My Possession Became a Ghost Story - Chapter 108

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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It meant to kill them all and commit mass murder. The Emperor patted Muzeta’s shoulder as he looked dejected like he had lost the center of his life.

 

“You too. It would be better not to worry about it anymore. Leave wrapping up the case to someone else. You’ve worked hard guarding my son all this time.”

 

Rather than taking Muzeta’s head for failing to properly protect his son the Crown Prince, the Emperor gave him a chance to catch the culprit. So it was wrong to harbor such feelings toward His Majesty. To feel resentful…

 

“Now go.”

 

At the Emperor’s dismissal, Muzeta staggered out of the audience chamber. What should Muzeta do from now on? It wouldn’t be bad to pretend to go mad and storm into the prison to swing his sword at Evangeline Rohanson. Muzeta fingered his scabbard. As he walked out of the Emperor’s palace, he spotted a familiar figure.

 

“Princess Tenebray?”

 

The person hesitated at Muzeta’s call. Drawing closer, Muzeta noticed the fancy clothes and realized it was someone different. These were clothes Tenebray would never wear.

 

“…Lady Jeremiah.”

 

The beautiful girl before his eyes was not Tenebray but Jeremiah.

 

“Oh my, Marquis Muzeta. It seems like it’s been a long time since we met at the funeral. Have you been very busy?”

 

Muzeta turned his eyes away at her innocent appearance, showing no interest in how the Imperial Palace operated. How could twins have such different circumstances?

 

Of course, he knew it was because of the Crown Prince he had served. His Highness the Crown Prince always feared Tenebray would drive him to death, so he harshly disciplined and beat her. Ironically, this caused Tenebray to harbor resentment and kill her own father – what a twisted fate.

 

“Yes… I’ve been investigating Lady Tenebray.”

 

“Is there something strange about Tenebray’s death? She was just punished after killing father and trying to escape.”

 

“Please don’t speak that way. Isn’t she your sister?”

 

“My sister? His Majesty already stripped her of her princess status, so how could she be my sister?”

 

Muzeta flared up at her insulting Tenebray. If she weren’t imperial family who deserved respect, he would have drawn his sword. The Princess mercilessly mocked Muzeta who couldn’t even draw his blade. Her innocent face contorted as her lips twisted into a smirk. Muzeta felt a sense of déjà vu from that expression. His surging anger suddenly subsided completely.

 

“…Lady Tenebray?”

 

It was impossible. The girl before him couldn’t be Tenebray. Tenebray was dead. His Majesty the Emperor had personally examined the corpse, and hadn’t Muzeta attended the funeral?

 

“You keep calling me Tenebray.”

 

The girl stared at Muzeta without blinking. The hateful look in her eyes as she gazed at Muzeta was something that could never be seen from Jeremiah. Muzeta nearly bit his tongue.

 

“I don’t know who you’re confusing me with, but it’s truly unpleasant.”

 

Muzeta’s gaze was drawn as if enchanted to ‘Jeremiah’s’ neck. The girl scratched at her nape. It wasn’t just scratching – she clawed at it with her nails as if digging out flesh, leaving marks on her neck. Blood seeped from her neck, yet she didn’t realize she was harming herself. Since she wasn’t wearing her usual high-necked clothing but Jeremiah’s dress that exposed the nape, her reddened neck was even more visible.

 

“You’re… scratching your neck.”

 

“Oh, how embarrassing.”

 

When Muzeta pointed it out, the girl pretended to be flustered. Anyone else might not know, but there was no way Muzeta wouldn’t recognize that habit. The girl lowered her hand with a hardened expression. As always, she clenched her fist tightly so her nails wouldn’t show.

 

“With father dead, there’s no one to stop me, so I can’t control myself without realizing it.”

 

Realizing she’d been caught, the girl – no, Tenebray – smiled wickedly.

 

“It’s problematic because scars on Jeremiah’s neck show too well. But at least now I can use holy water freely, right?”

 

The girl glared at Muzeta. That resentful glare filled with hatred overlapped with the eyes of the young girl who had endured the Crown Prince’s beatings while looking at him. How could he forget that gaze?

