Mom's Possessed (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
“Miss, your room is this way!”
“Oh my! You’re far too thin. You must eat much more and put on some weight!”
“Good heavens! That bruise… Don’t worry, Miss. Now that you’ve returned to the ducal manor, you’ll never suffer such injuries again!”
Bonita was swept away helplessly by the chattering maids, who twittered like sparrows.
Three maids—far more skilled than Aria—washed, dressed, and combed the child with practiced ease, then gasped in awe at the freshly polished Bonita.
“Goodness! You look exactly like the late mistress—just as if she’d grown young again!”
“Do you mean my birth mother when you say ‘mistress’?”
“Of course! Oh—and Miss! You mustn’t speak so politely to us!”
“Why not?”
“Because you are Duke Lysianthus’s only daughter and will one day succeed His Grace as duke yourself!”
“W-What?”
I’m going to become a duke?
…Me?
No matter how many times she heard it, it still sounded unbelievable.
A girl who’d spent seven years living as the daughter of a country prostitute was, in truth, the most noble viscountess in the empire.
It was the kind of tale that belonged only in fairy tales—the very ones her mother used to read aloud when she was even younger.
‘It’s like a campfire.’
Lovely and warm, yet destined to fade before dawn arrives.
Bonita’s little heart fluttered. Fiddling nervously with the unfamiliar fine fabric of her sleeve, the child asked,
“Um… where is Mother? Where is she now?”
“…Mother?”
Mary, the maid who’d heard Bonita’s words, raised an eyebrow.
“Miss, could you possibly be referring to Lady Aria?”
“Yes. I mean—uh-huh.”
“Lady Aria is currently…”
Mary looked troubled. Sensing her hesitation instantly, Bonita clung tightly to Mary’s arm.
“Bring Mother to me! Please?”
“Then, Miss, let me first tie your ribbon and help you into your shoes. After that, we can go see Lady Aria, all right?”
“But I want to see Mother right now.”
“What if your bare feet get all scraped up?”
“Ugh… Fine! But I won’t wear the ribbon!”
The three maids exchanged glances.
‘His Grace specifically ordered us to keep her here no matter what!’
‘If that woman raised the Miss, isn’t she the one who gave her that bruise earlier? Are we really allowed to bring her?’
‘I don’t know! You figure something out!’
‘But what if she starts crying?’
‘Absolutely not! If the Miss cries, His Grace will have us killed!’
A silent conversation passed between them.
None of the three wanted to make their long-lost, cotton-candy-sweet Miss cry—not when their lives depended on it.
Finally, Mary took charge and coaxed Bonita gently.
“All right, Miss. We’ll do it your way!”
Bonita’s face brightened immediately upon hearing the promise.
Seeing that smile, Mary’s lips softened involuntarily. There was a magical power in a child’s radiant joy—one that lifted everyone’s spirits.
Especially when that child bore such a striking resemblance to the mistress they’d revered and loved so dearly.
Mary slipped onto Bonita’s tiny feet a pair of low-heeled children’s shoes crafted from soft lambskin, perfectly fitted to her size. The meticulously stitched black shoes peeked out briefly beneath her pristine white dress with every step she took.
“Now let’s go see Mother!”
Forgetting entirely that she wasn’t supposed to use honorifics, Bonita tugged urgently at Mary’s skirt. Mary gave a resigned smile.
“Very well. Lady Aria is with His Grace in the reception room right now, so we’ll head there, Miss.”
[This is the timeline separator]“So, you’re saying that right now, Miss Aria…”
Tap. Tap.
The man seated elegantly with crossed legs tapped the armrest of his plush velvet chair.
“You’ve been hiding and raising my daughter all this time—knowing full well just how devastated my wife and I were?”
“That’s not precisely my point, but yes, that’s effectively what happened.”
“What reason could possibly justify that?”
A dense killing intent rolled off Luke. Yet Aria remained perfectly calm.
‘So this is how he behaves in front of others.’
In the past, Aria—or rather, Elodie—had become Duchess through a romantic love match with Luke.
Luke had been so utterly smitten with Elodie at first sight that society still gossiped about how the famously refined Duke Lysianthus had turned saccharine-sweet after their courtship.
Elodie alone knew facets of Luke that no one else ever saw—but ironically, she knew nothing of the Luke Lysianthus everyone else recognized.
That was because Luke transformed into an unnervingly docile lamb whenever he was with Elodie.
Thus, seeing her ex-husband like this—cold, sharp, and intimidating—felt refreshingly novel to Aria. Was she frightened? Not in the slightest.
Aria prided herself on having nerves of steel.
Well, perhaps that was overly generous. Elodie’s temperament wasn’t merely “fearless”—it was something entirely different.
As the youngest and long-awaited daughter of the kingdom’s wealthiest earl, with only older brothers above her,
she’d been doted on relentlessly by her family due to her frail health and gentle nature, growing into an adult as warm as spring sunshine.
Though admittedly lacking in practicality.
Her cheerful outlook hadn’t changed much even after marriage—it had simply shifted its focus from family to husband. To her, the world remained a place of pure happiness.
