I Woke Up from Hibernation and Found a Husband - Chapter 105

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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 105
Ever since Aaron received the implanted ability, Gregory had borne the curse of the dead on his behalf as well.
‘Grow accustomed to the screams of the dead? Savor them. Those cries, those shouts. All of it is for the sake of Eternal Rain and Imber.’
These were the words Tenel had spoken to him when he first received the ability injection, writhing in agony and despair.
“Overcome the pain. Remember my soul, my self.”
It was simple enough—if only he could transcend all that suffering.
“If you could accomplish that, all these abilities would have become entirely yours.”
Gregory sat across from Aaron.
Aaron’s pupils were glazed and unfocused.
“Elliott, what is the status of its ability?”
Yet Bianca pressed forward as if oblivious to Aaron’s condition, her question tinged with both greed and anxiety—the loss of Marquis Temper as a major asset had made her desperate for results.
“Your Majesty, the Empress. The Crown Prince is a teacup brimming with contents.”
“What?”
A liquid held together by surface tension, barely contained without spilling over. Both the concentration of ability and the threshold of corruption he could bear were nearly at their limits.
‘To deteriorate to this degree in such a short time, merely from setting down the burden of bearing the corruption in his stead.’
Gregory had lived with the screams of the dead as his music ever since meeting Tenel. He could see clearly that if even a single drop were added to that precariously balanced cup, everything would shatter.
“Once the cup overflows, there is no gathering it back together.”
“What does that matter?”
Bianca raised her eyebrow as if dismissing a trivial concern.
“We’ve already filled that cup so much—we must see it through to the end.”
Her tone betrayed no concern for what might spill out alongside the overflow. Bianca had always been this way—if perfection could be approached, she deemed any risk inconsequential.
‘Yet it is Aaron who bears the burden.’
It was not sympathy for Aaron that moved him now. Even without inheriting Berus’s ability, Aaron was unmistakably Berus. As long as Imber’s rage, amplified by Tenel, dwelt within Gregory, he would have no reason to pity Aaron.
But it was intriguing nonetheless.
The way Aaron burned through everything, clinging desperately. That strange obsession.
Yet Bianca, regrettably, could not be given Berus’s ability.
‘It is not quite a substitute, but there is another ability of equivalent rank.’
Gregory reached into his garment and withdrew a crimson vial.
Geo Everett. A weak man born with the ability of one of the Four Great Houses, yet terrified of his own power.
Damaged during the extraction process, rendering it unsuitable as normal material, yet more than sufficient to sweep away Aaron’s cup entirely.
‘It is best that he thrashes about as violently as possible.’
The more chaos Aaron created, the more eyes would turn toward him.
“Then I shall begin.”
An ominous crimson light flickered through the darkened chamber.
* * *
“Hmm, extracting direct information about Umbra will be difficult. The moment it is revealed, his mind and life will suffer consequences.”
Samuel emerged from within the prison fashioned from ancient plants of Neptro in Arcadia Sio’s Greenhouse, shaking his head.
“As I suspected.”
While disappointment washed over the others’ faces, Sio remained composed, as if she had anticipated this all along.
“Yet we have not gained nothing. By targeting indirect questions and memories that barely slip past the constraints, there is still considerable information to be obtained.”
Among the information gathered, there was also data that could pinpoint Elliott’s current location.
“It appears this person’s ability is restraining Elliott. I have a rough idea of where he is.”
A sealed space. Elliott lay collapsed, his five senses numbed by the ability.
Since Kaya was directly using her power on Elliott, I could deduce the destination without scrambling my mind too severely.
“If we know the location, let’s go rescue him.”
“I’ll accompany you.”
Claire, whom I had been concerned about, stepped forward eagerly. Ebon, who was obsessed with finding the twins, did the same.
Grant, Theodore, and Kenneth naturally intended to come along, but that was when Sio intervened.
“Theodore, whose lineage of abilities can be easily discerned, is not suited for this task.”
This was a matter entangled with the political issue of imperial kidnapping. If this were all a scheme by Umbra, there was a possibility that House Voltier would bear the entire blame. Even if it wasn’t, the mere fact that House Voltier took the lead in rescuing the Crown Prince would be enough to invite scandal.
“Appearance can be disguised using Ebon’s ability.”
“I understand his ability is limited to four people including himself. Besides, it’s not an ability that can be concealed by merely changing appearance.”
