I Accidentally Resurrected My Dead Husband - Chapter 76

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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 76
I’d shouted that I’d repay the 200 Million Gold before catching the Followers, but truth be told, that wasn’t something that would happen anytime soon.
If I caught the Followers first and the 200 Million Gold debt disappeared, the Rainhardt Mansion would become entirely Udith’s.
Moreover, the money flowing in from the Scented Candle business would go straight to her as well, so there was no reason not to do it. After all, I still had unresolved matters to settle with them anyway.
“Aren’t you going to ask my opinion?”
“Of course we are, Ern. You can’t go on living as an undecaying corpse forever, can you?”
“I’m alive now, aren’t I? I’m not a corpse anymore—what are you talking about, Miss Herington?”
“Then you won’t decay later either? You won’t decay for a hundred years, a thousand years? You still have to repay the 200 Million Gold.”
“Your logic doesn’t make a lick of sense. You’re talking about me not decaying, and then suddenly 200 Million Gold just pops out of nowhere? I can just leave and wash my hands of the debt.”
“Leave? Where would you go? You absolutely cannot leave.”
Udith ground her teeth together. If Ern so much as shifted his weight, she looked ready to pounce.
“This is rather troublesome.”
Ern brushed away the strands of hair fluttering before his eyes. This was the Emperor using Udith to push work onto him.
The Emperor was a persistent man. He would never abandon his will. And with both that stubborn nature and absolute power, well—what could be done? For now, staying by Udith’s side while searching for the Followers’ main body was the only option.
“There’s no helping it.”
Truly, there was no helping it. If he had to obey the Emperor’s command regardless, he might as well take the 200 Million Gold while he was at it—made good sense. So he’d stay, wouldn’t he? What else was there to do? His rationalization collapsed in an instant. Or perhaps the answer had been decided from the start all along.
“You’d better treat me well. Hold my hand, catch the Followers for me—who else do you think would do something like that?”
Cain considered it. As for the Followers, who could say—but he could probably hold her hand, at least. Funny how she made such a show of it.
* * *
I wouldn’t be leaving, not for a while. Ern glanced around his room, one he’d grown accustomed to somewhere along the way. Six years—from first being acknowledged as the son of Count Rainhardt to entering this mansion and joining the Knight Order.
Despite living in this mansion for six years, Ern had never once felt at ease here. Yet why did this place, where he’d lived less than a year since returning, now feel like home?
The thought that he’d have nowhere to go for some time only made the pang of his earlier departure more acute.
“If I eventually had to leave for good, I’d probably regret it quite a bit.”
This reprieve would come to an end; eventually he’d have to go. When the time came, he’d have to leave Udith’s side too—let her be free, since this marriage was never something either of them wanted in the first place. That had been the plan from the beginning. Catch the one who’d made him an undecaying corpse, solve the mystery, then leave without hesitation.
Wherever it was, he’d drift like the wind and fade away to dust.
When he’d made the plan, he’d thought nothing of it, but now as he reflected on it, his tongue tasted bitter. As though dismissing such pointless sentiment, the moment he ran his lips together, there came a knock and the door opened—Udith had entered.
“You’ve changed your clothes? I’m coming in.”
A person he would someday have to set free.
* * *
Tonight too, Udith lay on Ern’s bed holding his hand. He wouldn’t leave until they caught the Followers’ main body. Which meant nights like these—talking softly before drifting to sleep—would continue a while longer.
‘Once I solve the mystery, I’ll leave.’
She knew it. She’d known from the start that he wouldn’t stay. That’s why she’d clung to his pant leg begging for anything but a divorce.
Once Ern caught the Followers, he’d leave without a shred of regret. Even if he stayed in the Capital and didn’t go far, he wouldn’t live with Udith anymore. By then, they probably wouldn’t even be married on paper.
Thinking of that day to come, Udith felt a small pang of melancholy. But she couldn’t let it show. From the original work right up until actually meeting him, Ern had always been a free spirit.
He was someone who couldn’t live bound to anything. So she shouldn’t hold onto him. Even if she was curious, she shouldn’t ask where he’d go. She shouldn’t become the kind of person who’d shackle his ankles. Even if it was a little lonely.
“Why aren’t you sleeping? Is it because you’re so upset about the Emperor giving you that Dress that sleep won’t come?”
When Udith didn’t fall asleep right away as she usually did, Ern asked with a puzzled tone.
“A bit.”
