WTRM 09

Chapter 9

Elisha’s haughty fan suddenly stopped fluttering.

“What…? How dare you—!”

“And you’re already pretty enough as you are.”

“Pretty…!”

She sucked in a sharp breath and glared at So-hee. The sudden compliment about her appearance had caught her so off guard that she was left speechless.

“T-That isn’t important. What matters is that I’m the real saintess.”

But So-hee continued speaking analytically, without changing her expression.

“No. I’m telling you because I think you should go through regression or reincarnation rather than possession.”

“What?”

“That saintess did nothing wrong. She was simply born as the true saintess and went to claim the place that belonged to her. There isn’t enough justification for taking that life away from her. Honestly, she hasn’t committed any crime, has she?”

“I have every right to take her life away from her!”

Elisha Brown was so thin that her body swayed slightly whenever she raised her voice.

“She was the one who stole what was originally mine! My life! After that woman appeared, she stole everything that had belonged to me!”

“No. It would be more accurate to say that everything was returned to its rightful owner. The person who was holding on to something that wasn’t hers was actually you, Miss Elisha….”

“Shut up!”

Elisha glared at So-hee, her thin fist trembling.

She wasn’t intimidating in the slightest, but it was obvious the consultation was going to drag on, and So-hee could already feel herself becoming exhausted.

Still, a customer was a customer.

The more people she could send through reincarnation and transmigration, the closer she would come to stabilizing the motel’s finances—and returning to her own world.

With the image of the painfully empty gourd floating through her mind, she put on a smile.

“Miss Elisha, why don’t you simply finish with regression without possession, or prepare for reincarnation instead? I would recommend preparing revenge against the people around you who manipulated you and framed you, or even cutting ties with them entirely and surviving on your own.”

“I want the precious things that woman received….”

“I’m telling you this as a professional.”

Elisha suddenly looked at So-hee.

The name tag on her chest clearly identified her as the general manager of the Reincarnation Motel.

“Why would you go through reincarnation and transmigration for such absurd conditions? If it were me, I’d rather dissolve. And who knows? Maybe you’ll be born as a real saintess in the next story, or the one after that.”

A woman who had entered Wicheon around the same time as So-hee had once said that.

Of course, Elisha knew it herself.

A supporting character this prominent—and a villainess at that—would probably become the protagonist of the next novel.

‘But he won’t be there.’

Elisha toyed with the single blue diamond ring she possessed.

It was the first and last token Cedric had given her at their engagement ceremony.

If only she could return to him, she was willing to use even this as payment.

She would definitely return and receive Cedric’s love in full once again.

As the false saintess, she would enter the body of the true saintess.

Elisha turned her head away haughtily once more.

“I know my own life better than anyone. Do it through possession.”

So-hee carefully pulled the corners of her trembling lips upward, but the vein bulging on her forehead was beyond her control.

Today was going to be a very long day.

After eating a hearty dinner, So-hee entered the consultation room to begin Round Two.

She didn’t actually get hungry even if she didn’t eat while staying here, but when it came to relieving stress, there was nothing better than eating.

And the same probably went for Elisha sitting across from her.

“Have some.”

A cup of tea that Kuku had prepared with great care was placed on the table.

He had even included milk tea made by mixing strong black tea with smooth milk, along with crisp, freshly baked biscuits.

They were Elisha’s favorite foods when she was alive.

Elisha, who had desperately wanted that tea, couldn’t hide her delighted expression.

Though she quickly concealed it again.

As she drank the tea, she felt something inside her melt away together with the tension in her body. Before she knew it, Elisha let out a deep sigh.

That was when So-hee spoke.

“How can someone this pretty want to possess someone else’s body?”

Elisha, who had intended to make a stronger argument in Round Two, paused.

She snorted as if she found the question ridiculous, but she was secretly pleased.

‘Hmph. She’s teasing me, isn’t she?’

At first, So-hee had been rude enough not even to pull out a chair for her, yet now she kept showering her with compliments about her appearance.

Elisha hardened her expression as though she were angry, but she couldn’t stop her cheeks from turning slightly pink at the praise.

“So go with regression or reincarnation. You’re naturally beautiful, so you probably don’t realize how important that is, but this is truly one of the greatest blessings there is.”

“Possession.”

“I told you, there isn’t enough justification for it.”

“Possession. Do it that way.”

This possession-obsessed woman….

So-hee finally relaxed the fist she had unconsciously clenched and put down her pen.

“To be honest, possession… yes, if I wanted to attempt it, I could.”

Elisha looked at her with interest.

But So-hee answered firmly.

“But I won’t do it. Absolutely not.”

“…Are you joking with me right now?”

“Listen carefully to what I’m about to explain.”

