I’m Trying to End This Possession Chapter 252

Is it really the pope? Danae Geranze, still lying face-down on the ground, cautiously rolled her eyes to the side, then froze. At the edge of her vision, she saw a pure white ceremonial robe hanging down to the ground. This was… The pope’s garment…

 

He was standing very close to her. Close enough that the hem of his robe could have brushed her fingertips. Yet at a distance where nothing would ever actually touch.

 

For a moment, her breath seemed to stop. Truly, she could barely breathe at all. Perhaps because of that, her senses became painfully sharp. She could feel his gaze sensitively against her skin. Standing tall directly before her, blue eyes looking down upon her, collapsed like a worm.

 

“That, we, it’s not like that.”

 

“W-We weren’t tormenting her. We were merely judging the Daiana Church…”

 

“T-The Sun God surely wished for this as well.”

 

“That’s right! We were only worried that woman might be a witch.”

 

Yet she couldn’t hear even the pope’s voice, nor his breathing. All that reached her ears was the terrified nobles babbling out excuses.

 

Danae Geranze closed her eyes. She did not move, like a corpse still alive. At some point, perhaps only briefly, she seemed to lose consciousness. How much time passed like that?

 

“…”

 

Slowly, she opened her eyes. Now she heard nothing at all. She pushed herself upright. What had happened in that short time? No one remained around her. Not the nobles. Not even the pope. But…

 

“…Ah.”

 

Danae Geranze grabbed the clothing draped over her back. A pure white robe. It belonged to the pope. Not only that, nearby, a horse was tied to a tree. Clothes and a horse. Like the son of god in scripture who removed his cloak to give it to a naked beggar, the pope had shown mercy to a witch.

 

A miserable and wretched feeling surged through her. Wearing the clothes the pope had given as alms, riding the horse he had left behind, surrounded by his lingering scent, Danae Geranze returned to the imperial palace. Along the way, she kept thinking. About why she had to suffer like this.

 

Is this really all my karma? My sin? She thought. And thought again. Thinking about it over and over… And when she finally reached the end of those thoughts, what hung at the end was icy rage.

 

No. I can’t accept this. This life. This existence. She would never accept it. Not even a single part of it.

 

* * *

Time passed after that. Several years later, the position of Princess Danae Geranze had changed as drastically as heaven and earth. Raios Geranze had become her lover. No one dared throw eggs at her. People couldn’t point fingers carelessly anymore.

 

“I will protect you.”

 

Raios Geranze loved Danae Geranze deeply.

 

“So please promise you will stay by my side forever.”

 

He loved her as though worshipping a god.

 

“I love you.”

 

More than even the Sun God he once served.

 

After becoming emperor, Raios established the Daiana Church as the state religion for her sake and waged war against the Ramun Church.

 

“From now on, this man will protect you, Sister.” He assigned the empire’s greatest soldier, Rumie Rolland, as her personal guard.

 

Two years after bloody winds swept across the continent, the emperor secretly met with Yustio, the pope of Ramun Church.

 

“How long do you intend to continue this war?”

 

“This is not a war, Uncle,” Raios answered Yustio with a faint smile. “It is conversion.”

 

“To overturn eighteen hundred years of history devoted to the Sun God, the continent will surely have to be drenched in blood.”

 

“As you can see, that is exactly what we are doing.”

 

“Do you truly intend to keep shedding blood?” Yustio’s eyes slowly turned toward Danae Geranze. “All this just to obtain a single woman?”

 

For a brief moment, their eyes met. Then, as if he had seen something filthy, Yustio quickly turned his gaze away.

 

Danae Geranze felt as though she had become trash. It was always like this. Whenever she saw the pope, she felt herself plunging to the very bottom, as if returning to that day. To the time when her body smelled of rotten eggs.

 

“Danae Geranze.” Unexpectedly, the pope called her name. It was the first time he had ever spoken it. Yet it was only a call. He still didn’t look at her as he spoke. “Countless innocent people are shedding blood.”

 

“…”

 

“You, too, must understand the cause.”

