I Accidentally Resurrected My Dead Husband - Chapter 50

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

Episode 50
“I’ll take everything from here to there.”
“Are you quite certain, miss—or rather, madam?”
Henry caught himself before slipping back into “miss,” a detail he never forgot. That self-proclaimed smile—the kind that won over anyone, regardless of age or gender—never left his face. Despite taking leave from the Security Bureau just to work here, he looked genuinely delighted by it all.
“……At this rate, you’d think his lips would cramp from smiling.”
Ern, who had neither talent nor interest in dealing with customers, watched Henry with fascination. The man seemed better suited to this place than the Security Bureau, truth be told.
“Henry, you’re the best.”
Udith, observing him, looked thoroughly satisfied. When her eyes happened to meet his, her gaze softened into crescent moons.
“She’s giving him that eye-smile.”
With her husband standing right beside her? Ern was flabbergasted as Henry flashed Udith a brilliant smile in return. Was that really the sort of smile a man gave his friend’s wife?
Since Henry was far away, Ern blocked Udith’s eyes with his hand.
“That’s adultery.”
“We just exchanged glances. How is that adultery?”
Udith snorted and pulled her hand free from his.
“Besides, how could it be adultery when I’m a widow?”
She stuck her tongue out at him and slipped back into the shop.
Blocking Udith’s eyes when she and Henry locked gazes had been meant as a joke. Her comment about being a widow and thus entitled to exchange eye-smiles with Henry was surely meant in jest. He knew that—he was certain of it—
“……Yet it feels……”
Why did it feel so dirty?
* * *
“You dared to swindle me? What a wretched woman.”
Within a week of Udith’s Candle Shop opening its doors, Cain understood: he’d been thoroughly played by that reckless woman.
If Smith had truly invested in the shop, he should have stopped by at least once, even late at night. But Smith didn’t show his face, nor did any of his men. Even the Luman Brothers stayed away.
He’d confronted Udith about it, but it was useless.
“The contract says nothing is amiss. Why are you complaining now?”
She thrust the contract he’d been forced to sign at him, while the scarred man at her side casually fingered his dagger. He’d had no choice but to leave, though the sense of injustice nearly drove him mad.
So today, as he often did, Cain poured out his grievances to the tavern keeper. That was when a stranger casually sat down beside him.
“Another round for him. It’s on me.”
The man had a scar across his face that gave him a vicious appearance, yet his smile didn’t seem so sinister after all.
“Who are you to buy me a drink? Not that I’m ungrateful, mind you.”
“You seem troubled. Consider it a gesture of sympathy.”
Cain didn’t recognize the face, but he accepted the free drink without suspicion.
“You look like you’ve been wronged. Since we have time, why not tell me about it? Who knows—perhaps I can help.”
* * *
“Thank you. Please do visit again.”
Days later, in a corner of the shop, Ern stood in shadow watching Henry bid farewell to a customer. Henry seemed to have found his calling in the work; he’d even taken medical leave from the Security Bureau to settle in at Udith’s shop. She was thrilled at not needing to hire anyone else.
Unfortunately for Udith, Ern had no talent whatsoever for customer service. The fact that he had to conduct business while his face was half-covered was impractical from the start. That said, he wasn’t entirely useless. His Keen Observation was excellent—he was adept at spotting thieves.
Customers occasionally left without paying or slipped a scented candle into their pocket. Ern caught them with uncanny precision. So Udith stationed him in a corner of the shop. Ern found it galling. It wasn’t difficult work, but using his abilities merely to catch petty shoplifters felt like a waste.
Besides, he had other matters to attend to—pursuing the Red Wine’s Medium. Mosley had said he’d send word once they made contact with the Medium through Ceres, but no message had come. He needed to visit Mosley at some point.
Yet he couldn’t bring himself to leave Udith’s shop.
“Are the two of you a couple? Or perhaps lovers?”
“No, no. He’s just helping me out for a while.”
“Oh my, you two seem so close I thought you were married!”
It was precisely situations like this.
About one in three customers mistook Henry and Udith for lovers or spouses.
It had happened before, and now even strangers were making the same assumption. Yet neither Udith nor Henry seemed particularly bothered by the misunderstanding.
