I Woke Up from Hibernation and Found a Husband - Chapter 81

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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 81
There was definitely something familiar about him.
The world-weary, characteristically impassive expression, the sturdy build—it wasn’t so much his features as his entire presence that reminded me of Claire. It felt as though I were looking at Claire herself.
“You lot.”
The man who spotted the four of them furrowed his brow. His gaze lingered particularly long on Claire, his persistent stare seeming to pierce through the veil of her ability and see her true form beneath.
“We came to buy some meat.”
Kenneth shrugged nonchalantly and pointed to the shop sign with his finger.
“Are you open for business?”
Grant, displeased by the question, set down the trash bin he was holding and entered the shop first.
“I suppose that means we can come in?”
The three who had been gauging his reaction followed him into the butcher shop. Beyond the counter, Grant’s back came into view as he washed his hands.
“Ebon.”
“Yes?”
“Release your transformation.”
Claire kept her gaze fixed on the man’s back as she spoke. That look from moments ago in front of the shop—there was something oddly unsettling about the emotion it contained, which despite his rough demeanor, was not entirely cold.
“Claire.”
Theodore grasped her wrist and whispered worriedly, but Claire shook her head.
‘The Beastman I saw at the Palace also seemed to recognize something when he saw my face. If he’s someone connected to Mother, then showing my face first and earning his trust takes priority.’
“It’s fine, please go ahead.”
At her urging, Ebon glanced at Theodore briefly before releasing his ability. The moment luxuriant deep pink hair cascaded over her shoulders, Grant, who had been wiping his hands on cloth, turned around and faced her.
Their eyes met. A brief silence fell between them, and then Grant exhaled a deep sigh, leaning his upper body against the counter and resting his chin on his hand.
“Recklessness—you’ve got that in common with your mother.”
His demeanor suggested he had anticipated this, showing no surprise. There was something both irritating and intriguing about him. His brown eyes held an emotion impossible to decipher.
“You know my mother, then.”
“Look in a mirror.”
His tone was blunt, yet oddly, Claire felt at ease.
“Are you a Beastman?”
“Why else would I be here?”
Despite his apparent familiarity with her, Grant showed no particular enthusiasm. His indifferent attitude might have discouraged others, but Claire paid it no mind and moved to the main point.
“Not long ago, at the Imperial Ball, a Beastman went berserk and died. Do you know about it?”
At those words, Grant’s eyes changed. In the silence that followed, as if urging her to continue, Claire’s lips moved again.
“As he was dying, he told me your name. He was looking at me when he did.”
Ever since that moment, I had wondered why he kept looking at me until the very end, and why he had told me Grant’s name.
‘Perhaps Grant knew about what Mother had been doing.’
And seeing his reaction now, I was beginning to feel certain. Even at a glance, the man’s muscles appeared to be the result of rigorous training rather than mere labor.
‘Just like Mother.’
As the face that bore such a striking resemblance to Veronica stared intently at Grant, he seemed frustrated, raising his hand to roughly ruffle his own hair.
“That fool’s judgment must have gotten clouded as death approached.”
“So you did know him.”
“The brat doesn’t need to know about such things.”
“I’m not a brat.”
Claire bristled. At nineteen years old now, she had every right to be indignant.
“I’m an adult, thank you very much.”
She thrust her chest out proudly to prove her point, but Grant merely snorted in response.
“That’s exactly why you look like a brat.”
“Do you know of Umbra?”
“······What?”
The man who had been chuckling condescendingly froze instantly. Theodore and Kenneth rushed toward her in alarm, but Claire pressed on without hesitation.
“That organization—the one that exploits Beastman blood. I’ve already made contact with Umbra before.”
“Where?! Wait, did you meet Leon too?!”
The man vaulted over the counter and seized Claire’s shoulders.
‘Leon?’
She stumbled backward from his rough grip before steadying herself. The man examined her intently, as if assessing her condition.
“Doesn’t seem like you’ve been cursed.”
