My Possession Became a Ghost Story - Chapter 124

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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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Whether it was thanks to Evangeline playing the role of her daughter or because of the commotion in the greenhouse during the day, the Viscount’s Wife went to bed unusually early. Rico, who had left work earlier than usual, planned to have a meal with Mabuka for the first time in a while.

However, Mabuka didn’t return even after nightfall. It was his fault for not being able to properly care for Mabuka because the Viscount’s Wife’s condition had worsened. He was already worried that Mabuka might have gotten caught up in some trouble when the Hosaquin Viscount’s Mansion was already in chaos.

When Rico came out to look for the child, a strange resonance spread throughout the manor. Creaking sounds could be heard from the ceiling. Rats ran around quickly without rest.

“Mabuka.”

“Mabuka?”

The pronunciation was somehow clumsy. It felt exactly like half-formed monsters imitating human speech and whispering. What was even more chilling was the fact that the voice was calling out Mabuka’s name.

Rico initially thought that he had finally gone mad like the maids who served the Viscount’s Wife.

The maids claimed that the curse had spread and madness had been transmitted because they had hushed up and cared for the Viscount’s Wife instead of reporting her to the temple.

Fortunately, the Viscount’s Wife’s maids were composed of those deeply loyal to the Rohanson Mansion, so they wouldn’t report the Viscount’s Wife to the Temple Authority, nor would word leak out.

If their claims were true, then the sounds Rico was hearing now would also be part of the madness.

“Mabuka? Where are you? Where? Where did you go?”

The voice seemed to represent Rico’s inner thoughts exactly, but it felt even more ominous. It sounded like animal cries, and also like multiple people’s voices mixed together.

Rico deliberately ignored the sounds and ran around the manor, checking places where the child might be, but couldn’t find Mabuka anywhere.

‘Nothing really serious happened, right?’

Thinking there might be someone who had seen Mabuka, Rico went to find a young maid who usually took good care of Mabuka. The maid seemed to be preparing for bed early and had finished getting ready to sleep.

“…Is Mabuka here by any chance?”

“No. Why would she be?”

Rico, who had harbored some hope, couldn’t hide his disappointment. Seeing Rico’s haggard face, the maid tilted her head.

“Did you see Mabuka today?”

“Don’t tell me Mabuka has disappeared?”

“…Yes. She hasn’t come back even though it’s this late.”

“It is quite late…”

The maid, who had been worried upon hearing that Mabuka was missing, suddenly clapped her hands as if something had occurred to her.

“Ah! Now that I think about it, I have an idea.”

“What? What kind of idea?”

“Mabuka has been playing detective lately, constantly following the head cook around. Yesterday she said she was staking out and hid under a table, which startled me. Maybe she hid under a table again today and accidentally fell asleep in the kitchen?”

Rico’s complexion visibly brightened at the maid’s words. Rico hadn’t even bothered to look in the kitchen, thinking there was no way Mabuka would be there.

“Thank you. I’ll go check the kitchen right away.”

It felt as if he had already found Mabuka. Rico acted as if he was about to rush straight to the kitchen, then suddenly stopped and quietly asked the maid a question.

“Do you hear this sound too, by any chance?”

“What sound?”

“No. It’s nothing.”

Rico shook his head, saying it wasn’t an important question. The maid listened carefully to Rico’s question but seemed to sense nothing unusual, answering that ‘she couldn’t hear any sound.’

Indeed, the sound calling for Mabuka was only audible to Rico himself.

He couldn’t understand why only Rico could hear it. As if he had never felt relieved, his anxiety remained unabated as Rico arrived at the kitchen.

‘There’s a presence.’

Rico naturally assumed the owner of the presence would be Mabuka and walked toward the source of the sound without hesitation.

Making him worry like this, and she’s secretly hiding in the kitchen eating snacks… Rico felt relieved on one hand, but resolved to scold Mabuka sternly never to wander around dangerously at night again.

As the blurry figure became clearer and closer, he could hear the sound of someone eating. Could she really be hiding under a table, waking up from sleep, and secretly stealing food from the kitchen because she was hungry?

Rico approached with this amusing thought.

Unaware that someone was approaching from behind, the person eating something was bent over, making proper identification impossible, but one thing was certain – it wasn’t a young child.

As soon as Rico realized the person wasn’t Mabuka, he swallowed the sigh that was about to escape and turned around.

Any other time would be fine, but right now he needed to find Mabuka as quickly as possible. He didn’t have time to lecture someone about not sneaking food at night.

As he turned around, something soft brushed against his leg from underfoot. Rico stopped in place at the chilling sensation.

“A rat?”

Fur and a long tail disproportionate to its body. What had brushed Rico’s foot was definitely a rat.

Suddenly, why…

“Why is there a rat…”

Before Rico could finish speaking, a strange sound interrupted him.

“Looks delicious, doesn’t it?”

Goosebumps rose all over his body and his senses felt strangely unfamiliar. His fingertips grew cold and trembled, and goosebumps made his neck shrink. Strange noise echoed in his ears, making him clench his mouth shut to avoid screaming.

The presence he had been trying to ignore was now lodged in a corner of his mind, touching his nerves. What was that person eating? Why was he hearing other sounds instead of the ‘smacking’ sounds in his ears?

