I’m Trying to End This Possession Chapter 219

* * *

The first person to discover Danaena Rolland’s body was Rumie Rolland, who had been heading toward the Red Ship. Standing on the deck, Rumie doubted his own eyes. That’s… no way. That couldn’t be. He wanted to believe it wasn’t so, but it was unmistakable. Fragments of a shattered ship. A woman lay collapsed on a wooden plank, drifting along with the waves…

 

“Danaena!”

 

It was his younger sister.

 

Rumie immediately leapt into the sea. Cutting through the icy waves, he swam over and grabbed her arm. And at that moment, he realized. In truth, he had already guessed from the stench of blood that stabbed at his nose.

 

Danaena had no legs. To be precise, everything below her knees had been completely blown away.

 

Rumie hurriedly placed his hand against the back of her neck. Fortunately, he could still feel a pulse. She was alive. Miraculously, she was alive.

 

“Dana. Just hold on a little longer.” As he pulled Danaena’s body toward him, Rumie paused for a moment.

 

On the wooden plank, beside Danaena, the ship’s wreckage was scattered in disarray. Someone’s glasses, a hairpin, shoes, and… a crystal orb. For a fleeting instant, Rumie’s gaze was stolen by the crystal orb.

 

“W-What should we do, Rumie.”

 

Because he saw something inside the orb.

 

“I’m worried.”

 

What’s more, he saw a familiar face. Danaena? What is that? Inside the orb, he could see Danaena. But it wasn’t the Danaena he knew. Her eyes weren’t red. They were clear, light green.

 

“It seems the crown prince still hasn’t accepted it.”

 

The green-eyed Danaena.

 

“He’s still opposing our marriage.”

 

She nestled naturally into Rumie’s arms and whispered.

 

“He says it doesn’t matter even if we’re siblings. I don’t know how I’m supposed to persuade the crown prince.”

 

Rumie’s face twisted sharply. Inside the orb, he himself lightly pressed his lips to Danaena’s.

 

“Don’t worry, Dana. I’ll go speak to the crown prince myself.”

 

Kissing between siblings. It was a revolting, nauseating sight.

 

This had to be a relic of demon worshippers. Their vile sorcery. It seemed they were projecting an illusion into this crystal orb. But now was not the time to worry about something like that. Rumie quickly pulled Danaena into his arms and turned around. No, just before that, he reached out, seized the crystal orb, and then turned. It could be a clue leading to those who had done this to Dana. And he swam back toward the ship.

 

“It’ll be all right, Danaena. You’ll recover soon. Don’t worry.” Comforting his unconscious sister, Rumie swam on.

 

It would be fine. If they went to the sanctuary, they could heal her somehow. Once they reached the holy land, using the holy water…

 

“Ah, wait. Right now…”

 

But what in the hell is going on inside this damned orb? Even as he swam frantically, the scene inside the orb was so grotesque that curses welled up in his mouth. Rumie barely restrained the urge to throw the orb into the sea. It was important evidence. Evidence that I couldn’t just toss away…

 

* * *

This news quickly reached the ears of Viego Windsor. He immediately summoned Danaena to the sanctuary and began treatment. And a week passed like that.

 

“Her legs have been successfully restored.” Natty, a priestess of the Daiana Church, let out a deep sigh. “And her life is not in danger.”

 

Without a word, Viego stared at Danaena inside the transparent glass tank.

 

Danaena Rolland lay there, sleeping soundly like a mermaid. She had been treated with holy water. Her severed legs had also been reattached. From the beginning, physical injuries of this sort posed no problem to them. They had once restored Raios’s severed arm several years ago.

 

“However, there is a problem,” Natty spoke a grim prophecy. “There will likely be a disability with her legs.”

 

“A disability?”

 

“Yes. It wasn’t an ordinary bomb, but a mana core. A particularly vicious weapon that the demon worshippers are developing. It explodes mana, and that mana carries a powerful curse.” Clicking her tongue, Natty looked at Danaena’s smooth legs. “There’s a high chance they won’t function properly.”

 

“You mean she won’t be able to walk.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“That’s not a problem.”

 

“Ah, of course. Whether Lady Danaena lives with a disability or not isn’t important. That isn’t the problem I meant.” Natty tapped on the glass tank. “Right now, this body is empty.”

 

“…”

 

“Lady Dana’s soul is gone.”

 

Natty expected Viego to be shocked, but once again, he showed little reaction. He merely nodded calmly.

 

“So it is.”

