Wicked Husband-Chapter 183 - 182

His hand, which had been holding her so she couldn’t turn away, loosened. Without hesitation, Eileen pulled away from his grasp and lowered her gaze.

"The collapse of the Pantheon today was a warning from the gods. That you could die again at any moment."

Cesare was calm as he explained this to the trembling Eileen. She clenched her teeth.

"Did you really make a deal with the gods? If it was to bring me back to life..."

Eileen asked in the most composed voice she could muster.

"What did you offer in return?"

"You already know. An immortal body."

"That’s a lie!"

For the first time in her life, Eileen cut him off and shouted. Something she had never done before, something she had never even imagined doing. The voice she had barely maintained in composure now trembled uncontrollably.

"That can’t be all. There’s more, isn’t there?"

To some, immortality might seem like a lifelong wish. But for someone to ask the gods to overturn the very order of life and death, for them to demand the resurrection of the dead, there was no way the price had been something as simple as immortality.

Especially if, like in her dreams, Cesare had truly sacrificed countless innocent lives as an offering.

Eileen clenched her fist and pressed it against his chest. She wanted to strike him in resentment, but she couldn’t bring herself to hurt him, even a little. Instead, she could only sob and murmur.

"Why did you do it? Why, why...?"

"Because I needed you."

Cesare grasped Eileen’s hand, which had turned red from the pressure.

"I needed you in my life... That’s all, Eileen."

Cesare admitted that all of this had been his own deeply selfish decision.

But Eileen could not understand his choice. She tried to shake off his grip, but he held on firmly.

"Let me go."

"Eileen."

Cesare called her name. It was a name she had always been happy to hear. A name that had once made her heart race, filled her with joy, and sometimes brought her comfort.

But not now. At this moment, she desperately wished he wouldn’t call her that. Holding back her rising sobs, she looked at Cesare.

She didn’t know what expression she was making. But it certainly wasn’t the same gaze with which she had always looked at him, like a dream.

For the first time, Cesare’s usually clear eyes clouded over. Shadows passed over them. Eileen, watching him, whispered in a pleading voice.

"Please..."

The strength in Cesare’s hands weakened. At once, Eileen broke free from his embrace.

The warmth that had surrounded her disappeared in an instant, leaving a chill to seep into her skin. It was a cold she hadn’t noticed while in his arms.

Eileen shivered. But she did not turn back. Even as she felt his gaze clinging to her, she never looked back. She simply walked away from the bedroom, alone.

***

From childhood until now, Eileen had always lived with a deeply logical mind.

The only truly irrational moment in her life had been when she prayed for Cesare. She had begged all the gods in existence to watch over him.

But the gods had not answered her prayers.

"Hhic, hh...."

Eileen swallowed back the sobs that threatened to burst forth. Tears streamed endlessly down her face. Wiping them was useless; they would only keep falling. But she couldn’t afford to damage the book. Scrunching her face in distress, she clumsily wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

It wasn’t enough. Pressing the fabric tightly beneath her eyes, she continued flipping through the pages. Beside her, a towering stack of books had formed, all about the founding myths.

Cesare’s scattered words, the dream she had seen in the Pantheon...

She tried to piece them together. The clues seemed to align with the old founding myths.

’I have to accept things that can’t be scientifically proven.’

So much had already twisted beyond reality. If she wanted to understand what Cesare had sacrificed and what his current state truly was, she would have to step into the dream as well.

’He must have wanted me to find out eventually. That’s why he dropped hints all this time.’

Cesare hadn’t locked the truth away completely. If he had, he wouldn’t have said anything at all. And yet, despite knowing the truth would hurt her, he had let slip these fragments.

There could only be one reason.

’There’s a time limit.’

Eventually, there would come a moment when the truth would be revealed, one that even Cesare could not stop.

’Something went wrong this time, and that’s why the Pantheon collapsed.’

The deal between Cesare and the gods was not going smoothly. That much was certain. The disaster had been a warning. The fact that she alone had emerged unscathed was proof.

Eileen combed through the text obsessively before shutting her eyes. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t rid herself of the thoughts invading her mind.

’Why? Why would he do something like this for someone like me?’

If human lives had weight, Cesare’s was far heavier than hers. She was nothing more than a mere apothecary, while Cesare was the Empire’s sword. Without him, the Traon Empire could not stand.

And yet, someone who should have understood his worth better than anyone had chosen to sacrifice himself for her.

It was an absurd truth. More dreamlike than any illusion.

Tears welled up again. Wiping her blurred vision with her sleeve, Eileen forced herself to absorb the book’s contents.

[...The founding emperor is said to have offered a winged lion as a burnt sacrifice, but this section is open to interpretation.

Some argue that the winged lion is merely symbolic, and since it represents the Traon royal family, the emperor may have sacrificed a royal, or even the people of the empire.

The emperor had prayed to the gods, declaring that if they did not grant his wish, he would offer human sacrifices...]

Eileen recalled the blood ritual performed before the burning altar. Swiftly, she jotted down notes on the passage. Finding nothing else of use in the remaining text, she reached for another book.

Just then,

"My lady..."