My Possession Became a Ghost Story - Chapter 118

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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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I had many complaints I wanted to pour out, but with the Duke’s faithful right-hand man right in front of me, I couldn’t bring myself to voice them. I obediently followed Rico’s guidance.

 

Rico’s height was about at my eye level. While looking at the back of Rico’s head as she walked ahead, I asked about Agera.

 

“Agera doesn’t seem to remember you. Aren’t you disappointed?”

 

Rico hesitated for a moment, then continued moving as if nothing was wrong.

 

“Agera has forgotten everything recent. She doesn’t even know her own age, so it’s natural that she doesn’t remember me.”

 

“But she remembers ‘Amaranth,’ doesn’t she?”

 

“No matter how much the Duke declared severance, Amaranth is still Agera’s daughter.”

 

It’s written all over the back of her head that she’s disappointed, yet she’s pretending otherwise.

 

Rico probably didn’t view the deceased Amaranth favorably and would likely be a character who takes it out on her daughter Evangeline with hostility.

 

With the mistress suffering from dementia, Rico would practically be managing the internal affairs of the Hosaquin Ducal House, which is why the servants would be trembling before Rico.

 

It’s natural that she’d view as a thorn in her side the suddenly appearing severed granddaughter who came at the perfect timing to dispute inheritance rights.

 

She’d probably be resentful, thinking how much she’d devoted herself to the ducal family only to find that blood ties can’t be overcome in the end.

 

Therefore, Rico had a very high probability of being an obstacle to my regret storyline in the ducal family. I should keep an eye on her. Seeing how she ignores me even when I’m staring daggers at the back of her head without feeling the piercing gaze, she’s no ordinary person.

 

“Your Grace, it’s Ricoradka. I’ve brought Evangeline.”

 

“…Come in.”

 

The place Rico guided me to wasn’t the drawing room but what seemed to be the Duke’s office. An enormous pile of documents was stacked on the desk where the Duke sat. Is all of that work that needs to be processed?

 

There was a reason he delegated the manor tour to Rico and hurried off. To process that amount would require every moment of time…

 

Seeing how Rohanson Viscount also worked overtime and pulled all-nighters every day, I guess document processing is a passive skill for nobles.

 

“Sit.”

 

I thought he’d just leave me standing, but surprisingly the Duke offered me a seat first. It wasn’t the desk piled with documents, but a table set aside for brief rest. I sat down first and the Duke took the seat across from me.

 

“There’s no need to serve tea.”

 

“Yes. I don’t need any.”

 

My stomach was already full. Perhaps because Evangeline had been sick her whole life, her stomach was small and she couldn’t eat much. The Duke got straight to the point. Without tea, it was truly a bleak time.

 

“Since you came to find me, you must have met Agera.”

 

I nodded. She just said she didn’t need tea, and he must have already heard that I had a tea party with Agera in the greenhouse, yet he’s playing dumb.

 

“…So. How did she seem when you saw her directly?”

 

I carefully chose my words. If I said things like her condition looks serious or it must be very worrying for you, the Duke would probably explode in anger asking if I was pitying them. We weren’t on affectionate terms anyway, so let me remove all emotion and just state facts.

 

“She believed without doubt that I was her mother.”

 

It must have been close to the right answer because the Duke nodded.

 

“Then you know what you need to do.”

 

“I should act as her mother by Agera’s side.”

 

Of course, this was just a surface answer, and what I actually aimed for was much greater. I can’t win the Duke’s favor just by pretending to be Amaranth. To create a family regret storyline, the Duke needs to become attached to me first.

 

According to my data, the best way to build favorability in such situations was to rescue the person themselves or those around them. Kanna and Daisy were perfect examples.

 

But conveniently, the Duke’s wife is sick? This is practically telling me to cure her.

 

In reality, there’s no way to cure dementia, but this is a fantasy world inside a novel where overpowered holy water exists. There must be something like seeds of the world tree, and I just need to find it.

 

Oh, did they say this world has Sun Gods and demons but no spirits? Then maybe some Sun God relic or something… Anyway, there must be something.

 

If I somehow cure Agera’s illness, the Duke will be a sure thing. A grandmother who directly received help and became the granddaughter’s ally, and a tsundere grandfather who pretends to be unable to resist his wife’s pressure while giving things to his granddaughter…

 

Wow! Isn’t that totally textbook?

 

Of course, that’s for the distant future, and right now I should remember that the Duke’s favorability toward me is converging on negative. The Duke was already glaring at me fiercely.

 

“At least it’s fortunate that you seem to know your place.”

 

How humiliating. This was the first time I’d been so disrespected since possessing a villainess. Everyone else would bow just from making eye contact, but the villainess’s grandfather was truly different. But this only makes my fighting spirit burn brighter.

 

The Duke who had snapped at me closed his mouth as if he’d said everything he needed to say. It seemed like he’d issue an order to leave at this rate, so I hurriedly brought up a topic.

 

“Are the rats in the greenhouse your work, Grandfather?”

 

I’d been thinking about it earlier, and the culprit who brought the rats to the greenhouse seemed to be the Duke. Agera seemed oblivious to everything, and above all, no one would have done such a thing in the greenhouse without the manor owner’s permission.

 

And they weren’t caught just to torment me – there must have been another purpose. Maybe it was because of the illness?

