I’m Trying to End This Possession Chapter 187

* * *

Noah witnessed the entire scene. He saw Dana, who was like a queen bee. And he saw Dana choose a man and leave with him.

 

That guy, it’s him.

 

Lethe. Viego’s subordinate. Noah had only learned that after coming to the sanctuary.

 

But Dana shouldn’t remember Lethe, should she? Where on earth was she going with that guy? Especially after that disgusting ceremony, she was bound to be in no normal state.

 

Noah had heard that when attending the ceremony, both men and women were plagued with desire, but men’s lust was far stronger. Right, I nearly lost my mind at that time. He’d naively attended just once. And all that day, he was tormented by almost uncontrollable lust. Surely Lethe must be in heat too, and yet she went with him?

 

No, that woman must be the same. She must have been swept up by the passion too. That’s why she picked someone. The best-looking, smoothest guy. To sleep with him.

 

Noah walked quickly. With each step, he couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. Dana picking a man and leaving? It felt like he was being hit hard on the head. In the end, she was just an ordinary woman. Not some sacred being like a saintess or holy mother.

 

“Lord Noah.”

 

At that moment, a woman blocked his way. It was Miona Kruz. She’d once been Allice’s maid.

 

“Move.”

 

“If you’re going to Lady Dana, please stop,” Miona spoke clearly. “Don’t you know what it means for a man and woman to leave together after the ceremony?” She was telling him not to interfere.

 

Noah stared at her in disbelief.

 

“And the man who disappeared with Lady Dana, Lethe—” Miona lowered her voice quietly. “He’s a member of the Anti-Church Leader faction.” So that no one else could hear. “Lethe will deceive

 

“Lethe will deceive Lady Dana and lead her to the leader of the Anti-Church Leader. So don’t interfere.”

 

The Anti-Church Leader faction. It was a group that aimed to drive his older brother, Viego, out of his position as the church leader. Anti-Church Leader faction was hiding throughout the Grand Cathedral. Miona, that woman, was one of them.

 

“Lord Noah, as a member of the Anti-Church Leader, we hope you’ll cooperate with the plan.”

 

Noah was their accomplice. He had accepted the Anti-Church Leader’s assassination offer to get close to Viego in order to kill him.

 

“I only agreed to help kill my brother. I don’t care about the Anti-Church Leader or whatever.”

 

“In that case, at least don’t get in our way. If you interfere, I’ll tell Leader Viego everything. About how you tried to help the Anti-Church Leader assassinate him—”

 

“Do what you want.” Noah didn’t care. Even if his brother found out, Viego would probably just shrug it off, saying it was careless or pathetic.

 

“How long are you going to meddle in Lady Dana’s affairs?” Maybe realizing her threat didn’t work, Miona quickly changed her approach. “Do you want to stop Lady Dana from associating with men? For how long? Ten years? Twenty? For what? What’s your goal?”

 

“…”

 

“For whatever reason, you can’t stop it forever. Unless you lock her at the top of a tower.” Miona clicked her tongue, as if pitying him. “You’d be better off cooperating with the Anti-Church Leader. That way, at least you’d have the right to handle and control Lady Dana’s body however you like.”

 

“Lady Miona is right.” Just then, a paladin standing behind Miona nodded, looking impressed. “She must be kept under complete control. After all, she’s not just an ordinary woman! She’s a precious specimen who will evolve and sustain humanity—!”

 

Noah reached out and grabbed the paladin by the head. He slammed him into the wall. Bang! “Looks like the holy water made you pretty sturdy.” He pressed down on the back of the man’s head, and blood started to run down the wall. “But if your head gets smashed, you’ll die. So—”

 

In the middle threatening him, Noah suddenly felt empty. Why am I doing this?

 

The strength drained from his hand. Thud, the man collapsed to the floor. Noah looked down at him dispassionately, then turned away. He headed back to his room. Annoyingly, Miona had achieved her goal. He couldn’t chase after Dana anymore.

 

Noah admitted it coolly. His actions had no purpose. It was just inertia, habit, routine, like when he was a child. He just wanted to keep that woman in a sacred sanctuary. So no one could defile her. Not even himself. But why should he do that?

 

When he was a child, maybe it made sense. After all, she was the first woman he’d ever felt attachment to. If he couldn’t be the most intense love in her life, he wanted to be her most intense hatred—he was a foolish adolescent back then.

 

But so what? What came after that? What did he want? Could it be that, once again, he wanted to cling to her like a child? Like when Dana would sometimes hug him and fall asleep when he was young? Did he want to fall asleep with his face buried in skin that looked as if it would taste sweet if he licked it?

 

No…

 

His head ached. His stomach churned again. Noah felt like throwing up. Enough. He should just stop. At the end of this foolish worship, this twisted adoration, there was nothing. Nothing at all.

 

* * *

After quite a long conversation with Lethe, Dana parted ways with him. “There are two ceremonies in a week, right? Then let’s meet at every ceremony.”

 

“Yes, Milady.”

 

When they parted, Lethe was just like before. An impassive face and an appropriately polite attitude.

 

As she walked away from him, Dana couldn’t help but keep smiling. Now, Lethe felt unfamiliar to her. She could hardly believe he was the same boy she had picked up, raised, and taught. But now, that didn’t matter at all. It doesn’t matter. I’ll just use him to get my body back. So she wouldn’t be hurt. And she wouldn’t hesitate to hurt him either. She wouldn’t care about anyone anymore. Not ever again.

 

“Dana.”

 

Never again…

 

“There you are.”

 

At that moment, like a warm breeze, a large hand softly settled on Dana’s shoulder. At the same time, a sweet scent instantly filled her nose. All her nerves focused on her back.

