I Accidentally Resurrected My Dead Husband - Chapter 74

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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 74
It did little good when Ern and Cain told her there was nothing to be nervous about. Udith swallowed hard and entered the Reception Hall.
The Reception Hall was simpler than she’d expected—not shabby, but rather less ornate than the Imperial Palace’s exterior suggested. Its clean, orderly, unadorned character spoke volumes about the Emperor’s temperament.
The Emperor was already seated at the center of the table, waiting for them. Seeing the pile of documents before him, it appeared he’d been working even as they arrived.
“We greet the resplendent sun of the Empire.”
Cain folded one arm across his belly and bowed deeply. Was that Imperial Court protocol? Udith glanced sideways at Ern. He bowed his head slightly as well. Uncertain, Udith followed Cain’s lead.
“Be seated, all of you.”
A voice pleasant to the ear—befitting the male protagonist, naturally—filled the room. Udith straightened without thinking, then froze. The Emperor was staring intently at her, not at Cain or Ern.
‘Beautiful.’
After the initial bewilderment came an involuntary gasp at just how devastatingly handsome he was. Jet-black hair, crimson eyes of unfathomable depth, refined features arranged in flawless harmony—she couldn’t look away. Yes, with a face like that, one could walk in to murder him and walk out in love instead. Absolutely.
“Countess Rainandt.”
“……”
“Countess Rainandt?”
“Ahem.”
Even as the Emperor called her twice and the Aide-de-camp beside him cleared his throat, Udith remained transfixed, her eyes fixed solely on the Emperor’s face.
“Your Majesty, it appears the Countess is quite nervous—this being her first time at the Imperial Palace.”
Cain made excuses for Udith while staring at her intently, but his earnest gaze never reached her.
Ern couldn’t suppress a smirk at the sight of Udith’s vacant expression. He brushed the corner of her mouth lightly with his fingertip. The touch brought her back to herself, and she looked up at him with wide eyes.
“You’re about to drool, Miss Herington. Drooling in front of His Majesty—good idea or bad idea, hmm?”
Ern found it absurd. That the Emperor was a handsome man—Ern would concede that much. Even during his years as Count Rainandt’s illegitimate son, sequestered at Rainandt County Estate to do nothing but train in Swordsmanship, he’d heard rumors of the Emperor’s beauty.
But still—to gaze so openly, so completely entranced? It was baffling enough that Ern couldn’t even summon anger. In fact, he found it somewhat strange. She saw his face every day; she ought to have built up some immunity to handsomeness by now. Yet she reacted to the Emperor this way? It made no sense.
Had the damp haze not quite worn off? True, earlier she’d looked the Aide-de-camp up and down, and now she’s staring at the Emperor with those intense eyes. They sleep holding hands every night—when exactly does this damp haze fade?
Whether it was the damp haze or not, the displeasure was unavoidable. At his petulant touch, Udith’s eyes narrowed.
“Don’t.”
Udith whispered and seized his wrist.
“Then don’t drool.”
“When did I drool?”
“You were about to. Thank me for stopping you.”
Ern twisted his wrist slightly and easily captured the hand that had been gripping his. Udith whispered at him to let go; Ern muttered back that if she could grab his wrist, why couldn’t he grab hers?
“……”
The Emperor watched the two bickering in front of him, his crimson eyes mixing bewilderment with intrigue.
“The person I’m looking at right now—that’s Ern Rainandt, correct?”
The Emperor asked quietly, for the Aide-de-camp’s ears alone. So Ern—that Ern—was standing right before him, squabbling with a woman over whether she could hold his wrist or not? Nonsense.
The more he observed, the more astonished he became.
“Yes, Your Majesty, that is correct.”
The Aide-de-camp bowed slightly and leaned in to whisper near the Emperor’s ear.
“Even cockroaches find mates, so perhaps even mad dogs—”
“I can hear you.”
The Aide-de-camp’s words cut short at Ern’s murmur. Well, the message had been conveyed regardless. Ern released Udith’s wrist and turned to face the Emperor and his Aide-de-camp. Udith quickly lowered her head in embarrassment.
“I heard it was an Arranged Marriage, yet you seem quite fond of each other. Thank goodness. I was actually considering whether I should step in and grant you a divorce.”
Intrigue aside, old grievances were old grievances. The Emperor still remembered. The Ern who used to follow him on every outing, disrupting his courtship. True, Ern had saved the Empress and the Crown Prince later, but the Emperor hadn’t forgotten how irksome Ern had been before that.
