Possessing The Obsessive Maniac’s Cotton Doll

Dozens of identical dolls were stacked in front of them. The priests who opened the door vigorously at the sight of the Archduke’s room that was too cute to be correct it was unbelievable, stood there speechless.

“What’s the matter? Is there any problem?”

“Oh, no. It’s not…”

One of the young priests was speechless at Mikael’s question.

He was the only one who answered, but the other priests as well as the investigative team dispatched from the imperial family were clearly taken aback.

Those dispatched from the imperial family were secretly ordered by the emperor to proceed with the investigation in a direction favorable to Archduke Orlov as much as possible. Even if they see a rather embarrassing sight, don’t panic, just focus on clearing the name of Archduke Orlov.

That’s why they came to the Archduke Orlov’s residence with their own mental preparations. However, in spite of these efforts, all of his hardened determination was in vain as he was looking at the dolls piled up in the room of Archduke Orlov of the world.

“Why did you collect so many identical dolls?”

Paulo asked suspiciously. At his question, all eyes in the room immediately turned to Mikael.

“Do I even have to tell you that?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to leave as little doubt as possible?”

“Hmm, that’s right.”

Despite Paulo’s sharp accusations, Mikael seemed to be unperturbed in the slightest.

The investigative team was confused by his confident attitude. They wondered if Mikael was acting or if he was really casual.

“Then let me confirm.”

Mikael said with a calm expression. The investigators held their breath and paid attention to Mikael.

“Seeing that everyone is so focused on me, you must have high expectations.”

At the sarcastic voice, Paulo gnawed his molars. However, soon his angry face was filled with surprise.

It was because one of the dolls, which had been sitting still, began to toddle and came closer to Paulo.

“Oh, my God!”

Paulo was frightened and sought God. Not only that, but all the priests were stunned. Even the imperial family’s investigative team dispatched to help Michael became contemplative.

It was because it was difficult to protect Orlov no matter how openly he showed such a bizarre phenomenon.

“What are you so surprised about? Is this your first time seeing something like this?”

Mikael shrugged his shoulders and gave Caleb a sign with a gesture. Then, in an instant, Caleb drew a long sword from its scabbard and swung it into the air.

“Uh… !”

At first glance, it looked like he was just swinging his sword in the air, but that wasn’t the case. The doll, which had been walking well until just now, fell to the floor without strength.

As he did so, he saw that the thin thread holding the doll had been cut and snapped. It was so transparent and thin that it was invisible at first glance.

“It’s just a simple trick.”

“B- but…”

“Do you need more explanation?”

At Mikael’s words, the investigation team fell silent. The investigation team had nothing to say about the development that went in an unexpected direction.

Paulo, who thought he could deal with him by linking him with black magic, was angry at the fact that the moving doll was nothing more than a puppet.

It was certain that it would be a laughing stock if it was known that the Holy See had formed a team of five people and sent it to the capital just because of this incident.

“Truly, truly, it was a puppet show, but how could the Archduke…”

“Well. I’ve done everything I can, so I’m tired of everything else. I just wanted to try something new. Do I have to explain it to you with a detailed reason for even that?”

“No but…”

“Then that’s it.”

At Mikael’s impudent attitude, Paulo struggled to catch his breath, which became rough with anger. At this point, he wondered if the imperial family had deliberately planned this to make the Holy See a laughing stock.

He wondered if he might have spread rumors about black magic while playing commonplace puppets, and made them come to the fore. It was a pretty reasonable suspicion.

Indeed, if the story were to become public knowledge, the focus would be less on the Archduke’s puppet madness and more on the fact that his antics had pranked the Holy See.

“First of all, we want to make it clear that we never thought that the Archduke had anything to do with black magic. We just did what was prescribed according to the procedure.”

Paulo said nonchalantly. The best option he could do in the current situation was to cover it quietly as much as possible.

“After receiving a report that there was a suspicious doll, I wanted to check it according to the procedure. And when I checked, I found out that it wasn’t a big deal either.”

“I know. There is no way that the Pope who sent you, let alone you, had any intentions.”

Mikael had a cold expression on his face, as if he could see through Paulo’s thoughts. Paulo swallowed dryly at his attitude.

Aside from the fact that the Holy See had become a laughing stock, he was worried about the fact that Archduke Orlov would not be able to stay still if he knew that they had tried to pit him.

“I hope this matter will be resolved as quietly as possible, since the Archduke is also involved in unsavory rumors.”

“Well, I think a little differently. Since it has been entangled with unsavory rumors, shouldn’t it not be resolved quietly in order to publicize my innocence as much as possible?”

“Y- yes, but…”

“My honor is already on the floor. But are you going to cover this quietly and move on?”

At Mikael’s words, Paulo wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

Mikael had a strong attitude, as if he would not back down even a step. If this was the case, he would have to follow his will.

“Of course, I fully understand how the Archduke feels. I’m sure you’re feeling wronged, and you need to make things right. But…”

“It seems that the Holy See is afraid of being made a laughing stock. So, bury my resentment and bear with it, something like that?”

Mikael looked at him with a cold gaze, saying something that Paulo hadn’t dared to say openly.

At the gaze as sharp as a blade, Paulo’s shoulders shuddered involuntarily. In the meantime, he had spent a considerable amount of time as a priest, and thought that his courage would not be inferior to anyone else, but he could not stand the intimidation of Mikael.

It was when Paulo was terrified, not knowing how to resolve this situation, Mikael brushed the tip of his chin and opened his mouth.

“Paulo, I understand what you mean. I know very well what you are concerned about. So we’ll follow your will. Additionally, I will allow you to search the entire castle, as the investigation team won’t stand this.”

“Thank you.”

Mikael accepted Paulo’s words patronizingly. In addition, he gave permission to search the castle.

Originally, all these powers should have been held by Paulo, who belonged to the Holy See, not him. But in an instant, the situation was completely reversed. Although Paulo was trembling with resentment, he thanked them as if nothing had happened.

He hid his trembling hands under the sleeves of his clothes. He couldn’t help it, so he had to step back like this, but he thought he couldn’t just suffer like this.

Concerned, he looked at the doll lying on the floor.

Paulo looked at the fallen doll and the dolls around him in a strange feeling. He couldn’t explain it, but the doll that was moving earlier and the dolls around him felt different. It’s obviously the same doll, but the atmosphere was subtly different.

He looked straight at Mikael, just in case.

“Excuse me, Archduke, can you move other dolls by any chance?”

“Of course. But I have a question for you. What is it that you want to know? That I can puppeteer? Or do you suspect that I only moved that one?”

There was a chilly silence in the room at Mikael’s question. Paulo, weighed down by the momentum, flinched and decided to take a step back.

“I apologize. It’s not like that. I just wanted to make sure that there was no misunderstanding.”

Paulo lowered his head, but continued the words that popped into his head without interruption.

“… Tsk, annoying.”

“Then Archduke. Since you don’t wish to move the doll once again, can we take that doll?”

Mikael’s eyes narrowed at his question.