My Possession Became a Ghost Story - Chapter 77

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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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Evangeline was tired of constantly going around and catering to people’s whims. Even beings beyond reason seem to get exhausted when dealing with a multitude of humans.

Kinder became a little more interested and smiled while nodding, then was startled by the fact that she had smiled and closed her mouth. How… how could she smile on the day her son died? She felt like a monster herself. She calmed her anxiety and caressed the crystal flower.

“Are you tired too, Toten Madam?”

“Yes? Yes… I suppose I am.”

Evangeline noticed Kinder’s restlessness and called over a maid serving wine to take a glass. She took one glass herself, pressed a glass of wine into Kinder’s hand, clinked glasses on her own, and looked at Kinder as if telling her to drink up. Kinder hesitated before wetting her lips. After the rich fruit aroma faded, she felt a bitter acidity. Since she didn’t enjoy wine to begin with, the taste felt subtle.

“You seem a bit better now that you’ve had some wine?”

“Yes. I feel a little more at ease.”

Still, with alcohol in her system, she felt a bit better. Her heart, which had been beating rapidly as if standing at the edge of a cliff, calmed down a little.

Kinder handed the empty glass back to the maid. Strangely, unlike other attendants, this maid had covered below her nose with a scarf, and when Kinder looked at her questioningly, she drew scissors above the scarf. It seemed she was deliberately covering her mouth because she couldn’t speak. Among all the servants in the banquet hall, only this maid in front of her had covered her mouth with a scarf.

The maid who received the wine glass back hurriedly moved along.

***

“Shall we rest for a moment?”

My legs are killing me. My throat hurts too, and my facial muscles are strained from constantly forcing a smile. Gabriel said he invited Toten Madam as a chaperone because of his excellent reputation, and it wasn’t an exaggeration – just passing by, everyone seemed to be acquainted with Toten Madam, so I kept greeting people like a machine.

I don’t want to introduce myself anymore… I’m not even Evangeline, but I’ve said the name so many times I think I’m going to have gestalt collapse. Did Gabriel know this would happen and run away alone? No… he did go to work too. But he said he’d be back soon, so when is he coming!

“Are you tired too, Toten Madam?”

Looking closely, it wasn’t just me – Toten Madam seemed tired too. Toten Madam was dragged here to play chaperone without even properly holding her son’s funeral, so it was understandable. Moreover, she must be even more exhausted having to act as usual as if her son was fine, since the marquis household would fall if Rider’s death became known.

This would be difficult with a clear head. Just then, a maid was serving wine, so I quickly grabbed a wine glass. I shared one with Toten Madam too, clinked glasses, and downed the alcohol. This is legal doping.

I returned the completely emptied glass and sent the maid away, saying it was good. Looking at other nobles, they just carried their wine glasses around, but that was because there was still content left – since I downed it in one shot, they collected it on the spot. The serving maid looked at me strangely. What, first time seeing someone down wine in one shot? Right? It probably would be the first time.

“Your scarf is pretty.”

When embarrassed, compliments are the best. But it seems the person listening wasn’t pleased. After hearing my compliment, the maid instantly scrunched up her face, hurriedly composed her expression, bowed, and disappeared. Even the maids in the imperial palace had elegant gaits.

“She didn’t seem to like my compliment.”

I guess she doesn’t even want to hear compliments from a villainess. That hurts a little…

“I’d like to hear them though.”

With a coquettish voice, an unfamiliar face suddenly popped up in front of me. Wavy golden hair flowed down, sparkling as it mixed with the chandelier’s light. When our eyes met, his eyes and cheeks flushed as his eyes curved into crescents.

Wow, wow… Is he crazy? Is this a human face? I thought Oratorio was a splendid handsome man, but he couldn’t even compare. Looking at his clothes, he seemed like an imperial palace attendant, but I was dumbfounded that such a handsome attendant could exist.

“Please compliment me to your heart’s content.”

You’re, you’re quite handsome. I felt like I’d start gushing if I stayed still, so I just smiled back. The handsome attendant waited for his compliment, then drooped his eyes disappointedly when I said nothing.

“Don’t tell me you don’t find my appearance appealing?”

As if. Without a doubt, his beauty existed in a realm beyond personal preference.

“I like it.”

Only after hearing that brief answer did the handsome attendant smile brightly, seemingly satisfied.

“I was worried, but that’s a relief. Ah, Lady Evangeline, you’ll drink the wine I offer too, right?”

I just downed one shot though? But when I came to my senses, another glass of wine was in my hand. So this is what they mean by being bewitched by a face. The attendant watched contentedly as I brought the wine to my lips, then disappeared as if he’d done his job.

I was watching people while slightly tipsy from drinking two glasses of wine when I suddenly made eye contact with the viscount. The viscount frowned deeply and pointed repeatedly with his finger toward where Duke Hosaquin was.

Oh my, old man… I’ll approach him well on my own without you rushing me, you know? Since we made a deal, I at least need to show that I’m approaching Duke Hosaquin.

“Toten Madam, how about we greet my great-grandfather now?”

It’s absolutely not because the viscount is rushing me, but because there are few people around Duke Hosaquin right now, so the timing is perfect. Toten Madam seemed to think it was fine too and nodded.

Toten Madam said it would be more comfortable to talk through someone else rather than approaching Duke Hosaquin first. The person currently stuck close to the duke was Viscount Hükel, who was known for liking to show off and being tactless, and Toten Madam explained that he would approach us on his own just by us passing nearby.