 

“When I was being beaten by father, you just watched from behind, but now that I’m dead you feel guilty? Ha, how ridiculous. Has Marquis Muzeta ever given me even a single connection? Or did you ever stop father? Yet now that I’m dead you show sympathy? What did you just say – isn’t she your sister?”

 

Tenebray’s sharp gaze brutally slashed at Muzeta. Muzeta felt suffocated. He felt more guilt facing the living Tenebray than the dead one. What should he do?

 

‘Is it really Lady Tenebray?’

 

Tenebray’s corpse was still vivid in his memory. If Tenebray was truly alive, then whose corpse was that… At that moment, Muzeta realized what he had been calling the girl before him.

 

It was Jeremiah who died, and Tenebray had stolen her sister’s name to survive.

 

Tenebray had truly become the monster from legend who kills blood relatives. It didn’t end with killing her father for revenge – she had killed her twin sister. And now she was acting like she knew nothing, which was chilling.

 

“Now that you know who I am, will you run back to His Majesty and report that Tenebray is alive? Then I’ll really die this time.”

 

Tenebray said Muzeta would immediately run to the Emperor, but Muzeta couldn’t bring himself to do it. It was eerie and gave him chills. He knew well that Tenebray was a monster who killed blood relatives. However… Muzeta couldn’t report the truth. In the end, Muzeta had made a significant contribution to driving Tenebray to this point.

 

“I won’t report it.”

 

“Are you sorry to me? Now, after all this time?”

 

Recognizing his motive, Tenebray’s face filled with laughter.

 

“Marquis Muzeta. If you’re sorry to me, then use that life of yours for me.”

 

Muzeta nodded. He instinctively realized that his guilt would lessen as much as he suffered for Tenebray.

 

“I’ll ask His Majesty to give you to me. Since the world is in chaos, taking one guard isn’t strange.”

 

Tenebray patted Muzeta’s cheek. It was humiliating, yet somehow his heart felt at ease. Why was that? It felt like the burden on his heart had lessened.

 

***

 

“Your Majesty. The priests’ interference has gone too far.”

 

“We must summon the Archbishop to stop Bishop Marik!”

 

“Your Majesty! My daughter is absolutely not a heretic! Do you know how devout that child was? It’s all slander!”

 

Recently, the Emperor had been suffering headaches as nobles came running day and night like birds, pestering him to stop the Temple’s tyranny.

 

When the Emperor maintained an unmoved stance, the nobles gathered among themselves and whispered all sorts of speculation.

 

“His Majesty seems to have no intention of listening to us at all.”

 

“Perhaps the Temple’s actions this time are also His Majesty’s will. His Majesty has precedent. Those who opposed His Majesty were completely…”

 

“Shh. Be quiet. Your head will roll if you continue.”

 

“About Viscount Ubala’s daughter who died this time. I heard she was on the Crown Prince’s side.”

 

“Wasn’t the Crown Prince’s faction hostile to the Temple? Perhaps the Temple is trying to establish justification to sweep away the eyesores?”

 

“But if they were hostile to the Temple, there’s also the possibility they were heretics.”

 

“Viscount Ubala wasn’t such a bad person.”

 

“You might get lumped together, so watch your words.”

 

Though the Temple’s forces were running rampant everywhere, opposing the Temple meant being branded as heretics, so no one could easily restrain them.

 

“Your Majesty. Why are you taking no measures whatsoever?”

 

It wasn’t that he wasn’t devising countermeasures. The Emperor simply had no options available. Bishop Marik knew better than anyone that the Emperor had purged other forces under the false accusation of heretic massacre to gain legitimacy and power. He knew too much about internal affairs to carelessly provoke.

 

Was this the absolute power he had desired? Was the power he created by abandoning his siblings and son only this much? He had become too deeply entangled with Bishop Marik.

 

What he should have eliminated after using… The Emperor’s only method to deal with Bishop Marik was to use Tenebray.

