I Accidentally Resurrected My Dead Husband - Chapter 39

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 39
Udith gripped the doorframe and caught her breath. The floor was littered with shards of broken glass.
“There’s no dust.”
No dust. The dust that had accumulated quietly at the spot where the Ancient Deity had come and gone was gone now. As she set down the mirror—its back the only thing remaining, the front shattered to pieces—a pale dawn was breaking in the distance.
Udith wiped her sweat-soaked forehead and neck with her sleeve. She touched her throat cautiously, just to be sure; it was unmarred.
“Thank goodness. Oh, Ern!”
Once her heartbeat had settled somewhat, Ern came to mind. Forcing strength into her trembling knees, Udith made her way to his room. She reached for the door to open it without thinking, but it was locked.
“Right, of course.”
Before beginning the Ritual, she’d instructed Henry to lock the door firmly. Udith knocked.
“Henry, it’s finished. Please open the door.”
Henry? Why wasn’t he answering? When no sound came from inside, Udith knocked harder—tap-tap-tap—and rattled the doorknob urgently.
“It’s me. It’s over now, I’m telling you.”
“Away with you, vile thing!”
“I’m not vile—it’s me, Udith!”
“I won’t be fooled. Begone. Leave Ern be!”
Should she praise him for being so thorough, or complain about how annoying this was? Udith gave up knocking and simply collapsed in front of the door. Oh, forget it. The sun would rise eventually and he’d open it then.
* * *
It wasn’t until the morning was fully bright that Henry finally opened the door.
“You were truly the lady?”
“Yes. You’re very thorough, Henry.”
“Ha ha, I pride myself on being meticulous in my duties.”
That wasn’t meant as a compliment—or was it? Udith scratched her head uncertainly and made her way to Ern’s bed. His breathing had stabilized remarkably overnight.
“Ern?”
Udith decided to try waking him. Ern let out a pained sound before forcing his eyes open with difficulty. Behind her, Henry immediately invoked every god he could think of in sheer relief.
“Are you all right? Are you coming to?”
Ern nodded slowly, and looking at Udith, he asked in a hoarse, cracking voice:
“…Yesterday, why did you… scream like that?”
Ern fought to keep his eyelids from falling shut again.
“What… happened…?”
He asked while forcing himself to stay conscious, fighting the weight pulling him back toward sleep. What happened. As though he hadn’t been the one pulled back from death’s door.
“A scream? No one screamed.”
Henry answered with a note of confusion as he brought a cup of water to Ern’s lips.
“Perhaps you heard the lady knocking on the door just now?”
“No, last night.”
“It was quiet last night.”
Quiet last night? Udith recalled the night before—the encounter she’d had. She’d thought that thing’s voice had only reached her ears, but surely her own voice would have carried throughout the entire Manor.
At first she’d spoken quietly, but later she’d almost been shouting—every ounce of her will to make it leave, compressed into her words. Even with the door closed, if someone was screaming right next door, Henry should have heard something. He might not have caught the exact words, but the sound itself—surely he’d have heard that.
“It doesn’t matter if nothing’s wrong.”
Ern took a few sips of water and fell back asleep.
“But Henry, you really didn’t hear anything yesterday?”
“Only the sound of a horse neighing, ma’am.”
Henry hadn’t heard anything, yet Ern, unconscious as he was, had. Had he been aware even during the Ancient Deity’s presence?
“In any case, I’m truly relieved that you succeeded, ma’am.”
Henry wiped his chest in a gesture of complete relief, as though he’d only now allowed himself to breathe.
“Honestly, I thought I’d be sending both of you off on the same day.”
He’d actually been wondering whether to arrange a double funeral. Henry added the remark anyway, seemingly unable to help himself. Udith shook her head and settled onto the edge of Ern’s bed, too exhausted to stand.
“Ma’am, your face is terribly pale. Shall I bring you some tea?”
“Tea? Henry, we don’t have tea in this house. Hot water, perhaps, but—”
Why would he ask that when he knew their circumstances perfectly well? Udith looked at him with eyes that said, You know this. Henry stammered sheepishly in response.
“…Is that still the case?”
* * *
When Ern opened his eyes again, it was just past noon. A burning thirst washed over him, but the headache and fever that had plagued him for days were completely gone. He began to sit up, then hesitated.
‘Why is she sleeping so awkwardly like that?’
Udith was slumped across the bed in sleep. That morning, exhausted beyond measure, she hadn’t even made it back to her own room before collapsing against Ern’s bed.
Henry, too, had spent the night tense with worry, and once he saw that Ern had regained consciousness, he’d collapsed into a chair in relief. The sun stood high at midday, yet neither showed any sign of waking.
‘I definitely heard Udith’s voice yesterday.’
The fever had clogged his ears so badly that he could hear nothing else. Yet even through that, Udith’s voice had reached him. Not clearly—only fragments: his name, Ern, “go away”—just these words registered.