“Well, who do we have here! Viscountess Toten, it’s been so long!”

“Viscount Hükel.”

Wow. The planning is no joke. Just as Toten Madam predicted, Viscount Hükel caught Toten Madam as she passed by and struck up a conversation. Even though he must know about the relationship between Duke Hosaquin and me, it was impressive that appealing his friendship with us, who were at the center of attention at the banquet, took priority over reading the room.

Doesn’t the piercing gaze of Duke Hosaquin glaring murderously from the side bother him?

“When I sent you an invitation last week, there was no reply, which is quite disappointing.”

“Oh my, I don’t remember receiving a letter… The butler must have made a mistake. If I had seen the viscount’s invitation, I naturally would have replied. I’ll scold the butler severely when I return, so please overlook it?”

“Haha, Toten Madam scolding the butler? You’ve become quite playful in the meantime.”

That’s probably not a lie… That butler is still locked in the basement right now…

“It’s all thanks to being with a young person. Ah, this is Lady Rohanson whom I’m chaperoning.”

“It’s my first time meeting you. Evangeline Rohan…”

Crash!

Before I could finish my greeting, the sound of glass shattering was heard. The culprit was obvious. Duke Hosaquin, his face bright red, glared at me with furious eyes while gritting his teeth.

He must really hate me. Viscount… you didn’t tell me the difficulty would be this high…

The glass breaking sound was because the duke had thrown his wine glass to the floor. Servants glanced around nervously and began cleaning up the glass shards. Seeing that reminds me of our household servants – it seems Evangeline’s personality takes after her grandfather.

“Oh right, you two are great-grandfather and great-granddaughter!”

And Viscount Hükel isn’t just tactless – he’s eaten tactlessness with rice and taken out loans to go into the negatives. Viscount Hükel was grinning until he received Duke Hosaquin’s sharp glare, finally reading the atmosphere as he hiccupped and ran away.

“I, I seem to have had too much wine, so I’ll excuse myself for a moment…!”

Overwhelming an opponent with just a look – truly befitting a villainess’s grandfather.

Viscount Hükel ran away, but I still achieved my intended purpose. It’s enough for the viscount to just see that I approached Duke Hosaquin.

The problem starts now… If I’m not careful, I might take the family regret route where Duke Hosaquin actually dotes on his real granddaughter and she inherits the fortune. I need to be careful. Viscount Rohanson wants to inherit the duke’s fortune so badly, I can’t let that happen.

Originally in family regret stories, the family gets moved by someone who smiles brightly and acts friendly without ulterior motives despite being treated coldly. I should act the complete opposite, right? I should make it obvious I’m approaching with ulterior motives and not smile innocently.

“Great-grandfather, it’s my first time meeting you.”

Is it really the first time? The countess said she was cut off from when she married. Or whatever, I have the trump card of memory loss.

“Who said I’m your great-grandfather!”

“Does Your Grace no longer consider mother your daughter?”

As if that could be true. Just looking at him, Duke Hosaquin was a patriarchal tsundere. He would have wanted to treat his daughter kindly, but always just shouted angrily, so by now only regret and lingering attachment would remain. As if my guess was right, Duke Hosaquin lost his words as if hit in a vital spot.

“That’s too much. Mother always missed her great-grandfather.”

“…Amaranth did?”

Ah, he softened a bit. Duke Hosaquin looked over my face with strange eyes. As the viscount said, Evangeline looked exactly like the late countess. Surely he won’t see the resemblance, feel regret, and leave me the inheritance? That won’t do… I have no choice but to cross the line a bit.

“Yes. She said married life was hard and she wanted to run away, but her estranged father wouldn’t take her back, so she missed you every day, feeling sad and lonely.”

I lowered my voice in case others might hear. Though it was like stabbing the duke who lost his daughter with a knife, I wasn’t lying, and honestly I wanted to badmouth the duke too. Don’t treat her coldly saying a married daughter is an outsider – take care of your daughter. Reading the countess’s diary, you can vividly feel how sad and lonely she was then.

“Why did you do that? Did you hate mother for not listening to you? Were you resentful that she ran away and married a man you didn’t approve of? Is that why you never came to see her until she died?”

“You, you…”

When cornered, Duke Hosaquin glared at me fiercely. He was angry as if lava was boiling, so I fanned the flames enthusiastically.

“Yes. I am Evangeline Rohanson, your great-grandfather’s granddaughter.”

And when his anger exceeded its limits, Duke Hosaquin finally lost his reason. He picked up a wine glass that the servants cleaning up the glass shards the duke had broken earlier had temporarily placed on the table. Is he going to throw that? This isn’t even a morning drama, and it’s my debutante day so I’m wearing a white dress!

I stepped back trying to avoid getting hit by wine, but my body was suddenly pulled back and I fell into an embrace. A familiar scent, a familiar warmth. When I looked up slightly, I saw uniquely deep blue eyes. Though darkness had already fallen outside the window, only those blue eyes still held the sunlight of a midday afternoon.

He shielded me and took the wine instead, red liquid dripping from the ends of his black hair. It was a color that didn’t suit Gabriel, who was full of blue.

“Count Gabriel.”

“Yes, Lady Evangeline. As promised, I returned before the dancing began.”

Gabriel smiled with the corners of his eyes curved.

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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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