I Accidentally Resurrected My Dead Husband - Chapter 59

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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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Episode 59
“The House of Perni itself was nothing to boast of.”
The House Perni had been walking the path of decline for some time. By the time of the current Marquis, little remained save the title itself.
That changed when the present Marquis Perni, with his handsome face and silver tongue, seduced Caroline Rofri, the current Marquis Perni’s wife and a woman of the Penco Kingdom.
“In any case. So you’re going to tell the Marquise about this?”
“I want to be careful. No matter how I think about it, I can’t figure out who cast the curse. The Marquis seems content enough thanks to the Marquise that I doubt he’d seek a divorce anyway. Even so, I shouldn’t meddle carelessly in other people’s domestic affairs.”
Especially matters between husband and wife—one doesn’t simply involve oneself in those. No matter how pure one’s intentions, you’ll only hear resentment in return.
“A moral sense, a good heart….”
“A moral sense, and what?”
“…Just a hint, maybe.”
After that, Udith’s voice grew quieter and her breathing slowed. Her eyelids, which had been opening and closing, now seemed stuck together and wouldn’t part.
“…Sleep?”
“Mm.”
Ordinarily, Udith wouldn’t have fallen asleep so easily. Brazen as she could be, in neither her past life nor this one had she ever held a man’s hand. No matter how comfortable Ern made her feel, lying in a bed beside a man, holding hands as they slept—that shouldn’t have felt comfortable at all.
But Udith had been sleep-deprived lately on account of strange dreams. Discomfort couldn’t withstand exhaustion. Before long, she had slipped into slumber.
“Sleep well.”
For Ern, too, it was the first time holding someone’s hand while lying beside them. The first time hearing another person’s breathing and heartbeat from his own bed. It felt unfamiliar, strange, and somehow confusing—but not bad.
Ern watched Udith’s closed eyes before closing his own. Sleep was a long time coming. Even after their joined hands had warmed to the same temperature, still it didn’t come.
* * *
……
It was a suffocating morning.
Ern, who had managed to fall asleep only around dawn, woke up with a strange tightness in his chest. Udith, who had been sleeping on her side, was now resting her head on his chest. More troubling still, one of her hands had worked its way inside his nightshirt and was claiming territory over his firm abdomen.
Was this due to the humid air, or was it simply Udith’s true nature? Ern carefully withdrew her hand from inside his shirt. But the moment her hand came free, she managed with remarkable efficiency to lift the fabric and crawl her hand back inside.
……
Even in sleep, she knew quality when she felt it.
Her palm traced across his bare chest in a way that was oddly ticklish. Left alone, she’d soon be mapping every inch of his torso. Ern sighed and withdrew her hand again, only for her to hook one of her legs up with a sharp movement.
“Mm…”
Udith let out a soft whimper as she rubbed her face against his shoulder. Her drowsy breath tickled the nape of his neck. Unsatisfied with her position, she kept trying to climb higher onto him. Her arm crept toward his shoulder, and her leg, which had crossed his knee, continued inching upward along his thigh—and higher still.
“…No.”
With that, Ern bolted upright.
“Ah!”
As a result, Udith tumbled sideways and struck her forehead against the wall. Had the wall not been flush against the bed, she would surely have fallen. Ern was aware of this, but he’d had to get up.
If Udith had continued crawling up over him much further, something rather scandalous would have happened. Something far worse than Udith hitting the wall. Something irreversible.
“Get up. The sun’s already out.”
Ern rose from the bed and left the room entirely. From Udith’s still-drowsy, unfocused gaze, she could see the nape of his neck flushed a vivid red.
Thanks to Ern’s vitality, Udith had slept dreamlessly and woke refreshed. She stretched languidly and murmured to herself.
“Why’s he angry this early? Such a temperament.”
* * *
Just then, the candles that the Marquise Perni had ordered were finished. Udith came to Marquis Perni’s Residence to deliver them, and took the opportunity to subtly assess the atmosphere.
“Ern, you said you were going to the blacksmith today, didn’t you?”
Ern, concerned that the remnants of the Followers might harm Udith, had been taking her everywhere and bringing her back personally.
When Udith went inside the mansion, Ern would wait at its main gate. Since her visits typically lasted at least thirty minutes, he sometimes handled small tasks during that time. For instance, he’d taken an old sword he’d found at Rainhardt Mansion to the blacksmith, and would go retrieve it.
“I’m planning to go right after you head in.”
“But you’re not taking Gold?”
