Chapter 67 .. The Sensation of Possession
“Surely you haven’t harbored any sinister thoughts, have you? As you know, Miss Bella is attending this event with me. We coordinated our accessories.”
“……”
“Do you understand what that means?”
“……I do.”
“I trust you understand clearly.”
Others might have thought Rydell was calmly handling Sean, but Chey could see through it. Rydell was only pretending to be composed; in reality, he was extremely tense.
It was childish, yet somehow enviable.
Surely Chey, back when he was alive, had felt such childish emotions, experienced pain, and made foolish decisions driven by feelings.
But perhaps over the past hundred years, his memories and emotions had eroded, leaving him unable to recognize the feelings now stirring within him.
Even now, he felt nothing. If he truly loved Bella, he should feel a fierce desire to twist the neck of the author who dared to attend the event with her.
Clearly, he didn’t love Bella.
She was simply the only being who could see him, the only key to break his curse. That was why he felt something special, something to treasure.
“How do I look?”
At that moment, Bella emerged from behind the curtains, having changed her clothes.
“My goodness. You look stunning. I might even need to adjust my own outfit that I had prepared in advance.”
Rydell sprang to his feet and smiled brightly, stepping forward to stand before Bella.
He brushed back the slightly disheveled hair from her outfit and glanced at Sean. Sean’s face was expressionless, revealing nothing, but his eyes had an unnerving gleam.
“Sean, what are your thoughts?”
Bella had been waiting for the right moment to speak and addressed Chey instead. Chey, maintaining a stoic, knightly demeanor, replied:
“Miss, whatever you wear is beautiful, but the fabric seems heavy relative to your figure.”
“Really?”
“Perhaps a softer, lighter material would be better. The long sleeves covering the wrists may appear cumbersome, so adding folds to mimic rolled-up sleeves might help.”
“Bobri, please follow that suggestion.”
“Yes. Moreover, Sir, your knowledge of dresses is impressive. Have you been married? Preparing a wedding often enhances one’s eye for such details.”
Bobri responded smoothly, taking note of Bella’s instructions. Amidst the warm atmosphere, only Rydell watched Bella with a complex, subtle expression.
“Rydell, why are you like that?”
“You seem… quite close to Sean.”
“Of course. I named him, see him daily while overseeing the estate, so naturally we’re familiar.”
Bella smiled lightly and brushed past Rydell.
Meanwhile, Chey, examining the sample accessories, picked one and offered it politely with both hands.
“If I may suggest, the accessory would suit the outfit better if made with light feathers.”
“You think so?”
“Yes.”
“Then would you place it yourself?”
“……”
Bella’s blunt proposal made Chey blink in slight surprise. She was enjoying this moment thoroughly, as it felt like a theatrical performance: speaking casually to Chey, a man over a hundred years old, while he responded earnestly as a knight.
“Quickly.”
Bella leaned forward and extended the accessory. Chey carefully adjusted her hair and fixed the ornament in place, unaware of the slight tremor in his hands.
Only Rydell, witnessing everything, fell deeper into misunderstanding. To him, it seemed as if both Bella and Sean harbored deep feelings for each other.
“Ha.”
Rydell exhaled, trying to suppress his rising, undefined emotions.
He had to admit his arrogance. Bella was alluring. Watching her survive on her own, stubborn and self-reliant, one could hardly resist offering help. Yet she repeatedly requested deals rather than his hand.
Contracts between equals could foster trust but never feelings. Love was meant to be given with the wish for the other’s happiness, not exchanged as a transaction.
“From the very first button, it seems we’ve been mismatched.”
Only Bobri heard Rydell’s murmur. Experienced as she was, she ignored it naturally, thinking it was just a young couple with complicated circumstances.
Bobri, having instructed her staff, glanced at her client, Bella. Bella gazed at Sean with a look as if she possessed the whole world, and Sean focused solely on Bella, as if no one else existed.
It was as if only the two of them existed in the world.
On the day of the royal event, Bella, fully prepared with Bobri’s assistance, descended to the entrance.
Standing by the carriage, wearing an accessory matching Bella’s in color, was Rydell. Bella asked first, before even greeting him:
“Are you wearing a mask?”
Bella blinked in surprise. Only Rydell could appear before the king masked.
“My identity is secret. If anyone asks, just say I have a scarred face. Now, are you ready to go?”
“Of course.”
Rydell offered his hand to escort her, but Bella misinterpreted it as a gesture for clapping. She struck her hands together with a loud smack and then grabbed her skirt to board the carriage.
Rydell alternated his gaze between his numbed hand and Bella, already inside, before bursting into cheerful laughter.
As the carriage sped down the road, Chey, watching from a window, closed the curtain with a soft thud.
“Um… Y-Your Ghostness?”
“……”
Chey turned his attention to the voice cautiously calling him.
“How much would I receive if I lent you my body?”
It was Hayden. Aside from Bella, he was the only one who could approach Chey. Since the day Chey had lent Hayden’s body to go south, Hayden had continually interacted with him. Hayden also recognized he could see and feel the ghost.
Apparently, his mother had been a fortune-teller who used cards, perhaps explaining his clairvoyant abilities.
“Will this be sufficient?”
Chey pulled a few gemstone accessories from a hidden drawer and tossed them lightly.
Hayden hurriedly picked them up and examined them. Their combined value easily exceeded two hundred gold coins.
“R-Really, if I just lend you my body, you’ll give me this?”
Hayden’s mother was seriously ill, and he urgently needed money. He had initially considered borrowing from Rydell, but with interest and the principal, the debt would grow. So he came to Chey.
“Do you think your body is worth two hundred gold coins?”
“Not exactly… I just need quick cash.”
“Your mother’s illness hasn’t healed, has it?”
“How do you know…?”
Hayden had never told anyone about his mother’s condition. The fact that she was a fortune-teller made it even more private. Yet Chey knew.
Hayden trembled, feeling as if possessed by a ghost, and prostrated himself before Chey, a mix of fear, curiosity, and awe.
“So, for two hundred gold coins for her treatment, you’ll lend me your body for a day?”
“Yes, y-yes! But I won’t… die, right?”
Chey moved from the window, kneeled before Hayden, and extended his hand. His translucent fingers touched Hayden’s bowed head.
“Of course not. I promise. I will not harm your life.”
“……”
Hayden felt a strange warmth from this eerie, uncanny sensation and closed his eyes. Soon, Chey would open them using Hayden’s body.
Feeling consciousness fading, Hayden let his head fall to the floor. A faint, authoritative, yet gentle voice resonated before he completely lost awareness:
“And I will pray for your mother, that the darkness may lift and light may come.”
After Chey’s final promise, Hayden’s body went completely limp.
When he opened his eyes again, the gaze was no longer Hayden’s.
“……”
Chey looked at his hands with a curious expression. Though long-dormant emotions hadn’t returned, faint memories from his life resurfaced.
It seemed that, when alive, Chey Le Prelorde had wanted to save people like this.