Only one person was displeased: Ern.
‘Are those two actually……’
And if they were? It was none of his concern. His head, his reason told him as much, yet Ern found himself frowning constantly, sticky displeasure clinging to him like tar.
‘When I needed her, she called me “husband,” whispered sweet words. Now that she doesn’t, she’s suddenly a widow? That’s infuriating.’
Yes, his anger was directed at Udith alone. She’d called him “husband” at the fighting pits, sweet as honeycomb, yet the moment she didn’t need him anymore, she claimed to be a widow? The more he thought about it, the more it rankled.
“So next time I come, that man Henry won’t be……”
The female customer who’d asked about Udith and Henry’s relationship trailed off, her face flushing with embarrassment, before suddenly falling silent.
“What’s wrong?”
When the customer she’d been speaking with abruptly stopped, Udith turned to follow their gaze. In the corner of the shop, Ern stood glaring at her with eyes hot enough to incinerate.
“I—I really should be going. Goodbye.”
“Oh, wait, please come again soon.”
The customer fled as if chased.
“I told you to watch for thieves, not scare away paying customers.”
What an absurd situation. Udith turned to Ern with a look of protest, but he raised his chin with the pride of a man who’d done nothing wrong.
“Aren’t customers just customers? Why would you turn anyone away?”
“Of course not, sir. We wouldn’t dream of it.”
The shop door swung open. Udith, who’d been clicking her tongue and calling out a bright greeting, saw who it was and her face crumpled entirely. She stared at Ern, her lips pressed tight.
“But you just said not to turn anyone away.”
“That’s a customer?”
The man who’d entered was Cain, the former owner. He strode in with both hands shoved in his pockets, swaggering about, and the moment he spotted Udith, he let out a loud false cough—as though summoning her to rush forward and greet him properly.
“What is it this time?”
Since there were other customers in the shop, Udith wanted to avoid any commotion. She blocked Ern before he could go to Cain, stepping forward herself instead.
“I’m here to buy candles at a candle shop. What else would I be here for?”
When the Luman Brothers had been around, he’d behaved with perfect courtesy. Now that they were gone, Cain had reverted to his rudeness, brushing past Udith without ceremony.
“If you cause any trouble, I’ll have the Security Bureau lock you up.”
“Right, so am I allowed to treat customers like this? Give me one of that, and one of that—yes, that one.”
Cain pulled his hand from his pocket and tapped at the displayed candles.
“Are you actually going to buy them?”
Udith asked again, unable to believe it.
“Of course I’m actually buying them. What, you think I’d buy fake ones?”
Cain raised his voice. Udith was anxious—would he really try to leave without paying?—and as she reached toward the candles, Ern suddenly appeared at her side and seized her wrist.
“Wait.”
“What is it?”
“That man just dropped something into the shelf.”
Ern’s sharp gaze swept across Cain. Cain swallowed hard, his throat convulsing visibly with tension.
“Wh-what do you mean he dropped something?”
The sudden shift to formal speech suggested either that Ern was not to be trifled with, or that something had struck a nerve.
“Well, if you’re suspicious, you’re free to look for it yourself.”
Was it the former?
Cain even urged him on. Ern’s eyes scanned the shelf lined with scented candles. Udith looked too, but she didn’t see anything obviously fallen.
Then, with a quick motion, Ern lifted one candle—and something small and black, no bigger than a bean, dropped from beneath it with a soft tap.
“An in—”
Udith had been about to cry out “insect,” but she caught herself just in time, clamping her lips shut. Fortunately, the other customers seemed not to have heard, and Henry was keeping them well distracted, wisely not looking this way.
“It must’ve flown in since the door was open.”
Cain spoke loudly, as if to deflect blame. But in that instant, the beetle-like creature leaped onto Ern’s hand.
Ern instinctively swatted it away lightly, but the creature burrowed through his skin in an instant.
“——!”
Before Udith could even scream in shock, Ern had dashed toward the back door.
“Ern!”
Torn between Cain and Ern, Udith rushed after him at once.
“I’m fine, ah—”
As Udith opened her mouth to ask if he was all right, she watched him draw his dagger and plunge it into his own forearm, and she let out a low moan of distress. What on earth was he doing?

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