Wicked Husband-Chapter 59 - 58

His previously relaxed red eyes now grew dark and brooding. Suppressing familiar impulses, Cesare slowly buried his face in Eileen’s neck.

He tasted the sweat-dampened skin of her neck. Memories flooded back of the moment her slender neck had been gruesomely severed. Despite the unsettling recollection, he continued to lick and bite gently, leaving marks.

Even as he savored the faint saltiness of her skin and the soft texture beneath his teeth, the memory refused to leave his mind.

Cesare remembered the day he had returned to the Empire, completely unaware of what had transpired.

During the three-year-long war, the Traon Empire achieved a decisive victory, and Cesare returned after forcing the Kingdom of Kalpen into signing a humiliating treaty. Throughout his journey back, he thought constantly of Eileen’s smiling face.

He had returned home with a determination to bring at least a small gift for her, who must have been eagerly awaiting his return.

Instead, what greeted Cesare was the devastating news of Eileen’s death. With a sorrowful expression, Leon delivered the heartbreaking news, causing Cesare to slowly close and then reopen his eyes. After a moment, he asked again.

"Why?" Cesare’s voice broke the silence, filled with anguish and disbelief. If his brother, the Emperor, had personally intervened, perhaps Eileen would still be alive. At the very least, he could have bought some time by revealing that she was cherished by Grand Duke Erzet until his return. Logically, it was incomprehensible to him.

Leon hesitated, struggling to find the right words. Cesare waited patiently for his brother’s reply. After a long silence, Leon finally spoke, though it wasn’t the answer Cesare sought.

"I’m sorry, Cesare," Leon’s voice trembled as tears welled up in his blue eyes.

Watching his brother cry, Cesare pressed on with his second question. "Why, brother?"

"Eileen Elrod... chose to take her own life," Leon managed to say, his voice barely audible.

Leon, barely able to speak, finally uttered the hardest words.

"For the honor of Grand Duke Erzet," he added, the words heavy with sorrow.

Cesare stared quietly at Leon, his emotions a tumultuous mix. Then, he twisted his lips into a bitter smile.

’What kind of honor of mine justifies Eileen’s death?’ They were words that could never be reconciled.

"The nobles are using this incident as a pretext to attack the Imperial family."

Cesare listened to Leon’s desperate excuse from beginning to end.

Following the previous emperor’s untimely demise, Leon, the new emperor, had implemented severe laws cracking down on a dangerous and illegal substance.

This move aimed to apprehend the anti-Imperial nobles who had illicitly funded themselves by distributing dr*gs during the empire’s civil war.

Pardoning Eileen, who had broken this critical law, could jeopardize the hard-earned Imperial dominance and empower the very nobles Leon sought to curb.

Rescuing Eileen, a woman from a minor barony, was an exceptionally inefficient and costly endeavor. Leon’s decision to prioritize the greater good was both logical and rational.

Furthermore, Eileen herself requested capital punishment, refusing to plead for clemency.

Despite his efforts to save her, upon receiving a visit from the Emperor in her prison cell, Eileen knelt before him. She made a desperate plea, urging him to uphold the law and expedite her execution before the Grand Duke could forcibly intervene on her behalf. Her sole concern – to protect the honor of Grand Duke Erzet.

The Emperor of the Traon Empire, acting with reason, made a difficult judgment. His decision to withhold this information from Supreme Commander Cesare during the war’s final stages was also sound.

Cesare, it should be remembered, had previously abandoned his post for Eileen’s sake. Though he believed Leon, stationed in the capital, would safeguard Eileen regardless, this proved a grave miscalculation. In this instance, Leon prioritized his duty as Emperor above his familial bond with Cesare.

Oblivious to the tragedy that unfolded in his absence, Cesare returned a conquering hero, the laurel wreath a cruel mockery against the emptiness that awaited him.

"Brother."

Cesare gazed at Leon with calm eyes. He asked his brother, who was confessing his sins, with a blank expression.

"Why do you think I made you Emperor?"

Eileen was dead.

The dead cannot return; it was an immutable law. Believing in the return of the deceased was something only a dead child’s mother might do.

"I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry, Cesare... I wanted to protect everything..."

Leon removed the golden crown from his head and handed it to Cesare. He wept, pleading for forgiveness.

"I waited to return it to you. I am no longer worthy..."

Looking at the golden crown, Cesare laughed. He stared at it with his cold red eyes for a while, then snatched it from his brother’s hands and placed it back on his head.

"No, keep it on. You need to pay the price, too."

"Cesare..."

"Just as I must pay the price."

Cesare, the architect of the previous emperor’s demise, understood the butterfly effect all too well. Every choice, a tremor that rippled outward, had culminated in this devastating loss – Eileen’s death.

