There Are Too Many Backstories in This Possession Novel – Chapter 25

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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Father’s words that broke the silence were followed by a heavy sigh.

“It seems there was an incident at the Nephthys temple near Kieft Plaza. The priests and holy knights were all…massacred overnight, including the pilgrims staying there. For now, I must protect you two apprentice priests in my castle.”

Upon hearing those words, Elena held her breath and pressed her mouth tightly with both hands.

“That… that’s…”

Elena’s body trembled from the shock.

Representing many followers, the temples of the chief god Nephthys were scattered throughout the ducal territory.

Considering where I met Elena, she must have been brought up in the temple near Kieft Plaza.\

And there must have been quite a few people like family to her.

“My condolences.”

As if those words from Father dealt the final blow, Elena suddenly fainted with her eyes closed. I reflexively caught Elena, but she had already lost consciousness.

“E- Elena…”

Elin was equally shocked. The complexion of Elin, who was stroking the face of the collapsed Elena, didn’t look good.

Not only that, Elin was trembling in the spring sunlight-filled room as if she was freezing.

Considering Elin’s guilt, it was fortunate that they didn’t faint together.

She must be reproaching herself, thinking that she had brought the misfortune called the Red Snake and come to Elena.

“Father, just what happened…”

I spoke while looking at my father.

“We’re still investigating exactly what happened. It only occurred at dawn today. However, they say there was a strong magical presence left at the scene. And strangely, while the priests were all massacred, there wasn’t a single witness.”

Father pressed his eyelids as if tired.

“It doesn’t make sense. The priests of Nephthys are not lacking in martial prowess…”

When speaking of Nephthys, the priests trained in using force were called descendants of the god of victory.

They should be such people, but only in a single night. Even if it was just one of the scattered temples.

“You take the two priests and comfort them. I will handle this matter.”

“Yes.”

I nodded to my father and lifted Elena, using mana to assist my strength.

Although my mana wasn’t sufficient, it would endure until I moved Elena to the bed.

Not long after leaving Father’s office, Nias gently tugged at the hem of my clothes.

Doubt was engraved in her black eyes.

“Why?”

“…Isn’t it the Red Snake?”

She was asking if the perpetrators of this massacre were the Red Snake. But of course.

“That’s right. It’s the Red Snake.”

“Then, wouldn’t it be better to tell the Duke…”

“Are you an idiot?”

Nias widened her eyes at my words.

“That would limit our movements. No matter if it’s my father, do you think he would let me wander around such a dangerous place?”

There’s a limit to being a macho man. It might be acceptable if I were old enough to enter the academy. However, a 10-year-old still couldn’t openly roam around dangerous places.

“But still…”

“And they warned us. They declared war first.”

There must have been someone who overheard our entire conversation in that alley while remaining unharmed and passed on the information.

They may have wanted to kill me, but for some reason, they didn’t have the balls to boldly enter the ducal castle as much as they did when they went to massacre the temple.

So, they ‘warned.’ Don’t act rashly. We will target you anytime. They hoped that I, as a child, would be frightened.

However, cheers to their bad luck since I’m not just a child.

“I will completely annihilate them.”

I was considerably angry. Initially, I was going to deal with them appropriately so they wouldn’t be able to attack, but my thoughts had changed entirely.

It wasn’t just Elena and Elin who were shocked by Father’s words. This was no different from something I had done. The setting of the world had changed because of me.

And because of that, those guys touched unrelated people and inflicted an unforgettable wound on Elena.

The part about hurting Elena significantly weighs heavily. And if it’s something I did, I must take responsibility.

I will thoroughly trample them down to the last one.

So that they can never act up again.

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After laying Elena on the bed in my room, I started preparing to go out tonight.

I opened the picture book and imprinted its contents in my mind. I intended to complete the weapon search that was interrupted last time tonight.

“A nice scent…”

Nias was burning incense in the room, which had a calming effect, saying she was worried about Elena, who was sleeping. Moreover, that was also for Elin’s sake.

Elin had been silent for a while. She just kept her head down, tightly holding the hand of the unconscious Elena.

Guilt, remorse, and other things must be welling up in Elin’s emotions. Yuan is an evil god. Evil gods are beings who perform evil deeds and consume negative emotions to grow their power.

If such negative emotions engulfed Elin, the power of Yuan that Elena had been suppressing might burst out.

‘I have to do something.’

With that thought, I got up from my seat. Even when I approached her side, Elin showed no reaction. She didn’t seem to be crying, just blankly sitting with her long silver hair draped down.

When I was about to speak,

“..Ugh.”

