Killing the Possessor - Chapter 115

“It was the paladins! We only survived thanks to them!”

Of course, the one who actually rescued me from crossing the River Styx after the evil spirit was sealed wasn’t the paladins but Ren. But in front of a hardcore ‘Ren fangirl’ like Yuli, that was the last detail I wanted to mention.

Still, true to her Ren-fangirl ways, Yuli pounced at the mention of his name, her eyes narrowing with curiosity.

“Didn’t you say Sir Ren came as well? Was Illui mistaken?”

“Oh, now that I think about it, I guess he did arrive with the paladins. Maybe the request for backup was sent to the Public Security Bureau, too.”

I congratulated myself for managing to gloss over the situation fairly smoothly—until, of course, the ever-oblivious Illui grinned and blurted out,

“Sir Ren really is such a romantic, isn’t he? Even in the middle of all that chaos, the first thing he did was ask me where Camille was!”

“……”

The expression completely vanished from Yuli’s face, and I could feel the room temperature drop to sub-zero. My brain nearly short-circuited from the panic, but I forced myself to hold it together. They say if you keep your wits about you, you can survive even an evil spirit.

“Uh, I think it was probably because the Prince was with me. During the last debut ball, an evil spirit appeared and we were both in danger—Sir Ren helped us out then, too.”

I sat up straight and answered as calmly as I could, as if it was no big deal. I certainly didn’t want everyone to know I’d been with my ex during a supernatural crisis, but there wasn’t much choice.

The rumor mill had already had its way with my reputation; better to feed the sharks something else than get on the wrong side of a powerful lunatic.

If I’d blushed or looked flustered, Illui—who’d already begun suspecting there was something between me and Ren since the last ball—might have said something truly wild.

Luckily, I was confident my face was ghostly pale by now, especially after Yuli’s icy glare made the blood drain from my cheeks.

I just prayed that, at the time Ren arrived, Illui hadn’t been with Wyner; otherwise, that clueless girl would have chimed in with a correction. I took another sip of tea, just in case.

“Oh, but the Prince had already left for the temple by then.”

Thank goodness.

Given that the safety of the royal family is always a top priority for public security officers, my excuse sounded plausible enough. Yuli’s eyebrows, which had been drawing into a suspicious frown, finally relaxed.

I seized the opportunity to change the subject.

“It’s a real shame about the Count, too. He was so young…”

Luipe Midas, unfortunately, passed away soon after being exorcised—likely because he’d been possessed by his ancestor’s spirit for so long. Even aside from the whole possession ordeal, it was a sensational story.

Since he’d left no heirs, there was a lot of speculation about where his enormous fortune would end up.

Hoping the conversation would move in that direction, I cut myself a slice of cake with my fork. But the discussion quickly took a completely different turn.

“That orb, though—do you think it was real?”

The ladies’ interest wasn’t on Luipe Midas himself, but on the ‘possessor-detecting orb’ he’d introduced. Thankfully, since the story about the orb came from the evil spirit himself, most people assumed it was just a fake he’d invented.

I was just starting to feel relieved when, inevitably, a new topic emerged—one that’s unavoidable whenever this many ladies gather: gossip.

One noblewoman covered her mouth with a fan and began to share some juicy news she’d ‘heard from a reliable source’, and soon the whole table was abuzz with ‘Possession-gate.’

“I heard Princess Shelyn has started a hunger strike again. I’m worried she might collapse like last time!”

Judging by the gleam in her eye, she was clearly more interested than concerned, so I looked away. My nerves weren’t up for dealing with both uninvited topics and the overwhelming hypocrisy in the air.

“Among the possessed, Sir Brent’s case is the most shocking, isn’t it? Do you think Her Highness is still asking for his release?”

“Oh, goodness. I wonder when she’ll finally give up.”

Before Wyner and Camilli’s breakup, Princess Shelyn and her knight’s story had been tabloid gold: a prominent family’s second son, unfit to be a royal consort, and the noble princess…