 

“Yes.” Natty sighed deeply, as if finding it strange. “Normally, the soul and the body are connected by a long thread. People often call it the lifeline, or soul-thread.”

 

“…”

 

“Lady Dana’s soul and Danaena’s body are still bound together by that soul-thread. As long as the body lives, the soul should naturally return to it, but it didn’t return. Which meant… It’s disappeared to a place so far away that it can’t return naturally.”

 

A faraway place. An unimaginably distant place. Natty didn’t know where that place was. But Viego had somewhere in mind. Where Dana’s soul had gone, how it had gone there, and why. He simply didn’t bother to say it aloud.

 

“But since we have Lady Dana’s original body, we can summon the soul. Shall we do so?”

 

They possessed Yeon Dana’s body. That was why they could summon Dana’s soul into Yeon Dana’s body at any time. No matter how far away it was. Even if that soul was in another dimension. Another world. Another time and space…

 

“Ah. That would be troublesome.”

 

At that moment, the door opened, and a man walked in with steady steps. It was Carl.

 

“If you summon her into her original body, then Danaena’s body will die, right?” Carl smiled. “And there’s a chance that all the memories she’s built as Danaena will disappear. That won’t do. Dana wouldn’t want to lose her memories and start over again.”

 

“Carl Windsor!” Natty screamed, her face full of disbelief. “H-How did you get in here—!”

 

This place, the Holy Mother Chapel, was off-limits except for the church leader and executives. And yet Carl Windsor, an enemy of the grand cathedral, is here!

 

Carl burst into laughter. “Calm down. I came to talk.”

 

“Do you know where you are?!” Natty raged.

 

Carl Windsor had infiltrated the grand cathedral yet again. Again—

 

“I came to talk. Today, at least.”

 

For a moment, Natty’s lips stiffened. Carl smiled gently. At the same time, a chill like a wave crept up Natty’s back.

 

“Or do you dislike conversation?”

 

“…”

 

Only then did the smell of blood from beyond the door prick at her nose.

 

“Step outside, Natty.”

 

Watching from the side, Viego tilted his head as if it were no big deal. In the end, Natty swallowed her anger and left the laboratory.

 

Viego spoke to Carl, who had approached closer. “Do you oppose summoning her into the original body?”

 

“Not just that. I oppose everything about the Daiana Church.”

 

“If Dana returns to Danaena, she might not be able to use her legs.”

 

“Poor thing. But that much doesn’t matter. I’ll take care of her.”

 

“…”

 

“So don’t move her into another body. That’s what I came to say.”

 

Another body. Dana had far too many other bodies. Here, in the Holy Mother Chapel, glass tanks lined up beyond counting. Inside them slept countless Danas. Each glass tank had a name engraved on it. Carl swept his gaze over those names. Danawin, Danae, Danaena, Danayu, Daname, Danashel, Danaren, Danawela… They were countless. Their ages varied as well, from infants and young girls to young women.

 

“The names seem rather carelessly chosen. What do you think, Viego?”

 

“I agree. But it’s a tradition passed down through over two hundred years of experimentation.”

 

“Tradition. That’s important.” Carl laughed as if amused. But his eyes didn’t smile at all. “Viego.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Before the Red Ship exploded, I put a few sl*ves on lifeboats and sent them away. There were quite a few sl*ves I had business with.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“Yes. Among the sl*ves was your mother.”

 

“…”

 

Viego did not reply. He remained silent. A long, very long, silence followed. Then he slowly turned his head and stared directly into Carl Windsor’s face, as if judging the truth of his words. After a moment, he tossed out a single word. “Mother?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I don’t have a mother.”

 

“Who in this world doesn’t have a mother?”

 

“She—” His words trailed off. It wasn’t an intentional hesitation. Viego steadied his completely twisted breathing and spoke calmly. “That woman is dead.”

 

“Yes. Duchess Windsor is dead.” Carl let out a snort, wrinkling his nose. “No one knows my sister-in-law’s death better than you do, Viego.” He gently looked around the Holy Mother Chapel. “But I’m not talking about your father’s wife. I’m talking about your real birth mother, the one who gave birth to you.”

 

“…”

 

“If you want to see her, just say the word.”

 

Even after Carl left, Viego stood motionless in the center of the chapel for a long while. Slowly, he walked down the corridor, passing countless Danas.

 

Mother. Mother. Mother… Viego mouthed the word silently. A word that felt unfamiliar and alien. He had no history in which a mother existed. There was no Duchess Windsor. There was never. No, there was a time when she existed.

 

Mother…

 

Dana.