My Body Has Been Possessed By Someone - Chapter 55

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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 55
Kalen fell silent.
He bowed his head for a moment, then raised it again.
“It’s impossible. Now that I know how you’ve been living….”
“It’s fine.”
“Fine? Do you truly mean that?”
Kalen asked rapidly, as if flabbergasted.
“You were assaulted by that deranged woman, and you say it’s fine?”
“What I meant was, you don’t need to concern yourself. I can handle my own affairs. And.”
Finally, I decided to show him my true feelings.
“If I were to harbor any emotion toward you, it would probably be terrible contempt.”
At last, Kalen was completely at a loss for words.
“I don’t want to waste my feelings hating you, so I’m simply choosing to ignore you. I’d appreciate it if you did the same.”
I gave his shoulder a couple of light pats.
“Don’t worry about me—just treat Lucy Adis well.”
And with that, I ended the conversation graciously.
“If you’re done talking, would you mind leaving? I have things to do.”
Silence descended.
Kalen stared at me wordlessly for a moment, then gave a brief reply.
“Understood.”
Finally, he was making sense.
After Kalen left, I let out a breath of relief. That troublesome man had finally disappeared.
‘But why was he acting like that? Was he drunk?’
That was the end of it.
I immediately began busily packing my belongings.
I didn’t dwell on the conversation with Kalen or indulge in any sentimental musings. I didn’t even think about it.
To me, Kalen was simply that kind of person.
“Phew, all done.”
After finishing all the preparations, I sank into a chair. Then I pulled out Lucy Adis’s pouch and gazed at it thoughtfully.
‘Good Lucy. How adorable.’
What I said to him was sincere.
I simply wanted him to stop worrying about me and treat Lucy Adis well.
That was all I could ask of him.
* * *
The next morning, as promised, Silvien Valentino came to find me.
“By the way, where are we headed?”
Silvien Valentino’s destination was Venice.
Venice was a small port city and an essential trade route through which Eastern Continent merchant vessels invariably passed.
Since it lay quite far from the Capital, we would have to ride in a carriage for an extended period.
‘Ugh, I’m feeling queasy….’
I endured the passage of time while suppressing my nausea. By the time we finally arrived in Venice, I had scarcely any energy left to care for the patient.
‘I’m the patient here, I am!’
Yet outwardly, I revealed nothing of my distress.
“Would you not benefit from some rest?”
“Of course not.”
“Your speech has become clearer, I must say.”
“What nonsense are you spouting? You’re mistaken.”
I tensed my tongue and straightened my spine with rigid determination, then walked briskly as though in perfect health.
“Since time appears to be of the essence, let us proceed at once.”
Silvien Valentino regarded my visibly pallid complexion with an almost pitying gaze.
Yet he made no attempt to dissuade me.
“I neglected to mention something.”
Only as we finally reached the Hospital Ward did Silvien Valentino add this as an afterthought.
“Duke Alexandro Adis will be arriving shortly.”
My footsteps froze in place.
What? Father is coming here?
“A Physician raised the possibility that the sailors may have been infected by the Black Mist. The Duke comes to verify this matter.”
“But with the Duke already present, why must Father come as well…?”
Silvien Valentino merely shrugged, as though the matter lay beyond his concern.
In that instant, fury erupted within me, and I cried out sharply.
“Why are you telling me this only now!”
If Father comes to inspect the sailors, we will surely encounter one another!
‘I don’t want to see him.’
Had I known even a moment sooner, then perhaps…
‘No.’
I steadied my heart.
Even had I known, I would have come. I could not possibly abandon such a favorable arrangement merely to avoid Father.
Silvien Valentino, who had been studying me intently, curved his lips upward.
“Are you afraid of Duke Adis?”
“Not at all.”
“How fortunate. I nearly mistook you for a frightened little girl who whimpers at the mention of her father.”
The moment he spoke those mocking words, a fragment of memory surfaced unbidden.
“I’m afraid of Father, Your Grace. Sob, sob… you won’t abandon me, will you? Please don’t cast me out!”
In that instant, my face flushed crimson with mortification.
