I’m Trying to End This Possession Chapter 257

This boy is my mother’s fiancé? Rumie looked him up and down with disbelief. Carl looked to be about fifteen. He was a boy with sparkling platinum-blond hair, clear green eyes, dazzlingly fair skin.

 

“It’s really nice to meet you, Rumie.”

 

“…”

 

“I came to find you.”

 

Carl’s manner was certainly gentle, yet for some reason, Rumie sensed a strange chill from him. An instinctive feeling that he was a very cold person.

 

“You’re really my mother’s fiancé?”

 

“Why? Do I look too young to marry your mother?”

 

“…”

 

Is he just incredibly baby-faced? Maybe he’s actually my mother’s age…

 

“Well, I really am young. I’m fifteen.”

 

So that wasn’t it.

 

“In political marriages between noble houses, this kind of age gap isn’t unusual. Usually, the man is older, but there are exceptions like this.”

 

Rumie felt uncomfortable. Even if it was a political marriage, the boy looked at least ten years younger than his mother. The word ‘brother’ would fit him better than ‘father’…

 

Then the boy bent down and met Rumie’s eyes. “I heard Sandra abandoned you because she thought I wouldn’t accept you.”

 

Rumie pressed his lips together. He knew. His mother had told him right before she abandoned him. That he was an illegitimate child, a life that should never have been born. That there was a possibility her fiancé would annul the engagement because of him. That it would be disastrous if the identity of his biological father came to light. And so she had no choice but to abandon him.

 

Speaking coldly, his mother left him behind in that street. The image of her back, never once turning around, still lingered vividly before his eyes. And now, his mother’s young fiancé had appeared.

 

“Come with me, Rumie. I’ll be your father.”

 

Before that radiant smile, Rumie’s wariness slowly began to melt away. Would this boy really become my father? And…

 

“Come along, my grandson.”

 

Is that gentleman really my grandfather?

 

As Rumie hesitated, his maternal grandfather placed a hand on his shoulder. It was a big, warm hand.

 

“I can’t leave you out here like this. No matter what anyone says, you’re my blood.” His grandfather, Anton Rolland, spoke firmly. “Let’s go together. My grandson, Rumie.”

 

* * *

“Let’s go together. My grandson, Rumie.”

 

Rumie gazed at the crystal orb. Within it, scenes of his past played out like a movie. The time after his mother abandoned him had been short, barely half a year. But if his grandfather and stepfather hadn’t come for him, he probably would have continued living that way for a long time. Because his grandfather had deliberately covered up the past, that matter had been treated as confidential, but… This was a past that truly happened.

 

Rumie stroked the orb with his fingertip. What in the world is this thing?

 

Three months ago, to save Danaena, Rumie headed for the Red Ship. He had obtained the information that she had been kidnapped onto the ‘Red Ship,’ where the northern barbarians indulged in entertainment, gambling, prostitution, and sl*ve trading. And then, for reasons unknown, the Red Ship exploded.

 

Fortunately, Rumie hadn’t been caught directly in the explosion. He escaped with only minor injuries. But Danaena wasn’t so lucky. She had drifted ashore, with her limbs gone. He’d rescued her in a panic and found this crystal orb beside her.

 

Strange scenes had flowed out from the orb. Often, they were bizarre scenes of him and Danaena, his younger sister, enjoying a romantic relationship.

 

“Hey, Rumie. Brush my hair for me.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“I’m asking you to do it again. I can’t do it properly like before.”

 

“Your Majesty really is clumsy with your hands.”

 

“…”

 

Scenes of him doing absurd things with an utterly impossible person kept appearing.

 

This is fake. None of this ever happened. Just what is the true nature of this orb? Is it trying to confuse me by alternating between truth and lies? But that wasn’t all.

 

“What do you see in that orb?”

 

“I can neither see nor hear anything.”

 

No one else could see the scenes emerging from the orb. Only Rumie could see and hear them.

 

Rumie believed this orb was the work of demon worshippers. That was why he had kept it until now. It was the only clue that could reveal who was trying to throw him into confusion. Recently, he’d gone far away to look for more clues and had only just returned home. But he hadn’t found a single answer.

 

Maybe destroying it really was the correct answer. Yeah. I should just break it. Thinking that, he clenched the orb in his hand.

 

“Are you sleeping?”

 

The scene inside the orb changed.

 

“You must’ve been tired. Well, there were deployments one after another…”

 

Within the orb was a field overflowing with wildflowers. Rumie was asleep with his head resting on Dana’s thigh.

 

“How can your hair be this soft?”

 

Dana stroked his silvery hair in wonder, then started humming. It was a wordless melody. That unique sweet, gentle humming that softly caressed the ear…

 

Only after quite some time did Rumie realize he had unconsciously been listening to that humming. And that his hand that intended to crush the orb had loosened. A wave of helplessness swept over him.

 

What am I doing? Filled with disgust toward himself, Rumie opened the drawer. He then shoved the orb deep inside and roughly shut it. Because his wife was coming.

 

“Honey.”

 

Sure enough, Ingria entered not long after. For a moment, Rumie suppressed the urge to step backward.

 

“Why are you still awake, Rumie?”

 

“You’re the one to talk. I thought you were asleep.”

 

“I was just about to sleep.”

 

The couple had been sleeping in separate rooms for the past two months. It was because Rumie used the excuse that he was such a light sleeper that he couldn’t fall asleep if someone was beside him. Of course, the real reason was something else entirely.

 

“That… When do you think I’ll be able to enter the sanctuary?” Ingria asked cautiously. “I heard you’re especially close with Duke Windsor. I know it’s difficult, but could you perhaps put in a request for me?”

 

“…”

 

“I just want to study the teachings of the Daiana Church more deeply.”

 

Without answering, Rumie stared fixedly at Ingria.

 

“Rumie?”

 

What should I say? For now, it was time to hold his tongue.

 

“I’ll go check on Danaena for a moment.”

 

Fortunately, that girl gave him a perfect excuse to avoid his wife. Since she’d been in a coma for three months, it wasn’t strange for him to check on her condition regularly.

 

A short while later, Rumie entered Danaena’s room and sat by her bedside. Just when is she going to wake up? …No. Wait. Did I see that right? Just now, Danaena’s eyelashes seemed to tremble.

 

“Danaena?” He bent close and examined her face. “Danaena, can you hear me?”

 

A moment later, Danaena’s eyes snapped open.