I Accidentally Resurrected My Dead Husband - Chapter 57

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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 57
“Couldn’t we drill a hole through the crown of her head and extract it?”
Wait—was she seriously suggesting a physical solution to break a curse? Drilling through the crown of her head, no less!
“Isn’t there another way?”
Udith’s urgent question made Tan wave a dismissive hand.
“Of course there is. The Wooden Doll said so at the end—it’s a dance that won’t stop without——.”
Right, come to think of it, the Moist Vapor grew thicker the more the Wooden Doll danced. If they could stop that dance, the vapor would stop manifesting altogether.
“But I didn’t quite catch what —— was.”
“It’s probably a man. If the dreamer were a man, the object would be a woman. They’re specifying the target of sexual desire.”
It was essentially brainwashing while she dreamed. Go out and meet someone of the opposite sex, they were telling her. Satisfy the lust rising like vapor.
“So to extract this vapor, she has to meet a man?”
And not merely meet—but more than that.
Udith gasped in horror. Tan tilted his head in confusion.
Why was Miss Herington reacting so dramatically? It would be awkward for someone without a husband or lover, but Miss Herington had a perfectly healthy husband, didn’t she?
“You have Ern, Miss Herington.”
What—what did he just—! Both Udith and Ern froze in place. Tan hadn’t spelled out exactly what needed to happen, but both of them understood perfectly well what was being asked.
“……Is there no case where the Moist Vapor disappears naturally?”
After an awkward silence, Udith finally gathered her wits and asked.
“If it disappeared naturally, that wouldn’t be a curse—it would just be a dream. Left alone, the dream will keep repeating, and Miss Herington’s body will fill with Moist Vapor.”
“And what happens if her body fills completely with Moist Vapor?”
“Her vitality withers. Everything becomes a chore. At first there’s no appetite, irritability, constant complaints. But eventually, Bone Disease sets in.”
Tan explained that even a cold would lay her out, a small fall would crack a bone, and she’d suffer from Bone Disease cropping up everywhere. This left Udith with three choices.
One: drill a hole through the crown of her head. Two: live a half-life ravaged by Bone Disease. Three: be with Ern.
Udith shook her head and decided to at least ask how deep the hole would need to be. If it was just a thin acupuncture needle, she might be able to endure it.
“What would you drill it with?”
“You know knitting needles? A needle slightly thicker than that.”
Knitting needles were already thick, and this would be thicker still? Just imagining it sent a shiver down her spine.
“That would bleed a lot, wouldn’t it?”
“Quite a bit. If you insist on that method, I’ll ask Beichi for a Hemostatic Medicine he trusts.”
There was uncertainty woven through Tan’s voice—he clearly didn’t know the details himself.
“Old Woman, there haven’t been any deaths from drilling a hole in the crown, have there?”
Udith asked the Old Woman instead of Tan.
“No deaths, but I’ve heard of cases where the person lost their sight as a side effect.”
Lost their sight? No. Absolutely not. Udith let out a sigh that seemed to make the very ground collapse beneath her.
‘I can’t live with Bone Disease, and drilling a hole is too frightening with those complications. I’d rather just….’
Udith turned her head and looked at Ern.
“What? Why are you staring like that?”
Ern frowned and edged slightly away from Udith. But his eyes—faintly reddened beneath, holding a rather pitiful light—followed him as he retreated.
“Ern.”
Her voice as she spoke his name was plaintive. But instead of softening, Ern bristled. How could she make such a decision so easily? At least deliberate for two days, or cling to him desperately when other options failed—but to decide the moment she heard the proposition? It was absurd.
Of course Ern didn’t dislike Udith. But not like this. A wedding night should at least be done properly…. Anyway.
“I’d recommend drilling through the crown. I can help with that. If I drill at the precise spot quickly, it shouldn’t hurt much.”
Easy for him to say—it wasn’t even his crown being drilled.
For Udith, the thought of one night with Ern was equally jarring. But he was her best option. She didn’t want to develop Bone Disease, and she didn’t want to lose her sight drilling a hole. Besides, she couldn’t just meet any random man. Whatever the circumstances, Ern was her husband. If you couldn’t call upon your husband for something like this, what was he for?