So-hee picked up her pen and roughly wrote Elisha’s name and the saintess’s name on a blank sheet of paper.

“The real saintess is alive right now, correct?”

“Of course.”

“What do you think would happen if we attempted possession on someone who is alive? Her soul would have to leave her body too. She would have to go somewhere else.”

“…So?”

“Obviously, she would end up in your body. That means your souls would simply be switched.”

“…….”

Elisha seemed never to have considered that part of the matter, because she couldn’t say anything.

So-hee had no intention of backing down either.

No matter how wronged Elisha might have been, there was no reason to steal the body of someone who had committed no crime.

‘The previous motel managers might have done it, but I won’t.’

Choose a method that doesn’t violate basic moral common sense.

That was the first principle So-hee had established after becoming the motel manager.

She had already seen it in the synopsis of the work, but the true saintess had simply reclaimed her rightful place.

Afterward, she never did anything to harm Elisha.

The only people who truly deserved Elisha’s revenge were her adoptive father and his group, who had manipulated her and pushed her into committing evil deeds.

“…That doesn’t matter.”

Really?

So-hee didn’t think so.

Elisha already couldn’t even meet her eyes.

“Doesn’t it? A woman who hasn’t done anything wrong would suddenly lose her body.”

“I-I don’t know. I just need to have Cedric.”

“Elisha.”

She had chosen love over guilt.

Elisha raised her trembling eyes to look at So-hee.

She didn’t even realize how tightly she was gripping her thin hands together.

“Do you really think you could endure that?”

“I can! I can do it!”

She screamed the words out, but So-hee thought otherwise.

Elisha would never be able to enjoy everything she had stolen.

She would simply begin living a false life all over again while pretending to be the true saintess, constantly anxious that someone might discover she had stolen the saintess’s body.

Elisha finally managed to steady her breathing, but her trembling voice did not calm.

“Cedric… wants the real saintess.”

“Then he’ll recognize the real saintess. Not you.”

Elisha looked at her again as though she couldn’t understand what she had just heard.

“The two of them are connected as if by fate. The more you return, take over the real saintess’s body, and beg Cedric for his love, the more you’ll simply become a plot device used to bring the two of them together. In the end, they won’t be able to overcome their fate, and they’ll end up together again.”

“T-That can’t happen.”

“And the worst part is that the real saintess will even take your beautiful face away from you.”

A gasp escaped Elisha before she could stop it.

“Do you understand now? I think we absolutely have to protect the one thing you have going for you—your beauty.”

Elisha felt as though the breath had been knocked out of her.

Even if she took over the saintess’s body and begged for love, she would merely be used as an obstacle in the love story between the two of them.

“Then… what if I act exactly like the saintess? What if I behave exactly the same way she does?”

Unable to let go of her final thread of hope, she looked at So-hee.

So-hee quietly lowered her eyes and once again looked down at the file containing Elisha’s life record.

“You couldn’t withstand the pressure from your adoptive father, so you desperately held on to that position. Because you were afraid of being abandoned again, just like when you were a child.”

She lifted her eyes from the papers and looked at Elisha.

“So your heart must have slowly turned to ash. And as time passed, it only got worse, until you could no longer even fake your expressions and gaze properly.”

“……!”

It was true.

Elisha had always been sensitive because she was afraid people would discover she was a fake. She carefully imitated a gentle expression and doubted the kindness of others.

She had also constantly been on edge, worrying about where Cedric was going and whom he was meeting.

“But you’re saying you want to enter the real saintess’s body again and deceive everyone.”

So-hee looked at Elisha’s trembling hands.

She was already this anxious now, yet she intended to perform a flawless act?

Perhaps she could manage it at first.

But So-hee could already picture what would happen toward the end.

Elisha would become increasingly anxious that people would discover she was a fake and increasingly sensitive about everything.

And there was more.

‘In the first place, something this forced would have a hard time succeeding as possession.’

A supporting character who was supposed to disappear from the story suddenly coveting the protagonist’s position and attempting possession was almost impossible.

Of course, if So-hee embellished and refined the circumstances, there might be some possibility.

But reincarnation and transmigration was ultimately a game of probability.

She couldn’t stand by and watch Elisha sacrifice all her chances at avoiding dissolution for such a low probability.

So-hee unconsciously softened her stiff voice.

“Elisha, I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t go back.”

She paused.

“I’m just saying that if you do go back, I want you to live comfortably without forcing yourself to do anything.”

Elisha silently listened to So-hee’s words, her slender hands trembling.

Just as So-hee was about to reach out and take those hands, Elisha slapped her hand away.

Startled, So-hee raised her head.

Elisha was glaring fiercely at her.

“…How did you know?”