 

It was an era when they found the cause of Evangeline’s illness in cats and massacred cats. Similarly, they probably thought rats carried infectious diseases and caught them all.

 

No wonder the Duke asked Pudding in the carriage if she was good at catching rats. I didn’t know that wasn’t a euphemism but actual rats.

 

I don’t know why they didn’t burn them but soaked them in water instead. It’s not like… liquor infusion or something like that, right? Just imagining it makes me nauseous.

 

“…Rats? You saw those?”

 

The Duke asked with a furrowed brow. When I said I saw the rats, he doubted his ears. So the Duke didn’t deliberately order it.

 

I said the maid serving Agera pulled away the cloth like showing magic. As I tried to explain, the Duke looked at Rico instead of me. So Rico’s words are more trustworthy than mine?

 

“What happened?”

 

“I also heard it from Evangeline…”

 

Rico began explaining. But somehow mentioning me first seemed like shifting responsibility. Of course, it’s true that I explained it to her. But every word choice was full of ulterior motives – she really seemed like someone not to be underestimated.

 

“I’m sorry. If I had been by Agera’s side, such a commotion wouldn’t have occurred…”

 

“Enough. You can’t always be by the lady’s side.”

 

The Duke waved his hand dismissively. Despite not properly serving her mistress, Rico avoided reproach with the single reason of not being present and actually gained favor points.

 

Look at this! I’m the one who handled the aftermath, but she’s stealing all the credit!

 

“How is Agera?”

 

“She looked very tired. She’s probably resting in her room now.”

 

Not once did she give me any credit… I won’t forget this grudge.

 

“I see…”

 

The Duke sighed and briefly closed his eyes. Right now, in this moment, the Duke looked even older and more exhausted. But when he opened his eyes again, his expression became sharp and fierce as if nothing had happened. The Duke glared at me.

 

“What’s your ulterior motive for suddenly bringing up that story?”

 

Come on, how can I just bury it after all that chaos? When you’re having tea time in the greenhouse and suddenly discover a pile of mouse corpses, you have to immediately ask what this situation is about. Wouldn’t you do the same?

 

“Did you think you caught my weakness?”

 

However, the Duke seemed to think I definitely had some scheme. The Duke’s wariness had already reached its peak. In times like this, I should think positively.

 

So what if the Duke’s hatred toward me is high? Now it can only go down. I hurriedly answered before losing more points.

 

“I want to make a deal.”

 

“A deal?”

 

I nodded at the Duke’s questioning tone.

 

“You brought me to the Duke’s mansion because of a deal with Count Gabriel.”

 

“That’s right. If I hadn’t owed Count Gabriel a debt, if it weren’t for Agera, I would never have let you into my house.”

 

The Duke was a very meticulous person who calculated gains and losses. There must have been thorough calculations involved in my entering the Duke’s mansion now.

 

To put it differently, the price for the debt owed to Gabriel was pardoning me, and my staying at the mansion would be the price for pretending to be Amaranth to Agera.

 

To build favorability with the Duke, I need to do something irreplaceable. Curing Agera’s illness that I just mentioned would be most effective, but if there’s even one more thing I can do, I should try it.

 

“Then make a deal with me too. I’ll handle the ‘rats’ for you.”

 

“You can handle those things?”

 

“Yes. I have a cat, don’t I?”

 

I grinned and confidently mentioned Pudding. Just any cat wouldn’t stand a chance, but our Pudding is a beastkin with magic as a passive skill. Rats? They’re just bite-sized snacks for Pudding. Isn’t this what the food chain exists for?

 

“Ha, that cat isn’t an ordinary cat either, I see.”

 

“You suspected as much.”

 

The Duke seemed to have reached a conclusion after brief contemplation.

 

“What do you want in return…?”

 

His tone suggested that wanting something too big was out of the question. Fortunately, I wasn’t asking for inheritance or anything that grand. Rohanson Viscount would be happy if I inherited, but I have no intention of fulfilling the wishes of that traitor who sold his daughter.

 

“Not every day, but whenever you have time, I’d like you to spare a moment after lunch.”

 

“Time…”

 

“I want time to talk with you, Grandfather. During that time, please tell me stories about Mother.”

 

I guessed that the Duke’s conquest keyword was memories. I’ll keep meeting to talk and reminisce while diligently conquering him. Let’s see – family regret storyline tag.

 

“If I’m going to imitate Mother, you need to tell me stories about her too, Grandfather.”

 

Perhaps it was an unexpected price because the Duke showed a moment of awkwardness. Worried he might refuse, I added a plausible reason. After much consideration, the Duke nodded.

 

“Fine.”

 

Yes! While internally cheering and throwing uppercuts in my mind, the Duke added conditions with a damper.

 

“However, proof is needed first.”

 

Really annoyingly meticulous. Why not just agree boldly like a real man!

 

“First, deal with the rats in the aquarium you saw.”

 

The condition the Duke set wasn’t as big a deal as I thought. I worried for nothing. Wouldn’t just having a campfire at night take care of everything? Of course, I planned to toss the fire preparation to Pudding.

 

Oh, Jelly must be bored by now too – I should call her over and put her to work.

 

“Handle all of them without leaving a trace. Remember, the deal comes after that.”

 

“Of course.”

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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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