125 - Evil Husband (15th Anniversary Edition) Chapter 125
125
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Cesare, upon hearing the question, raised the corner of his lips in a brief smile.
"You already know what I'm going to say, don't you?"
Aileen's breath hitched at the overwhelming feeling that washed over her. As he said, she already knew the answer that would come.
The moment the gun fired, Cesare was smiling. It was a smile of delight at the situation unfolding exactly as he intended.
"But, why..."
Strangely, tears didn't come. Perhaps it was because she had already cried so much that the moisture in her body had dried up.
"Why did you do that..."
The moment Cesare was shot flashed vividly in her mind. Her memory, which she prided herself on being slightly better than others, recorded everything in her head like a photograph.
Without missing a single detail, adding even the helplessness and despair she felt at that moment. She remembered even the most minute details of the fleeting moment with horrifying clarity.
Aileen could feel Cesare's gaze sweeping over her. She felt his gaze on her cheek, but she simply stood still.
She would not back down until she heard the answer. She couldn't back down this time.
There was no way Cesare didn't know Aileen's feelings. He looked at Aileen for quite a while before opening his mouth.
"Because it was more efficient."
Cesare didn't avoid the question.
"If there's a body that doesn't die even when burned, slashed with a knife, or riddled with bullets, it should be used."
The raw truth, unadorned with lies, was like shards of glass, impossible to swallow. Cesare calmly listed the horrific acts that were terrible just to hear, and then reached out his hand.
Aileen turned her head to avoid his hand. But Cesare grabbed Aileen's chin and made her look at him again.
"I also wanted to show you. Just a cut on the palm that heals isn't enough for you to fully believe in my immortality."
He trapped Aileen in his crimson eyes and whispered.
"It means you don't have to die for me, Aileen."
Cesare had already said the same thing to Aileen several times. Yet, because Aileen didn't listen to him, he made her witness it with her own eyes, engraving his immortality in her mind.
Aileen also knew why he was educating her. Aileen didn't listen to him this time either. As soon as the gunshot rang out, she immediately tried to hug Cesare. Although her body was insignificantly small in comparison, she unhesitatingly threw herself to become a shield to block the bullet.
It happened before the ink of the promise, where she lied that she wouldn't die for Cesare, had even dried.
'So, that's why you showed me.'
Cesare's method was rough, but the effect was certain. Aileen would never forget what happened today until she died. She would forever remember that Cesare had an immortal body.
No thoughts came to her mind. As Aileen stood blankly, Cesare stroked her forehead and added in a gentle tone.
"It would be fine to publish an article saying that the Grand Duchess's medicine was a great help in the treatment. I can also spend more time with you under the pretext of injury. I can spend several days with you, not just the one day you asked for."
Suddenly, Aileen hated herself. She wanted to shoot her past self who had asked him for a day of his time.
Her empty head was quickly filled with all sorts of thoughts. The bullet that pierced his shoulder, herself who could only cry endlessly, his way of showing her his immortality.
Everything rushed in, and she couldn't control it. Her boiling heart felt like it would burst at any moment.
At the same time, it was so painful. She was angry as if a fierce fire was burning, but at the same time, a sense of helplessness, as if sinking endlessly into deep water, tormented her heart.
Aileen opened her lips, utterly tattered. Her cracked voice flowed out weakly.
"But... it's not like you don't feel pain, is it?"
After the wedding, she saw his naked body for the first time on their wedding night. That day, Aileen looked at the scars engraved all over his solid body and wished that Cesare would now stay in the safe Capital, not on the battlefield. She desperately hoped that he would no longer suffer any pain.
But Cesare treated his own body as a useful tool and threw it away. He plunged the treasure, which was precious and valuable to Aileen that she couldn't even dare to touch it properly, into the mud.
"It's not like your senses are numb, it's just that your wound healing speed is significantly faster than others, right? But..."
Aileen stopped speaking and took a moment to catch her breath. Her breath kept catching in her throat, and her voice wouldn't come out as she wanted. It was because the rising resentment blocked her throat.
"Why."
Aileen whispered faintly, as if she would crumble at any moment.
"Why did you do this..."
Now she felt like she knew a little. Cesare must have offered sacrifices through some kind of Sorcery that she didn't know about and turned into an immortal body.
In the process, he must have been trapped in a nightmare and experienced something painful. Something like a cruel punishment, enough to scratch his spirit, which was as hard as repeatedly tempered steel.
The pain he experienced remained until now, casting a dark shadow over Cesare's reality. To the point where he experienced moments where he couldn't distinguish between nightmare and reality.
Aileen had gathered the pieces he had gradually shed and inferred many parts. But still, the last piece was missing. It was only a single piece, but it was a picture that could only be completed when that piece was fitted.
For what?
He was the Grand Duke of the Traon Empire, the Commander-in-Chief, a war hero, and the one who received the respect and love of the people of the Empire. He was in a position where if he wanted something, he could just reach out and grab it...
She couldn't understand what Cesare wanted so much that he endured even cruel pain to obtain an immortal body.
His purpose couldn't have been immortality. In the first place, Cesare wasn't someone who would desire such a thing.
"E-Even now, doing such dangerous things. It's because you have something you want, right? Even if you are immortal, Cesare, there were ways to do it safely, even if it took a little longer, other than this method..."
This method was really unlike Cesare. He was someone who knew his position well.
He would clearly recognize what negative impact the act of using his own body as a means would have on his subordinates, and how much his safety would greatly affect the diplomacy and politics of the Traon Empire.
No matter how immortal he was, Archduke Erzeht's injury was bound to cause a great stir. Yet, Cesare was doing dangerous things, even throwing himself as bait.
He made the excuse that it was more efficient and faster, but in fact, she was also wondering.
What was making him so impatient?
As if there was a set time limit, the reason why he was acting so aggressively, throwing everything away, must ultimately be related to Cesare's purpose.
"Tell me."
Aileen pleaded with him with earnestness.
"Please tell me what you want, Cesare."
A small tremor occurred on his eyes, which had been so indifferent and smooth until now. Aileen looked at the faint cracks forming in his crimson eyes.
He had eyes on the verge of rupture, but he didn't break. He didn't pour out the emotions he was hiding and managed them. He only reached out one hand and hugged Aileen.
His broad embrace was as warm as ever. But Aileen could no longer be satisfied with just this.
Aileen pushed him away with all her might. But Cesare easily suppressed her struggling body with one arm and trapped her in his arms. He whispered lowly.
"What I want... there's only ever been one thing from the beginning."
