A Possessed Person Lives in My Doll

The need to succeed filled my head.

“If I don’t deliver this time, I’ll have no choice but to reduce the budget allocated to me.

My father’s stern voice echoed in my head.

I shook my head lightly and took a deep breath.

This is a significant moment. Let’s not get distracted.

I painstakingly stacked the papers on the grimoires so they wouldn’t collapse. The stack of palm-sized papers, each with a magic circle, looked like a bird’s nest.

I slowly placed a mana stone in the center of the pile, and mana flowed and glow over the seals.

“Did it work?”

Pow!

At that moment, the failed magic circle exploded.

The hired hands outside were in an uproar.

“Did you hear that?”

“Miss, are you okay?”

I heard a hired hand pacing outside.

I grimaced at the soot rising in the air. Charred papers fluttered and acrid smoke filled the room.

I breathed to speak, and a cough erupted.

“Khock, Khock. It’s okay. Don’t open the door. Kollok. I’ll open it when the smoke settles down.”

“You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Sure! This has happened to me once or twice. I’m fine.”

I covered my nose and mouth corners and opened the window familiarly. The acrid air that had stagnated in the room breathed out of the window.

I looked around the ash-filled room. What a mess. Everything was a mess.

I let out a long sigh and gathered up the charred remains of my coven. It was more imperative to figure out why I failed than to get soot on my hands and skirt.

“I thought it would work this time……. My dad’s really planning to cut the budget if we keep this up.”

As it turned out, her father hated the idea of a noblewoman doing things with her hands in an inelegant way.

Even if what I was doing was bringing in money for the estate, he didn’t think it was something a nobleman should do.

But my talents are far too valuable to live the way my father desires. I wanted to live my life doing what I wanted to do.

I would like to do what I want to do. I want to be recognized for the benefits of staying on the estate before my father decides who I should marry.

I steeled myself, and my hands tightened on the papers. The papers crumpled in his hands.

“Ugh.. I’m dizzy. My head will crack.”

At that moment, an unfamiliar voice came from somewhere, a low, distant sound that didn’t sound like a human voice.

“Huh? Who is that?”

I tensed up at the sound of the strange stranger’s voice. My round eyes rolled quickly, scanning my surroundings.

There was nothing but black smoke rising and settling silently on the floor. No one had appeared, nothing had changed.

I was the only one in this room.

The stale air brushed my spine. Goosebumps rose up my arms.

“Did I hear wrong?

But I wasn’t mistaken. Once again, someone shouted in an eerie voice.

“Where am I?” Ew! What’s wrong with my body? What’s with my voice?”

I creaky turned my head toward the source of the voice and saw a shelf with boxes of miscellaneous items on it. I gulped and moved over.

‘Did I really hear that here?’

I carefully pulled the box off the shelf. I heard a rustling sound inside the box.

What was that? What was that?

The hand holding the box trembled.

“What the hell is going on?”

Sure enough, the box contained a collection of things I didn’t use but didn’t want to throw away. None of them moved or made sounds. Nothing!

My face was reflected in the box’s ringed metal trim in horror.

“Okay, I’ll have to try……?

I took a deep breath and opened the box.

My eyes landed on something wriggling among the items. The moment I recognized it, I threw the box and screamed.

“Gah!”

A muffled voice screamed from the other side of the box.

“What, what, gahhhhh!”

“Miss, what’s wrong?”

Startled by my shout, the servant yanked the door open. I swept my hand across my startled chest. My heart raced.

I caught my breath and smiled awkwardly.

“Oh, no, I had a bunch of black stuff on my stuff and it was all messed up. I got annoyed and stopped……. Wait, can you close the door so I can get my shit together?”

“Sure, and if you ever need me, call me.”

A worried word was left by the servant, who left the room. Now it was just me and the creature in the room.

I glanced over and saw the overturned boxes and spilled items on the floor.

I didn’t see any movement or hear any sound. But I saw it move as if it were alive.