Thus, the loss of her daughter—more precisely, what she’d believed was a stillbirth—had struck her with devastating force.
Precisely because she’d been so happy, she’d been utterly unprepared for the brutal impact of sudden misfortune.
“Isn’t that right, Elodie?”
“Your daughter didn’t actually die. I took her.”
“Since you’re going to die anyway, consider this a kindness from old times.”
And to top it off, betrayal by a trusted friend.
Perhaps it hurt even more because she’d been a hothouse flower—so fragile that grief, guilt, and remorse crushed her until her already weak body gave out completely.
That was how it had been back then.
“If you can’t give me a valid reason, I might just kill you right here, Aria Hilton.”
In other words, the murderous aura radiating from her ex-husband right now didn’t scare her one bit.
Compared to what she’d endured before, this was nothing.
Aria smiled sweetly.
“Really now?”
“Do I sound like I’m lying?”
“If you cause me even the slightest harm, I’m certain you’ll later weep buckets and kneel before me in regret.”
She winked playfully.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing that, but honestly, I’d rather you didn’t. Your Grace looks rather unsightly when you cry.”
“…What did you say?”
Stunned by this string of outrageous remarks, Luke gaped. Had Aria Hilton always been like this?
He’d never paid attention to any woman besides Elodie—but since Elodie had been particularly fond of this timid maid, he remembered her. Aria Hilton had been a pitiful creature: painfully shy, dazzlingly beautiful yet unable to speak her mind properly.
Certainly not someone who’d blurt out whatever came to mind without filter.
Truly, few women dared speak to him this way. Even across the entire kingdom, there were only two—and calling them “few” felt inaccurate. One was his mother, and the other…
no longer existed in this world.
Even after six years, Elodie’s face remained vividly clear in his memory. Luke’s aura plummeted to an almost chilling depth.
“If you open your mouth once more, I won’t hold back.”
“…”
“Is it money you want? Or do you intend to claim motherhood over my daughter and become duchess?”
He sneered as he spat out the harsh words.
“If it’s the former, I’ll give you as much as you like. But if it’s the latter, don’t even dream of it.”
“…Huh?”
Aria reacted half a beat too late to Luke’s words. She hadn’t expected him to turn this cuttingly hostile.
The Luke she knew had been kind-hearted, playful, and only slightly wild—not this.
But Luke Lysianthus didn’t wait for Aria to respond. Arms tightly crossed, his face twisted in displeasure.
“This much generosity should suffice. Kindly stop pretending to be my daughter’s mother—it’s deeply offensive.”
“What—”
“Bonita’s mother is Elodie alone. No other woman can ever claim that title! If you plan to stay here, don’t even—”
Just then—
Creak.
The door opened, and a small child rushed in. Behind her stood a red-haired maid, wringing her hands helplessly, unable to stop the child from entering.
The Duke turned around with a startled expression.
“Bonita, this is—”
But it was already too late.
Tears brimmed in Bonita’s pink eyes, shimmering precariously. Luke flailed his large arms anxiously, utterly at a loss.
Ignoring his pitiful gestures, Bonita ran straight to Aria.
“Mother!”
“Bonita!”
Their cries overlapped—Bonita’s and Luke’s. Aria cleanly ignored her ex-husband’s voice and caught her leaping daughter mid-air.
“Oh, Bonita! You’re absolutely sparkling now! Ten times cuter than before—no, a hundred times! A thousand times!”
“I missed you, Motherrrr…”
Bonita whined, burrowing deep into Aria’s embrace.
Aria still wore the commoner’s outfit of a white shirt and brown suspenders over a skirt, carrying the comforting aroma of fresh-baked white bread and corn soup from breakfast. Bonita inhaled deeply, clinging to that familiar scent.
In a place filled entirely with strangers, her mother’s arms were heartbreakingly tender. Just knowing her mother was here calmed her racing heartbeat instantly.
Watching this scene, Luke’s expression wavered. He’d never anticipated Bonita would rely on Aria this much.
He’d held no expectations of the woman whatsoever.
At first, overwhelmed by emotion, he’d overlooked details—but Bonita’s poor nutrition and stunted growth were obvious at a glance.
A properly cared-for child wouldn’t be covered in bruises and so painfully thin.
Therefore, he’d assumed Aria hadn’t cared for Bonita properly—perhaps even abused her. Naturally, his tone had turned harsh.
He was grateful she’d returned his daughter, of course, and intended to thoroughly investigate how Aria had treated Bonita before exacting retribution.
But this—this was…
“Mother, you really are my real mother, right?”
“Of course I am, Bonita.”
It felt as though he’d become an unwelcome intruder between a loving mother and daughter.
“Then—then you’ll stay with me forever, right? Promise?”
“Well… Mama certainly wants to, but…”
Swish.
Bonita’s head snapped toward Luke. Her eyes, swollen from crying, shot him a glare fit for a villain trying to steal a cub from its mother.
Luke finally surrendered—”temporarily.”
“You may stay at the ducal manor for now, Miss Aria.”
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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oops now i am confused, i guess we will know the truth later
😅😅 They are about to die mentally, sooo exhausting