96 - Evil Husband (15th Anniversary Edition) Chapter 96
96
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The thinly wavering letters were imbued with Aileen's emotions as they were. It was the conclusion Aileen had reached after repeatedly mulling over it, left alone in the place where Cesare had departed.
Cesare, who had been silent for a while, ran a hand over his face. Even though it was midday, his vision went black. A splitting tinnitus accompanied dizziness. A dull ache in his heart brought a hollow laugh.
It was a pain he hadn't felt even when he had spent several days and nights on the battlefield without even drinking water, let alone eating.
If he hadn't gone to the battlefield.
If he had opened the door that day. If he had replied to the letter that had flown to the battlefield.
Meaningless hypotheticals were etched in his mind. Even though he knew well that he couldn't turn back the time that had already passed, he was forced to recall regrets as if by an irresistible force.
Cesare vividly remembered the day before he set out to conquer Kalpen. That day, Aileen had come to find him because Rohan was up to no good.
He heard Aileen's voice, pleading as she knocked on the closed door until her hands were raw. Diego and Michele were by Cesare's side.
Before his subordinates, who were watching him carefully, Cesare silently checked his firearms. While listening to Aileen crying.
Only after Aileen, exhausted from crying, finally fainted, did he open the door. He personally carried her unconscious body to the car. He stared at her face, soaked with tears, for a long time before closing the car door, and thus sent Aileen away.
The reason he didn't open the door until the end was clear. It was because he was prepared to die.
Cesare was clearly aware of how important he was in Aileen's life. He also knew the affection Aileen held for him.
Therefore, he thought he should sever their ties even more. It was a natural judgment for Cesare. If he came back alive, he could soothe her, and if he died, he thought she would part without difficulty because they had severed their ties.
The reason he didn't send even a single reply to Aileen's letters was also the same. He was always assuming his own death.
However, while he had assumed his own death countless times, he had never imagined Aileen's death.
That Aileen would regard herself as a mere pet, be beheaded at the Guillotine, her corpse torn to pieces, and not even have a proper trace to remember the dead.
Cesare turned the diary pages. He turned the pages as if he were cutting himself with a blade, and continued to read the remaining diary entries.
Aileen studied Morpheus to become a useful existence to Cesare, rejoiced and despaired at the news coming from the battlefield, and prepared a gift to celebrate Cesare's victory.
While Cesare was negotiating by taking the King of Kalpen hostage and finishing off the resistance, Aileen waited for Cesare's return. She prayed to God and wished for Cesare's victory more earnestly than anyone else.
Aileen's day was filled with Cesare every day. The very last diary entry was also full of Cesare.
[The Kalpen resistance seems to be persistent. Even though Your Excellency has won the victory, I still can't rest assured. You must return home soon.
Actually, I'm a little scared. What if you don't look for me even after you come back? If I have truly completely lost his affection, now…
Let's not be too greedy. Let's just hope that you return healthy and safe. May God have mercy and listen to my prayers.]
Cesare slowly closed the diary. He felt the weight of the platinum Pocket watch, which was neatly tucked away in his pocket. The Pocket watch, scratched and broken here and there, was a gift Aileen had prepared for Cesare.
What should I have done with you?
Cesare always treated Aileen as his standard. Whether Aileen wanted it or not, he acted as he thought was right.
The arrogant judgment that he would be right no matter what he decided, which had never been wrong in his life… Aileen told him through her death.
She was a timid and tearful child. She must have been terrified while waiting for her execution alone in the underground prison, and even when she went up to the Guillotine and was beheaded. Nevertheless, she would not have resented Cesare until the end and would have thought it was all her fault.
Cesare sat on the windowsill for a long time, holding the diary. He couldn't bring himself to put down what he was holding, nor could he open it again to read it. He just sat still and let time pass.
His sinking consciousness awakened only after the surroundings had darkened. It was only a few hours, but it felt like a very long time had passed. Cesare put Aileen's diary back on the bookshelf. He closed the bedroom door, went down the stairs, and went outside.
"Your Excellency."
His knights were standing in the garden, where the orange trees had disappeared and only a hideous, hollow pit remained.
Rohan, Senon, Diego, Michele. These men, whom Cesare had personally chosen and made knights, all had faces as black as death. Cesare suddenly opened his lips.
"Aileen's diary was there."
His locked voice was rough. He didn't know why he said these words himself. It was a word that leaked out of his lips without him realizing it.
Cesare and the knights stared at each other for a long time. The knights, who had spent a long time together, had dedicated their lives to Cesare and were willing to die for Cesare. Cesare slowly gave the order.
"Gather the troops in the capital."
A low noise tickled her ears. Aileen slowly opened her eyes. It took quite a long time for her vague consciousness to accept her surroundings.
She realized one by one that she was now in the car returning to the Grand Duke's Residence, not the old house. She was asleep in Cesare's arms, and a lot of time had passed in the meantime, so that a red sunset was cast outside.
However, even though she had woken up, it still felt like a dream for some reason. The low engine sound of the car, the wide embrace that conveyed warmth, and the sky outside the car window where the sun was setting were all unreal.
Aileen raised her head slightly and looked at Cesare with hazy eyes. Red eyes that had been looking outside turned to Aileen. Aileen wanted to hold onto his gaze, so she called his name.
"Cesare-nim…"
Her voice, just awakened from sleep, was hoarse. Instead of answering, Cesare adjusted Aileen a little more and hugged her tightly. Their eyes were still locked.
It was said that if you spend a long time together, you know each other's hearts just by looking at each other's eyes, but even though she had known him for a long time, Aileen still felt like she didn't know anything.
She couldn't even guess why Cesare was making such a look. Even though she had been curious and observing him for a lifetime, he was an unknown and incomprehensible being that had not been revealed.
The man dyed in the twilight opened his mouth with eyes that were even redder and clearer than that.
"You are my wife and the Grand Duchess."
He tilted his head slightly towards Aileen. He said in a low voice at a distance where they seemed to touch at any moment.
"Not a pet."
Her head was still hazy because she had just woken up from sleep, so it took time to follow the sudden words. Aileen, trying to understand the context, recalled the diary she had written.
"Did you… read my diary…?"
Cesare smiled briefly without saying a word, but it was no different from a silent affirmation. Aileen obediently accepted his kiss. And then she muttered again.
"When on earth did you read it…"
Thinking about it popped out as a murmur. Aileen struggled to awaken her still hazy mind and continued to speak.
"Everything I left in my diary… is not all sincere. There are also things I just wrote down that I thought of momentarily…"
As she made excuses, Cesare stroked Aileen's cheek and laughed briefly.
"When you disappeared, the only traces left for me were those."
He made incomprehensible eyes and said incomprehensible words. She felt a sense of déjà vu from this person who was acting as if he had gone through a different time alone. It was a sense of déjà vu she had already experienced several times.
Aileen stared at him intently. Cesare accepted the observing gaze as it was.
"That's why, Aileen. If I engrave your name on the Arch of Triumph, I will be able to leave you clearly."
Lips that had been touching every part of Aileen's face went down to her neck. He kissed briefly on the place that was already stained with marks of chastity and bite marks.
"Every time I see that name, you will also remember me."
As if the Arch of Triumph for the Grand Duke's glory was being built only for Aileen, Cesare said so.