 

Though Bishop Marik brought up Evangeline’s story, in truth, the one who helped Tenebray kill his son was likely Bishop Marik. This was the conviction of one who had been with him for a long time. The sly smile Bishop Marik showed during their private meetings wouldn’t leave his mind.

 

So to understand how far Bishop Marik was involved, he entrusted the investigation to Muzeta, who had been the Crown Prince’s guard. He thought someone loyal to his son would investigate wholeheartedly, but it was a misjudgment.

 

“To be swayed by such a lowly thing and disobey orders – I misjudged the man.”

 

He threw down the letter that supposedly came from Tenebray’s room onto the table. It was a trap no different from the weapon that killed the Crown Prince. Both the handwriting and the cherry blossoms mentioned in the letter blatantly screamed that Evangeline Rohanson was the culprit, which actually made it less credible.

 

The Emperor pressed his brow in the empty audience chamber after Muzeta left. All recent incidents were beyond the Emperor’s control, giving him considerable headaches just thinking about them. And now even Muzeta was going against his wishes. He thought he was an obedient dog, but apparently he’d forgotten who put the leash around his neck.

 

“…Your Majesty. Why are you protecting Evangeline Rohanson?”

 

Disobeying his explicit warning to dig into Rohanson? Bishop Marik’s capabilities were quite impressive.

 

Why was he protecting Rohanson? The Emperor didn’t want to either. That was entirely due to his deal with Gabriel.

 

***

 

Gabriel brought Tenebray’s corpse and requested a private audience with the Emperor. When asked about Tenebray’s last words, he said something utterly absurd.

 

“Lady Tenebray said she was Jeremiah.”

 

“Jeremiah…?”

 

At those words, the Emperor examined Tenebray’s corpse again.

 

For the Emperor, distinguishing between Jeremiah and Tenebray was very easy. He could check their necklaces or look for the presence of tattoos. However, the stomach wound was problematic. Since necklaces weren’t permanent, they would be useless if switched.

 

He couldn’t be certain which one it was. The Emperor was helplessly swayed by Gabriel’s words.

 

“Lady Jeremiah said Your Majesty wouldn’t be able to distinguish her. She was right.”

 

Gabriel stated his observation matter-of-factly.

 

“Yes. The corpse before us is indeed Lady Jeremiah. Of course, Your Majesty would need to confirm that the Princess currently claiming to be Jeremiah has no tattoo to be certain.”

 

The child who looked exactly like the Emperor’s younger self lay neatly arranged, cold as ice.

 

“Is that true?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Gabriel spoke the truth without hesitation. His unwavering voice was filled with conviction. Seeing this, the Emperor leaned back against his chair. He couldn’t maintain his dignified posture any longer. He roughly understood what had happened.

 

“Bishop Marik pulled some trick…”

 

It was Bishop Marik who had hinted at killing Tenebray.

 

“Yes. Bishop Marik’s guards switched the two people.”

 

Receiving confirmation made his head feel very heavy.

 

When Bishop Marik was framing Evangeline Rohanson and Tenebray as culprits, he had only vaguely suspected the Bishop was planning something using the Crown Prince’s death.

 

He thought the plan was simply to kill all the imperial grandchildren one by one to place Gabriel on the Crown Prince’s throne.

 

Since Tenebray had relatively little value when weighed, exchanging her on the condition of not revealing Gabriel was a prince seemed like a profitable deal. He thought it was fine since Oratorio and Jeremiah would remain even if Tenebray died. But the one who actually died was the granddaughter he had cherished…

 

Why did he go so far as to switch people to keep Tenebray alive? Does Bishop Marik want to place that child, not Gabriel, on the Emperor’s throne?

 

And isn’t Gabriel one of Bishop Marik’s people? Why is he telling the Emperor such things?

 

Gabriel didn’t leave the already confused Emperor alone.

 

If not now when the Emperor wasn’t in his right mind, then never. Gabriel instinctively knew that now was the appropriate time to ask the question he had kept buried for so long. Gabriel placed his hand over his heart, thinking of the scar. His heart was beating rapidly.

 

“Your Majesty. Why aren’t you surprised by the fact that I know about the Door?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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