My Possession Became a Ghost Story - Chapter 180

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

Kanna tightened her grip around my waist once, then pulled away. Her face was a mess. Even after crying so hard, being able to cry this prettily was a talent in itself. I wiped away Kanna’s tears with my thumb.

I’m the sinner here. How many people am I making cry in one day? Kanna quickly pulled herself together and looked at me with concern instead.

“Are you alright now, Miss?”

I nodded silently. It seemed my condition looked fine to Kanna as well. Kanna let out a sigh of relief.

“Did the Viscountess say mean things to you?”

“Would you scold Grandmother for me if she did?”

“Of course! If you just give me permission, I’ll go find her right now and give her a piece of my mind!”

“What would you say to her?”

“That she’s the most terrible person in the world for not even treating you like her granddaughter when you’ve done so much while staying at the Duke’s Mansion!”

Kanna shouted indignantly. Like the Duke had done, Kanna seemed to expect that Agera, having regained her memories, would have said harsh things about not acknowledging me as her granddaughter.

Is the me in Kanna’s mind someone who gets hurt by such words…? Even when facing the Duke, I only felt anger boiling up and never once felt dejected.

Kanna stomped her feet, unable to contain her anger. The way she looked ready to run off almost made me burst into laughter.

“No, Kanna. Actually, Grandmother asked me to call her grandmother.”

“Really…?”

When I defended Agera, Kanna instantly lost her fighting spirit and looked deflated.

“Then… why were you, Miss…?”

Kanna trailed off. Since I hadn’t told her first, she seemed unsure whether she should ask.

“That’s right, why indeed…?”

That was a question that remained unresolved even after I had calmed my boiling emotions through conversation with Gabriel. Why had I become so immersed in ‘Evangeline Rohanson’s’ story? And why had I felt relieved when Gabriel said it didn’t matter what I was, even if I wasn’t the person he spoke of?

“It must be because I care about you, Kanna.”

“Miss…!”

Kanna seemed to think I was just deflecting because I didn’t want to reveal the truth, but what I said was an answer I had reached after considerable thought.

I had become too immersed in Evangeline Rohanson, beyond mere possession, and had grown too attached to the people connected to this body.

I cherished Kanna. I grew fond of Pudding and Jelly. I couldn’t bring myself to cast Gabriel away. My sensitivity to the secret of Evangeline’s birth was all because of this.

‘Miss Evangeline.’ ‘Lady Evangeline.’ ‘Young Lady Evangeline.’ Even knowing I was a possessor, they called me Evangeline with affection, respect, or mixed with fear. And so I became bound to Evangeline.

So I… I was no longer just a simple possessor.

My name is Evangeline Rohanson.

***

Evangeline advised Gabriel to rest sufficiently and left the room.

The room without light was very dark. The sun had not yet shown itself. Gabriel hoped this night would be very long so he could savor the lingering feelings left to him.

He rather wished morning would never come so Gabriel could enjoy this moment for a very long time. If the sun disappeared, Gabriel trapped in the night could remain forever in stopped time.

When he tried to move, his hand tingled. His fingers, having lost control, wouldn’t budge at all. Instead of caressing his lips with his fingers, Gabriel raised his arm and pressed his lips firmly against the back of his hand. He was afraid the cold air would steal away the sensation that had touched his lips.

Through his pressed lips, he could feel his pulse racing wildly. From his heart that pounded without a moment’s rest, Gabriel realized how much he was shaken. If his aide witnessed Gabriel’s state, he would tease him about acting like a child having his first kiss.

Gabriel’s face reddened with shame just from imagining it. A kiss, how absurd. Though he was this shaken, what Evangeline had done was actually a ceremonial greeting. A formal greeting that merely brought the back of a hand to one’s mouth.

The problem here was that Gabriel had become a half-wit who couldn’t even properly control his limbs. In such a situation, there was only one way for them to exchange farewell greetings. Evangeline had to bring her hand directly to Gabriel.

Evangeline pressed the back of her hand firmly against Gabriel’s lips. His lips touched the Young Lady’s hand. He kissed Evangeline’s hand. No matter how he tried to phrase it, for Gabriel it was excessive to the point of being somewhat violent.

There were reasons why he was particularly flustered despite always kissing the back of Evangeline’s hand as a farewell greeting.

First, Gabriel had never directly kissed Evangeline’s hand out of propriety. Second, this time it wasn’t Gabriel who asked for it, but something Evangeline did herself.

It was just a greeting. Just a greeting, but… the problem was that it didn’t feel like a greeting to Gabriel. His eyes reddened with the shame that washed over him.

He never knew he would realize so keenly that lips have thin skin. He had long known that Evangeline’s body temperature was cold. Her mineral-like pure white skin was like ice, no exaggeration.

He thought his lips might stick and not come off when they touched. So when Evangeline quickly withdrew her hand, he found it strange.

Though he had never tasted it, there was a sweet taste. If his aide had seen this, he would have said his superior had developed a fetish and personally escorted Gabriel to prison after making him return his knight’s insignia.