‘I’ll ask her about that when I wake her.’
He didn’t want to wake her. Whatever had happened, Ern understood that Udith had done something. She’d done something to save him, and she’d succeeded. But why?
‘I wouldn’t exactly be a profitable investment to save.’
He wasn’t the sort to move without calculation—profit and loss, always. Even before losing consciousness, Udith had wiped his body again and again with the wet cloth. All while buried in her work on incense candles and whatever else demanded her attention.
‘Keeping me alive just to throw me back into the Arena?’
Well, if that’s how it is, should I go back out again? Ern brushed away the hair stinging his eyes and let out a small laugh. Udith probably hadn’t saved him with that intention, but it seemed unlikely she’d try to stop him if he said he wanted to enter the Arena. She’d probably enjoy it in her quiet way. Or maybe not so quietly at all.
As soft laughter continued to leak out unbidden, Ern wiped his mouth and slowly slipped from the bed, moving to the side opposite where Udith lay leaning.
‘Live long enough, and you end up bedridden over dust that isn’t even worth mentioning.’
Ern made a silent vow that if he ever saw an undying corpse again, he’d reduce it to powder and send it back to nothingness. He rolled his shoulders. His body felt good. His appetite had returned. These were signs his condition was coming back.
“Sleep well.”
Ern moved around the bed to Udith’s side. She slept on, unaware he’d even risen. When he gently brushed away the strands of hair clinging to her cheek, she didn’t stir at all.
‘If I mentioned it was time to make incense candles, she’d wake up.’
A playful impulse seized him, and Ern whispered only “Incense…” near her ear. Udith’s eyelashes trembled. If I’d said the whole word, she’d have opened her eyes. She would have.
You really are yourself. Ern swallowed a quiet laugh and slowly lifted Udith into his arms. She seemed lighter than before—apparently she hadn’t even been eating while nursing him—and he clicked his tongue at the thought.
“Mm….”
“Sleep more.”
As he laid her back on the bed, her position shifted and she seemed uneasy. When he placed his palm over her eyelids as they began to flutter open, Udith soon exhaled a slow, steady breath.
After pulling the blanket up to her neck, Ern stepped out to wash. The fever had broken completely, but the memory of it lingered enough that he wanted to splash himself with cold water.
He was considering whether to open a window for the breeze when he encountered an unexpected friend. The friend seemed genuinely delighted to see him recovered. Ern, too, was glad to see him.
Yet regardless of that gladness, this friend had no business being here.
“…What kind of horse walks around inside the house?”
A horse that belonged in the Stable wandering the Garden wasn’t so strange. But a horse trotting through the corridors inside the Estate? That made no sense.
Still, the horse seemed pleased to see Ern after so long and thrust its muzzle forward. Ern did pet it, though something about the situation felt decidedly off.
“Does everything go strange once you enter this Estate? Or does anyone who eats what Udith gives them step a little outside the bounds of normal?”
He was genuinely puzzled.
* * *
“You moved me here?”
Udith woke slowly, and was somewhat startled to find herself lying in Ern’s bed. She’d fallen asleep leaning against him; she wondered if she’d pushed him away and moved in her sleep.
“I did. You looked so exhausted.”
Ern nodded. He expected Udith would be grateful when she learned that her patient—who’d been dancing on the edge of death just hours before—had given up his bed for her.
“You were worn out. All that trouble saving someone’s life.”
In Udith’s eyes as she looked at Ern moving about perfectly fine was nothing but pride. Ern thought to himself that perhaps gratitude—relief—would be the more appropriate look at this moment.
But Udith had already done enough relieved worrying this morning. It was time for her to feel satisfied with herself.
“That’s right, Ern. Feel free to be grateful. I saved your life.”
Without being asked, Udith had answered for him, inclining her head slightly. Go on, thank me. Her face said it plainly.
Ern was grateful to her. Honestly, he was. But something felt strange. Looking at that elevated nose, the words of thanks that had risen to his lips simply wouldn’t come out. Ern reached up and pressed his finger firmly against the tip of her nose.
“You need to lower that nose.”
“How do you lower a nose?”
“If a nose gets too high, it can come back down.”
Udith swatted his arm sharply. Ern played along for a moment, then raised his finger again to press against her nose.
Udith seemed to give up, making no move to avoid his touch, only glaring at him with narrowed eyes.
“Really, after all the effort I went to keeping you alive, and you don’t even appreciate it.”
“I have a lot of questions for you.”
Ern ignored what Udith had said and tapped at her nostrils lightly.
“First of all, why is that friend in here, inside the Estate?”
Ern pointed to the horse watching him and Udith intently from the doorway. Udith’s expression suggested she didn’t see why a horse shouldn’t come inside the house.
“That one has every right to be inside this Estate. It’s a Spirit Beast.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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