I Woke Up from Hibernation and Found a Husband - Chapter 89

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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 89
“So that absurd thing is supposedly a plant.”
“Yeah.”
The next day, Claire, Theodore, and Kenneth, concealed not far from Sio’s Greenhouse, gazed up at the bizarre creature visible beneath the opening dome.
“Not a monster, just a plant?”
“…Yeah.”
He seemed to hesitate before answering.
“It was wise not to bring Ebon.”
Though he trained diligently, Ebon’s mobility still lagged behind the three of us, so leaving him behind had proven fortunate. The creature towered well over thirty feet, its bundle of tentacle-like stems writhing from a thick, deep violet stalk—its very presence exuded such savage menace that it could overwhelm a person through sheer intimidation alone.
“Feeding time! Prepare the hoist!”
A wooden cart rolled in laden with whole cattle and pigs.
‘Two cattle. Four pigs.’
Even if I stripped Grant’s Butcher Shop bare, I couldn’t gather this much meat—yet for that plant, it was merely a single meal.
“We need to move now, while they’re distracted moving the feed.”
Following Kenneth’s signal, we crept toward the Greenhouse and, using Theodore’s ability, slipped through the ceiling. We couldn’t descend immediately without risking detection by the staff managing the interior, so we hid behind the structural supports and waited for their work to finish.
‘We made it inside safely, at least.’
Crunch. Crunch.
Yet the sounds emanating from below were far too gruesome to allow easy breathing. A violet stalk bearing a deep green mouth moved like a serpent, coiling around the suspended cattle in the hoist. With the sickening crack of breaking bone, the vine bundle unfurled, revealing an enormous flower bud within.
Though it was called a flower, it was nothing more than a monster’s maw split into five gaping segments.
I could understand why it was on the verge of extinction.
Theodore quietly averted his gaze. Had he witnessed this at the Border, he would have unhesitatingly crushed the flower without a second thought, convinced it was a monster.
“…This person called Sio certainly has… distinctive tastes.”
Unable to muster any defense, Kenneth could only laugh awkwardly.
“The work is complete!”
“Right, the interior nutrient treatment is done too. Let’s withdraw.”
Metal scraped against metal briefly before the ceiling sealed shut.
“Is it finally over?”
After crouching in hiding for nearly an hour, my limbs had gone numb.
“Let’s descend and find another place to hide. After lunch, Sio usually conducts business in the Greenhouse, so it shouldn’t take long.”
At those words, Claire gazed at the carnivorous plant clinging to the wall and asked.
“Are we sure it’s safe to go down? That thing still looks hungry.”
Though the ceiling had closed, the stems, still ravenous, groped frantically across the walls and floor, scavenging for even a morsel of flesh.
“It should be fine. It won’t reach up here.”
With that assurance, Kenneth leaped down toward the ground first. Claire and Theodore exchanged a glance before following him down.
“Wow.”
Claire gazed around in pure wonder. A beautiful terrestrial paradise unfolded around a colossal artificial Waterfall. Small creatures that had remained hidden during the staff’s presence now peeked out their heads, watching the three of us cautiously.
“So it’s not all grotesque things.”
“Exactly! It’s earned high praise for being even more beautiful than the Imperial Palace Greenhouse.”
At Kenneth’s words, Claire nodded and continued surveying the surroundings when her gaze was captured by a pristine white deer.
Standing beside the Waterfall, the noble creature looked down upon us, its snow-white body holding the gaze of winter itself, its magnificent antlers adorned with an ethereal beauty—its narrow eyes fixed upon the three of us, pupils gleaming with quiet intelligence.
‘That creature.’
The vivid violet eyes that contrasted sharply against its white body held an unmistakable emotion.
‘Does it see us as pathetic?’
Why?
“Then let’s try hiding somewhere—ack!”
Before Kenneth could finish speaking, he vanished as if snatched away.
“Kenneth?”
Claire and Theodore turned to him in alarm, only to feel something coiling around their ankles and waists, their faces draining of color.
‘Vines!’
“I can’t reach it!”
As Theodore cried out indignantly, Kenneth, dangling upside down, answered back.
“Three years ago, it couldn’t reach me!”
Theodore ground his teeth in frustration. Claire urgently stopped him as he moved to tear the vines apart before they could truly constrict him.
“Wait. I don’t think it intends to attack us.”
The vines’ behavior was different from when they’d captured the ox. Though they’d lifted all three of them, they showed no intention of consuming them—merely swaying gently.
‘Why?’
In that moment, one of the vines approached Claire.
“Claire!”
Theodore cried out in alarm as it drew near her eyes, but Claire’s expression remained unmoved.
“It seems fine. Somehow, I sense…”
Brush. Brush. Brush.
The vine stroked the crown of her head as if gently caressing it.
“…it’s being kind to us.”
“Ha.”
Theodore let out an incredulous laugh at the surreal sight. Indeed, the vine held his waist loosely, utterly devoid of malice.
‘I can’t very well damage the Guild Master’s plant.’
Theodore was genuinely contemplating whether to stimulate the flower-head to be set down when—
“Enough. This child does not harm living beings.”
A gentle voice resonated through the Greenhouse.
“Ugh.”
Kenneth, still hanging upside down, covered his face, which had flushed red from the rush of blood.
“It’s nice that you’ve made a friend, but I didn’t expect such a sudden visit. Hmm? Kenneth.”
Sio approached them with a smile, his eyes crinkling pleasantly. Like the white deer from moments before, he was entirely pale, with only his violet eyes strikingly vivid.
‘A peculiar presence.’
Though his appearance seemed Kenneth’s age, he radiated the aura of a transcendent who had transcended all worldly concerns.
“Every plant and creature in this Greenhouse is my eyes and hands. How mischievous of you.”
Sio walked past them. As he passed Claire, he smiled mischievously at the state of her disheveled hair.
“You knew from the beginning, didn’t you?”
“If you truly believed you wouldn’t be discovered, that would be endearing in its own way.”
Sio sat at the desk before the Waterfall. As he retrieved his silver-rimmed glasses to attend to his work, a light gesture from him caused the vines to release them and smoothly return to their original positions.
“Yes, what brings you here?”
He asked with calm, knowing eyes—as though he understood everything already.
A brief silence settled between them before Claire stepped forward first.
“You knew my parents, didn’t you?”
Sio smiled quietly without answering. For a moment, Veronica’s image overlapped with Claire’s advancing figure, then faded away.
“You’ve met Grant.”
He remained composed throughout—unbothered by the sudden visitor, unmoved by her questions. He spoke as though he had anticipated everything, his words flowing naturally.
“Grant sent you here.”
Sio appreciated the qualities of the Fire Bear Beastmen. They were always honest, possessing a stubborn integrity that made them strangers to deception.
“Yes. I want to know the truth about my parents’ deaths, about Umbra—everything.”
Sio closed his eyes for a moment.
Veronica and Ian, who had begun their clumsy love. They bore such frustrating similarities—shouldering their responsibilities with their lives on the line, yet unable to share that burden with others.
‘How did Claire inherit all of this from you both?’
Seeing how much Claire had grown, I felt the weight of the years that had passed.
“Once you know, you cannot return to ignorance.”
“I’m already past that point.”
Her answer came without hesitation, and Sio let out a small laugh.
‘There’s no turning back for her now.’
Sio opened a drawer and retrieved a small box sealed with a lock embedded with a blue gemstone—small enough to fit in the palm of a hand.
“Did you bring the key?”

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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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