Truth be told, there was some of that too. Udith had trusted the Emperor as much as she trusted the coin he’d drop, so she’d opened the box without a second thought—and there was something like a Dress inside.
Thinking back on it, indignation surged up again. As Udith’s breathing grew harsh, Ern turned his head slightly and murmured for her to calm down.
“Go on and close your eyes and sleep. That way the humid vapor will clear out faster.”
“It feels like most of it’s already gone.”
“No, I don’t think so. The way your eyes light up at every man you see—the humid vapor’s still thick as ever.”
Udith sat up halfway, exasperated.
“When have I ever lit up at every man I see?”
“You were exchanging glances with the Emperor’s aide the whole time, weren’t you? And the Emperor—you stared at him so hard you nearly drooled.”
She had stared rather openly, but not quite to that degree.
“The aide, I was looking because it was fascinating.”
“And the Emperor?”
“He’s handsome. Ern, listen—I’ve never seen someone so handsome in my whole life.”
Actually, ‘someone so handsome’ wasn’t a first. Ern was here. But Udith deliberately emphasized the word ‘first.’ Ern let out a short laugh and sat up.
“Miss Udith Herington.”
He’d used her full name. This meant he was serious. Truly, genuinely baffled and dumbfounded. But getting worked up over looks?
“Is that how a businessman builds his eye for things?”
“I know, I know—you’re handsome too, Ern.”
“What, why is your answer so halfhearted?”
Udith’s attempt to appease him with her answer instead pricked his pride.
“I put plenty of sincerity into it.”
“No, it was completely insincere.”
“It wasn’t. It was genuine.”
Ern gazed down at his interlaced fingers, perfectly still.
“You’re saying this just to humor me because of my hand, aren’t you?”
Ern tightened his grip, fingers pressing deeper into each other.
“Don’t bother saying you won’t hold my hand. Tell me the truth, Miss Herington.”
…….
“The Emperor or me? Who’s more handsome?”
* * *
“Handsome men need maintenance~ The more beautiful I become, what will happen to me~.”
A small wooden cottage with a servant who managed simple housework—laundry, cleaning, and the like. From there too, a cheerful humming drifted out from early morning, the sound of someone in good spirits.
“Let’s see, let’s see.”
Henry, the room’s master, swept his wet hair back with a flourish and positioned himself before the mirror. The clean scent of soap clung to him, fresh from washing. He flashed a grin at his reflection, then studied himself with meticulous care—the sides of his face, beneath his jaw, even the lines of his neck. Today, too, he looked splendid.
“You’re handsome, Henry Spencer.”
No one else was in the room. This was Henry’s morning greeting to himself. He reached for the cream sitting on the shelf below the mirror and applied a generous amount to his face.
“Men need to take care of themselves too.”
As he smoothed the pale yellow cream down to his neck, Henry hummed his tune.
Henry’s hometown was a clan settlement where the Spencer Family gathered. Grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins—all lived together in that place, and among them, Henry had been nothing but an unremarkable child.
Slow to speak, slow to learn, neither particularly skilled with his hands nor with practical matters; he was the sort of boy who came with the perpetual label “just average.” Then one day, as if overnight, his growth spurt took hold, and Henry transformed. His voice deepened, his shoulders broadened, his jaw grew angular, his nose more prominent.
When he’d opened his eyes to it, Henry had become the most handsome man in his hometown. He was his parents’ pride. In what way? His appearance!
“I’m trailing behind Ern a bit, but just wait. With proper care from now on, I’ll be even more striking ten years from now.”
His handsome face, which drew everyone’s affection, was Henry’s great source of pride. He worked the cream carefully even to the back of his neck. His fingertips tapped and pressed, allowing it to absorb, and his skin took on a subtle gleam.
“It’s worth every coin.”
The Men’s Nutritional Cream he’d bought recently was remarkably effective. Age spots faded, wrinkles smoothed, and most importantly, a soft radiance emanated from within his skin. Henry finished by patting both his cheeks with his palms.
“Perfect. Still handsome today.”
* * *
A few days later, at the Rainhardt Mansion.
“Creating that blue tint isn’t easy. If I use too much dye, the scent changes.”
“A subtle blue glow is fine, Sia. Once we add the seashells, it’ll evoke the sea beautifully.”
Udith was in the midst of developing a new Scented Candle with Sia. At that moment, Tan, who had been working outside, came rushing in breathlessly.
“M-Miss Herington.”
“What is it?”
“It’s about H-Henry—Sir Henry.”

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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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