My Possession Became a Ghost Story - Chapter 254

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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 Viscount gave me that tip and then dumped the bomb on me before running away.

The Duke’s furious eyes pierced into me. He looked like he wanted to eliminate me, this stain, right away. Damn Rohanson Viscount. If you’re going to light the fire, you should put it out properly before leaving, shouldn’t you? I wanted to report him for arson.

He looked ready to kill me at any moment, so what was I supposed to do with Duke Hosaquin? Ask him to dance? The words “you crazy bastard” rose to the tip of my tongue before subsiding.

That cunning child. So this is why he didn’t assign me a separate partner. I wondered what the Viscount was scheming when he prepared a chaperone but left out a partner, considering how much he cared about public appearances. Since the debutante had no partner, she would approach her blood-related Duke to ask for a dance. I hate to admit it, but it was a plausible excuse.

But whatever. Even if I died soon, I wouldn’t do what the Viscount wanted.

First, I tried to calm the Duke down.

“You don’t need to pay attention to what Rohanson Viscount says. I don’t wish for Your Grace to treat me like a granddaughter.”

“….”

“If you wish, you don’t need to worry about Mother either….”

“What do you think you are?”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t babble as if you’re Amaranth’s daughter, as if you can speak for that child!”

But my words seemed to become the trigger that stabbed the Duke whose anger had reached its peak. The Viscount inflated the balloon, but I was the needle. Was calling Amaranth “Mother” the problem, or did someone like me, with a face identical to Amaranth’s, saying words that distanced myself from the Duke stimulate his trauma?

“This demon-like wretch dares…!”

Was it because Rohanson Viscount’s aggravation was added to it? Somehow he seemed angrier than before.

Since there was no wine glass, the Duke seemed ready to use his hands directly. Why was everything else different, but the crisis of being assaulted by the Duke remained the same? The Duke raised his arm. Would he get angrier if I blocked his arm?

‘Grandfather has bad hand habits.’

I was having such thoughts when it happened.

“Duke Hosaquin.”

Someone I never expected intervened. At the voice heard nearby, all my nerves stood on edge. Just hearing a voice close by made my heart surge.

“…Your Highness.”

‘Count Gabriel.’

I swallowed the words that almost unconsciously slipped out. My nose stung and my throat choked up. Gabriel grabbed Duke Hosaquin’s arm and stood in front of me.

“Your voices seemed to be rising, so I inadvertently intervened.”

I hadn’t expected Gabriel would help me. Why did he block my path when he didn’t even know me well? No, actually I knew. Gabriel wasn’t someone who could ignore others’ predicaments. Since Duke Hosaquin’s angry voice was loud, he simply intervened to mediate. How many people in the Empire could stop a Duke?

Gabriel reprimanded the Duke in a cold voice.

“To use violence at a banquet where only blessings and laughter should exist. No matter how high Duke Hosaquin’s honor may be, surely you’re not looking down on even the Crown Prince of a nation.”

Moreover, since it was the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet, he couldn’t overlook the disturbance. He was handling an unseemly incident at a banquet hosted by the Imperial Court. So this wasn’t to protect me.

“I think it would be good for Your Grace to cool down for a moment.”

At Gabriel’s suggestion, Duke Hosaquin glanced at me briefly, then turned his head sharply and walked away. Only after some distance was created between the Duke and us did Gabriel turn to look at me. Gabriel smiled gently and suggested.

“Since you must have been startled as well, how about taking a brief rest?”

Since attention had been drawn, he was telling me to take refuge until things calmed down. Young lady. My lady. The way Gabriel used to address me hit me hard. Had those words always been so dry?

When I froze, Gabriel, thinking I was shocked by nearly being struck, offered to escort me.

“You may lean on me.”

This wasn’t kindness shown because he thought of me as special. This Prince would probably have offered his arm the same way to Lohengrin, the Finance Minister’s nephew.

But you should know how much your voice disguised as kindness and your courteous actions provoke me. I bit my lips tightly and grabbed Gabriel’s arm.