He also recalled what Rafaela might say. She would ask if he had really gone insane. Thinking of the harsh words she would pour out, Gabriel decided to stop imagining Rafaela.

What took her place was Evangeline once again.

“Young Lady…”

Young Lady. Lady Rohanson. Young Lady Evangeline.

Gabriel spoke aloud the title he had called and swallowed thousands of times in his mind. The intense emotion bursting from his heart was unbearable.

Even aside from the greeting, everything Gabriel had experienced was overwhelming. In fact, Gabriel himself had already died from excessive blood loss in prison, and he wondered if this might be a dream after death. From the Young Lady coming to rescue him, it was all Gabriel’s hallucination.

After death, one usually slept embraced in God’s arms. Those abandoned by God repeated countless cycles until their sins were washed away. However, what Gabriel believed in was not God.

So Gabriel believed without doubt that he would belong to Evangeline after death. The feeling of having even his death mortgaged was, surprisingly, not bad. Rather, he felt fulfilled.

The pure white figure still flickered before his eyes. Meeting her even in dreams, he could now draw her even with his eyes closed.

Gabriel had lingered by Evangeline’s side since she was most rational. A being that deviated from logic, that ignored divine authority. She, whom he had imagined as having no life force, became a savior extending her hand to those like Gabriel.

His faith.

Gabriel had faith in the girl. Yet he also harbored feelings for the one he made his faith.

His faith was impious.

His faith was ugly.

His affection was base.

He had pulled down the star he admired and made it fall to earthly things. The star’s fall was due to Gabriel’s overflowing emotions.

The being trapped in the frame of ‘Evangeline Rohanson’ was now called Evangeline Rohanson. In the past too, whenever Evangeline showed human aspects, his eyes would be drawn to her.

Gabriel was delighted and didn’t know what to do with the fragments of human emotion revealed in Evangeline. Moreover, wasn’t it Gabriel himself who saw that sight right beside her?

He thought he would be of no value to Evangeline. But that wasn’t true. Gabriel realized he had become her shackle while comforting Evangeline, and nearly coughed up his heart from the overwhelming feeling.

If Bishop Marik, called the Sun God’s favorite, felt such elation and acted blindly, Gabriel thought he could fully understand his feelings.

“Happy? You seem happy. Of course you would be.”

From somewhere came a sarcastic remark like a rebuke. He didn’t hear the sound of a door opening. It should have been a startling situation, but it was a familiar voice. Gabriel welcomed the familiar presence warmly.

“Pudding.”

When Gabriel welcomed him, the dazzling blonde boy ground his teeth and slumped into the chair by the bedside. The place where Evangeline had been sitting.

“Where is the Young Lady?”

When Gabriel asked, Pudding answered honestly despite not wanting to tell him.

“She talked with Kanna and then went to bed.”

Pudding couldn’t stay by her side due to Evangeline’s order to leave guests alone, so Kanna had conveyed the news instead. Gabriel thought it was fortunate that Evangeline seemed to have cast off her worries. He was glad he could help Evangeline even with such a body.

“You did well pleasing her with such a pathetic body.”

Since they worried about the same person, Pudding went through similar thought processes as Gabriel. Gabriel surmised that Pudding thought he was earning his worth for being saved.

Pudding stared at Gabriel for a long while before confessing.

“She never showed even a crack in front of me.”

The boy furrowed his brow deeply. It was an expression he had never made in front of his master, wanting to show only pretty faces. Perhaps wanting to receive only affection was too much to ask. He looked incredulous that a corpse barely clinging to life was more trustworthy than himself.

“I didn’t know Lady Evangeline’s taste ran to broken-winged birds in cages. I chose the wrong body to inhabit.”

The cat referred to the newcomer who had newly entered the garden where beasts and red flowers resided as a caged bird.

“I think you chose quite well.”

Gabriel, who knew well how terribly Evangeline adored the demon in beast form, replied. Pudding, quickly deflated, puffed up with pride.

“Well, she’s always liked cats.”

Gabriel was puzzled by Pudding’s attitude of acting as if he knew the previous Evangeline. As far as Gabriel knew, the demon had appeared after the funeral held at the Rohanson Estate.

Then what did Pudding mean by “always”? Was he saying he was acquainted with ‘Evangeline Rohanson’ before the funeral, or was he referring to the Young Lady before she inhabited Evangeline’s body?

Since his counterpart wasn’t Evangeline, Gabriel felt no need to suppress his curiosity and asked a question.

“By ‘always,’ do you mean before the Young Lady took on the name Evangeline Rohanson?”

“Before taking on the name?”

Pudding tilted his head as if he didn’t understand. Gabriel wondered if this expression was appropriate, but carefully spoke.

“I wanted to ask if you knew each other from before the Young Lady inhabited the body of Evangeline Rohanson.”

He was reluctant to directly mention her death in front of the demon who worshipped Evangeline, so he explained in roundabout terms. Pudding, understanding the meaning of Gabriel’s question, shook his head.

“Ah, no. I don’t really know that Evangeline.”

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