letters from Amelia and Prince Lorenzo, as well as from colleagues I had recently befriended through the Eastern Continent Medicinal Materials Research Group. Including letters from my students who attended my lectures, there were over twenty in total.
Suddenly, I found that remarkable.
There was once a time when I was a solitary figure in this world… but now that lonely time felt distant and hard to recall.
In that moment, I truly felt my own happiness.
Living a life doing what I love, surrounded by people I cherish. What else could happiness be?
‘That’s right. I’m truly happy these days.’
My heart swelled with contentment, and laughter came naturally. I smiled faintly and placed the bundle of letters into a drawer.
Then I discovered it.
A crumpled piece of paper. A letter I had never sent.
“….”
I hesitated for a moment, then threw the letter into the trash.
‘It was right not to send it.’
It would have only been a burden to him. I smiled bitterly.
Everything with Alexandro was truly over.
He had cut her off.
He said he wished for her not to write to him anymore.
He told her to understand—it was a decision made so he could enjoy complete rest.
That had been the last sentence from him. She sent several letters trying to reach out, but no reply ever came.
So Kanna accepted it.
‘There’s no helping it. It would be absurd to force myself on someone who doesn’t want me.’
Kanna closed her eyes, and as if waiting for that moment, his image materialized with terrifying clarity.
Alex.
His piercing gaze. Those sharp emerald eyes, lean and intense.
His firm lips, always pressed into a resolute line. And that rough texture—lips that burned hot whenever they touched mine….
Alexandro.
His hands. Large and powerful. Palms hardened with calluses. Long fingers.
Hands that caressed me through the night. That tangled in my hair. That gripped my waist. That slid down past my shoulders—those hands.
I remember every path those hands traced.
Like the scars left by flame, they throbbed still, making it feel as though he were touching me even now.
Even now, in this very moment….
A deep longing welled up like water, and finally a single tear gathered at the corner of my lashes.
“Kanna.”
Then, his voice reached me.
“Kanna Adis.”
Ah….
My heart began to race wildly.
It was always like this.
His voice. His call.
Hearing that tone—quiet as dawn—my chest ached so that I didn’t know what to do with myself.
“Why are you crying?”
To that question, I whispered with my eyes still closed.
“Because of you.”
In the next instant, Alex lifts my chin. I feel his breath, his warmth drawing near.
Then he licks away my tears.
A tremor runs through me.
It aches all the way to my fingertips—almost painfully so. I wish he would stop. No, I wish it would last forever.
“Alex….”
No answer comes.
How long does the silence stretch?
I open my eyes very slowly. Then tears that have pooled overflow, streaming down my cheeks.
An empty room.
Hollow.
Sorrowful and desolate.
Yet this is the only way we can meet.
Now he could only feel it in his imagination.
“How foolish.”
Kanna Adis muttered the curse under her breath.
“How foolish of you, Kanna Adis.”
Surrounded by everything I cherish, possessing all that I need, yet lacking only that one person….
And yet Alexandro’s absence could not be filled by anything else.
The space he left behind remained hollow, festering into a wound that would not heal.
I could spend the entire day in happiness, yet without fail, pain would visit me once each day. Just as it did now.
‘It’s alright. One cannot be happy every moment of every day. Surely I’m permitted an hour of melancholy like this.’
Incompleteness does not equate to unhappiness.
Where in this world does one find a life that possesses everything one desires without exception? Such things exist only in fairy tales.
‘So I must stop this self-pity. This is truly becoming ugly.’
Kanna Adis rose to her feet. Feeling warmth in her cheeks, she flung open the Window. In that moment, a spring-scented breeze brushed past her face.
Kanna Adis made a wish.
That this wind would drift to the farthest reaches of the world.
Far, so very far, to the village by the Sea, where it might reach him.
To convey to him my fragrance, my warmth, my heart.
‘Take care of yourself, Alex.’
I am happy, so I pray you find happiness too.
May your life without me be full and rich, never lonely….
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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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