I’m Trying to End This Possession Chapter 211

* * *

“Smile, Danaena.”

 

How irritating.

 

“It’s your first gathering. Shouldn’t you leave a good impression? Try smiling.”

 

If you were me, Sandra, would you feel like smiling? Everyone is staring at Dana like she’s some monkey in a zoo.

 

Sandra had brought Dana to a temple in the forbidden area for men. Some sort of secret gathering for women, or so she said.

 

“Sandra, is this your daughter? The one who recuperated in the sanctuary?”

 

“How curious. She resembles someone I know.”

 

“My goodness, doesn’t she look exactly like Danae Windsor?”

 

With the appearance of Danaena Rolland, everyone’s attention focused on her. Suppressing her irritation, Dana put on a vague smile. In truth, whether she smiled or not, hardly anyone would remember her.

 

“Be honest, Sandra. Could it be that Danae Windsor was your daughter as well?”

 

“Really now, Sandra is such an incredible woman!”

 

“Ahahahahaha!”

 

Everyone was drunk. Just how much had they been drinking? No one here seemed sane. Sandra included.

 

So this is a place where people let loose completely. The level of conversation here was nothing like an ordinary social party.

 

“You know Lord Regit, right? Apparently, he really is a sodomite. But do you know who his lover is?”

 

“Who?”

 

“His stepbrother!”

 

“Oh my, oh my, oh my!”

 

“A servant supposedly witnessed the brothers having a tryst in the stables!”

 

“Oh my, oh my, oh my!”

 

It was surprisingly entertaining, but Dana couldn’t bring herself to focus on such gossip. Her heart was boiling over with anger toward Carl.

 

It was a few days ago, the night when it happened. That was truly an unexpected accident. She swore she had never collapsed so completely before, not even after drinking the deadly poison known as the Red Arrow. That was why that night had carved a massive, defining line across her life. But for Carl, it must have been nothing. Otherwise, there was no way he would have vanished the next day without saying a word.

 

When Dana woke up, Carl was gone. He hadn’t said goodbye, nor left behind a simple note. Moreover, he hadn’t returned to the Windsor mansion either. No one knew where he was. In other words, he had been missing for several days. That irritated her even more. Where on earth had he disappeared to with such a precious holy relic? If you’re going to disappear, at least leave the ring behind.

 

It was just then.

 

“Believers, are you enjoying yourselves?” A priestess of the temple appeared. “I bring good news. The medium, Madam Kracha, has come to visit.”

 

The women immediately stirred.

 

“Oh my, Kracha?”

 

“My goodness, what luck! It was worth coming today!”

 

Kracha. Dana had heard that name too. A medium famous for being frighteningly accurate. In other words, a fortune-teller.

 

This is supposed to be a temple, and yet they’re arranging meetings with a fortune-teller? Judging by the fact of how regularly that person visited, it was no different from a cult.

 

“However, due to the limits of Madam Kracha’s divine power today, she can only read the fortune of one person today.”

 

At the priestess’s words, the noblewomen recommended Daana.

 

“Then the young lady of the Rolland family, who’s here for the first time, should go!”

 

“Yes, we’ll give up our turn. We’ve all had our fortunes read by Kracha before.”

 

“That’s right, Danaena. You go have your fortune read.” Agreeing with them, Sandra firmly pushed Dana’s back. Her unfocused eyes and flushed cheeks made her look drunk to anyone. However,

 

Huh? From the hand pushing her back, Dana realized. Sandra wasn’t drunk.

 

* * *

“Please, come in.”

 

The moment she stepped into the inner room, a heavy fragrance assaulted her nose. A sweet yet dreamlike scent.

 

“What is your name?”

 

A young woman with long silver hair was sitting on the sofa. What stood out was the black blindfold covering her eyes. They said she was blind. Looks like it’s true.

 

Sitting across from her, Dana answered. “Danaena Rolland.”

 

“It’s an honor to meet you, Lady Danaena. Is there something you wish to know?”

 

“Well, not particularly.”

 

“I see. Then shall I read your romantic fortune?” Accustomed to unresponsive clients, Kracha smoothly guided the conversation. “I can perceive the other person’s feelings through colors.” She pointed at a transparent crystal ball on the table. “Place your hand on the crystal and recite the other person’s name three times in your heart. The emotions that person holds toward you will appear as color.”

 

“…”

 

It wasn’t that Dana was curious, exactly. Still, there’s no reason to refuse. She placed her hand on the crystal ball and murmured inwardly. Carl Windsor, Carl Windsor, Carl Windsor. We’ll be entangled plenty in the future, so it wouldn’t hurt to know what he’s really thinking. There was no one more unreadable than that man.

 

After some time, smoke inside the crystal wavered like a heat haze, then slowly began to darken.

 

“What color appeared, Lady Danaena?”

