The Husband I Thought Was Dead Has Returned - Chapter 49

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

The Husband Who Should Have Died Returns Episode 049
As the carriage wound back through the mountain road, sunlight filtered between the trees and caught my eye.
Perhaps it was because I had just seen Chloe off, but my heart felt even more unsettled than before.
I studied Yureain across from me. She was one of the true loyalists of House Bereidan. In the original story, had she not been unjustly driven away, would she not have protected Hayden to the very end?
And I had decided to ask Yureain for help. No matter how I thought about it, I could not manage alone.
Since I had resolved to take my dear Ttolmang with me when I fled, I needed perfect preparation. Yureain was precisely the person for that.
“Yureain.”
“Yes, Duchess.”
“Would it be possible to rest for a moment?”
Yureain looked at me.
“There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”
Yureain had the carriage stopped. She instructed the Coachman to keep his distance and watch for anyone approaching.
The mountain was quiet. There was nothing but birdsong and the whisper of wind, and not a soul in sight. Inside the carriage, the silence was even deeper.
“Yureain.”
“Yes.”
I took a deep breath and spoke slowly.
“I need your help.”
Something shifted in Yureain’s eyes.
“What troubles you, Duchess? Please, tell me anything. I would gladly burn myself to ash for your sake.”
What moved me most was that she truly meant those words. And yet, part of me was terrified by them.
Yureain seemed willing to sacrifice her very life to protect Hayden. I hesitated over how to begin, then started carefully.
“No matter how I think about it, the current situation feels far from ordinary.”
….
Light filtered through the leaves and seeped into the carriage. Shadows danced across my hands. That peace was merely the tip of an iceberg.
“The Harmony Society, Countess Caslit, the Temple, and Hejest—when war breaks out, Cherez will have to leave. That means only Hayden and I remain in this Mansion.”
As those words left my lips, my chest ached.
“I don’t know how long that time will be.”
He will never return. That time will stretch into eternity. But I could not speak of such things. It was a future that had not yet come to pass.
Yureain closed her lips, then spoke slowly.
“Last year, the seal was broken for only a week.”
The duration of the seal breaking and being restored was random each time.
Last year, it took Cherez a week to lead the Knight Order to the Eastern Front and return. I had heard that even during that single week, the Mansion was fraught with tension.
“Do you think it will be the same this year?”
Yureain slowly shook her head.
“No. The duration of the seal breaking varies each time. However, the seal weakens periodically, and when those cycles align, the number of monsters surges dramatically. I cannot say whether we will be fortunate enough for this to end in just a week.”
I exhaled slowly. Fortunately, Yureain shared my concerns. But I did not yet know how she would receive what I was about to ask.
“So I want to prepare for any possible crisis.”
A breeze seemed to pass through.
“I hope you will help me, Yureain. To keep Hayden safe, I’m wondering if we might have a place to take refuge—somewhere we could hide, at least until Cherez returns.”
My voice grew hollow as I added those final words. They were merely words to deflect suspicion, nothing more.
“Have you decided where you’ll go?”
“Carencia. I thought Carencia might be suitable. When war breaks out, cities fall into chaos, but rural areas like that remain largely unaffected. It’s also a decent place to hide.”
Several emotions flickered across Yureain’s eyes.
I waited, giving Yureain sufficient time to think and decide. It had taken me just as long to make my own decision, so she deserved the same consideration.
I couldn’t bear to leave Hayden behind. The thought of his unhappiness weighing me down was unbearable. As I’d promised Cherez, I wanted to protect that child’s happiness.
“Carencia is an excellent choice, I believe. A quiet, peaceful village. Few travelers pass through, and being within the Southern Region, it should actually be safer from external threats.”
It was the same reasoning that had led me to choose it. I was relieved. When Yureain agreed, the tension drained from my shoulders.
“However.”
Yureain straightened her posture. She had spent longer in this Mansion than I had and understood how it operated.
“Even if you go, someone will be needed to protect the Mansion. We cannot let it fall completely into someone else’s hands.”
“What about Sir Borgus?”
Regardless of how he’d irritated me, he was a loyal servant.
“I think that’s an excellent choice. And I’d like you to consider Linnen as well.”
It was an unexpected suggestion. Linnen had originally been a person of Hejest.
Yureain explained, reading my hesitation.
“Linnen’s family will be relocating here soon. Right now, Linnen and her family are filled with anger and hatred—directed at Hejest. Why not use that? While you’re away, the Mansion needs your eyes and ears remaining behind. Make Linnen your person.”
Linnen. It was a sound idea. With her family’s hatred of Hejest running so deep, there was no risk of them betraying us.
“One more thing. We’ll need Knights. I think two would suffice. Trustworthy ones, people we can rely on. No matter how I think about it, this is something I should defer to your recommendation on.”
I didn’t know everyone in this Mansion. But Yureain did.
“I will do my utmost.”
The mountain remained quiet. But the atmosphere inside the carriage had changed from before. The bond between us had deepened—by the time we’d spent together and the time we would spend together.
“One last thing—it would be good to have Robin come along too. It’s reassuring to have someone there in case the child falls ill.”
Yureain nodded.
“Wherever you go, I will follow. I should be the grateful one, my lady. For protecting the Young Master.”
Her words made my nose sting.
“I promised. I promised Cherez that I’d make that child happy. I want to keep my promises. For my own sake, if nothing else.”
Somehow, these people had come to mean so much to me. Time doesn’t merely pass—it accumulates.
We had built so much within ourselves.
“As for Cherez…”
“As for the Duke…”
Our eyes met. I was the first to speak.
“I’ll talk to him.”
“Thank you.”
I planned to emphasize to Cherez that I would absolutely protect Hayden. I would do so in a way that wouldn’t feed his anxiety.
Imagining his face, my heart grew desolate.
Was it selfish of me to hope that his final moments would be as peaceful as possible?
I set the carriage in motion once more. The conversation we’d shared today would remain buried in these mountains. Until someday, when all these secrets were revealed.
Beyond the window, spring in the Southern Region was painting the tips of leaves with color. A cruel and tender spring.

* * *
A week passed after we crossed the final checkpoint of the Southern Region. The moment our carriage crossed into the North’s boundary, the landscape beyond the window transformed with cruel clarity.
If the Southern sun had been a radiant golden blessing, the Northern sun was merely crystal scattered across the snow-covered plains. The air that once carried the fragrance of flowers had become a blade piercing the lungs.
Unlike the barren North, the South was truly a blessed land. This was why even among the great houses, their standing differed. It was one of the reasons Hejest coveted Bereidan.
Throughout our journey, Petunia never once set down the box resting on her lap—that humble box containing a single pair of Morigan’s socks, as though it were the only pillar sustaining the remainder of her life.
I had left Morigan in Bereidan.
Petunia’s teeth clenched.

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