Something hard cracked with a snap, and something with skin was chewed wetly as if eating pulp. Rico felt chills run down his spine as the sounds came through clearly.

‘Looks delicious?’

The voice that had only been searching for Mabuka uttered different words, but the content was shocking. Looks delicious? Surely it wasn’t referring to the rat?

In response, he felt like vomiting immediately. Rico’s gaze was drawn to the rat as if mesmerized. The rat that had been sitting still in front of Rico as if on a plate ran toward the kitchen when Rico showed no intention of moving.

It was the direction where he had sensed the presence. Rico’s gaze followed the rat’s path. The rat that had brushed past Rico’s foot was immediately caught by the person eating something in the kitchen, then went straight into their mouth.

Rico couldn’t watch what happened next and turned his eyes away. Was this what he had been hearing eating something just now?

He dry heaved. Rico covered his mouth and stepped backward. Too shocked to properly perceive his surroundings, his back hit a shelf and the glass cup on top shattered with a crash. At the same time, the chewing sounds also stopped.

The person in the kitchen began walking toward Rico. Rico was paralyzed with fear and couldn’t do anything, frozen in place. Only when they got closer could he identify who it was.

“Nigella?”

“Butler Rico.”

And he nearly lost his mind seeing someone completely unexpected. Nigella seemed remarkably calm for someone who had been swallowing rats whole. No, only her composed attitude was calm.

Her eyes, with all blood vessels burst, had pupils that repeatedly dilated and contracted. Around her mouth, fur was stuck messily with dried liquid as adhesive.

“Just now, do you know what, what you just ate?”

“What did I eat?”

Nigella dismissed it, saying she didn’t remember anything. He couldn’t tell if she genuinely didn’t properly recognize what she had done, or if she was just pretending not to know.

‘Wait. What happens if you eat rats?’

The ‘Amaranth’ summoned by the Viscount’s Wife was tenacious. When cut in half, it split into two and survived, so the Rohanson Viscount ordered the flesh to be chopped finely and fed to rats. He thought that would kill it, but instead, the rats became strange afterward. It was the wrong choice.

He hadn’t known that the flesh would remain alive even after being eaten by rats. Rather, it remained like a parasite, controlling its host. Therefore, his feelings were different from other people who simply thought the rats’ reproductive capacity had increased. Rico felt nauseous when he saw rats.

Still, they had started catching rats under the Duke’s leadership, so lately they hadn’t been visible to people – so why did they suddenly show themselves? Moreover, stopping in front of Rico or not escaping from Nigella’s grasp seemed as if they welcomed being eaten.

Could it be that eating rats has the same effect on people? Then Nigella in front of him is…?

Unable to overcome the fear that rushed in before he could properly assess the situation, Rico fled in terror, leaving Nigella behind.

Instinctively thinking he needed to escape to the farthest place from the kitchen, he ran up the stairs. His body naturally headed toward Rico’s room.

Then Rico encountered Evangeline standing calmly in the corridor.

Beside Evangeline was the beloved daughter Rico had been searching for so desperately. Except for her eyes and nose tip being red from crying so much, Mabuka was safe without a single injury.

“Mother!”

The moment Mabuka was in his arms, his senses returned and the colors of the world came back. It felt like returning alive from hell. He could feel his churning stomach settling down.

Mabuka cried so pitifully that even onlookers felt sorrowful. Rico had never seen Mabuka cry this loudly since she was born. Mabuka was only six years old, so it would have been stranger if she didn’t cry. Everything was Rico’s oversight.

Rico suppressed the urge to cry along with Mabuka.

Mabuka, who had been crying heartbreakingly as if the world was ending, quickly fell asleep from exhaustion when he patted her back to comfort her. Only Evangeline Rohanson remained.

“Good evening, Rico.”

Evangeline said with a gentle smile.

Evangeline acted as if she knew exactly what Rico had just experienced. That wasn’t all. The hallucinations Rico was hearing were also audible to Evangeline.

Was Rico going crazy and hearing these hallucinations? Evangeline seemed to know the answer. She had even boldly promised the Rohanson Viscount that she would eliminate the ‘rats’ of the ducal family.

“First, since Mabuka looks exhausted, would it be alright if we go to the room?”

Evangeline readily nodded at Rico’s suggestion. After going to the room, Rico laid Mabuka on the bed. If Mabuka woke up, he would hear from the child about what she had experienced, but first he needed to have a conversation with Evangeline.

“So why were you with Mabuka, Evangeline?”

Even while searching for Mabuka, Rico hadn’t imagined that Evangeline would be with Mabuka. Evangeline answered while still wearing that painted-on smile.

“Mabuka came to me crying, so I was comforting her.”

The excuse coming from the mouth of a heartless girl who wouldn’t spare a glance even if someone clung to her feet crying for their life was quite human.

Rico’s feelings became even more anxious at the lie delivered without blinking an eye. Evangeline smiled brightly as if she could guess what Rico was thinking.

Through her narrowed white eyes, a cold gaze examined Rico. She seemed to be weighing Rico’s worth. Rico felt as if he had been reduced to mere meat.

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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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