I Woke Up from Hibernation and Found a Husband - Chapter 82

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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 82
“Claire.”
Theodore and Kenneth’s eyes darkened as they recognized what was running through Claire’s mind. Having impulsively vented the long-held resentment in her heart, Claire breathed heavily, startled by her own words.
“…I apologize.”
Even if Grant was her mother’s first cousin, the relationship was ambiguous to call them close family. Yet without realizing it, I had grown heated at his condescending attitude toward me as if I were still a child.
As the intense emotions subsided, embarrassment washed over me. I smoothed out the dented metal cup with my fingers, avoiding Grant’s gaze.
“Sigh.”
Grant exhaled a long breath once more.
‘She resembles Veronica far too much—I spoke too harshly.’
He recalled Veronica from her days as a mercenary. A veteran mercenary who skillfully navigated situations with her characteristic boldness. She possessed tremendous responsibility and confidence, and never mistreated those who followed her.
“No. I wasn’t mature either.”
That was precisely why I worried about Claire.
‘As long as they exist, the Beastmen must always tremble in fear.’
Veronica was no mere gold-ranked mercenary.
She belonged to an elite unit directly under Sio, the Master of Arcadia. The elite unit’s purpose was to annihilate Umbra, which exploited Beastman blood and sowed chaos.
‘Half-bloods find it easier to belong to the Guild anyway. While I’m in the Guild, Grant, you protect the people.’
Following her words, Grant established a vigilante group in the Beast-Human District to aid Veronica and oversee the security of the Beastmen.
“But Claire, those words were never meant to belittle you.”
What had become of Veronica, who served as Sio’s right hand from behind the scenes, unable to directly intervene in Umbra for reasons unknown?
After her death, the Beastmen who could not be protected by the vigilante group’s efforts alone only increased, as Umbra grew madly through the Market.
“You’re right—we couldn’t even properly care for ourselves. That’s why I hope you and the others, still so young, will at least remain safe.”
The Beastman who died in a rampage this time was a comrade of the vigilante group. Captured while protecting his own kind, Umbra used him like a living bomb.
“Their cruelty will exceed your imagination.”
Claire, who had been listening intently to his words while quietly straightening the cup, set it down carefully and looked up to meet Grant’s eyes.
“No matter how difficult it is to face them, doing nothing will leave us with far more regret.”
There was a time when I thought I would spend my entire life within that Cabin. A time when I deceived myself, believing the outside world would be tedious and unremarkable.
But stepping out into it, the world proved far vaster and more brilliant than I imagined. Though dark shadows cast their shade, the joy was too radiant to be swallowed by them.
‘Veronica, you truly are her daughter.’
Steadfast eyes that would not waver, an unwavering resolve. Claire possessed a firmness as if she could overcome anything. He observed her companions who had come with her.
Supporting her conviction, they all wore expressions of considerable resolve. Memories of childhood days when they had sworn to protect everyone flickered through his mind.
“Very well. I understand.”
A rough hand reached out and touched the crown of Claire’s head. The touch, ruffling her hair roughly, resembled her mother’s so closely that Claire accepted his hand with a satisfied expression.
“If you wish to know everything, seek out the Master of Arcadia.”
“Pardon?”
It was Kenneth, not another, who started in surprise at Grant’s words.
“The Master?”
“Yes, a man named Sio. He knows the truth of all that has transpired.”
‘Sio.’
Claire nodded as she turned his name over in her mind. Kenneth hastily interjected into their conversation.
“B-but would the Master of such a massive Guild truly meet with us willingly? And even if he did, if he refuses to share information, it would be utterly useless, would it not?”
Even as the branch director, I couldn’t access information about Veronica. Would Sio, a principled woman, reveal everything just because Veronica was her biological daughter?
But Grant merely shrugged at those words.
“Whether you can extract that information depends entirely on your approach. What’s certain is that you can’t learn everything without going through her.”
It was definite that Umbra contained beings capable of manipulating human minds through brainwashing or constraints. Ultimately, to prevent information leaks, even Veronica and Grant, despite sharing the same goals, couldn’t share all their intelligence with each other.
“Go and confront her. The way you did with me.”
