Translator: Nox

78 - The Evil Husband (15th Anniversary Edition) Chapter 78

78

===

Michele knew. Her master was born a prince, so he became a soldier, and as a soldier, he killed people.

If he had been born the son of a butcher, he would have killed cows and pigs. To Cesare, there was no difference between humans and beasts. Killing held no meaning for him.

"If he'd been a butcher's son, I'd probably be handling cow guts with him."

As Michele recalled Cesare's recent actions, she muttered to herself out of the blue, prompting Diego, who was beside her, to say something.

"Your Grace?"

"...Ah."

He was someone who would have risen to the top no matter what he was born as. To dare imagine him ending up as a butcher, Michele realized her mistake and scratched her head sheepishly for a moment. Then, she grinned and pointed at the building, whistling.

A short, sharp sound pierced the silent night air. At the same time, the soldiers who had been waiting stormed into the building.

As the soldiers burst through the doors, the people inside panicked and began to flee. But those intoxicated with alcohol and drugs were not very nimble. The soldiers easily grabbed the staggering individuals.

Michele sauntered in leisurely and grabbed the head of a guy trying to slip past her like a rat. She slammed his head straight into the table.

Bang! A deafening sound erupted as if the table would break. With an indifferent expression, Michele repeatedly slammed the guy's head onto the table at a steady pace. Thud, thud, thud.

"Ugh."

Diego, who was following behind, grimaced. He stepped around the fragments of teeth that had fallen from the bloodied man's mouth, scanning the interior of the building. Michele tossed aside the guy who had already fainted and followed Diego.

"I told you bastards not to do drugs, making things difficult... They don't give a damn about the Traon Empire law."

Diego shrugged at the coarse curse, no different from that of a common thug. Ostensibly, the operation was to apprehend those using drugs, but there was no reason for Michele and Diego to be dispatched for the mere task of catching drug addicts.

The reason the knights themselves had stepped forward was to secure a list of nobles who had used drugs here. Cesare had specified the date exactly, so it couldn't be wrong.

However, Diego, who was searching the building with Michele, didn't seem to be concentrating. He looked around the building before subtly approaching Michele.

Michele, who had stopped firing after shooting at a suspicious space, turned to look at Diego.

"What?"

"Do you remember? When we blew up a tavern in Fiore Street."

"Ah."

After beheading King Kalpen, Cesare had blown up one of the largest taverns in Fiore Street. Cesare's knights had been puzzled by the sudden move against the tavern.

"Now that I think about it, I wonder if that tavern... if that was the place."

The words were vague, but enough for Michele to understand. It was a conjecture that Aileen's dead body might have been defiled there.

Michele holstered her gun and crossed her arms in front of her chest for a moment. She frowned, causing her freckles to bunch together, and said.

"I've actually been wondering about something too. About the delusion Senon mentioned back then. What choices would we have made in that delusion? We would have followed Your Grace, of course, right?"

"...Probably."

He couldn't be sure, but it wouldn't have compared to the quiet slaughter that Cesare had begun to carry out beneath the surface of the Traon Empire.

Cesare was the Commander-in-Chief of Traon, but he didn't exactly harbor patriotism. The same was true of his knights, so they probably would have followed Cesare to the point of taking the lead in the slaughter.

For the sake of the dead Aileen.

Michele spat out a curse. It was an assumption that made her feel bad just thinking about it. 'Dead' Aileen, that is.

"You heard from Rohan, right?"

"......"

At the sudden question, Michele pursed her lips and only nodded. When they heard the story that their master had almost killed Aileen, the knights were speechless for a while.

They had learned that Cesare was in a much more precarious state than they had anticipated, but they were frustrated because there was no clear solution.

"For now, the best thing to do is not to create anything that could provoke Your Grace."

Diego sighed. With a worried look, he confided his concerns to Michele.

"But that guy said he's coming with the professors. To see Aileen."

Michele narrowed her eyes. Then, as if she couldn't believe it, she asked back.

"...Seriously, that stalker bastard?"

---

A lingering scent of cigarette smoke lingered at the tip of her nose. Aileen rubbed her cheek with her hand for no reason at the non-existent smell. She kept thinking about last night.

It was the memory of kissing under the orange tree in the rain.