‘Lee Ju-hwa, you wretched…’
This was a memory I had not known of. That Ju-hwa would stoop to such a thing.
‘And she even clung to Silvien Valentino weeping when he had to depart on a monster subjugation!’
Ah, how I wished this memory had never surfaced! I longed to disappear into the very walls.
“That is the Hospital Ward, is it not?”
I entered with feigned composure. Fortunately, Silvien Valentino refrained from further mockery.
The Hospital Ward was filled with patients. The scent of illness and suffering hung heavy in the air. The moment I laid eyes on them, all other thoughts were swept away like a tidal wave.
‘Good heavens.’
Kanna Adis surveyed the patients with a pallid expression. Their condition was far more severe than I had anticipated.
“Silvien Valentino, are you here?”
At that moment, a man approached. He was tall, dressed in a jet-black priest’s cassock.
Kanna Adis recognized him instantly. He existed with crystalline clarity in Ju-hwa’s memories.
‘His name was Raphael, wasn’t it?’
Raphael passed by without so much as glancing at Kanna Adis, moving directly toward Silvien Valentino. His disregard was so complete, so frigid, that she felt like a ghost.
“I wonder if you’re engaging in futile endeavors, Silvien Valentino.”
“Perhaps. One never knows.”
That ‘futile endeavor’ and ‘one never knows’ certainly seemed to be about me. Kanna Adis stared blankly at them both before speaking.
“Raphael, was it? We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
Only then did Raphael’s gaze drift down toward Kanna Adis.
The moment their eyes met, I gasped involuntarily. His eyes were an ethereal violet—so luminous and mesmerizing that one could drown in their depths.
‘I’ve never seen violet eyes before….’
Though it felt like an eternity, his gaze had actually lingered for only the briefest moment.
He turned his head back toward Silvien Valentino, murmuring in a low, hushed tone.
“If this is a contagious plague, I suspect your wife will become infected as well.”
“….”
“She appears remarkably fragile.”
What an insufferably tactless remark.
‘Is he expressing concern, or is he being sarcastic?’
Kanna Adis replied curtly.
“If you’re concerned about me, I appreciate it, but I assure you I’m fine.”
With that, I approached the patients and examined their condition carefully.
“Ugh, uhhh….”
As expected, their condition was dire. Their gums were grotesquely swollen, protruding beyond their lips, and their entire bodies were mottled with crimson ulcers.
‘Indeed. The symptoms resemble syphilis.’
But it couldn’t be syphilis.
“May I examine their lower garments? I need to check their genitals.”
“….”
Why was there no response?
As the silence stretched on, Kanna Adis lifted her head. Her eyes met Silvien Valentino’s, who remained silent.
“Ah.”
Only then did I realize the misunderstanding and quickly added an explanation.
“There are specific symptoms I need to verify.”
“Luten.”
At Silvien Valentino’s summons, one of the attendants caring for the patients hurried over.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Please assist as my aide.”
“Yes, I understand. Please tell me what needs to be examined.”
Is he asking me to have that man do it?
‘Could it be that he’s bothered by me looking at another man’s body as his wife?’
No, that couldn’t be it. After all, wasn’t this the person who introduced herself as a Physician, not as a wife?
“Please examine about ten of them. Just let me know how severe the ulceration on the genitals is compared to other areas.”
Luten faithfully followed Kanna’s instructions.
“Four of them are free of ulcers. But compared to other areas, the damage isn’t particularly severe.”
As expected.
‘It’s not syphilis.’
With syphilis, ulceration would necessarily concentrate on the genitals.
‘But if there are sailors with no ulceration in that area at all…’
Now it was certain. Kanna spoke with conviction.
“This isn’t syphilis.”
Sailors from the Eastern Continent trading vessel. Symptoms resembling syphilis. Yet mercury treatment proved ineffective.
From the moment I heard that account, a thought had been nagging at me. These men…
“This is a disease caused by a type of nutritional deficiency. That’s what this is.”
Scurvy.
This disease, so similar in appearance to syphilis, is caused by vitamin C deficiency.

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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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