 

Danae Geranze bit her lip. She knew. This religious war, the very reason Raios had started the war against the Ramun Church, was because of her. Because Dana Geranze came from the Daiana Church. To fully possess her and protect her, the emperor had begun the war.

 

The stronger the Daiana Church became, the safer Dana became. Perhaps because of that, she finally gained the spare awareness to look beyond her own safety. And she discovered that everything around her was stained red with blood. A sea of blood Raios had created to protect her. Only then did Danae Geranze begin to doubt for the first time.

 

Perhaps what they said was right.

 

“She’s the most precious woman of that wicked Daiana Church, isn’t she?”

 

“Then, isn’t she basically a witch?”

 

“A witch like that should be tied to a stake.”

 

Am I really a witch? Am I—

 

“That’s a demon!”

 

“Demon! Kill the demon!”

 

“The demon who seduced and corrupted the faithful emperor!”

 

Am I a demon?

 

* * *

Dana’s soul was once again swept away through countless timelines. Once more, she came to the timeline of Danawin Windsor.

 

“Dana. My beloved wife. You are always beautiful, but…” Demian Windsor, her husband, loved holding her. “I like you most at moments like this.” He loved touching her as well, to the point that it exhausted her physically. “I’m too lustful, aren’t I? I’m truly sorry.”

 

“It’s okay.”

 

“Do you dislike it?”

 

“I like it.”

 

“That’s a relief. I really love it too. I truly… love you so much that now I cannot live without you.”

 

“I like it too.”

 

A time when those were the only words she could say.

 

And time flowed again… This time, the timeline of Danae Windsor. Then the timeline of Danaena Rolland. Then again, the timeline of Danae Geranze. Like circling endlessly around a ring, she wandered through countless timelines. Until she arrived here. At Yeon Dana’s timeline.

 

“Goodbye, Yeon Dana.”

 

It was a dark night on the rooftop of a tall building. Dana’s body toppled backward over the railing.

 

“I’ll say farewell on behalf of the family.”

 

And the fall began. Downward, downward, downward. Into a distant abyss… The fall felt like eternity, as though it would never end.

 

“Goodbye, Yeon Dana.”

 

Dana’s body toppled backward over the railing.

 

“I’ll say farewell on behalf of the family.”

 

And the fall began. Downward, downward, downward. As though it would never end.

 

“Goodbye, Yeon Dana.”

 

Downward, downward, downward. Into a distant abyss…

 

“Goodbye, Yeon Dana.”

 

Downward, downward, downward.

 

“Goodbye, Yeon Dana.”

 

The fall felt like eternity.

 

“Goodbye, Yeon Dana.”

 

Downward.

 

“Goodbye, Yeon Dana.”

 

“Goodbye, Yeon Dana.”

 

“Goodbye, Yeon Dana.” “Goodbye, Yeon Dana.” “Goodbye, Yeon Dana.” “Goodbye, Yeon Dana.” “Goodbye, Yeon Dana.” “Goodbye, Yeon Dana.” “Goodbye, Yeon Dana.” “Goodbye, Yeon Dana.” “Goodbye, Yeon Dana.” “Goodbye, Yeon Dana.” “Goodbye, Yeon Dana.” “Goodbyeyeondanagoodbyeyeondanagoodbyeyeondanagoodbyeyeondanagoodbyeyeondanagoodbyeyeondanagoodbyeyeondanagoodbyeyeondanagoodbyeyeondanagoodbyeyeondanagoodbyeyeondanagoodbyeyeondanagoodbyeyeondanagoodbyeyeondanagoodbyeyeondana…”

 

It was that fleeting moment.

 

[…At last.]

 

A voice rang inside her head.

 

[At last, I have found you.]

 

Dana’s soul trembled violently for a moment. That voice. That sacred sound. It was coming from the man who always made her feel small.

 

[Dana.]

 

The voice of the sun.

 

[Come.]

 

A vast golden light soaked her soul. It pulled her into its embrace.

 

[Come here.]

 

[Into my time.]

 

Dana felt as though she might cry. Finally, at last. After drifting through countless timelines like an eternal punishment, at last, he had found her. He was pulling her in. To ward her reality. And toward him.