There was no smithy anywhere near the residences of the higher nobility. The blacksmith was located in the Town Square, a near ten-minute ride away on horseback. Yet here was Ern, about to hand Gold’s reins to Udith instead of taking the horse with him.
“I’ll run there and back.”
“Run there and back?”
What’s gotten into him today? Udith found herself momentarily at a loss for words.
This morning, Ern had been running hard through the gardens of Rainhardt Mansion since before breakfast. Then he’d done push-ups and chopped firewood. And now he was saying he’d run to the blacksmith and back. What in the world was he doing? Without meaning to, Udith looked up at the sky.
Is it going to rain soon? They say mad creatures run about like that when rain’s coming. Though that logic could apply to mad dogs too, couldn’t it?
“Why are you suddenly staring at the sky? Oh, you’re thinking that since the madman’s been running about, rain must be on the way, aren’t you?”
And yet his perceptiveness was uncanny at moments like this.
“That’s not it.”
“Sure it’s not. It’s written all over your face.”
“I was thinking mad dog, not madman.”
Why does he keep forgetting his own nickname? When Udith answered candidly, Ern’s brow furrowed sharply and he sighed. He dried his face with his hands and ran them through his hair, shaking his head at her.
“And whose fault is that?”
Surely he wasn’t saying it was her fault? Whether Udith was bewildered or not, Ern handed her Gold’s reins and took off running toward the blacksmith.
“Running just wears you out, doesn’t it?”
As Udith spoke, stroking Gold’s muzzle, the horse nodded as if in agreement. She led Gold inside Marquis Perni’s Residence while whispering to the horse’s ear.
“The feed I give here is premium quality, so eat your fill, understood?”
While Gold was enjoying the finest oats in the stable, Udith found herself in Caroline Rofri’s bedroom, watching the other woman’s every mood. Today Caroline seemed unusually on edge.
“Once you’ve poured the tea, you can go.”
“But madam, I could attend to your—”
Moreover, Mary, who was usually glued to Caroline’s side, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a sturdy male servant stood holding the teapot, waiting nervously for the lady’s reaction.
He wasn’t quite as strikingly handsome as Ern, but he was certainly above average in appearance, and his physique was impressive enough that his shirt sleeves pulled tight across his forearms as he poured.
“I said the tea service is finished. Don’t make me repeat myself—now go.”
“Yes, madam. I’ll be just outside the door. Please call if you need anything.”
Caroline’s frown deepened; she looked genuinely displeased. Though perhaps the irritation wasn’t directed at the servant himself.
Her skin, which usually gleamed with vitality, had grown dull and drawn. The shadows under her eyes were pronounced, and her expression had turned distinctly peevish—all signs of serious sleep deprivation.
“Madam, are you still losing sleep to those strange dreams?”
“Yes. After I sold that dream to Miss Herington last time, I slept peacefully for two nights. But now the same dream has returned.”
Caroline lifted her teacup, tilting her head thoughtfully.
“Come to think of it, it’s rather strange. Those two nights after I sold the dream were genuinely restful. Do you suppose Miss Herington truly dreamed it in my stead?”
“I’m afraid not, madam. I must confess I owe you the price of that dream.”
As Udith feigned innocence and made a show of reaching into her pocket for coins, Caroline waved her off dismissively. The tips of her nails, which cut through the air as she gestured, were jagged and torn.
Now that she looked closely, Caroline seemed unusually frayed. Her nails, normally immaculate, bore the marks of biting. Her hair was hastily combed. Most of all, she radiated barely suppressed anxiety. Even though she blamed the Dancing Nine-Foot Tall Figure for her sleepless nights, her condition seemed far worse than such a cause would warrant. Udith herself had lost sleep for four nights over that dream, yet not to this degree.
It had been a week since Udith purchased Caroline’s dream, which meant Caroline had only been experiencing the recurrent nightmare for four nights. Yet her deterioration was plainly far advanced compared to what Udith had endured.
‘I need to tell her about the wooden doll under the bed.’
Of course, she had no intention of stating the matter outright. Rather, she would circle around it obliquely, dropping hints that would allow Caroline to discover for herself who had cast the curse—nothing more.
True, it was someone else’s family affair, but given all the food and drink she’d been offered in this house, she couldn’t simply pretend ignorance. Besides, Caroline’s gaunt face stirred something like pity in her.
And how fortuitous that she’d been summoned to the bedroom. Her plan was simple: she would casually drop something, bend to retrieve it, and merely mention that there was something under the bed.
“Miss Herington.”
“Yes?”
Udith was pondering what object she might naturally drop when Caroline leaned forward at the waist.
“I have a request.”

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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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