I Woke Up from Hibernation and Found a Husband - Chapter 97

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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 97
“Hehe.”
Isabella, who had bathed with Claire and now lay in the same bed, giggled softly to herself.
“You seem quite pleased?”
“Yes, I’m happy.”
The drowsiness that followed a bath, combined with the warmth radiating from Claire—Isabella was certain that today was entirely hers.
‘That’s right. I wasn’t fair. If I was going to call Young Master by Theodore, I should have done the same for her.’
The gentle voice that had soothed Isabella when she was being spoiled and anxious.
‘Isabella. No, rather—Bella. I’ll call you that from now on.’
When that voice spoke her name, Isabella felt tears of joy welling up. And when Claire had come to sleep beside her to comfort her sullenness, all the sorrow she had accumulated seemed to melt away.
“Claire, could you call my name one more time?”
“As many times as you’d like. Bella.”
“Hehe.”
Isabella giggled and nestled into Claire’s embrace. Watching the child express her affection with her entire body, Claire couldn’t help but laugh softly.
‘I wonder if Angela felt this way.’
Claire often reminisced about her own childhood, recalling the image of Angela whom she had longed for. Certainly, the sight of a small child squirming in one’s arms was something that would not be easily forgotten.
Knock. Knock.
Someone tapped on Isabella’s door.
“Hmm? Who is it?”
“Isabella, it’s me.”
“Brother?”
The door opened slightly, revealing Theodore’s figure. His eyes widened as he hadn’t anticipated finding Claire there.
“Claire? You’re sleeping in Isabella’s room tonight?”
“Yes, it’s been so long since we’ve had the chance.”
“I see. Since it’s been a while for me too, I thought I might talk with Isabella a bit more before sleeping.”
He smiled sheepishly and stepped inside. Two people she adored in her room. Isabella’s mind began to race rapidly.
‘This is my chance!’
‘Claire, you must secure that girl. There couldn’t be a more perfect mistress for House Voltier than her.’
She recalled something Ludwig had once said. A mere contractual engagement was not enough for Isabella. If only she could become a true family with Claire—a real family.
“Brother, lie down here too!”
As Isabella patted the bed enthusiastically, Theodore, who had hesitated for a moment, approached.
“Here. Like this.”
With Isabella at the center, Claire and Theodore lay down together on the bed. Claire wondered what this was about, but seeing Isabella’s expression was so delighted that she decided it didn’t matter.
“Say, Bella? What are you trying to do?”
After a moment of silence, when Theodore asked, Isabella, who had been thinking with her eyes closed, opened her mouth.
“Being… all… together… like… this… feels… so… good!”
Her words came out in an awkward, halting manner.
“Huh?”
Isabella had simply wanted them both to stay close, but she herself had no particular plan. In a state of half-resignation, she blurted out her wish in that clumsy way of speaking.
“I hope it can be like this forever! Brother too, and Claire. Always together like this.”
Oh.
Claire and Theodore grasped Isabella’s intention from those words.
A Contractual Engagement.
It was a condition that bound them to one another, yet simultaneously a mechanism that hinted their relationship could end at any moment.
Isabella feared the day their contract would expire.
Hmm.
Claire felt their subtle gaze upon her. She couldn’t help but notice how the two raccoons pretended otherwise while watching her every reaction.
The termination of the contract.
Now that I thought about it, that was true. Even if winter didn’t arrive immediately, if I defeated Tenel and Gregory during the approaching autumn’s total lunar eclipse, there would be no need to maintain the contract any longer.
But then.
When the contract ended? Would that simply mean farewell?
When had time slipped away like this?
The same worries I’d harbored before entering hibernation last winter came flooding back.
Claire suddenly recalled words she’d exchanged with Grant.
“Avoidance is merely postponement. Where and in what form you exist is something you must decide for yourself.”
What about me now? What do I want to do?
The answer was clear.
I don’t want to leave.
The warmth of the people lying beside me had become familiar without my noticing. The thought of becoming alone again in this world painted so warmly suddenly terrified me anew.
