My Body Has Been Possessed By Someone - Chapter 71

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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 71
‘Confinement….’
No. The Emperor’s vision darkened.
Confinement was not a punishment any human could endure. To spend a lifetime imprisoned in a single cramped room, severed from the world, locked away from all society.
Most went mad or took their own lives. To refuse it, he would have to impose an alternative punishment of equal severity.
A cruel punishment that all could accept.
“The Crown Prince….”
Anguish pierced the Emperor’s chest. His heart felt as though it were being torn asunder.
“Execute the Crown Prince by severing his hands.”
“…!”
The nobles stirred. Hand severance was a mutilation sentence!
“Ah, Father!”
Kasil’s voice trembled with tears. His expression was one of complete disbelief.
“Y-you cannot, Father. Father, no. No, this is not so. It was not me!”
“Chief Justice, render your judgment.”
The Emperor could not look upon his son. He bowed his head.
The Chief Justice declared that the Crown Prince’s hands would be severed. Thud, thud, thud. The wooden gavel rang out.
“Father! No, it was not me! I swear it! I know nothing of this, Father!”
Then.
“Would it not be wise to carry out the sentence immediately?”
The Empress shed crocodile tears.
“Only then will there be no whispers of doubt.”
The Emperor’s dry eyes burned crimson with rage.
That vicious woman.
That cunning woman.
That malevolent woman!
Yet she spoke the truth. The hands would be severed soon enough regardless. Better to do it before the assembled nobles, to quell their resentment in one stroke.
Only then could he extinguish the embers of this affair completely.
If he executed the sentence now, none would dare voice complaint about this matter afterward.
The Emperor was a man who sought the best outcome even in the worst circumstances.
“Execute the sentence at once!”
“Ah, Father!”
The Emperor turned away from his son. Knight Guards approached. They seized the Crown Prince’s body by force. Kasil was completely restrained, crushed beneath their brutal strength. His left arm was forcibly raised.
“Ah, ah, ah….”
Kasil’s expression was one of utter disbelief. This reality. This moment.
His lips trembled uncontrollably.
They are severing my hand? I am the Emperor’s son?
A lie. Impossible.
“No, no. I will never…!”
In the next instant, the Knight Guard swung his blade.
“Krraaaaaaagh!”
Crown Prince Kasil let out a primal scream.
The nobles swallowed their groans and turned their heads away. The sight was far too brutal.
But I watched the scene unfold with unwavering eyes. I did not look away. I clenched my fists and stared intently at the moment his hand was severed.
‘Why? Feeling wronged?’
I wanted to ask him, the Crown Prince.
What made him feel so aggrieved and anguished?
‘When you attempt to sever another’s wrist, you must be prepared to lose your own.’
I traced my own wrist—the place he had sought to cut.
“Kh, kugh….”
The Crown Prince, who had been screaming like a madman, soon lost consciousness and was escorted away with the support of the Knight Guards.
“How lamentable.”
The Empress whispered.
“It is truly tragic. Had Concubine Teresa managed her son properly from the beginning, matters would never have come to this pass.”
The Emperor no longer possessed the strength to curse the Empress further.
Tears welled in the Emperor’s eyes. His heart ached, but there was no alternative. This was the best course available.
‘After all, it is merely the loss of a hand. It is better than spending a lifetime confined.’
* * *
It was a shocking trial.
Throughout the history of the Aslan Empire, members of the Imperial Family had been punished before. Some had been executed, others imprisoned. Some had been permanently exiled to foreign lands.
But amputation.
A sentence involving the mutilation of the body had never been handed down before.
The very existence of an Imperial Family member with a disfigured body diminished the authority of the entire Imperial Family itself.
Thus, they had chosen death over amputation.
“Amputation, you say. His Highness the Crown Prince has finally received a proper punishment.”
“I can only hope it brings some solace to the noblewomen who suffered at his hands.”
The nobles murmured amongst themselves as they departed the Courtroom. I had been sitting in a daze when I noticed the Empress approaching and quickly rose to my feet.
The Empress patted my shoulder with a sympathetic expression.
“Duchess of Valentino, are you well?”
“Your Majesty.”
“Why did you not tell me sooner?”
The Empress clicked her tongue in disapproval.
“Had you confided in me, I would have rendered my full support.”
I shrugged my shoulders with an apologetic air.
“I did not wish to burden Your Majesty with unnecessary troubles.”
The Empress was inwardly astonished by those words.
I had been providing her with medicine—meaning I was in a position to exploit her power at any moment.
‘Yet she does not use me.’
It was utterly incomprehensible. Why had I not exploited her?
‘What could the reason possibly be?’
Had I been asked for help this time, I would have gladly provided it. After all, Kanna Adis is an indispensable presence in my life.
Without her, my existence would crumble.
The itching sensation—only Kanna Adis could save me from that torment.
And the Empress understood perfectly well that nothing in this world came without a price. My salvation surely demanded an equivalent cost.
‘Yes, she must want something from me.’
That is why the Empress had already steeled herself inwardly. She was prepared to grant whatever Kanna Adis might request.
This situation was no different.
Had Kanna Adis revealed this matter earlier and demanded that Crown Prince Kasil be punished, the Empress would have gladly obliged.
Yet simultaneously, her evaluation of Kanna Adis would have diminished. The Empress would have deemed her no different from those mediocre nobles seeking to exploit their influence.
But Kanna Adis existed on an entirely different plane from such nobles.
The Empress held Kanna Adis in the highest regard.
“From now on, should such matters arise, you must tell me without fail. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“And I shall pay your fine on your behalf.”
“Pardon?”
“I am pained that I was unaware of your suffering. Please, do not refuse me this.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
How could I possibly refuse?
I had been agonizing over how to settle such an enormous sum as thirty thousand gold, and this was a stroke of fortune.
‘Indeed, taking the long route was the right choice.’
The Empress—she was a card I would need to exploit for a very long time. Therefore, I had to conceal that I was deliberately using her.
‘That is why I deliberately leaked only fragments of information, allowing the Empress to trace and discover them herself.’
Thanks to that, the Empress seemed to have noticed nothing and had begun viewing me even more favorably.
“D-Duchess.”
This time, Aizek had approached me. Bound by the Knight Guards, he drew near and whispered.
“I-I have spoken everything truthfully. Please, convey this matter to Duke Adis.”
“…?”
Father? Why?
I was bewildered, but Aizek had no further opportunity to speak. The Knight Guards dragged him away roughly.
As everyone departed the Courtroom, I laughed hollowly and collapsed back onto the witness stand.
‘It is all over.’
Thud.
Someone closed the door behind them, and at last, only I remained in the Courtroom.
I let out a hollow laugh.
“Ha, haha.”
Perhaps it was the tension I had been holding all this while?
All strength drained from my body. It felt as though my blood had been completely drained away.
It was all over. Everything.
‘Though it differs from my expectations….’
What I had wanted was Crown Prince Kasil’s confinement. Or perhaps permanent exile.
‘I wish it had been that way.’
Kanna Adis rose from the witness stand.
Regardless, she had won. She, the duchess whom everyone scorned, had defeated the Crown Prince Kasil who enjoyed the Emperor’s protection.
With his hand severed, Crown Prince Kasil would now understand the terror of the law. He would no longer be able to run rampant with his tyranny as he once had.
There was only one thing that troubled her.
‘The Crown Prince’s letter.’
That letter commissioning Aizek to poison her. They said it matched the Crown Prince’s usual handwriting when compared.
‘How strange.’
It shouldn’t have been possible.
Because.
‘I wrote that letter myself.’
Hadn’t I deliberately written it with my left hand to prevent handwriting analysis?

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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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