Chapter 41
And now Kanna knows too. We'll skip Pudding for now. Damn it, if I'd known it'd be this kind of story, I'd have sent Kanna away so she couldn't hear!
No helping it. Before Gabriel performs an exorcism on me, I need to desensitize them a bit first. Build up some immunity.
“Kanna. What do you think? Do you feel betrayed?”
“It's not that important to me.”
Kanna stated her conviction calmly. What? Not important? That I'm a possessor?
“It was you, Miss, who saved me—not someone else.”
True…. The original Evangeline wouldn't have saved Kanna; she'd have been the one who ordered the kidnapping.
“And you? Are you going to pretend you don't know she helped you?”
Kanna passed the baton to Daisy. No, that was just compensation. But Kanna's intensity left even me and Daisy unable to retort.
Our Kanna's too good at gaslighting? Is gaslighting basic training for surviving as the heroine in these dark rom-fantasies these days?
“The Evangeline Rohanson you knew is already dead.”
No, Kanna…. She might still be dormant inside me? Though waking up at the funeral suggests she's probably dead. Too much fact-bombing. And you can't just shake off someone who died so recently that easily from your heart, right?
“…I know that too.”
But Daisy seemed to have already fallen for Kanna's eloquence.
But isn't the most troubled person right now me? Why are you two more upset?
The carriage filled with silence. It was agonizing that Rohanson Mansion was still far off. Jelly, come save me.
***
Jelly had returned to the mansion first, leaving Evangeline behind. As a person suddenly appeared from empty air, Mary gaped in shock before fearlessly rushing over and hopping around Jelly excitedly.
“Wow, wow! You popped out of nowhere again! Is this like before?”
She'd made a huge fuss when teleported earlier too, and it still amazed her. As Jelly waved her off, Yulma and Ranan eyed him warily and pulled Mary behind them. At least the older kids have some discernment—good. Watching this, Hena asked curiously why Jelly had brought only a strange man instead of her sister and Evangeline.
“Where are Kanna and Lady Evangeline?”
“They're coming normally by carriage.”
Seemed like she had business with Daisy. She'd probably come to the mansion too? She didn't show it, but she seemed to like her subtly. Jelly felt a bit gleeful. With Daisy around, maybe Kanna would stop being so smug.
“Then why'd you bring this one?”
“You think I'd bring him on my own? Your lady seems to want to take him in? Said she'd feed him since he's hungry.”
“Ah….”
Hena nodded as if she got it after Jelly's explanation. She'd taken in Hena and Kanna too—Lady Evangeline was surprisingly willing to accept new family members.
“Food?”
At that moment, Melek—who'd been dazed like he'd lost his mind—reacted to the word 'food' midway through Jelly's explanation. Saliva drooled from his mouth from hunger pains, eyes half-rolled back.
He'd endured this level of starvation without lunging at the nearest food source despite losing his senses. Jelly smacked the back of Melek's head to snap him out of it.
“Melek must be hungry. So eat the bread I gave you!”
As Mary tried to approach Melek, Hena diverted the child's attention.
“Lady Evangeline will handle his meal later. Mary, aren't you hungry?”
“I am….”
“Then let's have a snack while waiting for her.”
Perceptive Hena led the kids away. See how different she is from her sister? Kanna, under Evangeline's protection, treated Jelly like a pet dog without fear of others, but Hena knew to read the room.
Right. That's the proper treatment I should've gotten. Satisfied, Jelly soon turned his head.
“Feeling better now? Can you hold out?”
“Probably.”
Probably my ass. With no energy even to heal a kid's stab wound, he's on the verge of starving to death. The kid who stabbed him looked ready to die from guilt seeing Melek groan.
“Do you know who I am?”
“Jelly?”
Jelly confirmed from the response. Calling him Jelly, not Andras.
“You're not the real Melek, then.”
Melek smiled faintly.
“Because I'm just possessing him.”
The mansion folk had gossiped about Evangeline reviving or moving a corpse—the real one was here. This wasn't the true Melek but something else parasitizing the dead Melek's body.
Did the lady take him in because they're similar in that way?
“That's why you reeked so badly while possessing a dead shell. And lacked nutrients to recover your body. You never ate human souls to begin with, right?”
“Yeah.”
This guy's really about to die soon. He'd been surviving on whatever nutrients were left in Melek's body, but he'd hit his limit.
“Can't even recover—it's serious. Ha… jeez.”
Stubbornly refusing human food—how to fatten this guy up?
Whatever. Lady Evangeline must have a way. She's not one to lie, so there must be a solution. She wouldn't shove Holy Water down his throat to heal him, right? Jelly shuddered at the horrific memory, tongue tingling.