Dwelling on the past was a futile exercise. Cesare coldly acknowledged reality and concluded that he would do what he could. He would make those responsible for her death pay.

This wasn’t a grand gesture for Eileen. The dead are oblivious to vengeance. It was a solitary act, a desperate attempt to carve solace from the wreckage of his choices.

This marked a turning point. The blade that once defended Traon now hungered for the empire’s blood. A twisted logic fueled him, the delusion that bathing the empire in fire would somehow extinguish the inferno in his soul.

"Eileen."

Cesare adjusted the woman in his arms and called her name.

"Eileen, Eileen..."

He couldn’t bring himself to wake her from her deep sleep. Instead, he whispered her name while gently nibbling at the soft skin of her neck with his tongue and teeth.

His persistence touch caused the unconscious Eileen to stir slightly and frown, letting out a groan.

"Stop... Your Grace, please stop..."

Hearing her protest even in her sleep, Cesare smiled faintly. He carefully laid Eileen on the bed, cradling her head on his arm instead of using a pillow, and held her close, protecting her with his embrace instead of covering her with a blanket

Since he had a high body temperature, she wouldn’t feel cold while sleeping, especially with the recent warm weather.

He hugged her small body tightly, leaving no gaps, and caressed her all over. Confirming her existence, he touched her repeatedly, even caressing her fingers adorned with a ring for a long time. Finally, after prying open her tightly closed lips and kissing her deeply, he closed his eyes.

Tonight, he felt he could sleep deeply. At least for tonight.

***

Eileen awoke, feeling a throbbing pain all over her body. However, she kept her eyes tightly shut for a while.

Unfortunately, the events of the previous night were all too vivid in her mind. She remembered every single detail of the disgraceful behavior she had exhibited. Eileen desperately wanted to escape to the second-floor bedroom of the brick house immediately.

But she couldn’t. She was tightly entwined in a strong body that enveloped her completely. The newlywed couple on the bed had their limbs tangled together, their bodies pressed closely.

Eileen opened her eyes slightly. Cesare was sleeping right in front of her, his face gently kissed by a sliver of sunlight slipping through a small gap in the curtains. She cautiously observed his features, illuminated by the soft light.

Like a mortal daring to secretly gaze upon the face of a sleeping god, she slowly took in Cesare’s features. It was difficult to believe that the person lying next to her was her husband.

As she continued to stare without blinking, a ticklish feeling spread inside her chest as if someone were softly brushing her with a feather. It wasn’t a dream; it was reality. Cesare was Eileen’s husband.

Just then, his eyelids fluttered open, revealing his red eyes, clear and alert. Those red eyes focused on Eileen.

Eileen froze, meeting Cesare’s gaze. Seeing her stunned expression, he gave her a faint smile.

"Did you sleep well?"

Eileen’s eyes darted around briefly before she responded with a morning greeting.

"Good morning... Did you sleep well?"

"Not really. On our wedding night, my wife fell asleep before her husband."

It wasn’t sleep but unconsciousness... However, embarrassed by her behavior last night, she couldn’t retort and just mumbled. Seeing this, Cesare said something that made Eileen feel even more aggrieved.

"Were you upset because I didn’t give you enough?"

Eileen gaped at him, looking at him as if he were shameless. But Cesare, unfazed by her glare, just played with her hair, twirling it around his fingers. His eyes narrowed playfully.

"Will you stay with your husband until the end next time?"

Eileen, startled, asked in return.

"That wasn’t the end?"

"It was only once."

"Do people... do it more than once?"

"Twice is too little."

"Then three times...?"

Cesare didn’t answer, just chuckled softly. Then, without further comment, he kissed her lips and got out of bed. Pulling a cord next to the bed to summon a servant, he spoke.

"Stay in bed for a bit. I’ll bring breakfast."

Shortly after, Cesare returned with a tray of breakfast and placed it on Eileen’s lap as she sat up in bed. A servant followed him in, setting up a tea set on the table and neatly arranging various newspapers.

Every morning, Cesare skimmed through all the newspapers published in the empire. He quickly scanned the headlines, and today, the day after their wedding night, was no exception.

Eileen instinctively looked for La Verita. Then she quickly turned her head away, afraid of what articles might be printed.

But she was also curious. After much internal struggle, Eileen couldn’t resist and sneaked a peek.

On the front page of the newspaper was a large photograph. Eileen’s eyes widened as she recognized it.

Next to Cesare, dressed in his wedding uniform, stood an unfamiliar woman in a wedding dress. Startled, she finally read the headline. The succinctly written two lines stated:

[Birth of the Grand Duke and Duchess of Erzet. The Founding Myth of the Traon Empire Recreated.]