Wicked Husband-Chapter 182 - 181

If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought this wasn’t the first time he had bathed and fed her.

After much struggle, she finally finished her meal. While Cesare stepped away to clear the dishes, Eileen gripped the blanket in both hands, writhing in silent embarrassment.

She let out a quiet sigh.

The others must have been worried.

She had heard that the other knights, aside from Senon, had been too far away to reach her in time. They must have been hurrying to the capital, only to find that she had already been rescued and taken back to the Grand Duke’s estate.

They must have been so worried...

Senon had cried, Sonio had been on the verge of tears, and even Cesare had said something completely unexpected.

The knights had probably been informed that she was safe, but she still felt guilty for causing them distress.

Her thoughts drifted to Ornella. The last time Eileen had seen her, she had been completely unconscious.

She knew Ornella would survive, but she worried whether her injuries would leave permanent damage, especially since Ornella took great pride in her appearance.

Eileen made a mental note to give her a healing salve along with the painkillers.

While she was lost in thought, Cesare returned to the bed. Without hesitation, he pulled her back into his embrace. She had spent the entire day in his arms, so she instinctively adjusted her position to get comfortable.

His hand gently caressed her face as he murmured,

"The knights want to visit you tomorrow. If you’re too tired, you don’t have to see them."

"No, I want to see them!"

She had been thinking about them just moments ago, so the news made her happy.

Seeing her in good health would put their minds at ease.

Eileen rested her head against Cesare’s chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. She was lulled by its rhythmic sound until she felt his hand glide over her neck.

His fingers traced along her soft skin, pressing lightly over her collarbone. It wasn’t quite an intimate caress, but it was too lingering to be considered a simple gesture of affection.

Her body, already warm from the bath, grew even hotter under his touch.

Fatigue and faint pleasure blurred together, making her feel drowsy. She was on the verge of dozing off when,

"Don’t go to the shrine anymore."

The sudden statement jolted her awake.

Eileen slowly lifted her head to look at him.

Cesare’s gaze was calm as he continued.

"Don’t seek out the gods. Don’t pray."

"..."

"Even if it’s just a toy altar, don’t go near it."

It was strange. Cesare had never believed in gods.

Eileen found it unsettling that he was speaking as if they were real.

As if he was trying to avoid them.

Even when she had been buried beneath the collapsed shrine, Cesare hadn’t prayed. Instead of pleading for divine intervention, he had dug through the rubble himself to find her.

So why was he saying this now?

"Why...?"

Cesare didn’t answer.

He simply stroked her nape in silence.

Her drowsiness faded, replaced by an unsettling clarity.

Cesare’s voice echoed in her mind.

"Why do you think I wouldn’t do such a thing?"

"I wish for Eileen Elrod to be brought back to life." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Dream and reality blurred together.

Then, memories resurfaced–memories that had once seemed unrelated but now fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

"That’s why you’re my nightmare, Eileen."

He had called her his nightmare.

"The nightmares with you in them... I created them myself."

"How do you create a dream?"

"You just have to offer the right sacrifices."

He had spoken of sacrificing people for his nightmares.

"It’s not because of me, right? The way you are now..."

"Of course not."

He had denied it.

All these fragments of memory, neatly compartmentalized in her mind, suddenly collapsed like a house of cards.

And then,

"I used to have an identical pocket watch. It belonged to a condemned prisoner."

The missing pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

There were still gaps, still unanswered questions.

But she had seen enough to form a horrifying conclusion.

Her breath stopped.

Goosebumps erupted over her entire body.

It wasn’t just fear or despair... it was something far greater, an emotion so vast and crushing that she had never felt anything like it before.

Her vision darkened.

Tick. Tick.

The phantom sound of a clock’s second hand echoed in her ears.

Cesare noticed the change in her immediately. He cupped her face, his red eyes scanning her features.

She couldn’t hide it from him.

Her vision was so blurred that she could barely make out his face, only those vivid red eyes remained distinct.

And from the depths of her soul, she forced out a single, agonizing question.

"Cesare... The way you are now..."

The words flowing out of her were painful, like spitting blades. Eileen asked him anyway.

"Is it because of me?"

As she waited for Cesare’s answer, Eileen fervently wished for one thing, that he would deny her question.

But Cesare no longer lied. He only let out a short, bitter laugh. A laugh directed at himself.

Eileen felt as though her world was collapsing. Like the fall of the Pantheon, it was as if everything that made up her world was crumbling.

Standing amidst the wreckage of her shattered world, Eileen looked at Cesare. She stared blankly for a moment before suddenly pushing him away.

But Cesare did not release her from his grasp. Held firmly in his arms, Eileen could not move.

Trapped in his embrace, she struggled to breathe for a while. Perhaps, in misfortune, there was a small mercy, no tears fell. It was as if the shock had dried them out. After what felt like an eternity of suffering, she finally found her voice.

"Why... did you lie to me...?"

Her grip on his clothes tightened. She clenched his garment so hard that her knuckles turned white as she questioned him.

"Why are you only telling me now?"

Cesare gazed at Eileen, taking in her anguish without looking away. He absorbed everything.

"If I could have kept silent, I would have forever."

The meaning behind his low murmur was clear. It was for her sake.

***