"Rainy days aren't always bad,"

Cesare had said that and taken Aileen into the mansion. Sonio, who seemed to have been watching the courtyard from inside the house, immediately approached and handed over a dry cloth.

Aileen hadn't gotten much rain because she was covered in Cesare's uniform coat. Even so, Cesare took care of Aileen first. He handed his wet uniform to Sonio and used the towel he received to wipe Aileen himself.

'We even slept together.'

Aileen fell asleep in Cesare's arms, listening to the sound of the rain. Cesare also seemed to have gotten some sleep. She couldn't be sure because she didn't see him sleeping, but she guessed that was the case because the look on his face this morning was more peaceful than usual.

Aileen smiled to herself, then quickly composed herself. It was embarrassing for some reason, even though no one was watching. She shook her head and focused on her research again.

The laboratory at the Grand Duke's Residence was equipped with all the tools Aileen needed. Compared to before, when she was tinkering with old experimental tools in a cramped room, it was like heaven and earth had been turned upside down.

Before, she used to buy cheap opium with low purity and experiment with it, but now she was obtaining raw opium and using it as she pleased. Thanks to Cesare's full support, the experiment became smoother.

While the water was boiling, Aileen carefully reviewed the experimental logs she had written so far.

The goal was to extract the analgesic component, which accounted for only about 10% of opium, into crystals. However, she was struggling because the process of removing unnecessary components and extracting only the analgesic component was not easy.

She was repeatedly trying to filter the opium once with boiled water and adding various chemical components.

"Huu..."

The desire to produce results quickly kept making her feel anxious. She kept thinking that she should act calmly, but it didn't work out as she wanted.

Aileen looked at the poppies she had placed by the window to calm her mind for a while. The red petals of the poppies, bathed in sunlight, were fresh. Seeing the color red naturally reminded her of someone.

The painkiller Aileen was trying to develop, Morpheus, meant the god of dreams. It was a name given in the hope that patients suffering from pain would forget their pain and sleep soundly through Morpheus.

According to legend, there were two gates in the place where the god of dreams lived. One was made of bone, the other of ivory.

Dreams conveyed to humans through the gate made of bone were meaningless and quickly forgotten. But dreams conveyed through the gate made of ivory were said to be imbued with the will of God.

Was Cesare's dream delivered by God through the ivory gate? If so, what meaning did it hold? Judging from what he said, he seemed to be having similar dreams multiple times...

'And it just so happens to be a dream of killing me.'

She couldn't help but wonder about the meaning of the dream. It was just when all the water had boiled and she was about to turn off the gas. A polite knock echoed through the laboratory. Then, an employee informed Aileen of a visitor.

"A guest has arrived. They arrived earlier than the appointment time, should I tell them to wait?"

"No. I'll be right out!"

Aileen tidied up her experimental tools and hurried out of the laboratory. It was a guest she had been looking forward to very much. Her professors from her university days had come to visit.

She straightened her clothes and went down to the drawing room. There, a middle-aged man and woman, and a young man were sitting awkwardly, glancing around. They seemed overwhelmed by the splendor of the Grand Duke's Residence.

They were awkwardly clinking their teacups when they all stood up as Aileen entered the drawing room. At first, they paused, not recognizing Aileen, but when Aileen smiled brightly, they finally realized and called out her name.

"Aileen!"

The professors, who had been delighted to call Aileen's name, quickly shut their mouths. Realizing their mistake, they belatedly glanced at the employees. The employees were still smiling, but their eyes were not so kind.

"It's... an honor to meet you..."

Aileen quickly approached and held their hands tightly before the professors could offer their greetings.

"Welcome. I've been wanting to see you so much."

It was when the professors were making emotional expressions at the warm welcome. The young man, who had been standing silently to the side, spoke up softly.

"How have you been?"

The young man with a gentle appearance was a face she had never seen before. Aileen, who had thought he was a student who had followed the professors, blinked with unfamiliar eyes. The man smiled awkwardly and said.

"I'm Lucio."

"Yes? Senior Lucio...?"

Aileen was genuinely surprised. He was the senior who had been closest to Aileen at university. However, she didn't recognize him at all because of his completely changed appearance.

"I've missed you, Aileen."

As Aileen just stared with wide eyes, Lucio added with a faint smile.

"Very much."