I’m Trying to End This Possession Chapter 214

* * *

A short while later, Dana was dragged into the guest room of the man who had won her at auction.

 

“Dana…”

 

But the one kneeling on the floor was bidder number 66.

 

“So, what happened is—”

 

Instead, Dana sat cross-legged on the bed like the true master, looking down at the man with open contempt.

 

“So here’s how it is.”

 

“Don’t talk to me.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I said don’t talk to me, Trash.”

 

“I-I apologize.”

 

“…”

 

Idiot. Look at him suddenly switching to polite speech out of panic.

 

Dana glared at Carl. He was genuinely terrified of her, fidgeting helplessly. This was the first time she had shown him her rage so openly, without any pretense.

 

That disguise is really something. A shaggy wig and horn-rimmed glasses. No joke, he looked like some academy student. Leaving aside how young he looked, the way he trembled like a frightened Maltese dog only made him even more pathetic.

 

“Um…” After a moment, Carl spoke up, his face set as if he’d made a great decision. “But how did you know it was me? There’s no way you should’ve recognized me…”

 

Is that really a question worth asking right now? When she shot him an icy glare, Carl hunched his shoulders. Still, he looked genuinely puzzled.

 

To be fair, neither the anti–cult leader faction nor even his daughter Allice had noticed him. His disguise was fairly convincing. But not to the point that it is convincing enough to be unrecognizable.

 

After a moment, Carl awkwardly got to his feet. “I’m sorry, but there’s something I still need to take care of.”

 

“…”

 

“I’ll step out for a bit, so could you wait here, Dana…?”

 

What is this idiot even saying? Dana snorted and sneered viciously. “What? Going to look for a mirror?”

 

Carl’s throat went stiff. That tone, so cold and vicious, was something he had never heard from her before. Not even when she’d cut off his finger to steal his ring had she sounded like this. Right now, Dana was so icy it felt as though a blizzard were raging behind her.

 

“I asked if you’re going to look for the mirror.”

 

“W-What are you talking about?”

 

“Don’t pretend you don’t understand.”

 

“I really don’t know what you’re saying…”

 

“Where did you get that information?”

 

“…”

 

“When did you learn about that ancient relic, a mirror that can lead to the Ice Lake? And how?”

 

Carl definitely hadn’t known until recently. If he had, there’s no way he would’ve sat idle all this time without trying to get his hands on it. After all, he had been trying to reach the Ice Lake for years. He must have only learned about it recently.

 

“Did you eavesdrop on my conversation with Miona?”

 

Just like she had.

 

When Dana had extracted a confession from Miona not long ago, that was when she’d first learned of the mirror’s existence. She didn’t believe this was a coincidence.

 

“Are you stalking me?”

 

“No, I would never—”

 

“Have you never followed me around, listening in on my conversations?”

 

Carl fell silent, like someone struck dumb.

 

Dana pressed on with a gaze full of contempt. “Have you ever rummaged through my room without permission and snooped through my things?”

 

Thinking back, Carl knew an unsettling amount about her. He even appeared out of nowhere wherever she went, more than once or twice.

 

“Carl Windsor, are you my stalker?”

 

Carl’s face flushed bright red.

 

Dana snorted softly, slowly sweeping her gaze over his reddened face, ears, and the back of his neck. It served him right.

 

Just a few days ago, on that night, he’d been perfectly calm, not changing his expression at all. And now he was flustered over accusations like these. She’d hit the mark.

 

He dares to try to use me to find the mirror. A violent impulse clawed at her chest. Shate hated Carl Windsor to the point she could barely endure it. A vicious urge surged through her, and Dana brought her sharp heel down hard on his finger. It was to make him hurt. She wanted him to feel pain.

 

Carl looked up at her in shock.

 

“Why, Uncle?” Dana deliberately looked at him with gentle eyes, as if nothing were wrong. Just like he had that night, smiling kindly. “Why are you doing this?”

 

Dana pressed down harder. She could feel his thick, long finger being crushed beneath her heel. Twisting her foot, she asked softly. “You lured Allice here as bait to stir up the anti–cult leader faction, didn’t you?”

 

“…”

 

“Even if she’s not your blood, you raised Allice as your daughter. And you still used her like that. Do you even have a conscience?”

 

Carl didn’t answer. More precisely, he couldn’t answer. He was barely breathing, as if his throat were being strangled. That intense tension gripping him, that piercing emotion, struck Dana as well.

 

He must have been deeply shaken. By the violence he was enduring right now. And by the fact that it was Dana, of all people, treating him this way. After all, the woman he thought of as kind and gentle was now showing this quiet, terrifying brutality.

 

Seeing Carl this frozen for the first time sent a strange thrill through Dana.

 

“So you knew I’d be kidnapped onto the Red Ship, and you didn’t stop it. You predicted that leader of anti-church leader faction would approach me with the mirror.”

