I Woke Up from Hibernation and Found a Husband - Chapter 88

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 88
Where there is darkness, there is light; where there is light, there is darkness.
In the absence of light, darkness holds no meaning, and where darkness does not exist, light loses its purpose.
When light expands, the world burns; when darkness expands, the world sleeps.
Only the ceaseless rain blurs the boundary, a cradle of indifference.
If you wish to sleep, go to that land. If you wish to sleep, lie upon that earth.
It was a song resembling a lullaby composed of gentle melodies. Tenel, seated by the window, gazed up at the dark clouds and sang the same song over and over again. Gregory listened to that lullaby he had heard countless times, leaning against the wall and steadying his breath.
“Cough.”
Black blood poured from Gregory’s mouth. That viscous substance, like tar rather than blood, appeared to be an alien matter that no ordinary human could produce.
“Gregory, does it pain you?”
The singing ceased as Tenel turned his body to regard Gregory. The wind blowing through the window scattered his hair carelessly.
Gregory could not answer his question, instead retching to expel the sticky substance from his throat.
“Of course it pains you. The curses of the dead that have been poured upon you are countless.”
He descended from the window and knelt directly before Gregory.
“Do you regret it? Choosing darkness?”
Darkness that devours all things and makes them one. That man, darkness itself, urged Gregory’s answer.
“Regret, cough. I do not.”
Barely moving his throat, he spat out his answer as if chewing it, twisting his trembling lips into a smile.
“As it should be.”
Tenel’s expression shifted to satisfaction.
“On that coming day, everything will end. Light and darkness both. Such things no longer hold meaning.”
Gregory did not avert his gaze from the coldness in his eyes.
He was darkness itself, the shadow of the world. A being far more turbid and far more vicious than I, trembling pathetically in the light of House Voltier.
Darkness draws shadows to itself. A shadow that can only exist through light—within darkness, it could simply exist as darkness.
‘Rather than die a worm, I will devour the world.’
It was a base yet grandiose yearning.
* * *
“There seem to be far too many madmen in this world.”
When Claire spoke so bluntly, Grant, who had been drinking broth beside her, rolled his eyes to examine her expression.
Her face was expressionless, but her lower lip protruded slightly—she did not appear to be in good spirits.
“Did you encounter a madman?”
“Not just one, but several.”
“You’ve grasped the truth of life quite quickly. So what brings you to seek me out?”
“You said I could visit anytime, so I came.”
Grant was left speechless by Claire’s words. He had said she could visit anytime, but he never expected her to arrive so soon, and without any particular business.
‘In truth, I stopped by on my way back from Lloyd House.’
Ignoring Hector’s passionate pleas to return, I parted ways with Rozina and made my way back with heavy steps. Suddenly, I found myself thinking of Grant and the Beast-Human District.
‘I wonder if it was resolved well.’
A situation born from prejudice. Claire, who had grown up separated from both humans and beastmen, found it difficult to fully comprehend the hatred and murderous intent they harbored toward one another.
‘How can beings so similar hate each other so intensely.’
In a short span of time, her world had expanded beyond its boundaries into an entirely different realm.
A society where a single ability could kill and experiment on people, where an entire race became a subject of avoidance and discrimination.
“Why do the Beastmen here gather and live in the Beast-Human District? Wouldn’t it be better to hide and avoid people’s gazes?”
Claire, who had grown up sheltered from such stimuli, found herself unconsciously thinking of the Cabin whenever she faced unbearable situations.
Like a snail retreating into its shell, she believed that if she abandoned everything and hid away, there would be nothing more to trouble or wound her.
Upon hearing her words, Grant let out a soft chuckle.
‘I wondered what she’d say when she suddenly came to visit.’
The existential questions that young Beastmen grapple with during their childhood—it seemed they had arrived for her, albeit belatedly.
“There are certainly those who chose as you suggest. Those who abandoned humanity’s company entirely and hid away. They aren’t wrong.”
Grant continued, recalling the toxic gas that had spread through the Streets days ago.
“But those who chose to remain aren’t wrong either. We simply decided to exist together in this society.”
Together.
“This place is our Hometown. If someone believes that a Beastman’s Hometown is only vast nature, that itself is discrimination. For those born and raised here—could there truly be paradise in a land they’ve abandoned, and could they face the children yet to be born with pride?”
The minority must always live carrying their grievances, but Grant chose to stand against that hardship rather than succumb to it.
This District, where he had spent his entire life, the familiar and precious faces of neighbors he had come to know—he became a member of the Vigilante Group and stepped forward to protect them.
“Your mother left this place because she chose of her own will to be with your father.”
At those words, Claire thought of Rozina. Then what decision had she made?
“Claire. Have you ever fled by avoiding a choice?”
Hibernation.
The answer came to mind immediately, but she felt inexplicably ashamed and could not respond.
“Evasion is merely a postponement. Where and in what form you exist—that is something you must decide for yourself.”
It was a statement that went beyond answering her question, piercing through to the heart of her inner turmoil.
Run away. Escape. Set a timeframe and predetermine an ending.
She began to wonder whether the things she had deemed rational truly were.
“Now, go back before it gets any later.”
Grant gave Claire a gentle push on her back.
“Next time you come, it should be after you’ve met with Arcadia’s Master. I’ll be waiting to see what decision you make.”
Propelled by his touch, her heart adrift, Claire obediently returned to the Voltier Mansion.
“Claire!”
As if he had been waiting for her, Theodore came rushing out from inside the Building.
“Everything went well?”
“Yes, I’ve returned.”
After speaking with Grant, seeing him again stirred something peculiar within her. Theodore, who had thrown off his sickbed and held her back, pleading her not to leave. What conviction and emotion had driven him to hold onto her?
“Let’s go inside.”
Theodore led Claire into the Mansion.
“Have you eaten dinner?”
“No. But I ate quite a lot of snacks, so it might be too much.”
“How much did you eat?”
“About twenty-one plates of cake.”
Claire caught him as his foot stumbled.
“Are you alright?”
“I should be asking you that. How did you manage to eat twenty-one plates of cake?”
“We ordered thirty plates, but they only ate nine….”
Speaking of the day’s events, they stepped inside.
“Tomorrow is the day we head to Arcadia.”
“I do hope we can meet directly tomorrow.”
Claire found herself wondering. Now that I knew all the truth, what would I choose?
Revenge? But what comes after revenge ends?
‘Avoidance is merely a postponement. Where I stand and what form I take—that is mine alone to decide.’
Grant’s words echoed through my mind like a prophecy.
When winter returns, will I be able to fall into hibernation once more? It was still unknowable.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————