My Possession Became a Ghost Story - Chapter 44
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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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At least Daisy, you’re happy, which is a relief.
“Did you have a good talk?”
“Yes… The butler said that you asked him to look after the children’s convenience as much as possible. Thank you.”
When I told the butler yesterday that Daisy was returning to work, he was incredibly surprised. Since she must have quit after being severely bullied by Evangeline, it seemed surprising that she would work again.
And when I said I brought three children, he asked me in a trembling voice if I had kidnapped them. It seems like it’s been quite a while since I possessed this body, but why doesn’t Evangeline’s villainess image show any signs of improving?
Only after I explained the children’s circumstances did the butler understand. I almost sarcastically asked if he was annoyed that the villainess was doing good deeds. Of course, I’m an intellectual who respects elders, so I didn’t actually do that.
“Miss, this is a letter from Lord Gabriel.”
Should I open this? After hesitating, I just opened it. Today too, it was a letter decorated with elegant cursive handwriting. The content wasn’t much. He wanted to share afternoon tea time together. So he’s saying he’ll come at two o’clock… Looking at the clock, there was still plenty of time.
“Let’s get ready.”
I’d like to dress casually, but I need to look good, so I should dress up as well as possible.
With three people helping, the time was greatly reduced. When I first possessed this body, I didn’t even have a dedicated maid, but now I have three. I think I’m doing quite well at this romance fantasy life, aren’t I?
“You look truly dazzling today as well.”
As Kanna said, Evangeline was originally beautiful enough to live up to her villainess reputation, but today she was even prettier.
Perhaps because Daisy was originally the maid who served Evangeline, she was quite skilled at dressing people up. And she brought accessories I didn’t even know about from somewhere and put them on me.
After finishing preparations and lounging around, a servant knocked on the door.
“Miss, Lord Gabriel has arrived.”
When I went down to the drawing room with Daisy, Gabriel stood up from his seat. Wow… The male lead’s beauty is outstanding today as well. I’m the one who dressed up carefully, but he’s definitely not falling behind.
The man who looked like he wouldn’t even groan if stabbed bowed his head meekly.
“Miss Rohanson. I hope you had a peaceful night.”
No, I couldn’t sleep a wink, you bastard.
“Thanks to your help, I rested well.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
When I sat across from him, Gabriel also sat back down. I glanced at Gabriel sideways. He looked as calm and unshaken as when I saw him yesterday. I wondered if he really heard from Daisy that I was a possessor.
No, I shouldn’t feel relieved. That might be a trick to make me let my guard down.
“As I mentioned, I’ve entrusted the children to the temple’s orphanage. Mr. Troy has decided to stay and help with odd jobs for the time being. It’s not a place that would be shaken by adding about ten more children, so you can rest assured.”
Gabriel opened the conversation by talking about the aftermath.
“This is an entry pass to the orphanage for Miss Daisy. The temple orphanage has restricted access, so you must carry an entry pass.”
“…Thank you.”
Along with a map of the orphanage, he also made an entry pass so Daisy could visit the orphanage.
Troy had the borrowed gold coins with him without spending a single one, so he said he was going to repay the debt today with a knight accompanying him. Since they left together, they should have arrived by now. No matter how much of a loan shark they were, they wouldn’t dare cheat or intimidate in front of a holy knight, so it was a very sensible approach.
And after a rough investigation of the director and the basement is completed, Troy decided to donate the orphanage to the temple.
“The priest who was Merai’s client will be dismissed today.”
The other clients are nobles and merchants, so he’s not sure if the temple’s influence will reach them much, but they’ll report to the imperial court first.
Given the nature of this class-based romance fantasy, they probably won’t receive very severe punishment, but since the male lead is involved, won’t they at least receive aggravated punishment?
“Merai’s crimes are serious, so execution will be unavoidable.”
Still, it’s not burning at the stake, just regular beheading.
One gets dismissal, the other gets execution. For the same human trafficking crime, the weight of punishment was different, but from what was revealed on the surface, Merai seemed to have worse crimes, so I could understand it somewhat.
“Execution…”
“When the exact execution date is determined, I’ll inform you again in writing.”
“You don’t need to inform me.”
Daisy’s voice trembled. No matter how much of a human trafficker she was, there must be some affection from raising her, so her heart must be unsettled.
I naturally expected Gabriel to bring up the possession story, so I brought Daisy, the informant, but if I had known this kind of talk would come up, I should have just brought Kanna instead.
“Merai’s case will roughly be concluded like this. I’ll inform you again as the situation progresses.”
“It must have been troublesome, but thank you for your hard work.”
If Gabriel hadn’t come yesterday, I would have had to handle all of that myself. Thinking about it that way, Gabriel briefly looked like an angel to me.
How did he finish so many things in one night? I just tossed and turned in bed. Is this the ability of a male lead who suffers from overtime work every day?
