My Possession Became a Ghost Story - Chapter 141
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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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The Duke bolted up and rushed to Agera. The glass shattered into pieces, scattering water everywhere. Due to the flying fragments, a red line was drawn across Agera’s face.
“There’s a wound on your face…”
Duke Hosaquin gently stroked Agera’s cheek. He couldn’t even touch near the scarred area, only hovering nearby, which looked quite pitiful.
Agera seemed unable to properly comprehend what had just happened and obediently offered her cheek to the Duke. When the Duke asked if it hurt, she maturely shook her head and said she was fine, even going so far as to comfort the Duke.
The Duke took out his handkerchief and wiped away the moisture. He had already instructed that all food served to Agera should be kept at lukewarm temperatures in case she had another episode and hurt other servants, and he was glad he had given that order.
After confirming that Agera hadn’t suffered burns and fortunately wasn’t seriously injured, the Duke breathed a sigh of relief. Then he turned his eyes to Rico, who had made such an inexcusable mistake. Rico stood there motionless, his face pale as a sheet.
“Butler, you must be quite tired.”
If it had been anyone else, he would have severely punished them, but the one who made the mistake was none other than Rico. The Duke knew well how hard Rico had worked for Agera this time, and he even felt a faint sympathy for Rico being forgotten by Agera, so he decided not to scold Rico.
Instead, he called him by his title rather than his usual name, merely demanding that Rico fulfill his duties.
“I apologize, Your Grace.”
Rico felt the Duke’s consideration and bowed his head in greeting.
“Agera, you’ve finished your meal, so let’s return to your room now.”
“Alright.”
Normally she would have whined about wanting to play more, but Agera had been quite stable after spending several days with Evangeline, so she readily accepted the Duke’s suggestion to call it a day.
“Are you okay? You don’t look well.”
“Yes…, yes. I’m sorry.”
Agera, who was about to leave with the Duke, looked at Rico’s pale face with concern and asked worriedly. Rico bowed deeply in apology.
“She was worried about me.”
A strange sense of satisfaction filled his stomach completely. Because his head was bowed, the corners of his mouth, which had risen eerily high, weren’t visible. Even Rico himself wouldn’t have realized he was smiling.
Even after the Duke and Agera left, Rico remained standing still in the dining room.
“…Um, Butler. We’ll take care of the cleanup, so perhaps you should go rest?”
The maids who were about to clean the dining room hesitantly asked Rico. Not only was he in the way of cleaning, but Rico’s condition didn’t look good, so they genuinely recommended he rest. Rico looked over the maids’ faces and shook his head.
“No. I’ll clean up, so you can go now.”
“You’ll do the cleanup yourself, Butler?”
“Yes. I was the one who broke the glass, wasn’t I? I should clean it up.”
“But Butler? More importantly, didn’t you just lose strength in your hands…? Why don’t you rest?”
‘Lost strength in my hands…’
The maid’s words were wrong. Rico hadn’t lost strength in his hands; he had deliberately thrown the teacup.
“I’m fine, so please leave.”
“Yes…”
At Rico’s dismissal, the maids who had been glancing at each other roughly cleaned up everything except the broken glass and left.
Rico remained alone and crouched down to start cleaning up the pieces. Rico tried to clean up the glass fragments with trembling hands.
‘Lady Agera got hurt because of me.’
Throughout the meal, Agera kept bringing up stories about Amaranth. Rico quietly listened to those words. The Amaranth that Agera spoke of naturally referred to Evangeline.
Worrying that her hands seemed cold, making a flower crown from flowers picked in the greenhouse as a gift, what tea and refreshments they had together. She was worried because Amaranth ate so little, but the maid that Amaranth brought had decent skills, so it was good to see her eating well what that girl prepared.
While not even remembering Rico’s name, she had even memorized Kanna’s face, who served Evangeline well. The depth of Agera’s affection was clearly evident. As Agera kept talking only about Evangeline, his heart felt like it was being torn apart.
“Evangeline keeps stealing my place.”
A voice that seemed to be muttering strongly insisted to Rico that ‘I’ should be in Evangeline’s position.
Rico thought the voice sounded exactly like an immature child who desperately wanted to be loved by Agera.
Not wanting to hear any more, he was looking for a way to make Agera stop talking when someone in his head told him to throw the teacup. That voice led Rico as if controlling him.
Before he could think deeply, the teacup shattered. However, Agera getting hurt was unexpected. Agera was injured by flying fragments, even getting a cut on her face. Recalling the crack drawn across his benefactor’s face made his stomach churn again. His head throbbed.
“Ugh…!”
Rico staggered and collapsed onto the broken glass. Because he supported himself with his hands on the floor, fragments embedded in his hands. While trying to get up by pressing on the floor, his hand was also cut long by a sharp edge.
Blood continued to flow from both hands.
“Oh my, Butler Rico!”