Kenneth still wore a skeptical expression but couldn’t find words to object, so he closed his mouth. Claire, who had been nodding obediently, suddenly recalled a name she’d heard moments before.
“Come to think of it, you mentioned Leon earlier······.”
But her words never reached their conclusion.
“Grant! Grant! Help me!”
A scream erupted from outside. Grant moved like lightning, rushing to the window and throwing it open.
“Help me!”
A desperate cry for rescue mixed with sobs. As Grant clenched his teeth and leaped out the window, the others remaining inside hurried to the window to assess the situation.
“What’s happening?”
Claire’s eyes widened as she looked outside. People lay collapsed in various places. She hadn’t heard any explosions or the sound of weapons, making the situation utterly bewildering.
Grant supported a person who was clutching a fallen acquaintance and wailing.
“What in the world happened?!”
“I don’t know. I was just walking down the street when something flew at me from somewhere. Then people started collapsing one by one······.”
“Something?”
Grant’s gaze followed the man’s pointing finger. In the middle of the street lay a black vessel about the size of a brick.
‘Is that a vessel?’
Its shape resembled a rounded cylinder. But the lids attached to both ends were ruptured as if fireworks had exploded······.
Shhhhhhh—.
As a faint hissing sound of escaping air reached his ears, Grant’s face contorted in an instant.
‘Gas.’
“Close the window immediately!”
He shouted toward Claire, who was looking down from above.
* * *
An unprecedented catastrophe unfolded at the ball concluding the summer Hunting Festival. Countless lives were lost, and many suffered irreversible wounds.
‘Without that child, our House will······!’
The incident occurred at the Imperial Palace, where all the prominent noble houses gathered. Many Houses lost their heirs to death or permanent disability.
‘Who on earth committed such an atrocity?’
‘Didn’t you say the last ones causing chaos were Beastmen? Isn’t this the work of those creatures?’
At its core, those who manufactured and sold the dangerous potion and those who illegally consumed it bore responsibility for this tragedy. But those who had already lost family members turned their eyes away from the guilt of the dead and instead sought a scapegoat to bear that guilt.
‘I never liked how those filthy creatures congregate in the Convent!’
‘We should have demolished the Special District long ago. What friendly policies! Ungrateful wretches.’
Before the investigation into the potion dealer was even complete, the blind rage of the masses turned toward the defenseless Beastmen.
‘Today I will wipe out those creatures entirely.’
The toxic gas hurled into the Special District was a byproduct of that fury. The neurotoxin spewing from the weapon thrown in retaliation spread rapidly throughout the entire Village.
“Those with resistance, move the collapsed people immediately!”
Grant shouted, his forehead veins bulging with rage. Only those naturally resilient like Fire Bear and Badger, or those with toxin resistance, didn’t collapse immediately.
Those capable of moving hurried back and forth, evacuating people, but the beastmen’s varied frames made even that seem difficult.
“I’ll help too.”
Claire was about to climb over the window frame to join Grant when it happened.
“Claire, wait.”
Theodore caught her forearm, holding her back.
“I’ll handle it.”
He extended his hand beyond the window. The moment light flickered in his azure eyes, the fallen began to rise one by one into the air.
“…Are you certain?”
House Voltier’s ability was symbolic. For anyone to use levitation in the Beast-Human District during such a volatile time was tantamount to declaring House Voltier’s support for the beastmen.
“I’m fine.”
But Theodore paid it no mind. House Voltier, called the Empire’s Shield—such a title meant nothing if they chose their protected based on convenience.
Among the bewildered crowd, Grant, who grasped the situation, looked quietly up at Theodore.
“The poisonous gas is the real problem. What do we do?”
Even if people were evacuated temporarily, the danger remained as long as the toxic fumes persisted. The containers used in the attack could be collected, but the gas already released lay thick upon the ground.
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Kenneth?”
Claire’s gaze turned to Kenneth, who sat leaning against the window frame. After surveying the scene outside, he turned back to her with a faint, reassuring smile.
‘Kenneth’s eyes…’
Claire’s eyes widened as she caught the subtle luminescence in his violet gaze.
In that moment, the wind began to blow.

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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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