My Possession Became a Ghost Story - Chapter 201

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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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Rafaela couldn’t understand the situation unfolding before her. According to what she had heard from her colleagues in the Pararos Knights who had left with the people from the Rohanson Estate, Gabriel was definitely supposed to be with Evangeline. Her colleagues wouldn’t have lied to Rafaela.

‘But why the hell is the Captain here!’

Rafaela wanted to tear at her hair in frustration.

Dozens of candles were burning in front of the altar. From a distance, it looked exactly like a scene from a burning at the stake. Moreover, with a sword pointed at his throat, it was enough to make any observer feel dizzy.

‘Miss Evangeline, where are you and what are you doing?’

Rafaela desperately searched for Evangeline, who had yet to appear. Could Gabriel being used as a sacrifice be connected to Evangeline’s absence?

For a moment, she even thought that perhaps it wasn’t Gabriel at all and she had made a mistake. It was a hypothesis full of possibilities.

‘Right. There’s no way Miss Evangeline would just stand by and let them capture the Captain.’

That must be someone who just looks like him. They probably dressed him in the uniform and covered his eyes to make him appear similar at first glance.

While Rafaela was convincing herself, Bishop Marik withdrew the sword he had been pointing at the sacrifice.

“Remove the cloth covering his eyes.”

At the Bishop’s command, the knights untied the cloth. As the fabric covering his face was slowly removed, sounds of admiration could be heard from various places. This was due to the exceptional beauty of the face that had been hidden beneath the cloth.

It was a well-ordered face. His disheveled black hair remained pitch black even under the direct sunlight. The forehead revealed beneath it drew graceful lines before breaking and extending straight down to the tip of his nose. His precisely drawn lips were tightly closed.

Long shadows of eyelashes fell beneath his eyes. The eyelashes fluttered. As his closed eyelids slowly opened, the eyes that had been hidden beneath were revealed. They were blue eyes that some said resembled the sky, while certain women claimed they looked like a lake.

Rafaela bit her lips hard. The revealed face was so familiar that she could no longer deny it even if she tried.

Damn it, it really is the Captain.

Rafaela wanted to immediately leap onto the altar and run away with Gabriel. As her body flinched, Duke Baal grabbed Rafaela’s arm.

“…Mother.”

“Don’t act rashly.”

Duke Baal’s grip was so strong that it felt like her arm might break. Without even glancing at Rafaela, Duke Baal stared straight ahead and whispered quietly.

“I won’t scold you for recklessly charging forward alone. But not now. Remember what name you carry as you sit here.”

Rafaela’s body stiffened.

Right now, Rafaela was attending alongside Duke Baal, representing the position of heir. If she caused a disturbance here, the blame would fall upon the entire House of Baal. Rafaela knew best what form that punishment might take.

Duke Baal released her hand as if knowing what choice Rafaela would make. Even though the grip blocking her was gone, Rafaela couldn’t move.

Rafaela clenched her fists tightly. Her nails dug into her flesh and blood flowed, but she couldn’t even properly feel the pain. The voices of her colleagues asking her to take care of the Captain kept echoing in her head.

***

Unlike Rafaela, Jeremiah wasn’t greatly disturbed. This was because he knew that the one offered as sacrifice was not Gabriel, but ‘Rico’.

The day after Jeremiah informed Evangeline of Gabriel’s whereabouts, when he visited the prison again with Princess Tenebray, the contents of the prison had been mysteriously switched as if by magic that Evangeline had cast.

The fake Gabriel who had introduced himself as Rico when Tenebray wasn’t present had sent rats to Jeremiah to attempt conversation.

Jeremiah heard from Rico that Count Gabriel had safely escaped from prison. He felt greatly relieved, thinking he was fortunate to be able to help his benefactor.

Rico had been transferred from the imperial prison before dawn this morning. He wondered what the reason could be, only to discover he had been selected as a sacrifice for the ritual.

He had been afraid that they might have already been discovered, but fortunately, no one noticed during the transfer process that Gabriel had been switched.

It was truly a mysterious ability. Even with Azazel’s body, he couldn’t easily find differences from the original Gabriel.

The fake who had climbed onto the altar no longer had the subtle differences from Gabriel that he had felt before. Was it because he had changed clothes that made him seem more real?

‘Rico’ was wearing a proper uniform instead of the rags he had worn in prison. It was similar to the clothes Jeremiah was currently wearing.

The reason for dressing him in uniform was obvious. That way, people could more easily recognize that the person was Gabriel. Sure enough, those who recognized Gabriel began appearing here and there.

“That’s… Count Gabriel?”

“That’s the Captain of the Pararos Knights.”

“Ah, the one from the rumors?”

Quiet murmuring filled the hall. For a place where nobles had gathered, it reminded one exactly of a marketplace. Taking advantage of the commotion, Tenebray spoke to him.

“Count Azazel, look over there.”

Tenebray beside him spoke cheerfully as if she had seen the most amusing spectacle, nodding her chin. The end of Tenebray’s gaze was directed at the Emperor. The Emperor was glaring fiercely at Bishop Marik.

Tenebray almost burst out laughing. She held back because it would disturb the Bishop’s ceremony, but the corners of her mouth curved in an arc and wouldn’t come down.