 

“Where did you go?”

 

All thoughts vanished. As if entranced, Dana looked up. Silver hair glittered before her eyes. And she met ruby-like eyes…

 

“Hmm? Dana.”

 

Rumie was looking down at her.

 

“You just got back from outside the Grand Cathedral?”

 

Is this what it feels like to be ambushed? Her mind went blank, her fingertips tingled. Facing him so unprepared, he just seemed dazzlingly handsome.

 

Dana swallowed. She forced her scattered mind back together and answered. “Brother Rumie.”

 

Ah, thank goodness. She managed to speak naturally.

 

“Dana, I heard you attended the Daiana church ceremony?”

 

“…Yes.”

 

“And that you left with a male devotee. Are you just coming back now?”

 

Her heart dropped with a thud. Without realizing, Dana avoided Rumie’s gaze.

 

Was he suspicious? Did he think she’d slept with a man? It made sense for him to think so. After the ceremony, that’s what usually happens when men and women disappear together. Dana nervously clenched her fist. But—

 

“I heard you told the high priest that you wanted to become an official Daiana priestess?” Rumie let the matter slide so lightly. “Is that true?”

 

Because he moved on so easily, Dana was briefly confused, but soon nodded. “Yes, that’s right. After the ceremony today, I asked the high priest to let me become a priestess.”

 

She had asked in order to get information about the Daiana Church. And it seemed Rumie had already gotten that information.

 

“To become a priestess, you know you have to go to the pilgrimage site and pick a moonlight flower, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

The ‘pilgrimage site’ was just a nearby mountain. She’d have to pick a single moonlight flower, the symbol of the moon goddess, from the summit. That was part of the ritual for becoming a priest or priestess.

 

“That’s not all. You also have to undergo priestly training in the sanctuary for a while.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Are you aware that Grandfather is waiting for you to return to the Rolland mansion?”

 

“…”

 

“Don’t you want to go home?”

 

Ah… At that moment, a cold realization struck her. This was it. Rumie’s real reason for coming. He was here to bring ‘Danaena Rolland’ back to the empire, to the Rolland family. That was the only reason he had come to the sanctuary and was now talking to her. He wasn’t even curious about which man she’d left with or what she had been doing.

 

“Think about it. Your family is waiting for you.”

 

Tap, tap. Rumie patted her shoulder. The gentle touch made her chest ache. And she didn’t want to forgive herself for feeling that way.

 

This is only natural. So she tried to suppress those emotions.

 

It was only because they had met so suddenly. Her memories of loving him were still vivid, and they’d just met out of the blue…

 

“And I’d like to introduce you to my wife.”

 

Ah, but this—

 

“My wife is a truly wonderful woman.”

 

This is a little…

 

“She wants to meet you.”

 

Dana couldn’t answer. She just couldn’t.

 

“If you marry me, you’ll be tormented by the crown prince for the rest of your life.”

 

Suddenly, it came to her mind again. The memories of her past life.

 

“Will you really be okay with that?”

 

“Dana… Is that really a question?”

 

It was the day she decided to marry Rumie. His eyes were sparkling with overwhelming joy.

 

“It would be an honor.”

 

Rumie’s eyes, which made it impossible to doubt his love.

 

“I don’t care if everyone hates me for the rest of my life. I don’t care if everyone points fingers. As long as I have you, Dana…”

 

Enough. I don’t want this. Don’t remember.

 

“…Yes.” Suppressing the swelling memories, Dana forced a smile onto her lips. “I’d like to meet your wife too, Brother.”

 

If only she remembered nothing. Why did she have to recall loving him, at this moment of all times…

 

Dana turned her head away from Rumie’s gaze. Toward the window. To a place where she didn’t have to see him. …Huh?

 

And at that moment, everything froze. Because of the man she saw, through the window at the end of her gaze. A man with a noticeably large build, with red hair. The man who was now opening the door of a building and going inside—

 

“Dana!”

 

Before she knew it, Dana was frantically running to the open window.

 

“Dana, be careful!”

 

If Rumie hadn’t grabbed her waist, she would have fallen out the window. But even that didn’t matter. All her previous thoughts vanished, and the image of that man just now gripped her completely. Because the red-haired man she’d just seen—

 

No, that’s impossible. He was dead. Right in front of her eyes, his whole body rotted away, crumbled to dust, and died… But it was definitely him. Red hair, red eyes, sharp gaze—there was no way she could be mistaken!

 

“That place…”

 

“Huh?”

 

“That building, do you know what it is?”

 

Rumie looked at her in puzzlement, then answered, “The Holy Mother Chapel.”

 

“…”

 

“But that’s a restricted area, Dana.”

 

The Holy Mother Chapel. It was the laboratory of the Daiana Church. That man definitely walked into that place. She’d seen it clearly with her own eyes.

 

“I see.”

 

As soon as Dana was certain, everything settled. Her pounding heart calmed instantly, sinking down. Her thoughts, her emotions, everything sank down, deep down.

 

“Dana, are you okay?”

 

“Yes.”

 

The Holy Mother Chapel. She had to get the key to that place.

 

“I’m sorry. I thought I saw someone I knew, but I must have been mistaken.”

 

So now was not the time for clumsy sentimentality. Not the time to be caught up in feelings of betrayal toward Lethe. Not the time to be saddened by Rumie’s forgetfulness.

 

There was only one thing she had to do. She had to steal the key to the Holy Mother Chapel from Noah Windsor. That was what she had to do.

 

No matter what, I have to get close to Noah. No matter what it takes, absolutely.