Gabriel led me to the terrace. Since it was still drizzling, just crossing one door brought a chill.

Seeing me shiver slightly, Gabriel even took off his coat and put it on me.

“The air is cold.”

“…Thank you.”

I gripped the quality fabric as if I would wrinkle it. The fact that this too was merely ingrained courtesy made me feel more pathetic.

I desperately rushed toward Gabriel’s charitable kindness and greedily lapped it up. It felt sweet enough to numb my tongue, but on the other hand, it was so sweet that my stomach felt heavy. What would I do if I ate up all the candy like this?

“You seem more startled because I suddenly intervened.”

“Not at all. Thanks to you, I was able to escape His Grace’s anger. …My name is Evangeline Rohanson.”

“Evangeline.”

The fact that I was introducing myself to Gabriel felt strange. Unable to overcome the disconnect, I kept my mouth shut, and after a moment of silence, Gabriel carefully broke the quiet.

“I unintentionally heard what the Duke said to you.”

What did the Duke say to me? Ah…. He called me a demon-like wretch.

“Surely it was just words spoken in anger, not his true feelings.”

Was he comforting me, thinking I was hurt by what the Duke said? How admirable and….

“The word ‘demon’ doesn’t suit such an elegant lady.”

…How miserable.

Let’s suppose I had a beloved doll I always slept with in my arms. A doll in terrible condition, so worn that the stuffing was coming out. Then one day, my parents secretly, without telling me, threw away that doll and bought a new one.

It was the same product made by the same manufacturer. But that doll wasn’t mine. My doll didn’t have such vivid colors or such clean fabric.

Even though it might look shabby with stuffing sticking out and one eye missing, I cherished that doll because of the memories we shared until it became worn.

But my doll had already disappeared without a trace. I was no different from a foolish child crying while clutching a clump of stuffing that had fallen out of the doll.

Gabriel was still polite and equally noble. His characteristic pure nature was Gabriel’s innate disposition.

But if it had been the Gabriel I knew, instead of denying the Duke’s words, he would have said it was okay even if I were a demon. He would have gone further and said he cherished even me as a devil.

“Do I appear that way to Your Highness?”

“…Yes.”

“Like someone flawless and pure?”

In contrast, this Prince who grew up in the light and didn’t know abandonment would run away if he knew my origins. To a flower that bloomed bathed in sunlight, moss from the shadows wouldn’t be worth considering.

If he knew I was a patchwork created by mixing Lea’s blood and flesh into Mother’s body, crudely stitching together a completely different soul, he would look at me with disgust.

Looking at that face clear as a cloudless sky without a shadow in sight, base desires surged within me.

‘Should I just tell him?’

Should I whisper in his ear that I really am a demon-like wretch?

Petty and selfish desires urged me on. I wanted to spill ink on white paper and carve ugly marks into it again.

Rather than receive such dry glances that treated me as if I meant nothing to him, it would be better to be despised—such masochistic feelings rose within me.

I wanted to cry out for him to step into my mire, to become ugly together with me.

“….”

I clenched my teeth to keep from spouting nonsense. Actually, if I were truly despised, I felt like I’d be damaged beyond repair.

Gabriel looked at my subdued state and asked if I had calmed down.

“Have you calmed down a little?”

“…Thanks to you.”

I hadn’t become calm but sunk down. I had been shipwrecked and sunk. However, instead of revealing my twisted inner thoughts, I maintained silence.

“Then that’s fortunate.”

Gabriel showed considerable relief. It tasted sweet.

I felt utterly miserable, clinging to the tail end of goodwill given to anyone and groping around for traces of affection.

I wished your kindness existed solely for me. I wished it wasn’t simply distributed fairly but came from thinking of me as special.

‘Did Gabriel feel like this too?’

Was this why he was so desperate to have me prove that he was special? Was it because he felt his specialness was proven that he acted like a satisfied beast just from the fact that I worried about him, even when he could barely move a finger?

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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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