Elena slowly opened her eyes.

“Are you okay? Achoo.”

Nias couldn’t hold back and coughed weakly.

“A bit… dizzy.”

Seeing Elena trying to raise her upper body, Nias quickly helped her.

“Did I… lose consciousness?”

Elena asked in a low voice.

“Yes. Earlier… in the Duke’s office…”

At Nias’ answer, Elena tightly closed her eyes as if the shock had not subsided.

And she pressed her chest with both hands clasped together. It was as if the pain had filled her chest, but she couldn’t pour it out or find a way to release it.

“…Massacred.”

A sob was added to Elena’s voice.

“Why…? Because of me? Because I… was there. The Red Snake…”

Elena couldn’t finish her sentence. Tears dripped down. The first loss Elena experienced in her life as a girl. The pain would not be something that could be expressed in a word or two.

For Elena, those who died at the hands of the Red Snake must have been like family.

And seeing Elena distraught, Elin stayed far away. Until yesterday, Elena had never lost her bright smile in front of Elin.

Elin couldn’t say anything about Elena’s appearance and kept her mouth shut as if she had aphasia. It was as if she thought she shouldn’t approach Elena if it was herself.

“My heart hurts so much. I don’t know what to do… Something keeps boiling up… I need to forgive, but I can’t forgive.”

Tears of anger and sorrow flowed from Elena’s tightly closed eyes, and she fell on the blanket.

“I want them to pay the price. I shouldn’t do this, but I want to do that. Those people…”

The trembling words that continued were abruptly cut off.

It seemed that even Elena didn’t know what she wanted to do to them.

“I understand you’re sad. Don’t cry now. Cry later. I can solve it.”

I opened my mouth to Elena. Elena slowly raised her head and looked at me.

“Solve…?”

Elena stared at me with her silver eyes filled with doubt.

“One by one, make them pay the price for what they did.”

Especially if they took human life lightly, they should be prepared for their own life to be taken just as lightly. And the meaning of these words was one.

Let’s take revenge. Let’s make them pay with their lives.

Elena stared at me blankly like someone struck by lightning.

“…You mean kill them?”

Elena asked back as if trying to grasp the true meaning of my words.

“That’s right.”

I nodded my head.

Elena moved her lips and hesitated several times. She must be reconsidering her thoughts dozens, hundreds of times. It would be a difficult choice.

Elena’s essence is infinite goodness. However, at the same time, as long as she is human, sorrow and the desire for revenge cannot help but raise their heads.

“I’ll… think about it.”

In the end, what came out of Elena’s mouth was a deferral of the answer.

“Okay. There’s still time.”

Not much, though. It was then that Elin made an unexpected move.

“…No.”

Elin took a few steps back. And then she opened the door and went out as if running away.

“Lady Elin…”

Elena gazed at the door Elin had gone through, looking confused.

“Nias. Take care of Elena for a bit.”

“Ah, yes! I will!”

Nias wasn’t the type to be jealous without reason at a time like this either.

Leaving the sight of Nias calming Elena, who was trying to get up with a stagger, I went into the corridor to follow Elin.

Elin stood on the terrace leading to the garden not far from the room.

It was a terrace facing the garden where flowers were beautifully blooming, having just entered spring. Grasping the railing of that terrace tightly, Elin was looking into the distance.

“The scenery is nice here, isn’t it?”

At my voice, Elin, who had been looking at the garden with tears in her eyes, flinched slightly as if startled. And she slowly turned her head to look at me.

The lusterless eyes, like silver beads devoid of life, made me gauge the depth of Elin’s sorrow and guilt.

However, she probably couldn’t confide her anguished heart in the room earlier.

Because Elena, who was more distressed and sadder than herself, was there. She must have thought that she had to hide and endure it.

“You can speak here.”

I spoke while snapping my fingers. A sound-insulated area spread around us. With my mana depleted, a narrow sound insulation magic was the limit.

“No one will be able to hear our conversation.”

A brief silence passed.

The next moment,

Elin opened her mouth as if breaking a dam she had built up.

“…It’s painful. It hurts so much.”

Elin pressed her chest tightly with both hands clasped together. The pain in her heart would be no different just because it was Elin.

“It keeps hurting. I don’t know how to tell Elena. I don’t know how to treat her. Everything is because of me.”

I slowly walked towards Elin. Because Elin, who said that, looked precarious, as if she would crumble at any moment.

As I approached, Elin looked at me with a sob. She slowly leaned towards me and rested her head on my shoulder.

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The moment she buried her face in his arms, she felt like she was crumbling down. When she looked at Leonhart, she unknowingly felt at ease.