I had to deal with such interference in my own romance, and now you two are all lovey-dovey? The Emperor simply felt like being a bit spiteful.
“Countess, should you ever wish to divorce, come to me. I’ll not only grant the divorce but assist with a remarriage as well.”
Udith was about to thank him for the offer when Ern interjected first, with a bitter, sneering laugh.
“That’s an unnecessary offer. Miss Herington has even clung to my pant leg, unwilling to divorce me.”
“I—I did no such thing.”
She hadn’t grabbed his pant leg; she’d suggested consummating the Arranged Marriage instead. Udith felt somewhat wronged, but since it was true that she didn’t want a divorce—that much was accurate—she had nothing to say in response.
“Really?”
The Emperor questioned her in disbelief, and Udith quietly nodded.
“There are so many good men in the world.”
The Emperor shook his head, concluding that Udith simply had poor taste in men.
“Why did you summon us?”
Ern urged the Emperor to move to the main purpose of the audience.
“That’s quite an impertinent tone, Ern.”
The Aide-de-camp clicked his tongue again. Of course, Ern didn’t so much as blink at the reproach.
“I summoned you to commend your recent accomplishments. Thanks to you, we captured Loam and his associates.”
The Emperor addressed Ern as he spoke, then turned his body slightly toward Udith.
“This is all thanks to the Countess.”
“……It was I who captured Loam.”
“But the Countess discovered where Loam was hiding. That achievement is considerable, so appropriate compensation will follow.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
The reward would naturally be gold coins, surely? Udith sprang from her chair and bent at the waist. The Emperor gestured for her to rise.
“And Sir Ern.”
Between “and” and “Sir Ern” lay an unspoken phrase: something like “in any case, you have your merits too.”
“You’re still listed administratively as deceased, aren’t you?”
“Yes, the procedures are complex and it’s been neglected due to the time required, or so I understand.”
Cain answered on Ern’s behalf.
“I’ll see you restored within a reasonable timeframe. Your Knighthood will be reinstated, and we’ll arrange a position for your return to the Knight Order. Is there a particular post you’d prefer?”
Then the Aide-de-camp cut in urgently.
“The Division Commanders won’t approve, Your Majesty.”
The 1st and 2nd Division Commanders had a history of taking Ern in only to dismiss him later, and the current 3rd Division Commander had been his classmate. They would be uncomfortable with someone whose accomplishments outshone their own joining as a mere member.
“If they didn’t like it, they should have captured that traitor themselves and handed him over long ago.”
Besides, I wasn’t planning to keep him myself anyway. That much was clear from the Emperor’s tone. It seemed Ern’s position in the Knight Order would be settled, but then—
“I refuse.”
Ern rejected the offer outright.
“You refuse?”
At Ern’s response, the Emperor tilted his head slightly.
“Then do you want a commander’s post?”
“No. I won’t be returning to the Knight Order.”
“Why not?”
Most knights considered joining the Imperial Knight Order a great honor. Unfortunately for them, Ern’s thinking differed somewhat from the ordinary knight.
“You’re trying to make me work, aren’t you?”
In short, he didn’t want to work.
Ern hadn’t yet decided what to do next. Whether to pursue the Followers’ main organization to the bitter end and finally uncover the truth, or to drift along passively, or to continue—
In any case, he hadn’t settled on anything. Even if he decided to hunt the Followers, he had no desire to return to the Knight Order. Group life—truly, it didn’t suit him. In the past, he had accepted it because he thought that was the only path laid before him. But after being dismissed from the Knight Order, he realized how poorly the mantle of Imperial Knight actually fit. If he ended up pursuing the Followers, he could simply coordinate with Cain as circumstances demanded, the way they had in catching Loam.
There was no need to be part of an organization.
“So you’re saying you don’t want to work?”
“That’s correct.”
His answer was remarkably brazen. A healthy adult man—why wouldn’t he work? With such excellent Swordsmanship, why waste it? Everyone in the Reception Hall except Ern thought exactly the same thing.
“I hear there’s no inheritance from Count Rainandt either. How do you plan to support yourself going forward?”
The Emperor asked out of genuine curiosity. No matter how talented a man was, he still needed money to live decently. Ern still had unclaimed Knight Order pension remaining, but it wouldn’t sustain him for a lifetime.
“Miss Herington here has promised to feed and keep me.”

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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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