How To Win My Husband Over

Chapter 33

Episode 33: My Actions

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"…Isn't your sister okay now?"

"What you see isn't everything."

Phew. Fortunately, neither Endymion nor Lorenzo seem to have seen me.

That's a surprising combination of the two. Were they always close?

Apprentices often hang around the temple. Aren't they working?

If Endymion is here, I think Isaac is a little more likely to be here…….

Damn it, if it weren't for Lorenzo, I'd say hello and ask.

"Then sit quietly next to your sister. Why did you crawl here? On the subject of being prosecuted."

"Shut up. If it were you, wouldn't your eyes roll over when your sister vomited blood and almost died?"

"I don't have a sister. Even if I do, I wouldn't turn my eyes around to the wrong person like a bastard."

…….It's somewhat strange. Was Endymion's way of speaking always that harsh?

Besides, I think they're talking about me.

As I listened carefully, I heard the sound of two men moving.

The harsh voices gradually faded away as if they were talking while moving to the other side.

"Oh, the wrong person?"

"Are you aware that if it weren't for your father you would not able to continue your dream as Paladin?"

"Do you think I'm the size of a fucking rat like you? You bastard with no patriotism. Fuck you fuck pope and whatever. How dare those rotten piglets do anything to the North."

"I've never seen a man who defames the Pope in the front yard of a temple. Stop being silly and go train yourself and get rid of your delusions. She is Lady Omerta. Don't forget that."

"Don't be deluded, you little brat. Even if she pretends to be innocent, she's a Borgia. What kind of lady Omerta was eating with her brother?"

"Sigh, this is really……."

"Why, you didn't know? The next time I see her, she'll show her shameless face……."

That's all I heard.

It was because they were so far away that it was harder to eavesdrop and I didn't want to hear any more.

So brutal. What about my face?

That little bastard is good at talking horrible things.

I felt goosebumps and touched my cheek without realizing it. I guess I was looking down on my family's notoriety.

No, what kind of evidence is there to believe that I am the culprit?

Sigh, I don't know who the real culprit is, but I'm going to feed them other than Freya.

I'm sad. There are various experiences of being framed, but even a minor disaster feels bigger because there is no concept of human rights in this world.

With a confused mind and moving aimlessly in any direction, I suddenly realized that I had left the temple.

I thought about going back to the place where the carriage was parked or going back to the temple, but my head was spinning.

I'm tired. My body and mind were tired. I think the symptoms of the annual illness this time were worse than before.

In case anyone saw me, I scrambled and went into any bushes nearby.

Crawled in the bushes, my eyes closed tightly, and cold sweat trickled down my cheeks.

Hold on, hold on. Like this…….

Then where do I go? Where should I go……? Where should I be going?

It hurts. I've never been this sick before. Why does my body hurt so much?

It would be better if other people could feel the pain, but even if I say it hurts, everyone thinks it's fake.

It hurts. It hurts so much. I'm sick to death, husband.…. You're a cold-blooded bastard. I think my nose is bleeding again.

You know what.

Why were you nice to me?

Why did you look at me with such strange eyes then? Why did you look so tired every time I laughed?

Why did you look like that when you saw my scar?

Why did you hesitate?

Why didn't you just leave me?

Why did you nag me about being too skinny and eat with me so regularly?

Why are you so upset when you think I'm sick?

You shouldn't have done that. If you hadn't— if you hadn't been so kind to me…… I wouldn't have had that stupid hope.

Why did you make me look forward to it?

Why did you make me foolishly expect that you might be different from everyone I've been through…….

"Po, po, po, po……."

A familiar sound slowly reached my ears, caught my confused consciousness and raised my head.

This voice is… no way

"Po, po, po……."

"………Popo?"

"Po, po…."

"Popo!"

Popo! I never thought I'd meet you here! I missed you, man!

It was really Popo. A gigantic mouth glistening with terrifying crocodile-like teeth and stout body like a mixed of rabbit penguin approached me as if it's pleased. Well, it's different from how it looks.

"Po, Po?"

"Popo, what are you doing here? It's near the temple. It's dangerous if you're here."

"Po, po, po."

"Did you come looking for me?"

Popo rocked it's huge body back and forth.

Tears of emotion flowed out. And nosebleeds. Shit.

"Popo, I'm sick. But no one knows."

"Po?"

"But it's nice to see you."

With a languishing grin, Popo stared at me with a pair of shining green eyes for a moment, and then stretched out it's arms.

What?

"Popo, will you take me with you?"

"Po, po."