It was a clue worth noting, but something else captured Claire’s attention first.
Rough hands, yet tender with concern—there was something maternal about his presence.
‘Strangely… I feel at ease.’
As Claire studied the weathered face before her, she let her rounded ears slip free and asked, “Are you a bear-type Beastman?”
Sunlight streaming through the window caught the tips of her small ears, tinting them a soft amber.
The man withdrew his hand from Claire and covered his face as if troubled.
“······Put your ears away first.”
“Bear.”
“We’ll talk after you do.”
“Understood.”
“Yes.”
* * *
In the residential space above the Butcher Shop, the three of them had already reverted to their human forms and gathered in the Kitchen.
“Thank you.”
Grant set down a crude metal cup on the Dining Table. Claire’s eyes lit up at the sight. The cup contained not some herbal infusion, but a rich, milky bone broth.
‘What a delicious aroma.’
One sip confirmed it was genuine stock.
‘How am I supposed to drink this?’
Meanwhile, the other three stared awkwardly at their cups. The steaming meat broth in the high-conductivity metal vessels radiated such heat that even from where they sat, they could feel the warmth—making it difficult to reach for them. Yet Grant and Claire sipped quietly from theirs without apparent discomfort.
‘I suppose thick Beastman palms don’t mind the heat.’
The reality of being in the Beast-Human District suddenly struck her anew.
“As you guessed, I’m a bear-type Beastman. I’m Veronica’s distant cousin.”
“Distant cousin.”
Claire had been so fixated on Lloyd that she hadn’t even considered her maternal relatives, and she regarded the man with curiosity.
“Don’t expect tight family bonds from bear-types. We’re born independent by nature. It’s unusual for someone like your mother to throw her life away for a single man. Well, Veronica is half-breed, so that explains it.”
With that dismissal, Grant made it clear she should harbor no expectations of familial affection from him.
“How much do you know?”
“That my parents were pursuing some organization. And I’m aware of the rumors—that there’s a group called Umbra experimenting with abilities using Beastman blood as material.”
“Damn it. I thought there might be complications since you’re under House Voltier’s protection, but you know quite a lot.”
Theodore’s shoulders flinched at those words.
“If you knew that much, you should have stayed hidden. So why did you come looking for me?”
“Obviously, because I want to learn more about Umbra.”
“Learn more. And what will you do with that knowledge?”
Claire frowned, as if questioning something absurd.
“Obviously, we need to uproot them.”
Grant burst into rough laughter at her words. His lips curled into a sneer, as though he’d just heard the naive prattling of a child.
“Go home. This is no business for whelps like you.”
Crack.
The teacup crumpled in Claire’s hand.
‘Whelp. Whelp. Always whelp.’
She was utterly sick of being excluded from everything, always dismissed as too young, too weak.
“Isn’t this a problem no one has managed to solve, just dragging on endlessly? Then even a whelp’s hands should be borrowed.”
Her words were harsh, uncharacteristic of her usual demeanor, fueled by years of accumulated resentment.
The image of herself in the Cabin, waiting for news that would never come, kept surfacing in her mind.
“That attitude itself is the problem.”
As Grant’s cup also crumpled in his hand, Ebon finally understood why they used metal cups. An ordinary ceramic cup would have shattered into pieces long ago.
“Their malice is not something youthful vigor can handle! If you stumble forward recklessly, you’ll only be throwing your own neck into the jaws of death!”
“Ha.”
There was no getting through to him. Her chest felt tight, suffocated with despair.
Perhaps because she stood before one of her own kind, all the grievances Claire had harbored toward Veronica suddenly burst forth.
“Then what about adults? What makes adults any different?”
We’ll protect you. It’s for your sake. The same hollow words, repeated endlessly. But they themselves—
“Never came back.”
The words fell weakly, heavy with unshed tears. It was the same reason young Claire had never left the window of the Cabin while waiting for Veronica.
“You told me to wait quietly, but you never came back.”

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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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