 

You b*stard. A surge of heat rushed through her, and she pressed down harder with her foot. Carl’s lips moved, but once again, he couldn’t say anything. Dana looked down at him as if he were a servant and smiled.

 

“What? Does it hurt?”

 

“…Yes. It hurts.”

 

“It’s supposed to hurt, Uncle.”

 

What? Did he think I was doing this to make him feel good?

 

Dana finally lifted her foot off his finger. “That’s why you didn’t actively receive purification, right? Because you intend to go to the Ice Lake and use the holy water.”

 

Carl didn’t deny it anymore. Perhaps the shock of her sadistic behavior moments ago had been too much. He could no longer spin lies.

 

Dana stared straight through him and spat out, “You promised you’d never deceive me again.”

 

“…”

 

Silence fell. After a long while, Carl muttered quietly, “It’s not that I was trying to deceive you, Dana. There were a lot of complicated circumstances that are hard to explain…”

 

“Oh my. The vermin can talk.”

 

Carl’s mouth stiffened instantly. As expected, being called a vermin was extremely effective on him.

 

“You’re worse than vermin.”

 

“…”

 

“Trashy human who is more harmful than parasites.”

 

Thud. Thud. Each word struck like an arrow. Carl groaned, his face twisted in pain.

 

It was at that moment.

 

“Since it’s come to this… would it be okay if I acted a little more like a vermin?”

 

“What?”

 

Clink.

 

“…?”

 

What is this? Dana lowered her gaze. Just now, Carl had fastened something around her wrist. Cold, hard silver metal. Shaped like a round bracelet. Handcuffs? Unable to believe it, Dana stared at her wrist. Are these real handcuffs?

 

Then there was the sound of clinking again. Carl secured the other cuff to the bed’s headboard, preventing her from leaving.

 

Dana couldn’t comprehend the situation. “What are you doing?”

 

“For your safety.”

 

“What?”

 

“You mustn’t leave this room now. Soon, extremely dangerous and grotesque things are going to happen on this ship.” He spoke with a grave expression. “I was worried you might rush into that danger. This is to protect you, Dana. So please, try to understand.”

 

Understand what, you insane b*stard?! Dana shouted in shock. “Where do you think you’re running, you hypocrite?! Get back here right now!”

 

“I-I’ll be back!” Terrified of her, Carl apologized in polite speech and bolted.

 

“Stop right there!” Dana hurled one of her shoes at the back of his head. Thud! The shoe struck his shaggy brown hair dead on. Even so, he scurried out of the room like a cockroach.

 

“I’m sorry, Dana. You can be angry with me later, but please, don’t come out.”

 

Then came the clank sound of chains being wrapped around the door handle from outside.

 

“It’s extremely dangerous out there. You understand, right? I’ll be back soon, so stay here.”

 

And then the sound of footsteps fading away. Carl was gone.

 

That crazy b*stard. The man who’d been kneeling and begging just moments ago had cuffed her and locked her up. In the end, he did whatever he wanted again!

 

Dana barely suppressed her surging rage and forced herself to think calmly. He’s locking me up and going to look for the mirror. And Carl would surely succeed. One way or another, he’d find the mirror and take it. And using her as a medium, he’d open the passage.

 

Up to that point, Carl’s goal and mine are the same. It would be best to cooperate, but he had no intention of doing that. Dana knew the reason. It was because their ultimate objectives didn’t align.

 

Carl doesn’t want me to go to the Ice Lake and reclaim Yeon Dana’s body. Because Yeon Dana’s body is the source of the holy water. If Dana regains her body, the holy water will disappear from this world. Carl didn’t want that. Even if, by some miracle, his lust were purified, he’d still want to keep it as an insurance, just in case.

 

I can’t let Carl take the mirror. I have to find it first. That wouldn’t be difficult. Because the anti-church leader faction would also be desperately searching for her right now. Which meant they desperately wanted to meet her, too.

 

So all I have to do is get out of here! But how do I get these handcuffs off? Dana hurriedly looked around. Was there anything she could use to break them?

 

It was then that this happened. Crunch.

 

“…?”

 

From outside the door came the strange sound of metal snapping. Then, boom, boom. The heavy crash of something being smashed. The next moment, the door flew wide open. A man draped in a pure white robe walked in.

 

Dana tensed instantly. An anti-church leader faction? Or another Ignis clone…? No. She knew at once. This wasn’t a clone of Ignis. The outline of the body beneath the robe was different. No, no…

 

“Please stand up.”

 

This man was unlike anyone else. He couldn’t possibly be mistaken for anyone else.

 

“This ship will soon become dangerous. Quickly.” Then his words cut off. He looked at the handcuffs connecting her to the bed and frowned, blond eyebrows drawing together.

 

Why is this man here? Someone Dana had never imagined encountering here. The former emperor, and the uncle of the current emperor, Raios.

 

“Your Majesty, no, Your Holiness. Why are you here?”

 

It was Yustio, the pope of Ramun Church.