Of course, Ern’s attractive exterior also smoothed her decision. Whatever lay beneath, his surface made hesitation brief. Already filled with Moist Vapor, Udith found her eyes drawn to his exposed chest between the unbuttoned shirt, and she unconsciously licked her lips.
The prospect of being held against that firm frame was tempting. Any adult woman would think the same, Udith rationalized without shame. And above all, Ern seemed the type who wouldn’t think twice about passing one night without meaning. The source material hadn’t spelled it out, but his nickname was the Mad Dog of the Empire, wasn’t it?
To earn such a title, he must have indulged his desires freely. What difference would one more night make? That was Udith’s reasoning.
“Stop looking.”
At the sticky weight of her gaze on his skin, Ern quickly buttoned his shirt up to his neck.
“I didn’t leave it open for you to look.”
“Then who was it open for?”
Udith pouted. By law, she had every right to demand a marital night from Ern.
“It’s just a body that will rot away when we die anyway. Think of it as saving one life.”
“What are you talking about, Miss Herington? I don’t rot.”
Ern helpfully reminded her of the time he’d been an undecaying corpse, then fled straight to his room before she could grab him. He was too quick for her to catch.
“This is how it’s going to be, then?”
I feed you and shelter you—can’t you do this one thing?
But Udith wasn’t discouraged. She hadn’t expected him to agree at once. The advantage lay with him, not her; she’d have to go beg and plead before he’d condescend to grant her wish.
Ah, living as a possession isn’t easy either. Udith clicked her tongue and rose from the bed.
“Where are you going, Miss Herington?”
“To have dinner. You haven’t eaten yet either, have you? You must be starving. Come on, let’s go.”
A proper meal would fortify her enough to persuade—or simply wear down—the Mad Dog of the Empire into submission.
* * *
Absurd. That single word perfectly captured Ern’s entire state of mind.
“What am I to you?”
He harbored no particular aversion to such matters. He’d never done it, but that didn’t mean he held any principled objection either. Simply, until now, there had been no one he’d wanted to.
Yet he wasn’t the sort to coddle his body either. By Udith’s logic, flesh rots and vanishes when you die anyway—so if his heart inclined him, he could do it. If it meant saving one person’s life, he could manage it. But.
“How are you showing no hesitation whatsoever?”
This was a matter of principle.
Yes, admittedly, he and Udith were married in the eyes of the law. If consummation was necessary, then naturally it should be with him, her husband. Better that than her going out and dragging some stranger into it.
“After looking at me, she wouldn’t find anyone else worth her attention anyway.”
But her deliberation had lasted mere moments. Was this nothing to Udith? They might be married on paper, yet they hadn’t established what they actually were to each other—not firmly enough for such intimacy. Did that not matter to her at all?
He knew her life hung in the balance. But it wasn’t as though she’d die this instant. Shouldn’t she show at least a few days of anguish, some visible struggle?
Perhaps if any other man had been sitting beside her, Udith would have looked at him the same way. So long as they could share a bed. That realization was profoundly distasteful to Ern.
“……Don’t tell me she’s actually going to Henry instead?”
The image surfaced unbidden—the two of them exchanging warm, affectionate glances. Henry was a man with a pathetically soft heart.
If Udith clung to his trouser leg begging for her life, softhearted Henry might just yield to her plea. Of course, before it came to that, Ern would see to it himself. But in any case, not today.
“What does she even think of me, anyway….”
The more he thought about it, the more Udith infuriated him. They’d be seeing each other’s faces for years to come—so if she went ahead and did something like this, what happened after? How would they live with it?
“She didn’t even spare a thought for such worries.”
Just as irritation began its sharp climb, a knock sounded—and the door swung open simultaneously. Udith didn’t wait for permission from the room’s occupant; she thrust her head through first.
“Ern, listen to what I have to—”
“No.”
Before Udith could even set foot fully into the room, Ern seized her crown and spun her around, ejecting her back out the way she’d come. Then he locked the door behind her.
He’d half-expected this, but she really was relentless. The moment Ern shook his head and moved to sit back on the bed, he heard the lock mechanism clicking open—click-click-click.

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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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