 

“…”

 

Dana was left speechless. What is this? A murky, blackish crimson. A color that evoked the image of rotting blood, as though it would reek with the nauseating stench of a maggot-infested animal corpse, utterly chilling. This is how Carl feels about me? A shiver ran through her. Anyone could tell this was horribly negative! Even hatred or murderous intent would look cleaner and clearer than this!

 

What is this? Is it real? Could the crystal be broken? Dana immediately thought of another man. This time, the most dangerous man she knew. Raios. Raios, Raios, Raios. The next moment, the smoke inside the crystal surged violently. It churned like raging waves, and then— Crack!

 

“Ah!” Dana quickly pulled her hand away.

 

The crystal ball had cracked.

 

“Oh dear.” Despite the sharp cracking sound, Kracha remained calm. “I’m sorry. It seems the crystal has deteriorated from long use.”

 

“…Then the fortune from earlier may not have been accurate either.”

 

“Yes. I sincerely apologize.”

 

If anything, that was a relief. If that blackish crimson color had truly been Carl’s genuine feelings… That would have been terrifying.

 

“As an apology, I’ll read Lady Danaena’s destiny instead. May I hold your hand?”

 

“…”

 

Again? A sigh nearly escaped Dana, but she forced it down. She just wanted whatever this was to start already.

 

Sandra must have had a reason for insisting I attend this gathering. And earlier, the hand pushing her back had been filled with clear intent. At last, Sandra had set a trap for her. At the end of that trap would be the anti-church leader faction, and Allice’s biological father.

 

Enduring patiently, Dana extended her hand to Kracha. At the instant their fingertips touched—

 

“Kyaaah!” Kracha screamed. Her face turned deathly pale, as if she had seen a ghost, and she stammered. “The-There’s something there.”

 

“What?”

 

“There’s something attached to you! Something is wrapped around your body! E-Even now, at this very moment…!”

 

Dana indifferently looked down at herself. What on earth was supposedly wrapped around her?

 

Kracha grabbed Dana’s hand again, trembling. “It’s long. Very long. Something very long is coiled around you, from your head to your feet. What in the world is this…?”

 

After some time, Kracha finally seemed to regain her composure. She took a deep breath, then asked in a quiet voice. “Did you know?”

 

“Did you know?”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“That a snake is wrapped around your body.”

 

“…”

 

“That a demon is attached to you. Did you know?”

 

What nonsense. Or so Dana thought. Demon worshippers are using my body. Of course, this is a demon-attached life.

 

“You poor thing.” Kracha lamented. “You will never escape that snake. Not even death will allow you to flee.”

 

“…”

 

“So please pray to the Sun God. Pray that Ramun shows mercy and saves you. Otherwise—” Kracha lifted the corner of her red lips. “Offer your soul obediently to the demon.”

 

At those words, Dana’s eyelids suddenly grew heavy. Ah. At the same time came dizziness, a headache, and an artificial sense of fatigue. Her consciousness slowly faded. And Dana felt it. The demonic power lingering in the air brushed past her nose. A spell cast by demon worshippers. In other words, the power she could purify. But Dana chose to collapse willingly.

 

Thud. As she slumped forward onto the table, inside her ear, a tiny, so tiny it was barely noticeable, piercing glinted. The gemstone was as black as the abyss.

 

* * *

Raios Geranze stood in the Grand Cathedral. He gazed up at the massive fresco adorning the doors. It depicted the seven-headed serpent shriveling under the light of the Sun God Ramun, eventually petrifying and being sealed away.

 

This painting is starting to bore me. He felt like tearing it down. However,

 

“I hate this painting, Raios. It’s scary and grotesque.”

 

It was a painting that could never be torn down. Even back then, though she hated it so much, Raios did not destroy it. He couldn’t.

 

Raios gave a faint smile. She was afraid of so many things, despite being drenched in a demon’s lust herself…

 

“Your Majesty.” At that moment, Count Cedric addressed him from behind. “I apologize for coming without permission. I bring urgent news.”

 

“Speak.”

 

“He is said to be negotiating with the Red Ship. He plans to hand Lady Danaena over as a sl*ve to the Red Ship for three days.”

 

Raios frowned at that.

 

The Red Ship. Selling Dana to that sl*ve market on the sea?

 

“Where is Viego Windsor?”

 

“Since he didn’t board the ship that departed from the sanctuary last time, there is a high probability that he is still there.”

 

“The sanctuary… Then it will take time for this matter to reach his ears.”

 

“Yes.”

 

If it was to be stopped, now was the time. For Raios, it would have been easy. Easy to block, easy to punish, easy to kill. After all, this land, every living being upon it, lay wholly within his domain. Yet Raios merely smiled gently.

 

“Let’s pretend we didn’t hear that report.”

 

Count Cedric’s eyes widened in shock. But as a loyal subordinate, he did not ask twice. “Understood, Your Majesty.”

 

Raios knew what this order meant. Dana would suffer extreme pain on the Red Ship. She would scream, groan, be broken, and be ruined. But Raios also knew, sometimes, even what you love must be broken. After all, she herself had taught him that.