A sense of safety she had never felt before began to arise when she buried her face in his arms.

“What should I do?”

Elin asked, seeking an answer. It felt like this person would know the answer.

“What do you want to do?”

Leonhart asked as if whispering. Elin hesitated several times before opening her mouth.

“Can I say it?”

Is it really okay? Won’t he hate me? If he finds out about my ugly inner thoughts, won’t this person hate me too?

“You can say it.”

Saying that, Leonhart placed his hand on Elin’s head. Not stroking, but as if slightly pressing down with weight.

That moderate touch felt reassuring, and Elin felt like her heart was gradually being peeled off. It seemed like this person would accept any of her words.

Elin mustered up her courage and revealed her ugliness to him.

“I want those people to die. I want them to die as painfully as possible. I want to give them more than the pain I received. I want to give back several times the pain Elena felt. I want to burn them, melt them with poison, stab them with a knife, and torment them. And… I want Elena to say the same thing.”

Elin’s anguish wasn’t just guilt. Elin hadn’t forgotten what they had done to her, kidnapping her and branding the back of her hand with a hot iron.

And now they had even taken away the family of her beloved sister. She wanted them to pay the price. As terribly as possible.

This was different from what others called a desire for revenge.

She wanted them to die as painfully as possible. She wanted them to face the worst death while regretting their lives.

Although she still lacked the experience and imagination, she would soon find the answer. The way to kill a person most painfully.

Was this why the evil god Yuan chose her?

‘But Elena is different from me. She is shining.’

Elin intuitively felt that Elena’s thoughts would be different from hers. Wouldn’t Elena be disappointed if she found out about such thoughts? That was Elin’s worry.

‘I don’t want to be hated by Elena.’

The thought of Elena giving her eyes of contempt made Elin unbearably distressed. Just like her mother used to do.

“I’m different from Elena. I can’t become kind like Elena. I can’t be like that.”

So, she couldn’t find the way. For her to be satisfied, they had to die. But simultaneously, she didn’t want to reveal her evil inner self, which was the opposite of Elena.

At that moment, Leonhart said something. A couple of words that would thoroughly shake her life.

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“Go and pretend to be kind.”

I said while stroking Elin’s head. This was an opportunity to lay the foundation for achievement completion and shed light on Elena’s path.

Elin’s hypocrisy was initially meant to soothe her own loneliness.

To fill the hole pierced in her heart that could never be filled with the praise directed at herself.

However, Elin, who had come to live with Elena, didn’t need to feel that loneliness. Then, there was no need to satisfy or fill the hypocritical tendency.

But the answer to solve that problem was right here. This was also for Elin’s sake. While Elin’s negative emotions were being filled with hypocrisy, Yuan couldn’t exert his power.

“Pretend to be… kind?”

Elin asked back as if puzzled.

“Yes. Go and pretend to be kind. Gain Elena’s favor that way. Not just Elena. Make others like you too.”

I told Elena,

“I will realize your inner feelings. I can endure their hatred too.”

*Ding!*

“Why… are you doing this for me?”

Elin said. She stared at me in a daze as if receiving such kindness for the first time.

“…Because I want you to be happy.”

It’s not a lie. That I want her to be happy. I won’t make Elin unhappy either. That’s the lasting peace I aim for.

*Ding!*

“Thank you.”

Elin said as she buried her face in my arms again.

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When we returned to the room, Elena was still wandering around, unable to find an answer. Elin gently walked over and sat next to Elena. And softly holding Elena’s hands, she opened her mouth.

“Let’s not kill those people. Let’s just catch them. Even though they are evil people, we need to properly catch them and make them receive punishment.”

She had begun her first attempt at hypocrisy. Elena, who had been wavering, widened her eyes in surprise at Elin’s words. And the next moment, she smiled slightly as if she had realized something.

“…You’re right. What you say is correct, Lady Elin. No matter how much evil resides in their hearts, they always need a chance to repent.”

Elena said firmly, putting strength into her hands clasped with Elin’s.

“If it weren’t for your words, I would have almost forgotten that. Thank you.”

And Elena looked at me. As if she had decided on her answer.

“…Just catch them for me.”

Of course, I had no intention of doing that.

“No, I refuse.”

*Ding!*

Elin, of course, felt the same way.

I know. Elena intended to forgive them with sincere goodness.

But for Elena’s sake in the future, they all had to disappear. If even a single bastard remained, there was no telling how they would return later.

So, I’ll do it myself. I will take it upon myself to cleanse them all. Thoroughly.

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