I Woke Up from Hibernation and Found a Husband - Chapter 83

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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 83
When reading a book, the passages that leave a deep impression tend to remain vivid in memory.
The protagonist’s trials and the process of overcoming them. Or perhaps love and parting. The brink of death and escape.
When one becomes captivated by grand and compelling events, the trivial details slip away without much concern.
‘But isn’t something strange about this?’
As I met Claire and traveled with her, unraveling the puzzle of Umbra piece by piece, turbulence began to stir within Kenneth’s heart.
‘Why couldn’t I connect it to what I already knew?’
The past I remembered was fragmented.
An unhappy past spent undergoing forced ability injection experiments at the Market. Then Veronica appeared like a hero and rescued me, after which I was handed over to the kind-hearted Guild Master Sio.
The massive events I could hardly forget remained vivid enough to appear in dreams, yet paradoxically, those memories were oddly disjointed.
‘Why couldn’t I recall my own situation immediately after the Laten Plain incident ended? Why did I continue to view the Umbra matter as if it were someone else’s problem? Why didn’t I find it strange when Veronica naturally guided me to my godfather?’
Moreover, Veronica’s rescue of Kenneth and delivery to Sio occurred after she had betrayed the Guild during a mission and disappeared with Ian.
But until I heard about the relationship between Sio and Veronica from Grant’s mouth today, Kenneth had not thought it strange.
‘No. It’s not that I didn’t think it. I couldn’t think it.’
Whenever I tried to recall the past deeply, my mind felt shrouded in fog. Even thinking of the days under experimentation did that. The day I was rescued by Veronica remained unusually clear, but all other days were vague like a mirror obscured by steam.
Things I should remember. Things I shouldn’t remember.
As if someone had clearly distinguished them beforehand, my will was ignored and my thought system had been manipulated.
‘I feel like a fool.’
Kenneth was clever and perceptive enough to hold the position of Branch Master at a young age. But since meeting Claire, as the gaps began to fill, errors started occurring in my censored memories.
‘Sio.’
If someone had tampered with my memories, it would certainly be my godfather’s doing. Whether it was out of pure concern for me or to conceal some truth, I no longer knew, but Kenneth desperately wanted to escape this frustration.
Just as Claire had opened the Cabin door and stepped outside, I pushed forward the ability I had been avoiding and denying all this while.
‘Merely observing the situation is meaningless now.’
I felt the energy condensed at my fingertips create a whirlwind. The moment that taut force scattered into the Streets with a simple gesture—
Wind blew through the Alley where the death-dealing fog had settled.
* * *
Wind blown from somewhere pushed out the toxic gas trapped in the Alley. Theodore carefully laid the collapsed people on the ground.
“Clear away the containers and call for a physician!”
Grant’s voice rang out as he rushed between the poisoned victims, but heavy silence hung among those on the Second Floor.
“What was that power? Was he an ability user?”
Theodore looked at him with a wary expression and asked. The fact that he had helped in this crisis and that he had hidden his ability were separate matters. Especially since Claire possessed an Enhancement ability.
“There’s no point in hiding it now.”
Kenneth, wearing a bitter smile, decided to reveal everything to them.
“Let’s help those people first and then talk.”
Claire gazed at Kenneth with concern, his exhausted face weighing on her. She felt no betrayal at his concealment of his ability.
‘Looking at Ilya’s family alone, there are people who hate their own abilities.’
They spent some time helping Grant with the injured. Fortunately, thanks to quick action early on, there were no fatalities.
“I don’t know how to thank you. We owe you a great debt.”
Grant bowed deeply in gratitude. His expression seemed considerably lighter, perhaps because there had been no deaths.
“Who could have done such a thing? Could it be….”
“It’s not Umbra.”
Grant cut off the pallid Ebon, answering instead. Those who required fresh Beastman blood wouldn’t resort to using lethal gas—the math simply didn’t add up.
“Beastman haters, then. They’ve crossed the line this time, but it’s hardly unprecedented.”
Grant spoke with a trembling voice, then turned to face Claire.
“I’d like to discuss this further, but now isn’t the time.”
Though no one had died, there was an avalanche of cleanup work ahead. Understanding the situation, Claire nodded and spoke.
“Understood. Would it be alright if I came to see you again next time?”
At her question, Grant’s lips curved upward in a refreshing smile.
“Of course.”
Veronica’s child with those resolute eyes, and the brilliantly talented young people assisting her. Grant decided to place his faith in the next generation.
“Come again.”
“Yes!”
* * *
“So you’re saying that ability is a result of Umbra’s experiments?”
“That’s the gist of it. Which means there’s a high chance Veronica saving me wasn’t coincidence.”
The sensation of another’s soul mingling within my body was nothing but horrifying. The soul forcibly restrained and unable to depart for the Underworld would scream incessantly, tormenting Kenneth. After my rescue, those screams eventually faded, but the horror etched into my mind made me refuse to use the ability.
“I’m sorry for hiding the ability all this time. I thought I shouldn’t use it since it wasn’t truly mine.”
Yet when circumstances arose that I couldn’t resolve alone, I found myself unconsciously activating the ability.
Like intercepting explosives about to detonate in the Royal Ball Hall with the ability, or pushing back the poison gas today—tasks an ordinary human couldn’t accomplish.
‘Is this why people fear abilities so much?’
Once I grew accustomed to this sensation, I began to understand the hearts of those who revered abilities.
“You must have suffered greatly. If it’s an ability you gained unwillingly, I understand why you’d hide it.”
Theodore, who had experienced something similar, patted his shoulder first. Claire also understood him in this regard.
“Then was it also Sio, the Guild Master, who made Kenneth’s memories hazy?”
“I think so.”
From the moment the connection between Veronica and Sio was revealed, where they needed to go for information was already determined.
But there was one problem.
“I’m not sure if they’ll meet with us.”
“But Kenneth is a Guild Branch Director—wouldn’t they meet with you?”
“Ah, actually I was fired not long ago for prying into matters regarding Umbra.”
Kenneth let out a hollow laugh and scratched the bridge of his nose awkwardly.
“Based on the Master’s reactions so far, I doubt they’ll agree to meet willingly.”
In truth, the Master of Arcadio was not someone easily met. Even for highly esteemed nobles, standard procedures would take a minimum of three months, as far as I knew.
“Then what should we do?”
Even if Theodore requested a meeting under House Voltier’s name, there was no guarantee when it would happen. Moreover, no one could be certain that the visible clues about Umbra would still exist by then.
“Hmm.”
Kenneth fell silent for a moment, lost in thought.
“There is one method, though I’m not sure if it’ll work.”
“What method?”
“…Connections.”
“What?”
Claire’s question drew a hushed response from Kenneth.
“Trespassing.”
His lips curved upward with mischief. Sio spent most of his time at the Main Building of Arcadio, but he devoted an hour or two each day to the Greenhouse under his personal care.
“The Main Building has plenty of high-ranking mercenaries and tight security, so that’s out of the question—but the Greenhouse? That might actually be worth attempting.”
The moment he finished speaking, Ebon glanced nervously at the others before asking.
“What if we’re caught?”
“Then so be it! If we’re going to get caught anyway, all we can do is pray it’s by the Master himself.”
It was a reckless thing to say. Yet somehow, it held a certain grim practicality.
“What do you think?”
“We have no choice.”
Claire was confident in her infiltration skills. She nodded eagerly.

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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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