A Possessed Person Lives in My Doll

“The grain in the warehouse won’t get us through winter.”

“The hailstorm must have ruined everyone’s crops, so stockpiling must have already begun, and prices must have risen through the roof.”

Blue spread his arms wide and patted the ground. As if to tease him, I pushed his nose with my fingertip, knocking him over.

He landed on his feet and scrambled to his feet with an “ah-go-go”. I stared at him and said, “I’m sorry.”

“There will be quite a few people with tops at this banquet I’m invited to. I’ll have to find someone who will invest in me, and sell the gems Titus gave me while I’m at it.”

“A banquet? What kind of banquet are we going to?”

“It’s Countess Rowena’s birthday celebration. I didn’t think the invitation my father gave me would be useful for something like this.”

To know and not to know. I shrugged.

“The last portable lamp I made and sold did quite well. How much could I invest in?’

It has a track record, so it must be worth the investment.

After making and selling the lamp, I didn’t start making daily necessities just because I was working on Managan. However, investing is about looking at the future value.

I just need to present a product that investors will want to buy.

As I pondered, Blue muttered the organizer’s name.

“Countess Rowena, Countess Rowena…….”

Blue scratched his head as he repeated the name a few times, then gasped as if he’d remembered something.

“Ah!

“Did you come up with anything?”

I looked at Blue, wide-eyed. Blue put his hands on his hips and smirked, looking adorable in his doll form.

“Yes! Something very exciting is going to happen at this birthday celebration, though I don’t know if it will help you. Do you want to hear about it?”

“Just tell me. I’ll figure out how to write it.”

I sat down at my desk with Blue to listen.

I grabbed a notepad and pen to see if there was anything in the story I could write down. Seeing that I was ready, Blue talked thoughtfully.

“At this year’s birthday banquet for Count Rowena, Baroness Claria Esna…….”

As blue continued, the notepad lines grew longer and longer.

By the time she filled the entire bottom notepad, the long story was over.

In the meantime, the hail that had filled the air had stopped.

I squared my shoulders and released the pen snapping. A light smile tugged at my mouth corners.

“Thanks, that was a good story.”

· ** *

Many people attended Countess Rowena’s birthday party. It was a dazzling banquet.

The ballroom’s ornate decorations cluttered my vision. I felt awkward out of place in a ballroom I hadn’t seen in a long time.

I thought, “I should get back to my goal.”

I quickly visited the countess and congratulated her. Shortly thereafter, I wandered the ballroom looking for Miss Claria Esna.

But she was nowhere to be seen. I squinted and scanned the crowd. People dressed in glittering, colorful clothes were everywhere, as if spring was just around the corner.

I felt like I was searching for a four-leaf clover in a pile of clover.

What will I do? I need to find Miss Claria Esna.

If I were late, it would be a disaster. As time passed, I grew more impatient.

What if she hadn’t come?

Was Blue’s future vision wrong?

“I wish I could have seen Miss Claria’s exact face.”

I muttered with a shallow sigh.

From what I could tell, she had pale wheat-colored hair, freckles on her nose bridge, and lovely green eyes.

All I knew was that she had come to this meeting wearing a necklace with a gemstone so large it made my neck stiff.

“Ancestor, I can’t believe you’re coming to a party like this. Did the sun rise in the west today?”

I turned my head towards a familiar voice. It was Ethel, smiling and walking toward me.

Ethel Hayes, one of my few friends.

“It’s been a while, Ethel. My father insisted I come and see you.”

“If he hadn’t, you’d be stuck in the mansion again. You should come out and show your face once in a while. I’ve forgotten all about your face.”

“All right, I’ll try that.”

“Do you promise? And was anyone waiting for you? You seemed to hang around for a while.”

My eyes twinkled at the question. Ethel had a keen eye and wide feet in Northwestern social circles. There was a high chance she knew about Miss Claria.

I breathed. It was the tenuous hope that fuelled the hope.

“I was wondering if you knew Miss Claria Esna, because I’d like to ask her some questions, but I can’t find her.”

“Oh, if it’s Claria, she was over there with champagne, looking heartbroken. She was in an unfavorable mood.”