The Emperor seemed extremely anxious, worried that Bishop Marik might reveal that he and Gabriel were blood relatives. He probably wanted to kill Gabriel and bury his own mistakes underground. The way he kept tapping the armrest of his chair looked very uneasy.

“Even though it’s a position he’ll soon pass to me, how can he be so full of regrets.”

Tenebray criticized the Emperor in a tone of disdain.

There was once a time when Tenebray had been as afraid of the Emperor as she was of the Crown Prince. When she was born, clutching the necklace the Emperor had given her as a gift, trying to muster courage to inform the Emperor of her father’s abuse, she couldn’t even lift her head in front of him.

Still, Tenebray believed that something would change, that the Emperor would take action. However, the Emperor, far from stopping the Crown Prince, summoned Jeremiah.

Because the Emperor had ordered her to hide behind the throne, Tenebray overheard their entire conversation. Tenebray could still vividly recall that conversation.

Does your father lay hands on you?

Of course not. Father is very caring.

He never raises a hand to me.

What about to Tenebray?

The same. Rather, he worries because Tenebray is careless and often gets hurt.

It was a very affectionate conversation between grandfather and grandson. After Jeremiah left, the Emperor asked.

Does your father really abuse you?

Tenebray kept her head down and couldn’t even move her lips. The Emperor’s eyes looking at Tenebray were so emotionless that she couldn’t give any answer. Somehow her throat was completely blocked, and she clutched the necklace with the black jade as if she would tear it off.

The Emperor wasn’t asking again because he didn’t trust Tenebray’s words. He simply wanted to condone the Crown Prince’s abuse.

Tenebray couldn’t even move her lips. She couldn’t take any action. If she had just lifted the hem of the dress she was wearing at that moment, the marks on her calves would have been visible. If she had just rolled up her sleeves, the bruises would have been revealed.

After that, Tenebray never spoke aloud about being abused by her father.

Having discovered that she had told the Emperor, the Crown Prince became even more methodical. He became an even more affectionate father in public. Jeremiah smiled innocently beside him.

After that, Tenebray couldn’t even trust her own sister. In fact, it seemed like Jeremiah also knew everything and was condoning it.

Did she really know? No, that child probably thought the world was all white until she died, so she might not have known. Tenebray briefly regretted not asking Jeremiah before killing her.

Of course, she couldn’t know if she could trust those words. Now the only thing Tenebray believed in the world was Bishop Marik.

When the commotion didn’t subside, one priest cleared his throat with a ‘ahem’. Only then did the hall become quiet again.

The priest looked at Bishop Marik as if seeking praise. When Bishop Marik nodded slightly, the priest bloomed with joy as if he had received a god, his smile spreading wide. His mouth gaped so wide that you could even count his teeth.

How vulgar. Tenebray frowned. Seeing the priest’s appearance made her briefly reflect on whether she looked the same way in front of the Bishop.

In the hall once again filled with reverent silence, Bishop Marik opened his mouth.

“As I said, the reason for holding this sacrifice is to avoid repeating past mistakes. However, there are bound to be those who, corrupted by long peace, forget their sins.”

Bishop Marik continued with what seemed like deep regret.

“Count Gabriel has repeated those sins. This place will serve as atonement for Count Gabriel.”

Someone asked.

“What sin has Count Gabriel committed?”

It was a young voice. All eyes turned toward the direction from which the voice came.

The man sitting right next to her grabbed the woman’s skirt and tried to stop her, but when attention was drawn to them, he quickly pulled his hand back, afraid that trouble might befall him as well. The woman shrank back under the piercing stares but mustered her courage.

Recently, the woman’s husband had been killed under the pretext of being a heretic. Not only her husband, but the woman and her young children were also supposed to die together, but they barely managed to save their lives after being rescued by Gabriel. Shouldn’t a person naturally repay such a debt of gratitude?

“Isn’t Count Gabriel a faithful knight? I heard that Priest Jabaniya personally recommended him, so are you saying that the judgment of Priest Jabaniya, who stands beside Bishop Marik, was also wrong?”

If Priest Jabaniya had been present in the hall, it would have been words that might have made him grab his neck and collapse. Moreover, it was also a sarcastic remark about the temple’s practice of burning together anyone related to heretics, whether family or neighbors.

The woman stared persistently at Bishop Marik as if seeking an answer.

Bishop Marik also looked down at the woman. The woman flinched and trembled. Even though he was clearly covered by a veil, she somehow felt as if their gazes had met, making her hair stand on end. All the fine hairs on her body stood up and her lungs constricted. Her body shook violently.

The eerie gaze thoroughly searched and rummaged through both her exterior and interior. However, Bishop Marik himself was wrapped up tightly from head to toe, making it difficult to discern his inner thoughts.

The fact that she couldn’t grasp the other person’s feelings caused even more anxiety. It was the fear of facing the unknown.

If the veil were lifted, it seemed as if something terrible would be hidden underneath. The woman was reminded of monsters from fairy tales she had read as a child when looking at Bishop Marik.

A monster with hideous beast-like teeth, but with a voice more beautiful than birds, used to lure its prey.

Bishop Marik opened his mouth.

“There is a flaw in your words, parishioner.”

It was a gentle and kind tone.

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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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