Gabriel, who had roughly finished his explanation, moistened his throat.
Ah. I guess he’s going to say it now. My heart pounded violently.
What is he going to say? He’s not going to sprinkle holy water on me while shouting ‘Begone, demon!’ is he? Would that be character destruction? Then will he cut my throat first? Really handcuffs, no, he might tie me up with rope and drag me away…
I was dying of anxiety about what reaction he would show, but Gabriel delayed like a commercial break.
“And the reason I came to see you so suddenly yesterday…”
This is the pace I hate most. Just get beaten quickly, just say it!
“This is sudden, but would you become my partner?”
Please just don’t kill me, okay?
“Partner?”
What is he suddenly talking about…?
Huh? No, suddenly? A date proposal here? Let’s go to a ball together and dance? I definitely thought a thrilling, shocking, suspenseful development would follow, but Gabriel suddenly switched to romance.
Is he serious? Is he pretending not to know that I’m a possessor? No, right now Gabriel might be timing the perfect moment to reveal my identity. Does he think I’ll wait until then? Rather than constantly worrying and fretting about when my identity might be discovered, I’ll just say it outright. When cornered like this, you must always strike first.
“Are you saying this knowing that I’m not Evangeline?”
I was so dumbfounded that I unconsciously brought up the topic first.
When Gabriel lowered his eyes, his eyelashes fluttered. Who are you trying to use your beauty on right now?
You don’t even know about possession stories. If someone suddenly said a different soul entered a dead body, wouldn’t it be normal to treat them as a ghost or demon? You’re even a holy knight!
“Yes. I’m well aware.”
Gabriel caressed the handle of his teacup. So he’s asking even though he knows I’m a possessor…?
It’s a bit embarrassing to say with my own mouth, but Gabriel seems to like me more than I thought. He’s reached the point where he doesn’t care who I am anymore. Of course, I did manage him a bit, but this easy man…
Somehow, what I worried about all night felt futile. With a fish in my managed pond, what was I so scared of that I trembled all day?
“To be precise, I’d like you to accompany me as my partner to upcoming banquets.”
“Why suddenly?”
But it was really out of the blue, so when I asked why he wanted to do this, I got an answer beyond my imagination.
So my spirit summoning circle is spreading among the wealthy class by word of mouth.
He’s probably afraid it might be misused if left alone. Indeed, both the priest and the director used it inappropriately. So I guess he’s planning to go around high society with me to filter out suspicious people.
But do you need me to catch spirits?
Of course, I can’t just let them use my summoning circle as they please. But I don’t even know the proper summoning method! How does everyone else succeed in summoning so smoothly!
A suddenly chilling thought occurred to me. Don’t I actually have desperately low spirit affinity? So it’s just a matter of drawing the summoning circle and calling them, but I’m the only one failing. Maybe Gabriel asked for my help because when I get close, the spirit summoning success rate decreases or something?
“When you’re present, the influence of the drawing becomes muddled.”
I received Gabriel’s confirmation kill. Suddenly my eyes stung. This is really too much. It’s sad not knowing the original work, and it’s sad when the translator occasionally breaks down, but I don’t even have spirit affinity? Even if I’m a villainess, this is too harsh on me.
“And it’s also to avoid suspicion about your identity.”
That’s true. This is a romance fantasy world, and perhaps because Evangeline is a villainess, situations turn out subtly even when I don’t do bad things. If I’m not careful, rumors might spread that I’m controlling spirits.
Donau acted as if he was ordered by me to kidnap, and there was a spirit summoning circle drawn at Daisy’s orphanage too. If I hadn’t been there together, they would have pinned all the blame on me instead.
At least if I’m with Gabriel, I’ll receive less of that suspicion. Gabriel is an upright and honest holy knight.
“If that’s the case, I’d like that. Gladly.”
And Gabriel became my ally, covering up the possession even though he doesn’t know if I’m a demon or ghost. I’m good at not forgetting favors.
I made a satisfactory deal with Gabriel, but Daisy carefully raised an objection.
“Um… you haven’t even had your debutante yet…”
What? Shouldn’t a villainess already be reigning as the flower of high society?
***
The dense lights gradually decreased in number following Gabriel’s steps, and when he went underground, it reached the point where the front would be hard to distinguish without a lantern.
The underground, where sunlight doesn’t reach, was a very suitable place to commit ugly deeds while avoiding God’s eyes. That’s why the Empire had particularly many basements. The same was true even for the Grand Temple. The place Gabriel found was a detention room mainly used to confine or interrogate criminals.
“Bishop Jabaniya?”
“We meet again.”
There were prior guests underground. Two priests, Bishop Jabaniya, and a middle-aged woman wearing a white veil kindly welcomed Gabriel.
“Captain, it’s been a long time.”
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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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