Chapter 9
Husband is Possessed by Protagonist 9
4. My Husband Has Changed
‘What is this?’
Thump. Bang. Rumble rumble…….
The carriage sped along an unpaved dirt road.
Inside, Alex was inwardly bewildered.
‘Your way of speaking seems to have changed a lot. Could you perhaps say it again?’
‘How can you be so fluent, like a completely different person?’
‘Eek! I’m getting goosebumps! Say something again, Brother!’
Was Alexis originally bad at speaking?
He had just spoken normally, but his family was so astonished that he was also taken aback.
To think he’d be possessed into someone who was bad at speaking.
It was only natural that his family was so shocked.
Not knowing how to get past this, he blurted out that he didn’t know why he had become like this.
But the situation was resolved for an unexpected reason.
It was thanks to the rat poison Alexis had drunk before dying.
‘Oh, I see. So that’s what it was. The rat poison killed the rat-like germs on your tongue, Alex!’
“……”
This wasn’t some kind of minefield game, was it…….
Since he knew nothing about Alexis, he didn’t know when, how, or for what reason he would be suspected in the future.
For him, it felt like walking through a minefield where he didn’t know where the next explosion would be.
‘Am I going to be okay here?’
\ \ \
We barely managed to calm down from the lingering effect of Alex’s changed way of speaking.
Every word he uttered was so clear and enchanting, like crystal rolling on a glass tray, that I couldn’t help but be amazed as I listened.
I covered my mouth with both hands, overwhelmed with emotion, and each time, Alex awkwardly avoided my gaze.
Eventually, I restrained myself a little, out of consideration for him.
But as the carriage traveled further, my doubts gradually grew stronger.
Did he really get a house……?
He wasn’t the type to lie, but I couldn’t help but worry.
I stared at my husband sitting across from me. He was resting his chin on his hand, quietly looking out the window.
If he really got a house, could he have borrowed money using something as collateral?
But what could he have used as collateral?
It wasn’t an era where organ trafficking was possible.
In the end, I couldn’t suppress my doubts and asked worriedly.
“……Alex. But really, how did you get a house?”
At my words, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law also widened their eyes and focused on him.
They had reluctantly followed Alex, but they trusted him even less than I did.
He slowly turned his gaze to me. Soon, he showed an indifferent reaction.
“……Ah, that.”
“……?”
“I simply utilized the knowledge I have.”
“Knowledge……?”
Of course, he was born as the only heir to the duke’s family, so he had received various educations.
I had heard that he spent the most time in the study since he was young, so his amount of reading must be beyond my imagination.
Could there have been books like ‘13 Ways to Survive Even If You Become a Broke Beggar’ or ‘Buying a House by Digging in the Ground’ among them?
Not many people were interested in how smart he was, but I knew it well.
Perhaps he was smart enough to buy a house even in a situation where he didn’t have a penny to his name.
“We’re almost at the house. That’s it.”
As my husband looked out the window, the women, including me, turned our gazes in that direction.
Outside the carriage window, bathed in the setting sun, there was only one house.
It was an idyllic mansion situated on a wide meadow where sheep were grazing.
Its appearance was so peaceful and relaxed that it felt like a dream.
“You don’t mean that house, do you?”
My sister-in-law frowned as if she couldn’t believe it.
“Brother, you’re not scamming us, are you?”
“……”
I also felt like I was being scammed.
Even though it wasn’t as luxurious as the duke’s estate we used to live in…… it was a house I really liked.
It felt like we had left a splendid and wealthy territory and returned to a leisurely countryside.
“It was a property that came on the market urgently, so I was able to acquire it quickly.”
“……Was that so?”
While repeating his explanation, my mind was still dazed.
I felt like I could forget the memories of being abused by the tyrant and live the rest of my life harmoniously in that place.
I wouldn’t have to be conscious of other people’s eyes, and now I could even have children…….
‘My husband really got a house like that……?’
I turned my gaze towards my husband. He didn’t seem to feel anything special even while looking at the mansion.
But inside me, a feeling that was hard to describe was swirling.
Emotion, disbelief, apology, gratitude, and more emotion…….
My mother-in-law’s voice reached my dazed ears.
“I really can’t believe it. How did you get such a wonderful house…… in just a few days…….”
My husband was a little pleased with our reaction.
It was the first time I had seen him smile since he drank the rat poison.
“I was lucky. Apparently, that house is haunted, so everyone who moved in ran away. Last night, a ghost appeared again, and the owner abandoned everything and left.”
“……”
“……”
My mother-in-law and I blankly opened our mouths and lost our words.
A ghost……?
In a moment where time seemed to stop, Eloy’s curse burst out.
“That crazy bastard……!”
\ \ \
The carriage dropped us off at the entrance and hurriedly left.
