My Possession Became a Ghost Story - Chapter 182

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

“My body….”

Gabriel was startled when he unconsciously tried to move his body. Unlike before, his hands and feet moved according to his will. Gabriel’s eyes widened as he looked at Pudding.

“How did you do this? Didn’t you say treatment wasn’t possible?”

“Does this look like treatment to you?”

“…Isn’t it treatment?”

Gabriel tried bending and straightening his fingers one by one. There was nothing wrong with the movement. However, as the words suggested it wasn’t treatment, the scars from Gabriel’s injuries still remained.

He had suspected there might be another method besides treatment, but what kind of trick was this?

“How exactly….”

Pudding answered.

“You know what a puppet is? Your body is in that state right now. I’ve attached invisible strings so you can move freely. The ends of the strings are connected to your head, so you’re moving according to your will, making it seem like you’ve recovered.”

It was nothing more than trickery.

A puppet….

Gabriel carefully tried to stand up from his position. However, his ankle twisted and his body collapsed. A newborn lamb would probably stumble about this much.

“Moving is quite difficult.”

“Did you think it would be easy?”

Pudding looked down at the fallen Gabriel and sneered.

“You have ten days ahead, no wait, dawn will break soon so that’s one day less. I’ve attached the strings for you, so practice controlling them well before then.”

***

As expected, after sleeping and waking up, my head felt refreshed. I was embarrassed by yesterday’s disgraceful behavior and wanted to kick the blankets, but since Kanna was beside me, I just grumbled inwardly.

“Miss. Did you sleep well?”

Kanna helped me wake up in the morning with eyes more affectionate than usual. Her gaze was so warm it seemed to ask ‘Are you alright now?’ making me want to hide back under the blankets. I avoided Kanna’s gaze and looked for Pudding.

“Where’s Pudding?”

“Pudding is with Count Gabriel.”

Along with the sentiment that the two had become quite close, hearing Gabriel’s name immediately made my stomach churn. Last night’s dark history came choking back.

If I was this embarrassed in front of Kanna, I might immediately look for a mouse hole to crawl into when standing before Gabriel.

Since there was a precedent of being defeated by ‘rats,’ there should be plenty of mouse holes in the Duke’s Mansion.

“Has Count Gabriel awakened?”

“Oh, yes. He’s been awake since early morning.”

His body hurts but how nice it would be if he slept in a bit. My throat felt blocked as I gulped down the tea Kanna offered and made a decision. Alright, I’ll go out shamelessly. I’m not embarrassed. Let’s act nonchalant. Repeating this to myself, I stood up.

“He hasn’t had breakfast yet, has he?”

“Pardon? No. Not yet.”

“Then I should have it together with Count Gabriel.”

“Yes. I’ll tell them to prepare it.”

Kanna stood up first to go to the kitchen to fetch the meal. Since Gabriel hadn’t had proper meals in prison after getting injured, he needed to eat easily digestible soup.

Moreover, since his hands couldn’t move, well…. I had no choice but to feed him. I couldn’t let a patient starve, so it couldn’t be helped, right?

During the short walk to the room right next door, I kept repeating to myself. I have absolutely no ulterior motives. Feeding him? It’s no different from what I’ve been doing all along. How is it different from throwing bait to fish in a fish farm? But now that fish is sick, so I’ll put in a little more effort, that’s all.

“Please come in.”

When I knocked lightly, an answer came from inside. Before I could even open the door, it swung wide open. Pudding had heard my voice and opened the door.

“Evangeline!”

I patted the head of Pudding who greeted me brightly. Since I told him to sleep in another room yesterday, he must have stayed in Gabriel’s room. Our cat is suffering a lot because of his inadequate owner. I turned my gaze past Pudding into the room.

“…Count Gabriel?”

And seeing Gabriel standing there in neat attire, I momentarily doubted my eyes.

I closed my eyes and opened them again, but the scene before me didn’t change. Am I still dreaming? Since I couldn’t slap my cheek, I lightly bit the inside of my mouth. Perhaps I bit too hard, as a sharp pain and metallic taste touched my tongue tip. This wasn’t a dream.

“Evangeline.”

Gabriel, neatly dressed in the Knight Order’s uniform, approached me with large steps. There wasn’t the slightest distortion in his walking. Gabriel gave a light nod and greeted me.

“Did you have pleasant dreams last night?”

Last night? If he means yesterday evening, that’s when I couldn’t resist the dawn sentimentality and lamented to Gabriel about things I should have written in a diary, right? I was so surprised that I wasn’t even embarrassed anymore. If that was indeed yesterday, how is Gabriel walking around perfectly fine after just one night?

This really isn’t a dream, is it? How can Gabriel be walking around fine after just one night?

Gabriel wasn’t blessed with holy water. I knew this best since I had tried several times for treatment. My pupils seemed to be experiencing an earthquake, so I slightly narrowed my eyes to hide my agitation and asked.

“How is your body?”

Did he get switched with Rico again? No, then he wouldn’t know about last night. Gabriel wouldn’t go around spreading things that would make others feel ashamed. And if he had been switched with Rico, I would have noticed immediately. No matter how many times I looked suspiciously, the person in front of me was definitely Gabriel.

“Thanks to your concern.”

I wasn’t purely worried but asking for an explanation of the whole situation, yet only a thank you came back. That’s not what I’m asking about right now.

I quickly turned my eyes to Pudding, who seemed likely to know the answer.

“How did you manage it in one day? More resilient than weeds.”

But Pudding was muttering while looking at Gabriel with apparent disgust, then as soon as our eyes met, he startled and smiled gently.

“Pudding?”

“Yes. Evangeline.”

