The Husband I Thought Was Dead Has Returned - Chapter 85

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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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The Husband Who Should Have Died Returns Episode 085
The next day.
Gania and Jake arrived carrying a sack of improved crop seeds—potatoes, barley, turnips, corn, and more. They also brought two hens and five chicks in a wooden crate strapped to their backs. As Jake set the crate down, chirping sounds erupted from within, feathers scattering through the air.
“Cluck cluck cluck!!”
Hayden flapped his arms wildly, spinning circles around the crate.
We finally had a source of protein.
Yureain clasped her hands together with delight. Jake surveyed the surroundings and spoke.
“We’ll need a chicken coop. Ha! Something like that will be quick to build!”
Jake moved with purpose. Dorpin assisted him.
In just two hours, the two of them had constructed a proper chicken coop. Once the hens and chicks were released inside, it looked quite respectable.
The chicks wandered around their mother, chirping softly.
Hayden’s eyes widened at the sight.
“Mama! Roana! Cluck cluck cluck! Cluck cluck cluck cluck!”
“That’s right—chickens and chicks. The big friend is the chicken.”
“Big!”
“The small friend is the chick. A baby chicken.”
“Baby! Baby!”
Hayden, with his lips moving earnestly, resembled the chicks inside the coop.
Excited beyond measure, Hayden circled the chicken coop. His flared nostrils betrayed just how thrilled he was.
Hayden pressed his face right against the coop, looking ready to climb inside. A chick poked its head through a gap in the fence. Its tiny beak met the tip of Hayden’s nose. The combination of something so trivial and so adorable was utterly harmless.
“Peep.”
….
Hayden held his breath, staring intently at the chick. I had never seen him concentrate so deeply since birth.
The chick tilted its head. Hayden tilted his head in return.
Good grief, he’s too cute. I should be recording this! Once this time passes, I’ll never see him like this again. The thought filled me with such longing.
“I Hayden! Baby?”
Was he introducing himself? Hayden reached out his hand. They say the fastest thing in the world is a baby’s hand. I quickly grasped his wrist. What if the chicken pecked him? Or worse, those chubby, adorable little fingers might squeeze the chick too hard.
“Hayden, don’t put your hand in.”
“No!”
“You could get hurt… and the chickens and chicks will get startled. If they’re startled, they might not eat and could get sick.”
“Scared?”
“Yes, scared.”
Hayden seemed to consider this, then nodded. He understood. Hayden sat in front of the chicken coop for an hour, resting his chin in his hand, simply observing the chicks at play.
Yureain spoke softly beside me.
“I’ve never seen the young master so calm before.”
“I haven’t either.”
One chick squeezed through a gap in the fence and wandered over to Hayden’s feet. He held his breath, placing both hands on his knees. His wide eyes showed he was nervous. The chick pecked at his shoe.
“Baby!”
Hayden’s cheeks were puffed out as he looked down, brimming with barely contained joy. Oh, he’s absolutely precious.
The chick pecked again. Hayden burst into laughter.
The startled chick panicked and fled into the chicken coop. Hayden grabbed the fence with a bewildered expression.
“No, again! Again! Byeoli!”
When the chick still didn’t return, Hayden turned his gaze toward me. His lips pouted in an expression of deep grievance.
“Mama, Byeoli go! Byeoli come out!”
“If you wait quietly, she might come out again.”
Hayden crouched down again, covering his mouth with both hands. His hunched little back was so endearingly precious.
Five minutes later, the chick emerged again. Hayden’s eyes widened as he clamped his mouth shut with both hands, his small shoulders tensing with anticipation.
Beneath the crimson moon, the child was growing like sunlight. Just as I had wished.
It seemed worthwhile to have come this far. Fortunately, there were no forces threatening to harm the child, and my small one would never be caught up in political strife. For that alone, Carencia—this place—was invaluable.
I hope this becomes a cherished memory for Hayden, a soil where he can plant deep roots. Just like now.

* * *
When light shines brightly, the darkness that contrasts with it becomes all the darker.
The Imperial Palace remained dark even when sunlight streamed in.
The chandelier hanging from the high ceiling was losing its luminescence.
Petunia passed through the dreary main gate of the Imperial Palace and ventured deeper inside. The palace servants bowed their waists. In this palace, Petunia’s other name was fear itself.
Petunia arrived at the Emperor’s Bedchamber. The Emperor lay buried beneath blankets piled like mountains. The room was thick with fragrant smoke—a sickly sweet medicinal stench mingled with a musty odor that pierced the lungs.
“Your Majesty.”
The blankets stirred. A skeletal hand with prominent veins jutted out from between them.
“…W-who is it?”
“It is Petunia of Hejest, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor hastily pushed aside the blankets and revealed himself. He was barely in his late thirties. Yet now his face appeared twice his actual age. His pupils were abnormally dilated.
Petunia smiled wickedly at the sight.
The Emperor’s ruin was courtesy of the drug Petunia had provided.
“Ah, Petunia….”
Relief and longing bloomed simultaneously across the Emperor’s face. Like a man who had glimpsed water in the desert. Pitiful and desperate. Perhaps a beggar on the roadside would suit him better than the master of an empire.
“Did you bring the medicine?”
Petunia sat in the chair beside the bed. Her arrogance bore down upon the Emperor, standing above him. He sat before her with a desperate expression. It was impossible to tell who was sovereign and who was subject.
“Your Majesty, you appear to be in quite poor health.”
“Forget that—give me the medicine!”
The Emperor tried to raise his upper body, but his arms gave out and he collapsed again. The blankets fell away, exposing his forearms—so withered they seemed inhuman. Petunia gazed upon them with cold indifference.
Even in such a state, he remained Emperor. That was what truly galled her. No matter how hard she strived, she could not obtain what the Emperor held without any effort whatsoever. Petunia spoke in a honeyed voice, coaxing him.
“I have brought the medicine. But first, we must discuss a matter. Has there been no trouble in the Southern Region?”
Petunia spoke matter-of-factly. The Emperor, sweat beading on his brow, gazed at the pouch in her hand with drooling desperation.
“The war has been ongoing for months now. The Duke of Bereidan, Cherez, is on the battlefield, while the Duchess and the heir have vanished. The Southern Region’s administration is effectively paralyzed.”
Petunia spoke with deliberate calm.
“S-so what?”
“Is this not Your Majesty’s Empire?”
Petunia’s voice dropped an octave.
“You must send people to the Southern Region.”
“A… a person?”
“Send an Imperial Envoy to the Southern Region. We seize actual control there. The Duke of Bereidan is on the Battlefield, so he cannot refuse, and the Duchess has vanished, leaving no one to resist.”
The Emperor stared at Petunia while gripping the blanket, his unfocused eyes brimming with anxiety.
“Then… you’re giving me medicine?”
Petunia tapped the silk pouch with her finger. The sound of glass vials clinking together echoed from within.
The Emperor’s gaze fixed on the pouch. I heard him swallow hard.
“Once the Envoy reaches the Southern Region and takes administrative control, the Duke of Bereidan will rest in the palm of the Imperial Court’s hand.”
I wanted to starve the Southern Region to death—and those from Evelik who were pulling strings for Cherez as well. I’d cut off their supplies, yet they found external sources to draw from.
‘Cunning beasts, the lot of them.’
Then all I needed to do was sever every string Cherez held.

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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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