I’m Trying to End This Possession Chapter 83

Ah, so that’s why he was smoking again after quitting. Because he finds my smell disgusting. Come to think of it, Dana seemed to recall hearing somewhere that Viego hated lily of the valley. Is it because he didn’t like its fragrance? He really is sensitive about everything.

 

Dana swallowed those words beneath the tip of her tongue and maintained a smiling expression. “Is it enough now?”

 

“A bit better.”

 

“…”

 

Really annoying. Perhaps that was why Dana felt a little mischievous. It’s not like I have to solve this for him right now, do I?

 

Dana quietly admired Viego Windsor’s face. A man who always showed nothing but an utterly composed appearance was, for once, in an utterly defenseless state.

 

Would Viego ever be driven into a corner this baldly again? No. Probably not.

 

At that moment, Viego quietly asked. “So, what are you planning to do?

 

“…” Dana didn’t answer.

 

Viego looked at her face as though urging her to give him an answer.

 

It’s bad seeing him look at me like that. Dana watched the cigarette smoke rising between his long, straight fingers.

 

What would happen if I continued not answering here? Would those hands, driven into such a desperate corner, eventually reach out for help? Wouldn’t it benefit me more to hold his hand at that point? Right. That’s what I’ll do. Let him suffer a little longer.

 

Hiding her malicious thoughts, Dana smiled gently. “Well, since it’s an important matter, I need to think about it a little more.”

 

“Think?”

 

“I’ll gather all the knowledge from the world I used to live in. There must be some way to prove that it’s fake.”

 

“…Right. You said you’re not from this world.” Viego murmured as though he had only just remembered that fact. “You’re not from this world, nor are you Danae Windsor.”

 

He knows that perfectly well, so why is he saying that again? How annoying. Dana pushed all those feelings aside and merely smiled. “Yes. So please give me some time.”

 

For this, at least, Dana was grateful to Ignis. He had driven this man, Viego Windsor, into a corner. An opportunity like this would never come again.

 

Until then, may your insides burn in turmoil. So that I can become your savior.

 

* * *

“Ignis and Dana, don’t they make a great pair?”

 

It was that afternoon. At the dining table, Sandra enthusiastically voiced her agreement. “I was actually feeling sorry for Danae. Even if she marries the crown prince, she’ll live an unhappy life without ever receiving love.” Her eyes were sparkling with such bright delight. “A woman, after all, ought to live her life being loved by a man.”

 

“…”

 

It was a gaze that wished for Dana’s unhappiness with all its might. And that wasn’t all.

 

“As it happens, there’s been a strange rumor going around among the servants lately.” Sandra let out a long sigh as though she couldn’t help it, then looked back and forth between Viego and Danae. “Do you know that some rather scandalous rumors have been circulating about the two of you?”

 

“…”

 

“The noble ladies keep asking me about it, and I don’t know what to tell them. It’s truly embarrassing.”

 

Rumors circulating? Dana frowned. She suddenly remembered what had happened that morning. Come to think of it, there was a strange article. That morning, she had read an article about them in a gossip paper. An article so vulgar she could hardly ever bring herself to mention it.

 

“They say the two of you are… supposedly…” Sandra sighed as she repeated the title of that trashy article word for word. “That’s why I’ve also heard people say that the reason Viego Windsor has never taken a wife all this time is because of that.”

 

Sandra grumbled with an upset expression. But the pleasure she couldn’t conceal was practically oozing from her face. She had regarded this as an opportunity to get revenge on the two people who had treated her daughter, Allice, so poorly.

 

So Sandra was the source.

 

The gossip paper was so famous for publishing utterly preposterous stories that no one believed them to be true. That paper regularly printed bizarre fictions, like how Raios was actually a woman or how Emperor Yuestio was homosexual.

 

“I suppose you have a lot of free time, Aunt.” As expected, Viego didn’t take it seriously and just threw out a mocking remark. “You must have grown distant from Uncle Carl lately. Seeing as you have enough time to be absorbed in such third-rate magazines.”

 

No, it seemed Viego was a bit annoyed. Judging by the fact that he had gone out of his way to throw such a vicious remark…

 

“Then again, Uncle Carl’s taste isn’t so terrible that he would find a woman who enjoys low-class gossip attractive.”

 

“…”

 

Correction. Viego wasn’t just a little annoyed. He was furious.

 

Sandra’s fingers trembled as if she were in shock. “How could you say such a thing?”

 

“What did I say?” Viego smiled coldly and calmly resumed eating. “There is nothing I could say that would be more vulgar than what you yourself just said, Aunt Sandra.”

 

“I-I was just mentioning what I saw in the article!”

 

“To bring up something so vulgar at the dining table. How discourteous.”

 

“…”

 

“Besides, I am soon to marry the young lady of the Rolland family. I don’t believe you should be saying those things in front of me. Is such crude behavior characteristic of the Rolland family’s upbringing? It makes me question the dignity of the Rolland family, so I ask that you please exercise some restraint.”

 

Under the barrage of criticism, Sandra seemed to become so dazed that she could barely think.

 

H-He must be really angry. It was the first time in her life Dana had seen Viego criticize someone at such length. Even when she revealed that she was a possessor, he hadn’t been this angry. But it didn’t end there.

 

“Oh dear. I’ve lost my appetite.” Viego wiped his lips with a napkin and glanced toward Sandra. “My stomach is rather sensitive, so would you kindly understand, Aunt?”

 

“What… do you mean?”

 

“I’m asking you to please finish your meal around this point and leave the table so that my stomach may be at ease.”

 

“…”

 

To think he could so elegantly phrase ‘You disgust me, so get out right now.’ That was certainly a skill.

 

* * *

“How could he say such a thing!”

 

That very day, Carl happened to return from the Kaltusa territory.

 

“Listen to me, Carl!”

 

The moment Carl returned, Sandra tearfully complained to him.

 

“Sob, do you know what I went through today?”

 

Of course, Sandra had absolutely no interest in what Carl was doing at the Kaltusa territory or how his work there was progressing. Therefore, she didn’t ask.

 

“Viego said such horrible things to me!” Sandra clung to Carl and burst into tears. She was so wronged that she could hardly bear it. “I’ve never suffered such humiliation in my entire life!”

 

Naturally, Sandra thought Carl would take her side. Sure enough, he frowned. As expected, he must be angry too! However…

 

“…Did you say you supported Ignis and Dana’s marriage?”