I needed to look at what had happened. If anything needed to be done, it had to be done in my hands. There was no point in letting my father know what was going on.

“First of all, since we seem to be on the same page, why don’t we talk?

I didn’t want to, but I knew I had to try.

I stretched my arm toward the box, as if I touched something I really didn’t want to do. When my fingertips touched the box, I squeezed it and it stood upright.

Thud!

“Agogo……!”

A wailing sound came out of the box. I frowned and looked at the box seriously.

The ‘it’ that had dug through the stuff poked its head out of the box.

It was a stuffed rabbit.

The stuffed rabbit came to life, just like in fairy tales.

I took a deep breath to avoid screaming and calm my thumping, pounding heart.

“…….”

The doll looked at me, then at my body, then at me again, and her mouth dropped open.

“Who are you?” Why are you doing this to me? Where am I and what is happening to my body? I’m a doll!”

“Your body?” Wait, it sounds like you have a body. Am I understanding you correctly?

“Yes my body. What are you doing to a normal person? What did you do to my body? Why did you make me do this?”

The rabbit doll glowed, nibbling at my ear.

I wondered if there really was a person inside the doll, given that we could communicate with it, but I guess not…….

I had no idea why this was happening. I rubbed my forehead with my hand. The only thing I could think of right now was the failed magic circle.

What I was trying to create was a device to talk and communicate with another person at a distance. My research failed. That could happen. It happens all the time.

But in the aftermath, you brought someone else here?

In the form of a puppet, possessed only by its soul?

I’ve never heard of a magic circle that interferes with souls like this.

“Is this really possible?”

The idea that souls actually existed was something I’d never thought about before, and I felt like I was faced with an unknown conundrum.

“Well, there’s……. Apparently, there was a slight error in the magic circle I was experimenting with, and this is what happened…….

As I walked away, the rabbit got angry.

“Then send it back to me!”

“Well.”

“No, you can’t.”

The bunny’s words stabbed me in the chest. What could I do now that this was a failure, an unforeseen event?

But I couldn’t let an innocent person be harmed by my experiment. I calmly opened my mouth to speak.

“I’m new at this, too. I’m liable to need to do some more research, but I think it’s my magic circle, so I’ll take charge and send them back.”

“How can I trust you when I don’t even know who you are?”

“My name is Ancestor Eupiter, and if you don’t trust me, trust my family.”

A nobleman’s words are weighty when he puts his family name on the line. And the name of Count Eupiter, with its magic reputation, gave credibility to the situation.

I had never been a fan of my own family, but I found it ironic that at a time like this, it was helpful.

But the bunny’s reaction to my words was strange. It tilted its head from side to side and muttered my name in a puzzled voice.

“Eupiter? Ancestor of Eupiter?”

Now that he knows me, is he one of the people who live on our estate?

Well, the practice magic circle I used this time didn’t have a very long range. This stuffed rabbit was most likely one of the people near our manor.

Wait, if the soul escaped like this, is this person’s original body okay?

Just as my thoughts festered, I heard a strange mutter in my ear.

“The Ancestor Eupiter I know married a Valenti and became Ancestor Valenti, so if I’m impersonating him, should I do it right? Or were there other Ancestors in the Eupiter family I didn’t know about?”

“You, what are you talking about?”

The rabbit doll’s words were strange.

“I’m the only Ancestor in House Eupiter, and I think you’re mistaken about something. I married a Valenti?”

What kind of nonsense was this, that I was married to a Marquis of Valenti? I wasn’t even married, and there was only one other person in House Valenti who was related to me, Hannah.

The Marquis Valenti had a wife, and the only one left was the Marquis’ brother, Titus Valenti…….

Titus Valenti’s rugged face flashed through my mind.

He and I had known each other since childhood, but there were no cute words to describe our relationship.

He and I had bitter enmity.

Just imagining Titus and I entangled in that way gave me goosebumps. My hair stood on end.