Behind the slurred words, he asked if I was still there. I smiled and nodded.

“Yeah? Thanks for letting me know. I don’t know what’s taking place on, but it’s better than being alone.”

Ethel thought for a moment, then nodded.

“But what?…”

“There you are!”

Ethel had just opened her mouth when her mother, Mrs. Hayes, found her. Mrs. Hayes snapped at her, looking exasperated.

“Ethel, will you keep me waiting for the Persian ball? Every time you are so rude!”

Ethel gave her a wiggle of her head and then an apologetic look.

“I wanted to walk you to the front, but I’ll have to do it alone. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, there are people waiting for you. Go ahead.”

I let Ethel go and walked to Miss Claria’s place.

In the distance, I saw Miss Claria swaying in the crowd, sipping champagne, alone, and then she disappeared. My pace quickened as I approached her.

But when you arrive at the champagne bar, she’s nowhere to be seen.

I know she wasn’t able to use a teleportation spell, but where did she end up?

I furrowed my brow and looked around frantically. She couldn’t have gotten this far.

“Found it.”

I quickly spotted the back of a familiar dressed figure.

Esna Young was escorted by a servant. Considering the direction we were heading, it appeared to be the common room.

It was quite natural for young ladies who drank too much to rest in the common room. No one cared.

The servant helped Miss Claria to her feet and led her leisurely to the common room.

One might think she was just a servant doing her job. But I already knew the servant’s secret agenda.

She planned to exploit Miss Claria’s drunkenness and steal her necklace.

‘I’ll never let that happen.’

I stalked after her, my footsteps muffled. The servant led Miss Claria into the common room around the corner.

She must have seen the location. I quickly approached the ballroom, approaching the maid as she emerged with a tray.

“Is there anything you need?”

“There’s a fight in the break room right now! I can’t break it up alone…. I need someone to break up the fight, so get me a servant or a guard before it gets out of hand!”

The maid’s face turned white as I shouted at her in a frenzy.

“I’ll have them brought in as soon as possible!”

The maid fidgeted and called someone else, but on the way he stole the necklace and ran off.

I’ll have to hold on to her so she can’t get out of that room, the thought flashed through my mind.

I stormed into the break room clutching my uncomfortable dress skirt.

The door burst open. Miss Claria was lying on the couch, and the servant squatting before her looked back at me with wide eyes.

In his hand was a large, bejeweled necklace.

“What…….”

She muttered despondently, rising from her seat. I shot her a glare.

“Stop. What do you think you’re doing? I don’t think that necklace you’re holding is yours.”

She glanced between me and the door and ruffled my hair in annoyance.

“Ha, as if you weren’t terrible enough to be found out.”

When you’re doing something bad and get caught, you back off, if only for a moment. But what?

I frowned. At that moment, the servant lunged at me. Before I knew it, she had her arm around my throat and tripped over my legs.

In an instant, my vision flipped.

A thud!

I fell to the floor, dazed by the barrel I’d hit my head on. The servant on top of me stuck her face in my hair and laughed ferociously.

I struggled to push him off, but he wouldn’t budge.

“You’re not planning to tell everyone that your noble Lordship has been disgraced. Isn’t that right?”

Her rip on my neck made breathing difficult. I frowned at his crude words.

My voice trembled as if I were a frail young woman.

“How could you……. No!”

I scrambled to pretend to push her away. She smirked, snapping at me as if she enjoyed this moment of my terrified rebellion.

The hem of my dress curled up as my feet whipped in the air. Just a little more. A little more. As I straightened my knees, the skirt hem slid down over my thighs, gradually revealing my white thighs. That was it. That was enough.

I flinched, scared. At the same time, I quickly drew my mana gun from its holster on my thigh.

Crack.

Putting the muzzle of a gun on the chin of this person in front of me was a piece of cake.

As the cool, cold barrel of the gun touched my jaw, the strength in the arm that held me down drained away.

Her eyes widened as she recognized the gun, and she looked like she might collapse at any moment.

“Seconds, ……gun?”

I said in a low, sinking voice, glaring at her as she turned white, then blue.

“If you don’t get your dirty hands off me, I’ll blow your head off right now.”

Did she really think I’d just walked in here unarmed?