“Why not eat humans?”
“Because I used to be human?”
So the original Melek got killed by a fellow human and lost his body? Serves him right. Wish I could go to hell and laugh at him.
“How long ago?”
“About 20 years?”
Pfft, 20 years. Jelly burst out laughing. Melek just stared blankly, clueless why Jelly suddenly cracked up. After tormenting kids and lording over offerings, he got done in by a child. Gotta tell Plauros later.
Jelly really took a liking to this new Melek.
“How'd you kill him?”
“I was at the same orphanage as Merai and got locked in the basement where I died. When I came to, I was in this body. Sorry, but I don't remember how I took over Melek's body.”
Back when Melek was still human, the boy had been one of the kids the demon toyed with. When the director locked the basement to evade the temple's inspection, the boy was left alive down there alone.
Locked in the basement, the boy wasted away day by day from starvation until he died. When he awoke again, he was ravenously hungry.
Then Melek happened by. He'd probably come to torment kids in the basement as usual, and found the place different from before. There, he spotted the one soul still writhing.
At that moment, 'Hunger' devoured Melek. Days later, when 'Melek' regained his senses, he was already in Melek's body.
Voice, face—everything was the same. But even after taking Melek's body, the boy was constantly tormented by hunger.
And 20 years later, Melek encountered a friend from childhood. Merai, now the director, had summoned 'Melek.'
After hearing the rough story, Jelly ribbed Melek.
“Why not just eat her? Not the kids—the director. She's getting the death penalty anyway? Better to use her as daily bread than let her rot, right?”
If it were me, I'd devour her out of grudge even if it made me burst. That's why ex-humans are weak-hearted.
Still, since they'd serve the same master from now on, better to get friendly as comrades. Jelly decided to be sociable.
“What's your name?”
“Melek.”
“Not that—your real name. I hate the real Melek, so I don't wanna call you that.”
“My real name? Well….”
***
“A name?”
Name him? Me?
I'd endured the silence and finally gotten off the carriage, but now Jelly was the issue.
Was gonna treat his wounds first, but Jelly insisted there was something more urgent and wanted me to name his friend. Melek's a fine name already—why?
“I want a name like Jelly's.”
His tastes are kinda cute. Jelly hates its name, which makes calling it fun, but since Jelly's friend wants one, it felt oddly reluctant.
But refusing would be discriminatory, right? He has his real name anyway—just think of it as a nickname.
What to pick?
Pudding was thought to be just a cat at first, and Jelly got its name from slight revenge and obsession with squishy pink jelly. This one's a fine adult man, but if he likes Jelly-style….
No good. Only dessert name coming to mind is meringue. Meringue and Melek—similar sounds, so go with that.
“Meringue.”
Not mocking at all. Jelly's friend—no, Melek—no, Meringue seemed to like it, making me wonder if I should've thought longer. But dessert names are all similar anyway.
“But why want a new name when you have Melek?”
“Truth is, I'm not really Melek.”
Then what are you?
“I'm just borrowing this body….”
Borrowing? Wait. Are you possessed too?
Melek knows the title and Evangeline, so he must know the full original story, right?
Gotta ask him everything I'm curious about.
“Can you tell me what you know about Rohanson Mansion?”
“Pardon? Sure…. First, the building's quite antique. The garden's spacious for walks, surroundings quiet, staff respectful of silence—seems nice to live in.”
Hold up.
Our conversation's not meshing? I asked about the original story, why's he suddenly raving about the mansion? A chill ran through me.
Something's fishy. Test him?
“You said you died and woke up, right? Where'd you live before?”
“Ah, didn't I mention? I'm from Ainoa Orphanage, same as Merai.”
What?
Asked slyly, got a wildly unexpected answer.
“Merai—the director?”
“Yes, that's right.”
Why same worldview?
Something felt off. Even in rom-fantasy where possession's rampant, usually one per story. Sure, sometimes two—like possessing into a possession story, or rivals from bad blood possessing together for revenge.
And I'd made a huge mistake. Readers think 'possession' means book-possession first, but logically… ghost possession's way more famous, right?
Melek must be a ghost.
Suddenly wanted to bolt. I handle thrillers fine, but ghost horror movies are my kryptonite.
“What about the original owner's body?”
“Ah. Jelly said he's dead.”
“Does Jelly know you're possessing him?”
“Yes. Jelly says I'm better than the original Melek.”
Melek nodded. At least that's a relief. Was pondering how to tell his friend a ghost possessed him. But if he says stuff like that, they weren't that close anyway. Just knew each other's names as fellow beastkin?
And Melek gave a brief rundown of his story.