Why would a stuffed rabbit say such a ridiculous thing? Was there a terrible rumor spreading across the globe?

“Who told you I married someone from the Valenti family?”

The corners of his mouth curved into a smile, but the corners of his eyes hardened into coldness.

Whoever said this, I need to find the source of the rumor and nip it in the bud.

If this story ever reached my father’s ears, it would be a disaster. He’d think something was brewing on between Titus and me, and he’d make a mess of it.

The requested stuffed rabbit raised its head haughtily and clicked its tongue.

“Are you still trying to convince me you’re an Eupiter?”

“I told you I was, didn’t I?”

Bunny glared at me.

“You shouldn’t cry like that! Mrs. Valenti you’re impersonating is dead.”

“What?”

My eyes widened. The doll’s stomach folded into a fluffy ball from squeezing it so hard.

“Gaggle gaggle gaggle!”

The bunny made a strange noise as it flailed its arms in discomfort. But that was not the point.

‘I can’t believe I married Titus Valenti, and now he’s dead?’

This doll said strange things I couldn’t understand.

I can’t believe I’m married and have the surname Valenti, much less that he’s dead!

No, I’m trying to find out why he’s saying all these strange things.

I relaxed my hands and spoke sternly.

“I’d like to hear more about that story, so let’s move on.”

“Okay. Because I need to hear about getting back, too.”

“I’ll go to my room, and you can be quiet in the meantime.”

I obeyed and left the room.

The hired help, who had been waiting for me to leave, entered the room with cleaning tools and buckets. It looked like they would have their work cut out to clean up the soot.

The maid who spotted me spoke to me as if she had been waiting for me.

“Miss, I’ve fetched water. If the Count sees you now, he’ll be thrilled.”

“Yes, I don’t think it’s wise to stand here for so long.”

I came back to my room, washed up, and left. The rabbit doll, who was supposed to be sitting still and pretending to be a normal doll, paced around impatiently.

The maid hadn’t come in, which was a shame. I took my writing utensils and sat down on a chair in front of the tea table.

“First, I’d like you to introduce yourself. If your soul is now in a doll like this, I need to know what happened to your original body. The more details you can give me, the better.”

“I’m.. Valentine Blue. You can call me Blue for all I care. And I’m 28 years old. And my favorite food is cinnamon rolls with lots of cinnamon. My hobby is collecting newspapers, which is a very intelligent and useful hobby.”

I noted Blue’s information.

“What were you doing before you got here?”

“Clipping newspapers, that’s what. It was November 28th. I think it was the 29th.”

As soon as I heard the date of the newspaper I was clipping, my pen stopped writing.

“Today is April 27, 1323. Were you clipping a November article or an old one?”

Parentheticals are an old-fashioned hobby.

“Now, wait! What?! 1323? “…It’s 1353 now. What are you talking about?”

“Everyone’s confused about years, not days. It’s 1323, and it’s been four months since the new year.”

“Then I am now……. 30 years in the past?”

Blue jumped to his feet, looked at me in disbelief, and then slumped back down, in a daze.

“Yeah……. If people could enter doll bodies, this could be the future… I guess.”

I was surprised that a cute miniature stuffed rabbit could look so out of place. I smirked.

No, this is not the time to laugh.

She’s really from the future?

I suddenly felt a chill running down my spine. The stories I’d heard earlier stuck in my head like thorns and wouldn’t go away.

“Not only am I marrying someone from the Valenti family, but I’m already dead?

My jaw dropped.

“What the hell happened to me?” Not only am I dead, but I’m married to a Valenti family member? Me? Really?”

Blue looked up and spoke carefully.

“Actually……. I heard about it. It was a famous scandal at the time. They both got drunk, got into bed, had a baby, and got married. However, Titus Valenti had a girlfriend at the time who was either dead or alive. They got caught up in gossip.”

Oh, nonsense. It’s all a lie.

This can’t be my future.