It was a clean smile that seemed to have no dark intentions whatsoever, but somehow seemed suspicious. Surely Pudding isn’t controlling him with telekinesis? I knew Pudding was an excellent sorcerer, but looking at the surface, you couldn’t even tell Gabriel was injured. What incredibly delicate control.

“Pudding, did you help Count Gabriel?”

I was asking if he was assisting with telekinesis. Pudding shook his head.

“The wounds haven’t healed. I just thought it would be inconvenient to lie sprawled out, so I made it possible for his body to move. Gabriel, that guy… I mean, the Count should be able to move as he wishes.”

However, it wasn’t the telekinetic method I had imagined. He used a different method? Did he use some secret technique passed down among the beast tribes?

Pudding gave some explanation about how Gabriel could move, but since I let the complicated parts go in one ear and out the other, I only understood the puppet part.

So it’s correct that he’s using a different method from normal body movement. It would be best if the wounds healed, but given that holy water doesn’t work, just Gabriel being able to move at will is something to be grateful for.

“Patient, are you awa…ke?”

Just then, the door burst open. Hisop entered the room, saw Gabriel standing perfectly fine, and dropped the flowerpot he was holding.

Setting aside why he brought a flowerpot in the first place, I have no idea how to explain this. Why did he come in without knocking!

“Ah, Hisop.”

Gabriel called Hisop with a troubled tone. Hisop rubbed his eyes and denied reality.

“…I must not be fully awake yet. I’m seeing things.”

Hisop laughed nervously and stepped backward. Seeing Gabriel, who wasn’t blessed with holy water, standing perfectly fine after just one day, he seemed to instinctively know he had seen something he shouldn’t have.

“I brought the meal for Miss.”

He seemed to be looking for a chance to escape, but just then Kanna arrived with breakfast, blocking Hisop’s retreat. Unintentionally, I had created a trap on all sides.

“Oh? What’s this situation?”

As expected, our Kanna showed no sign of panic and smiled brightly while tilting her head. To my eyes she was just cute, but to Hisop’s eyes, she must have been terror itself.

Hisop looked at Kanna fearfully with a pale face, but Kanna was equally flustered seeing someone trembling while breaking a flowerpot. I felt the need to sort things out first.

“Kanna, sorry for the sudden request, but could you bring cleaning supplies?”

“Yes. I’ll be right back.”

Kanna set the breakfast on the table and hurried away. Then I turned my eyes to Hisop. As our eyes met, Hisop hiccupped.

“Hisop.”

“…Hic…. Yes, yes!”

“Come inside first.”

Worried he might run away, I told him to come in, and Hisop immediately knelt on the floor and walked to me on his knees. No, who told you to kneel! Why are you doing things I didn’t even ask for?

Was it wrong that I gave Hisop a small threat before, worried he might run away and reveal Gabriel’s situation to Bishop Marik?

As Hisop turned pale and tried to bow over the dirt and broken pottery, I urged him to clean the floor instead if he was going to do that anyway. I had learned to cope somewhat while enduring among the Rohanson Estate people who would cry for mercy just from breathing.

If I tried to clear up the misunderstanding by being kind here, they’d just be more frightened, so it was better to just give them work to do.

“….”

When will Kanna come back? I was just standing there looking down while Hisop alone cleaned up the broken pot, making it seem like I was tormenting Hisop.

But if I helped clean up, he’d be horrified and beg me not to, and it was awkward to ask someone else to do it.

Gabriel was naturally excluded as a patient. Pudding had turned into a cat as soon as Hisop entered, so that wouldn’t work. Pudding couldn’t use magic in front of Hisop either.

Let’s think positively. Hisop broke the pot, so he’s taking responsibility for his own mistake. So who told him to open the door without knocking? Why bring a cumbersome flowerpot? Hisop provided all the pretexts. I’m absolutely not tormenting him.

Hisop first rescued the plant from among the dirt and broken glass. His touch was very careful. I suddenly became curious. I thought he brought it for decoration, but seeing how preciously he treated it made me wonder. I don’t know much about plants, but could it be medicinal herbs?

“What kind of plant is it?”

“I’ll clean it up, clean it up quickly.”

I asked about the species, but Hisop thought I was urging him and panicked more, cutting his hand on the broken pottery. Ah, I made him bleed by speaking unnecessarily.

“You should be careful. What will you do if you’re careless and get scarred?”

“I absolutely, absolutely won’t tell the Temple, so please spare my life.”

Look at this. When I kindly worry about him, he gets even more scared. Now that I think about it, this must all be due to my constitution rather than the villainess setting. It seems like I’ve had an unusual intimidating presence since birth.

“Keep your mouth shut and you won’t get hurt.”

Of course, I was saying I would keep my mouth shut. I’ll stay quiet, so don’t get hurt. Hisop seemed to think I was talking to him and got scared on his own, nodding his head vigorously.

“Y-yes, yes…”

Hisop sank. Hisop withered completely and quietly cleaned the floor. Staying quiet is one thing, but I asked what kind of plant this was and he should answer that, shouldn’t he?

If I asked kindly again this time, Hisop would probably go off on another tangent, so I decided to approach it in a roundabout way.

“Hisop, if you hadn’t brought that flowerpot, this wouldn’t have happened. It’s all your fault.”

I deliberately spoke more sarcastically to provoke Hisop. I wanted to get an answer even if it meant doing this. When I said that, Hisop raised his voice as if trying to argue back.

“Th-this… there’s a reason for all this!”

“Right, so why did you bring this?”

Hisop clenched his fists tightly as if frustrated and hurt his hand once more. No, just please explain why you brought it and what kind of plant it is!

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