Chapter 4
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 4
I was a natural at this possession gig—I could even read the local language now.
Since I could finally read, it was time to raid Evangeline’s diary. While I was at it, I’d find that summoning spell I’d heard about and call forth a spirit or maybe even a dragon. The overpowered protagonist life was waiting for me!
I settled into a comfortable position, and Pudding immediately hopped onto my lap. With a pure and pious heart, I opened the diary with my fluffy companion.
March 9th, Year 370.
I met Count Rohanson.
It had been a while since I’d seen a diary that didn’t start on January 1st. Come to think of it, what year was it, anyway?
“What year is it?”
“It is the year 392 of the Imperial Calendar,” Hena, who had grown quite close to me recently, answered kindly, even though her employer must have seemed pathetic for not even knowing the current year.
392? I glanced at the date in the diary again. This was written over twenty years ago. That meant this wasn't Evangeline’s diary. My guess had been completely wrong.
August 9th, Year 370.
That man asked me to marry him.
It seemed the owner of this diary was Evangeline’s mother. The following entries were about her upcoming marriage to Count Rohanson. She didn't seem to be the type to write at length; the entries were brief, and the dates often skipped ahead by weeks or months.
August 19th, Year 370.
Father has placed me under house arrest. He claims it’s obvious that man only proposed because he’s after the Dukedom. How would Father know? He’s never even met him! He told me he truly loves me. He said it doesn’t matter if I have no money.
So, Evangeline’s mother must have been the third daughter of a Duke. Unfortunately, the specific family name wasn't mentioned. In any case, it was the classic story: the daughter of a wealthy Duke falls for a penniless Count she met by chance, marries him despite her family’s fierce opposition, and ends up disowned.
April 2nd, Year 371.
I should have listened to Father. I want to go back to the Duke’s estate.
As it turned out, Count Rohanson’s goal had been money all along. After he’d secured the dowry Evangeline’s mother brought with her, their relationship grew distant. The moment I read it, I thought, Ah, what a cliché.
This was the part where I, the granddaughter, was supposed to cling to the estranged maternal family instead of the useless Count Rohanson. You know, the trope where the maternal grandfather secretly loved his daughter all along and sees her image in his granddaughter.
But… isn’t that a trope for the childcare genre? Evangeline was a little too old for that. It seemed I was too late to take the childcare route. Dammit, if only I’d possessed her a few years earlier!
The diary entries grew longer as the days passed. With no one to confide in, she seemed to pour all her inner thoughts onto the pages. As the entries continued, her handwriting grew stranger, and perhaps because of that, there were words I couldn't read. The content itself felt like it was changing, too…
The important thing was finding that summoning spell…
[How to Summon □□]
[O you who stand at the □,
Defile the earth with the □□ of the one who □□□.
Draw a circle with your □ □-stained hand.
Look up in awe and yearn for □.
Let grapes ripen on thornbushes,
And figs bloom from thistles.
□□ and □□.
Welcome the □□ of □□ who shall roam the earth and descend upon the world.]
Excuse me? Was my built-in translator bugged? I knew something was off when my ability to read the language took so long to activate!
It seemed my translation skill wasn't fully complete. I suppose I should be grateful I could read anything at all.
Let’s just focus on what’s visible. So… defile the earth and draw a circle with my hand? What’s this about grapes on thornbushes? Was this some kind of saying about impossible things happening? What on earth did this even mean?
And what was I supposed to be summoning? The text was already broken, but the content that was there was unnecessarily cryptic. I couldn't understand a thing.
This is why top-tier tutors make so much money. It would be so much easier if they just laid it out clearly: 1. Draw a circle. 2. Summon.
My head was starting to hurt. Time out. I’d have to set this aside until my translation ability finished patching itself. It wasn’t like the paper was going anywhere.
Wait, where did it go?
It went somewhere.
The sheet of paper I’d left on the desk had vanished into thin air. The diary was still there, perfectly fine, but only that single page was gone. I searched the entire room, but it was nowhere to be found.
“Hena, did you happen to see a piece of paper that was on my desk?”
“No, milady…”
I’d been in my room all day. When could it have disappeared? The only time I’d left was for my walk yesterday. Could someone have cleaned it up while I was out, thinking it was trash?
But I hadn't even deciphered it yet! I hadn't even gotten to try the summoning! This is what I get for being lazy!
First, I needed to find out who cleaned my room. Only then could I ask about the paper’s whereabouts. I grabbed a passing servant by the arm.
“Who entered my room yesterday?”
“Y-Yesterday? If it was yesterday, it would have been… D-Donau.”
“Where is he now?”
“Well… Donau didn’t show up for work today…”
Could this be the classic ‘steal the treasure and run’ scenario I’d read so much about?
