Killing the Possessor - Chapter 134

Left alone, the man stared blankly at the ceiling. With a long sigh, he muttered softly, looking as if he’d just realized some profound truth about life.

“I see. So it was radish..”

His voice, full of emptiness and a sense of loss, lingered in the room long after. Even when Yuli returned later to scold him for still lying around, his muttering hadn’t stopped.

Chapter 9. On the Borderline

[‘2 chapters’ remain until your stay expires.]

“Ugh, it’s gone down again.”

It was clear now—the ‘end of the month’ meant just that, the last day of the month. With the end approaching, the number of remaining chapters was dropping fast.

“Not having assist mode is seriously driving me nuts.”

It hadn’t exactly been easy before, but without that little D-Day counter, it felt like the difficulty had jumped straight from normal to extreme. At least, the anxiety level sure felt extreme.

“I already go to the detached palace every day, so what more am I supposed to do?”

I’d been diligently checking in at the princess Aveline’s palace as the mockingbird hinted, but not once did a “Welcome to the playfield” message pop up like it did at the debutante ball or the Midas mansion.

So it had to be one of two things: either the detached palace wasn’t the main stage of this chapter, or—

“Do I have to wait for some specific event to trigger?”

Maybe, just like at the ball or Midas’ mansion, nothing would happen until a major plot event kicked in. My residence permit had always been renewed at the last possible second, so maybe this time the event would start at the exact right moment, too.

But there was no way I could relax. There were only two chapters left, and who knew when that would drop to just one. And with a vague hint like ‘end of the month’ instead of an actual date, my anxiety was even worse.

For now, just sticking close to the detached palace seemed like the safest bet. So I was getting ready to head out yet again when Dahlia, who looked like she’d just woken up, suddenly appeared.

“Where are you off to now? Don’t tell me you’re off to be the Crown Prince’s fiancee’s lackey again?”

“Go away.”

“Geez, I know the Empress asked you to, but aren’t you overdoing it? You keep saying there’s nothing for you to do there anyway!”

For once, she was actually making sense, but that didn’t change my fate. I glanced at the hats in the dressing room, wondering which one to wear. The summer sun was already blazing, so going out hatless wasn’t an option.

“Hey, did you eat the chocolate I gave you?”

“Nope.”

“What? How could you not eat it when I gave it to you ages ago!”

“My business.”

“Hey, do you know how hard I worked to get that for you?”

Dahlia had once proudly given me the exact same chocolates Ren sent me before. I figured she must’ve felt guilty about stealing the ones from before.

It was a sweet gesture, but with everything going on lately—especially the whole Crudi situation—I’d completely forgotten about the box of chocolates she’d left in my room. If she hadn’t brought it up just now, I might have never remembered.

“I stopped a princess from stealing that chocolate and brought it to you myself.”

“What?”

“I don’t know which country she’s a princess from, but she’s a princess, okay? And would you believe it, she tried to steal the chocolate!”

I tossed the hat I’d picked onto the bed and grabbed a random pair of earrings. Rushing made me feel even more flustered.

Dahlia kept chattering about her ‘princess’ story, trying to impress me with her heroics, but honestly, none of it was really sinking in. Sure, being a princess isn’t common, but in a feudal country with lots of nobles, you never know. Maybe one or two have sticky fingers.

“Are you even listening to me?”

“Yeah, thanks for the chocolate. Maybe I’ll eat it when you behave.”

“Hey!”

I left her shouting behind me, practically sprinted downstairs, and climbed into the carriage. Luckily, the chapter count hadn’t dropped any lower since before.

Once at the palace, I didn’t bother with dignity—I just started running. There was no guarantee today would be the day, but the closer it got to the end, the more anxious I became about the number ticking down.

“Camilli?”

Just as I was rushing along, clutching my skirts, someone stopped me. I turned toward the voice. There, standing at the entrance to the maze garden, was Crown Prince Daeon.