How should I express this feeling?
To Isabella, whose small hand gently grasped the hem of my nightclothes, and to Theodore, whose eyes always held that same unwavering temperature as they pursued only me.
I.
I could feel the raccoons’ chests rising and falling with anxious anticipation as they awaited my answer. Breaking through the silence so profound I could almost hear the pounding of their hearts, Claire spoke with sincerity.
“Yes, I’d like us to stay together like this. All of us, for a long time.”
* * *
“Gregory used the name Knox and moved about, they say. But it’s strange that I’ve never heard that name before. And to think Temper was involved to that extent.”
The next day in the Head of Household’s Study. Ludwig’s expression darkened as he listened to Claire and Theodore recount Umbra’s identity and what had transpired at the Convent.
“We must certainly gather definitive evidence and accuse Temper, but I’m uncertain how the Emperor—who guards his own safety so meticulously—will react.”
Temper was a Noble House that had managed the Convent’s security and the Emperor’s protection since its founding. Moreover, if Empress Bianca was backing them, there was a risk of retaliation without clear evidence.
“We’ve already requested the Beastman Vigilante Corps to search for evidence.”
Ebon and Grant, who remained in the Convent, were working under Sio’s cooperation to obstruct Market’s activities and locate the kidnapped Beastmen.
I could only trust that they would uncover something.
And there was something equally important. Claire recalled what Sio had told her before leaving the Greenhouse.
“Arcadia’s Master said there’s a high possibility Umbra will perform some ritual on the day of the total lunar eclipse.”
“A ritual?”
The form hasn’t solidified yet, so their objective can’t be confirmed, but the fact that they’ve begun such serious activities means the foundation must be complete.
The foundation.
The groundwork that serves as the basis for a ritual. If it’s a ritual grand enough to harness the moon’s power, the foundation’s scale and strength would surely be exceptional.
How do we find it?
First…
“We must search for places within the Empire where strange occurrences manifest. If a cornerstone that has absorbed centuries of effort becomes tainted by corrupted energy, it will inevitably cast malevolent influence upon its surroundings.”
“Malevolent influence…”
In that moment, something flickered through Ludwig’s mind.
‘The Border.’
In recent years, the behavioral patterns of monsters had grown increasingly aberrant, and individuals were becoming more feral.
‘Moreover, Gregory, one of Umbra’s members, has freely traversed the Border under House Voltier’s name.’
“I recall a place. I shall dispatch an investigation team at once. No—I will go myself.”
Flames ignited within Ludwig’s eyes. He could not allow Gregory’s claws to steal anything more from him.
* * *
‘Gregory, that is a living god.’
Those were the words Gregory’s Father had spoken, trembling at House Voltier’s abilities. And he had spent his entire life worshipping that god, as if to prove his own words, before departing this world.
‘No matter how overwhelming the power, how could such blind obsession be possible?’
Each time Gregory witnessed his father—who had been captivated by House Voltier’s abilities and become a devoted believer—he felt an indescribable emotion.
A man possessed by the madness to willingly remain beside a raging inferno even as his own flesh burned away. It was an obsession that transcended reverence.
Yet in the end, I too had been ensnared by the brilliance of these abilities and walked the path of a believer, so perhaps we father and son shared a fate carved from the same mold.
“Is the final sacrifice prepared?”
“It should fall into our hands soon.”
Gregory answered Tenel’s question without hesitation. Upon hearing the answer he desired, Tenel’s lips curved upward.
“Yes, at last the day arrives to erase this bitter resentment. The Rain of Eternity shall surely return to our hands.”
He gazed out the window with a distant expression—eyes that reached not to the present, but into memory. Completely consumed by vengeful spirits, Tenel gazed with profound longing upon the phantom of a Holy Site he had never truly witnessed.
‘Does this madness stem from Imber’s blood?’
If so, was this base obsession of mine and my father’s also influenced by that bloodline?
‘Well, it matters little now.’
Gregory gazed in the same direction as Tenel and recalled their first meeting.

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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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