Hazel, who discovered Rico in this state, was startled and approached. She had come after hearing from the maids Rico had dismissed that Rico’s condition seemed strange. Hazel had diligently brought a medical kit, thinking Rico might be injured.
“Butler. Are you alright?”
Hazel cleared away the glass pieces from the floor and first examined Rico’s hands.
“Oh my, Butler…”
Hazel couldn’t help but be shocked at the sight of Rico’s mangled palms. Not only were there cuts, but Rico’s hands had glass fragments of various sizes embedded here and there.
“…Doesn’t it hurt?”
It was painful even for the person watching.
“It doesn’t hurt.”
Hazel frowned at Rico’s answer. Actually, she wasn’t even paying attention to Rico’s response.
Though it was a very strange thing to say, her appetite was stirred. Soaked in red blood with glass particles reflecting the chandelier’s light and sparkling, it looked exactly like a pomegranate.
It looked very appetizing, that is.
“Ah.”
Hazel found herself opening her mouth wide, about to eat Rico’s hand.
Only after smelling the fishy scent at the tip of her nose did she barely come to her senses. Hazel quickly got up from her position.
“I’m sorry. I’ll go get tools to remove the glass pieces.”
‘Thinking the Butler’s blood looks delicious and trying to bite his hand. Have I finally gone mad?’
To clear her head as well, Hazel brought cooking tweezers from the kitchen. Then she began using the tweezers to extract the glass embedded in Rico’s hands. Her words automatically became fewer as she concentrated.
“Done… it’s all done…”
After struggling and working at it for a while, Hazel let out a sigh of relief and wiped her sweat. She tried to wipe the blood from his palms with a water-dampened handkerchief, but the wounds were deep and the bleeding wouldn’t stop.
‘I should use holy water, right?’
The reason Hazel had removed all the glass pieces without stopping the bleeding was because she planned to use holy water.
But when it came to actually using it, she felt reluctant. Hazel fingered the bottle she had put in her apron pocket. The characteristic cold and smooth texture of glass could be felt through her fingertips.
This was something she had received as a gift from Evangeline before. Giving holy water to a maid who had only worked exclusively for one day was quite an excessive gift. It was possible because she was someone who sprinkled holy water on everyone in the manor. But Hazel carried the holy water Evangeline had given her like a talisman.
‘Butler Rico’s condition doesn’t look too bad, so there probably isn’t a need to use precious and expensive holy water…’
Hazel was startled when she realized she had just weighed the severity of a person’s wound.
‘When did I become such a mean person?’
To calculate and weigh options with an injured person right in front of her. To deny her materialistic moment, she had to use the holy water.
‘Let’s use just a little.’
Hazel opened the bottle’s stopper. She meant to put just a little holy water on the cotton, but ended up pouring it directly on her hand. Her hand was damp. Regretting wasting the holy water due to her mistake, she brought the cotton to Rico’s hand.
Watching this process, Rico naturally thought she was disinfecting. However, as soon as the cotton touched, his flesh began to sting. Just as he thought ‘Is the disinfectant very strong?’, he heard Hazel’s panicked muttering.
“Why is the Butler’s hand…?”
Hand?
Rico followed Hazel’s gaze to check his own hand. And he was left speechless. The flesh where the cotton touched was burning away as if melting.
‘Why, why is my hand like this?’
Rico trembled as he stared at his own hand.
Even Rico himself found it difficult to understand the situation. Before Rico could reason it out, his head throbbed and the voice began to rampage. His body felt heavy and tired, making it impossible to grasp the situation quickly. Sensing this was the moment, the voice took control in place of Rico.
“It hurts! You’re trying to kill me again!”
Hazel, who couldn’t hear the voice, was simply confused. Unless someone had deliberately replaced it with a deadly poison that melted flesh, what Hazel had was real holy water. In fact, while treating Rico, some holy water had splashed, but Hazel was completely unaffected by the holy water touching her.
‘Then why are only strange symptoms appearing in Butler Rico?’
Those working in the manor didn’t know that the ‘rats’ were related to demons, sorcery, and such things. This extermination work was also treated as just disease prevention.
But even though Hazel was ignorant about what was happening in the manor, she knew that what holy water melted wasn’t ordinary beings. Moreover, wasn’t heretic hunting the most popular thing right now?
‘A demon. A heretic.’
The moment Hazel realized this, she immediately got up from her position.
She shouldn’t have used the holy water. She shouldn’t have been meddlesome. There was no need to come while enduring mocking words about trying to curry favor with the butler.
“I’m, I’m sorry! Butler! I just remembered something I forgot, so I think I need to go find it!”
Hazel hoped this would just pass.
“What are you doing? It hurt us, didn’t it? Hurry up and catch it.”
There was coercion in the voice. The voice wanted to overpower Hazel. Rico grabbed Hazel’s wrist as the voice commanded.
“Butler? Um, what are you doing? Could you please let go of my hand?”
Hazel’s voice trembled like an aspen leaf and tears welled up in her eyes. However, the grip holding Hazel grew stronger and stronger.
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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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