Killing the Possessor - Chapter 114

Maybe it was the female lead effect or something, but even though we arrived before the scheduled time, all the seats at the table were already filled, which was kind of amazing.

Unlike me, Illui blushed and hurried to take an empty seat, clearly thinking she was late.

Once everyone was seated, Yuli and Avelline appeared as if they’d been waiting for this moment. Avelline, with her usual mask of indifference, paid no attention to anyone else—her gaze fixed entirely on the pet chameleon in her arms.

The little reptile, true to its species, looked like it hated being handled. It was probably stressed out by the princess’s constant attention, since she seemed oblivious to the fact that some chameleons dislike being touched.

Its skin was shifting colors in splotchy red patches, almost like hives, which I watched with mild fascination.

Glancing around, I noticed that the mood at the table had turned a bit frosty. The other ladies exchanged uneasy glances, clearly uncomfortable with the way the princess was ignoring everyone, despite being the hostess of the gathering.

As the tension grew, the noblewomen started trading looks, silently wondering what to do about the princess’s behavior.

Thankfully, Yuli stepped up with a pleasant smile and took charge.

“Welcome, everyone! As mentioned in your invitations, Her Majesty the Empress granted us this opportunity for the young ladies and madams to get to know each other better.”

Sensing the awkwardness, Yuli quickly added,

“Princess Avelline is actually quite shy, so please understand if she isn’t especially talkative today.”

Only after hearing her name did Avelline finally take her eyes away from her chameleon and look around nervously before bowing her head. Now that Yuli had pointed it out, she actually did seem a little shy.

Perhaps it was a misunderstanding after all, because the other girls visibly relaxed, their stiff expressions softening.

“Oh, I see! I suppose everything must seem unfamiliar in a foreign land. Just the fact that she invited us all here shows real courage—don’t you think, everyone?”

“Absolutely. We’ll be seeing a lot of each other, so there’s no need to rush things.”

Once the atmosphere had thawed, conversation began to flow smoothly.

After the usual polite greetings, the hot topic of the day was the recent incident at the Midas estate. The appearance of a high-level evil spirit was rare enough, but even more so since many people had witnessed it firsthand.

“Illui, I heard you played a big part in stopping the evil spirit.”

Yuli, who had been politely joining in the conversation up to this point, suddenly turned to Illui as soon as Count Midas’s name came up.

Illui, caught off guard mid-sip, stared back with wide eyes.

“Huh? Me?”

“Didn’t you protect one of the victims who was threatened by the evil spirit and help save everyone from danger?”

“Oh, that wasn’t me—it was Camilli.”

Startled by hearing my name out of nowhere, I nearly choked on my tea and had to cough loudly. Glancing between Yuli and Illui, I forced an awkward smile.

“It just… sort of happened, I guess…”

Yuli looked at me with an obvious frown, visibly confused.

Well, who could blame her? In the original story, it was supposed to be the female lead, Illui Hope, who condemned Count Midas and stopped the witch hunt. Sure, the female lead didn’t go throwing holy water or solving puzzles like I did, but that’s just because I’m not the original female lead.

If things had gone according to the novel, Priest Vice would’ve been the one to show up. But with Kim Hee-mang still not possessing the body, the plot was all tangled up, so Ren Abyss ended up doing the exorcism instead.

To Yuli Langa, who still thought the story was going as written, it must have seemed bizarre for me, someone she’d been seeing for days, to have been the real player in the incident.

“It wasn’t you, Illui?”

“Oh, no way! I was too scared to do anything. Camilli figured out the evil spirit’s identity and took action—thanks to her, we were all saved!”

Illui, in her usual, brutally honest way, blurted out praise for me, even as I desperately tried to signal her to stop. Of course, that did no good—she wasn’t even looking in my direction.

“So, who actually took down the evil spirit? Was that you too, Camilli?”

“What? Oh, no, I escaped outside before that happened. Um, Sir Ren showed up later and…”

“Ren Abyss?”

As expected from a woman obsessed with the male lead, Yuli’s expression changed the moment she heard Ren’s name.

Seeing that spark of crazy in her eyes, I hurried to speak up—