“However.”
“Theodore.”
Before Theodore could speak again, Claire called him to a halt.
“Claire…”
“It’s fine. I’m confident I’ll return safely.”
As if urging him to trust her, Claire playfully tapped her shoulder a couple of times and lifted the corners of her mouth.
“Since the images of key executives aren’t visible, it seems best to move quickly and strike fast, focusing on recovering Elliott.”
The moment Kaya realized she was captured, the connection with Elliott might sever. What mattered now was speed.
“I’ll be going.”
“I’ll wait for you.”
Leaving Theodore’s reluctant farewell behind, they hurried out.
* * *
The place where Elliott was presumed to be imprisoned was the Old City District on the Capital Outskirts. During the previous Emperor’s reign, the core commercial district had shifted, causing it to decline and eventually become a slum—a place with many vacant buildings, ideal for hiding something.
“Nothing unusual today either.”
In the basement of what was once the Grand Theater, Matthew regularly checked on the status of the room where Elliott was confined.
‘I’m getting bored, honestly.’
Until recently, I had been occupied with supporting the installation of Choseok, but after that work ended and I was assigned to guard the Crown Prince, tedium crept in daily.
‘Surely they won’t keep assigning me to minor posts like this?’
The ability I had finally acquired—killing and stealing suited my temperament perfectly in terms of interest. When I used the ability to massacre my surroundings, a sense of superiority filled my fingertips, different from any criminal.
That sensation, unknown when I lived as vermin in the Alley, brought greater pleasure than the drugs distributed through the Market.
‘When Sister Kaya comes, I’ll ask for the remaining test subjects and loosen up.’
As I was entertaining myself by torturing imaginary test subjects to ease the boredom, rough footsteps sounded, and the basement entrance door burst open.
“This is terrible!”
One of my subordinates, his face drained of color, breathed heavily. When my eyebrows furrowed at the distance where spittle nearly flew, he shouted.
“Kaya has been attacked! The attacker is—gack!”
He didn’t even finish speaking before he died. Kenneth’s dagger was lodged in the back of his head.
“News travels fast.”
“Who are you!”
Matthew quickly surveyed his surroundings upon confirming the attack.
‘I sense no presence of others. Have they already been dealt with?’
Fury surged at the uselessness of his subordinates, yet alongside it came the exhilaration of combat after so long.
“Are these Sio’s people? It seems Arcadio is finally making its move in earnest.”
“How could I possibly ignore such obvious vermin right before my eyes?”
Though Kenneth spoke with ease, his mind churned with complexity.
‘He looks exactly like Ebon.’
Ebon’s bare face from the Laten Plain—if one were to cleanly erase the half-melted scars, it would be perfectly identical to the face before him now.
‘Whether Ebon’s absence is fortune or misfortune remains to be seen.’
Kenneth, who had split off to search the vast hall quickly, was the first to reach the room where Elliott was imprisoned.
“How many came?”
“Do I have an obligation to tell you?”
“Ha, it would have been better if more had swarmed in.”
Despite the sudden intrusion, there was no fear in Matthew’s expression. Among the countless buildings in the Old City District, he had chosen this expansive Grand Theater as his base for a reason.
“If you want to leave alive, that is.”
Matthew struck the wall forcefully, pressing something hidden within.
‘A button?’
Between the recessed stone walls, a button of subtly different coloring became visible.
Kieeeeeek—
Grrrrrrr—
The moment he recognized it, agonizing shrieks erupted from all corners of the theater. It was the signal that the beasts and experimental subjects imprisoned throughout the Grand Theater had been released.
“Market’s experimental subjects?”
“Ah, you catch on quickly.”
“I know well enough.”
As Kenneth laughed savagely, wind swirled violently in his palm. Matthew, who had joined Umbra only recently, could not possibly know where this ability came from.
“Pray that your comrades’ corpses still have all their limbs attached.”
Even before Matthew’s sneering attitude, Kenneth merely shrugged.
“I doubt it. Your worry is excessive.”
Kenneth’s mind conjured the image of two Fire Bears fighting mercilessly. Grant, a seasoned combatant proven by countless battles, and Claire, who had grown ever stronger by absorbing his techniques like a sponge.
Beware of bears.
Why did he suddenly recall a sign he’d seen during a mountain trail hike long ago? Kenneth grinned and hurled himself toward Matthew.

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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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