MPBGS 41💖

Chapter : 41

Besides, Kanna already knows now. Let’s put the pudding aside for the moment. Seriously, if I’d known the conversation would go like this, I would’ve sent Kanna away so she wouldn’t hear it!

No, this won’t do. Before Gabriel tries to exorcise me, I should take a few hits first and build up some immunity.

“Kanna. What do you think? Do you feel betrayed?”

“It’s not that important to me.”

Kanna stated her stance calmly. What? It’s not important? Even though I’m saying I’m a possessed person?

“The one who saved me wasn’t someone else—it was you, my lady.”

That much was true… Originally, if she were Evangeline, she wouldn’t have saved Kanna—she would’ve been the one who arranged her kidnapping.

“What about you? Are you planning to ignore the fact that my lady helped you?”

Kanna handed the baton over to Daisy. No, that was just compensation, though. But due to Kanna’s imposing presence, neither Daisy nor I could bring ourselves to argue back.

Kanna is really good at gaslighting, isn’t she? Is gaslighting a basic requirement to survive as a female lead in a depressing romance fantasy these days?

“The Evangeline Rohanson you knew is already dead.”

Hey, Kanna… she might still be dormant inside me, you know? Considering I woke up at her funeral, she probably is dead, though. That’s a bit too blunt. And it’s not easy to just let go of someone who just died like that emotionally…

“…I know that too.”

But Daisy seemed to have already been swayed by Kanna’s words.

Still, isn’t the most troubled person here me? Why are you all the ones more distressed?

The carriage was filled with silence. The fact that we still had a long way to go before reaching the Rohanson estate was pure agony. Jelly, come save me.

Jelly returned to the estate first, leaving Evangeline behind. Suddenly, a person appeared out of empty space, causing Mary, who was startled with her mouth hanging open, to run up fearlessly and bounce around near Jelly.

“Wow, wow! You just appeared out of nowhere! Did you do that like before?”

She had been just as dramatic when Jelly used teleportation earlier, and it seemed she still found it amazing. When Jelly waved a hand dismissively, Yulma and Ranen became cautious and hid Mary behind them. At least the older kids had some discernment—good. Watching them, Hena asked, puzzled that Jelly had returned with a strange man instead of her sister or Evangeline.

“Where are Kanna and the young lady?”

“They’ll be coming in the carriage like normal.”

It seemed Daisy had something to talk about. She’d probably come into the estate as well. She didn’t show it outwardly, but she seemed to like her. Jelly felt a bit excited. He thought that once Daisy entered, Kanna might become a little less overbearing.

“Then why did you bring this person?”

“Do you think I brought him here on my own? It seems your young lady plans to take him in. She said she’d feed him too since he’s hungry.”

“Oh…”

After hearing Jelly’s explanation, Hena nodded as if she understood. Judging from how she took in Kanna as well, the young lady was surprisingly open to taking in extra mouths.

“Food?”

At that moment, at the mention of food during Jelly’s explanation, Melek—who had been dazed as if he’d lost his mind—reacted. Tormented by hunger, he was drooling and his eyes were half-rolled back.

If he were this starved, he would’ve lost all sense of judgment and lunged at the nearest prey—but he had somehow endured that urge. Jelly smacked the back of Melek’s head, telling him to snap out of it.

“Melek must be hungry. That’s why he didn’t even eat the bread I gave him!”

When Mary tried to approach Melek, Hena redirected her attention.

“His meal will be taken care of later by the young lady. Mary, aren’t you hungry?”

“I am…”

“Then let’s have a snack while we wait for the young lady to arrive.”

The perceptive Hena led the children away. Seeing her, she really was quite different from her younger sibling. Kanna, under Evangeline’s protection, behaved arrogantly and treated others like pets, while Hena observed her surroundings and acted accordingly.

Yes. This was the proper treatment I should’ve been receiving. Satisfied, Jelly turned his head back.

“Feeling better now? Think you can manage?”

“Probably.”

“Probably, huh. You look like you’re about to starve to death any second with no energy to heal even a small wound like that.”

The one who had stabbed him also looked like he was about to die from guilt after seeing Melek in such a pitiful state.

“Do you know who I am?”

“Jelly?”

Jelly was certain from that answer. Not Andras—but Jelly.

“So you’re not that Melek guy.”

Melek gave a faint smile.

“I’m in a parasitic state.”

So the people at the estate had been saying Evangeline had revived the dead or was controlling a corpse—but the real thing was here. This guy wasn’t the real Melek, but something else inhabiting the dead Melek’s body.

Is that why the young lady took him in, because of that similarity?

“So that’s why you smell so foul—because you’re inhabiting a dead shell. You don’t even have enough nourishment to recover your body. You’ve never eaten a human soul, have you?”

“Yeah.”

This guy was really on the verge of dying. It seemed he had been sustaining himself on whatever nutrients remained in Melek’s body, but had now reached his limit.

“The fact that you can’t even recover… this is serious. Sigh…”

If he stubbornly refuses to eat humans, how are they supposed to feed him properly?

Well, whatever. The great Lady Evangeline must have some solution. She’s not the type to lie, so she must have a plan. Surely she’s not going to force-feed him holy water to restore him… Jelly’s tongue tingled at the horrifying memory that flashed through his mind.