The coachman didn’t even take us to the front of the mansion, but ran away as if his tail was on fire.
A ghost. A ghost!
Alex didn’t know or pretended not to know our and my family's reaction, and cleared his throat once.
“Let’s go inside quickly. The interior is even better than what you see from the outside.”
“…….”
Even then, my mother-in-law and I were speechless and couldn’t move.
While we were having an earthquake in our pupils, wondering if we should really follow him, my sister-in-law shouted again.
“I’m not going! I can’t go!”
“…….”
“They say it’s haunted! I knew it was too good to be true for a useless guy like you! Stupid brother, you live there alone!”
“Eloy!”
My mother-in-law shouted as if to scold her, but my sister-in-law was already running back the way she came.
‘That little brat, really.’
I glared unpleasantly at Eloy’s back for a moment.
Originally, she was a sister-in-law who didn’t have good manners towards her brother, the duke, but she had never been this unrestrained.
But now it was ambiguous to reprimand her.
She was born as a precious young lady of the duke’s family and was about to marry her crush, but she was thinking that she was dumped and everything was ruined because of her brother.
Whenever she treated this husband carelessly like that, the husband always didn’t know what to do as if he had committed a sin.
I was always worried about how much he would blame himself and suffer…….
I was always worried about such a sight, but on the other hand, I was frustrated.
Even if he was enduring it now because he felt sorry for Eloy, he was usually scolded by his younger sister without any fault.
I wished he would scold his younger sister even once, but he blamed everything on himself, so I was a little frustrated.
Because he was so lenient, his sister-in-law became more ill-mannered.
I looked up at him with the feeling that I was about to sigh again…….
Huh?
But my husband didn’t even blink an eye and just stared at his sister-in-law as she walked away.
It was a expressionless face that didn’t contain even a shred of self-blame.
Soon, he said in an insensitive voice.
“Well, it can’t be helped. I can’t force someone who doesn’t want to go. Let’s go in first, those who are willing.”
“……Yes?”
My mother-in-law’s and my eyes widened at the same time. My mother-in-law seemed more surprised than I was.
“Oh, Alex. What did you just say……? Still, Eloy is your sister, isn’t she? She’s usually ill-mannered, but you seem to have suddenly become too cold.”
My mother-in-law pressed down on her chest as if to soothe her surprised heart.
It was the first time I had seen my mother-in-law so embarrassed by her husband.
But I was surprised for a different reason and stopped breathing.
‘Is that really Alex……?’
My husband Alex is so firm with his sister-in-law?
“It’s getting late, so let’s go in.”
My husband turned around first and headed towards the mansion.
“…….”
My mouth dropped open. My mother-in-law couldn’t say anything either.
I muttered with bewildered eyes.
“Mother, does everyone change so drastically when they eat rat poison?”
“I guess so. I’m glad that at least their lives were spared…….”
“…….”
We couldn’t move from where we were for a while.
My mother-in-law’s voice, like a soliloquy, was heard again.
“If I had known his speech would become so fluent, I would have fed it to him sooner…….”
“Yes?”
“No, just leave Eloy alone. Where else would she go.”
“……Yes.”
As my mother-in-law started walking, speaking in her unique, delicate, and elegant voice, I followed her in.
Anyway, my sister-in-law would eventually swallow her pride and come back.
When I first got married, I tried to follow her to comfort her, but it was useless meddling.
‘Who can stop a wounded middle schooler…….’
I walked slowly and looked closely at the mansion in front of me.
The mansion was much larger than it looked from afar. It seemed to have a history, perhaps because it was a remote farmhouse.
But the closer I got, the more I noticed the dilapidated parts.
The old-looking wooden exterior, cobwebs here and there.
The mansion was beautiful under the reddish sunset like now, but when it became pitch black…….
Scary imaginations came to mind on their own.
‘Oh my god, it’s a house that really looks like it’s haunted!’
Suddenly, goosebumps ran down my spine and my arms trembled.
At least dozens of stories surrounding the mansion flashed through my mind.
“H, honey?”
“……?”
At my call, my husband, who was leading the way, turned around.
“B, but maybe there’s nowhere else to go……?”
I felt a little embarrassed even while asking that.
Even if it was a haunted house, it would never have been easy to get it without a penny to our name.
And I didn’t think there were really ghosts in this world, but I couldn’t help but be scared since the original residents had even run away because of the ghosts.
He tilted his head slightly.
“Don’t you like this house? Once you see the inside, I’m sure you’ll love it-.”
“Ah, that’s not it…….”
You said it’s haunted, you bastard.
While I was unable to speak due to the sudden fear, my mother-in-law said.
“Where else would we go at this hour, Luise. It’s good that ghosts live there. I don’t have much time left to live, so I should get to know them in advance.”
My mother-in-law walked ahead first, leaving only my husband and me.