"Well, no one will know if I'm gone anyway……."

"Po?"

"You know, I'd rather live in hiding with you……."

As my consciousness gradually faded, my body drooped helplessly.

Popo's arms, which hugged me tightly, were all squishy and slippery, but still warm and friendly.

* * *

"Look at this, mate."

"Where did you get the mirror……."

"It's not a mirror. It's your hideous top stand. Do you have any idea how ugly it is? Do you have any idea how painful our eyes are? If you have a conscience, why don't you go into the corner of the house and get some sleep?"

Crash!

The mirror, which was thrown helplessly to the floor, was smashed.

Ivan clicked his tongue.

"It's okay for this ignorant bastard to worry about you!"

"I never asked you to worry."

"It's a protest to be worried about walking around with your eyes open all 79 hours or something, you bastard attention seeker."

79 hours? Isaac stopped frowning. No wonder I had a headache.

"It's already been that long."

"Why do you feel sleepy all of a sudden?"

"That's not true, but I have a slight headache."

"I don't know that unlessyou suddenly collapsed. I warned you for sure."

Not being able to sleep didn't kill Paladin. When I was an apprentice, I once stayed up all night for five days.

I didn't know why the punk who rolled with me at that time is freaking out.

"Does the person who disappeared just because you are like this fall from the sky? This is out of our jurisdiction. At this point, just let the city guard take care of it. They're better at finding wanted people than we are. As Ellen explained, I spread the sketch……."

"Did it really disappear?"

"What? What does that mean?"

Instead of explaining, Isaac glanced back at the narrow, dark alley he had just passed.

I couldn't understand what I wanted to say.

"Do you think I'm doing this because I don't know how you feel? It's not anybody else, it's Freya. I know you're pissed off, but if the leader knows we've been working on illegal guilds……."

"It's not that dangeorus."

"What else is this? Then why are you such a bastard?"

I was told that it had been 79 hours.

My head kept hurting.

Isaac pressed his thumb against his throbbing temple and glared at the rat who swam through the ditch.

Freya's face came to mind. Her smile was pale as she barely came back from the brink of death.

The voice that said that she was happy that he came running first than anyone else.

I didn't know what was she so happy about.

Anyway, I couldn't answer back honestly.

Who did he really run to when he sensed magic the moment she was bleeding.

"I don't know."

"If you don't know, who knows, bastard."

"……."

"Huh, you frustrating bastard. Aren't you mad at your wife right now?"

Wife. Wife. Isaac closed his eyes gently and shook his head.

Her faint afterimage was constantly catching his eye.

The last dim eye I saw. Blue eyes as if the sun no longer shining.

Rudbeckia used to flinch like a frightened kitten even with a little rough movement.

She herself did not seem to recognize it, but it was clear that she always wathced every step and looked around with her pale blue eyes.

And Isaac had never been careful about his behavior in his life.

Even in the face of the king.

Since he was like that, it was very tiring to care about each and every gesture in front of someone.

I couldn't stop even though it was annoying and tiring.

However, the monster possessed by magic stone's call was dozens of times more dangerous than usual.

The taste is gone to the point where the threat of the torch and divinity did not work.

If we were unlucky and the Manticores[1] that came that day crossed the temple wall, if Freya's blood splattered even a little……….

I thought she'd understand.

She'll understand when I'll explain the whole story later.

Such rough behavior, such a push, was indispensable. I couldn't help it.

But why do I keep seeing those dim eyes on my eyes?

"This is shoveling."

"Did you finally realize that? Have you finally come to your senses? Woah, then come on……."

"It might be turned into a rotten corpse in some liquor storehouse by now."

"At the beginning of the annoying bullshit, the temple is suspicious, but I agree with that.  It is questionable enough that the source of the magok stone and the fact that an attendant could disappear so suddenly. But, Isaac."

"What?"

"Who doesn't know that one of those devout priests will lick the Pope's feet? You're not the only one with that suspicion. Everyone's suspecting your wife's family is behind it anyway, so……."

"My holy wife's family wants to poison the nobleman of Brittania using magic stone. That's new."

"Well, that's true, but……. So you're excluding your wife from the list of suspects?"

"That's a strange question. It should make sense in the first place."

It was a sharp retort. It was like a knife to the point it felt uncomfortable.

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[1] The manticore is a Persian legendary creature similar to the Egyptian sphinx that proliferated in western European medieval art as well. It has the head of a human, the body of a lion and a tail of venomous spines similar to porcupine quills, while other depictions have it with the tail of a scorpion.