“Why won’t you eat humans?”

“Because I used to be human?”

So the original Melek was killed by a human and had his body taken over? Serves him right. He even wanted to follow him to hell just to laugh at him.

“How long has it been?”

“About twenty years?”

Puhaha, twenty years. Jelly burst into laughter. Only Melek, who didn’t understand why Jelly suddenly laughed, stared blankly.

After tormenting children and demanding offerings, acting all high and mighty—he ended up being taken down by an actual child. I should tell Phleuros about this later.

Jelly quite liked this new Melek.

“How did you die?”

“I was at the same orphanage as Merai, and I was locked in the basement where I died. When I came to, I was in this body. So unfortunately, I don’t remember how I came to possess Melek’s body.”

When Melek was still human, the boy had been one of the children toyed with by the demon at the time. When the orphanage director locked the basement door to evade inspection by the temple, the boy was left alone inside.

Trapped in the basement, the boy slowly withered away, starving and suffering until he died. And when he awoke again, he was terribly hungry.

At that moment, Melek happened to appear. Perhaps he had come to torment the children as he usually did. Melek, noticing the unusual state of the basement, discovered the only soul still flickering and alive there.

At that moment, “hunger” devoured Melek. After days and days passed, when “Melek” regained consciousness, he was already in Melek’s body.

Voice, face—everything was identical. But even after becoming Melek, the boy was constantly plagued by hunger.

And twenty years later, Melek encountered his childhood acquaintance. Merai, now the orphanage director, summoned “Melek.”

After roughly hearing the story, Jelly scolded Melek.

“Why didn’t you just eat him? Not the kids—the director. He’s going to be executed anyway, right? Wouldn’t it be more efficient to use him as a meal rather than letting him die for nothing?”

If it were me, I would’ve eaten him out of resentment even if I exploded from overeating. This is why humans are too soft-hearted.

Still, since they were now going to live under the same master, it would be good to get along as comrades. Jelly decided to be as sociable as possible.

“What’s your name?”

“Melek.”

“Not that one. Your original name. I don’t like calling you Melek.”

“My original name? Let’s see…”

“A name?”

They want me to give them a name? Me?

Barely enduring the silence and getting off the carriage, Jelly suddenly brought up a problem.

I had been about to tend to his injuries, but he said something else was more urgent—he wanted me to give his friend a name. Why? He already has a perfectly fine name, Melek.

“I’d like a name like Jelly.”

He has rather cute tastes. Jelly hates his own name, which is why he enjoys hearing it being used, but since his friend was the one requesting a name, he suddenly didn’t feel like giving one.

But refusing would seem discriminatory, wouldn’t it? He already has his own name anyway, so I’ll just think of it as a nickname.

What should I call him?

At first, Pudding was thought to be a cat. As for Jelly, his name came from a bit of spite and an attraction to soft pink jelly-like desserts. This one seems like an ordinary adult man… but if he wants a name like Jelly…

No, that won’t work. The only dessert name that comes to mind right now is meringue. Meringue and Melek. The pronunciation is similar enough, so I’ll go with that.

“Meringue.”

It’s definitely not meant to mock him. Jelly’s friend… no, Melek… no, Meringue seemed to like it, though Jelly wondered if he should’ve thought about it more. Still, dessert names are all kind of similar anyway.

“By the way, why ask for a new name when you already have Melek?”

“Actually, I’m not Melek.”

Then what are you?

“I’m just borrowing this body…”

Borrowing it? Wait a second. Are you also a possessor?

From the fact that Melek knows the title and knows Evangeline, he must be fully aware of the original work.

Jelly decided to ask Melek everything he was curious about.

“Can you tell me what you know about the Rohanson estate?”

“Huh? Yes… First of all, the building is very elegant. The garden is spacious, making it nice for walks, the surroundings are quiet, and the staff keep things very calm, so it seems like a pleasant place to live.”

Wait a minute.

Something feels off in this conversation.

I asked him to explain the original story, so why is he suddenly giving an impression of the estate instead? A chilling feeling ran through me.

Something’s suspicious. Should I test him?

“You said you died and came back. Where did you originally live?”

“Oh. Didn’t I mention it? I’m from the same Ainoa orphanage as Merai.”

What?

I had asked indirectly, but the answer exceeded expectations.

“You mean Merai, the director?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Why is he from the same world?

Something definitely seemed off. No matter how common possession stories are in romance fantasy, usually there’s only one possessor per work. Of course, there are exceptions—like being possessed into a possession story, or two people from a past grudge both ending up in the same world to enact revenge.

And I had made a huge mistake. When people think of possession, they usually think of being possessed into a novel—but logically speaking… ghost possession is far more well-known.

Melek must be a ghost.

I suddenly felt like running away. I can handle thriller genres, but horror movies with ghosts are my weakness.

“What about the original body owner?”

“Oh, I heard Jelly had died.”

“Does Jelly know you possessed the body?”

“Yes. Jelly said I’m better than the original Melek.”

Melek nodded.

Well, that’s a relief. I had been wondering how to tell his friend that a ghost had possessed him. But if he’s saying things like that, maybe they weren’t that close to begin with—probably just acquaintances from being the same species, knowing each other by name.

And then Melek briefly told his own story.