Come to think of it, maybe the spell only looked like gibberish to me because of my faulty translation. To everyone else, it might have looked perfectly normal. He must have seen the incredible summoning method while cleaning my room and snatched it. If he’d just thrown it away as trash, there would be no reason for him to skip work today!
“…Did Donau do something, perhaps?” the servant asked timidly.
“He did. I believe he stole something of mine.”
Evangeline was a villainess, but she was the type who was subtly bullied by those around her. I’d stayed quiet because I didn't want to get into slapping matches or pulling rank, but maybe I should have just fired him sooner. I mean, of all the things to steal, he steals my one-way ticket to becoming an overpowered isekai protagonist?
“Tell everyone that from now on, if anyone so much as touches my things, their head is coming off.”
Everyone was getting fired! I was going to abuse my authority over personnel to the fullest.
I went straight to the butler and got Donau’s home address. I never expected my first real outing after possessing this body would be for such a pathetic reason.
Since I didn’t know my way around, Hena, who lived in the same area, accompanied me. Pudding tagged along too, probably thinking we were just going for a walk.
After I gave the address to the coachman, he dropped us off on the outskirts of the city, quite a distance from the mansion. From there, Hena led the way.
“It’s here.”
We were finally here. Just you wait, you little thief. I’m getting my cheat-code back.
Knocking was for polite people. I kicked the door in.
* * *
“…Mmph… ugh!”
The girl writhed. Didn’t she ever get tired? Donau, who was sitting in a chair leisurely sipping tea as he read, clicked his tongue at the groan that interrupted him.
Her mouth was gagged, but he could imagine what she was trying to say. It was always the same. Please save me, I was wrong. Pathetic, groveling words. How amusing—begging for forgiveness without even knowing what her supposed crime was.
After glancing at the girl as if she were an insect, Donau turned his gaze away.
Since there were no curtains, he had hurriedly boarded up the windows, nailing planks over them for fear that someone might look inside. A sliver of red light leaked through the small gaps. Before he knew it, the sun was setting.
There wasn't much time left. The red glow would soon fade, and darkness would fall.
Donau looked down at the paper in his hands with an affectionate gaze.
It was a note he had purloined from the Rohanson estate where he worked. He had discovered this treasure last night while tidying up Evangeline Rohanson’s room.
How to Summon a Demon
An ordinary person would have dismissed the contents as childish nonsense. However, Donau, with the excellent discernment he’d honed working at the Count’s estate, recognized that this was the real deal.
Evangeline Rohanson, who had died by hanging, had come back to life. What else but a demon could perform such a feat?
His stupid colleagues were making a fuss, whispering that she was possessed by a ghost or had become a devil, cowering before a mere girl. Low-class fools! The important question was how Evangeline Rohanson had been brought back to life!
And who had summoned the demon!
Only Donau was clever enough to figure it out.
Evangeline Rohanson’s maternal family was the ducal House Hosaquin. Count Rohanson had been receiving massive financial support from them for years, ostensibly for Evangeline’s medical expenses due to her frail childhood health.
Donau had once witnessed the dizzyingly long string of numbers on the ledgers while cleaning the Count’s office. The memory was still vivid, perhaps thanks to the beating he’d received for daring to peek at the documents.
But if Evangeline died, all that money would disappear. Therefore, Count Rohanson must have made a contract with a demon to bring his daughter back to life!
That damn Count! No matter how much he postured as a good person, he was just another noble scumbag who only cared about money. Donau had seen through the Count’s dirty ambitions long ago.
And soon, Donau would become a far more magnificent noble than someone like Count Rohanson could ever hope to be.
O you who stand at the edge, defile the earth with the martyrdom of the innocent. Draw a circle with your bleeding hand. Look up in awe and yearn for salvation.
Let grapes ripen on thornbushes, and figs bloom from thistles. Revere and worship. Welcome the Angel of Light who shall roam the earth and descend upon the world.
The preparations were complete.
He had kidnapped a girl he found loitering outside. He had also drawn the summoning pattern on the floor with his own blood. His arms and fingers were covered in cuts from carving the large, intricate design.
Now, all he had to do was wait for the sun to set and offer the girl’s life to summon the demon.
After memorizing the procedure one last time, Donau tore the paper into small pieces and swallowed them. The dry paper tasted as sweet as a perfectly ripened fruit.
He couldn't let just anyone see this special information. The opportunity to become extraordinary belonged to him and him alone.
“Finally!”
At long last, the sky grew dark. Donau struck a match and lit the candles.
Picking up a well-sharpened knife from the table, he began to dance to the rhythm of the girl’s ragged, gasping breaths. It was a waltz, a dance fit for a true gentleman. The candlelight flickered with his movements, and the shadow cast upon the wall surged and swelled behind him.
Dancing with his shadow as a partner, Donau imagined the future that awaited him after he summoned the demon—a future where he would stand under a brilliant chandelier, not in a dilapidated hovel like this.