Wicked Husband-Chapter 88 - 87

"If he’d been a butcher’s son, I’d probably be gutting cows right alongside him," Michele mumbled to herself, reflecting on Cesare’s recent actions. Diego, standing beside her, interrupted.

"His Excellency?"

"...Ah."

Michele scratched her head awkwardly, realizing her lapse. Regardless of his origins, Cesare would have always risen to the top. She chuckled, pointed toward the building, and whistled sharply.

Whiiik—the piercing sound sliced through the still night air, and instantly, the soldiers stationed outside stormed the building.

As they smashed through the doors, the people inside screamed and fled in panic. However, those under the influence of alcohol and drugs were too unsteady to escape swiftly. The soldiers quickly apprehended the staggering figures.

Michele, who walked in leisurely, grabbed one of them by the head as he tried to scurry past like a rat and slammed him onto a table.

’Thud!’ The table threatened to break with the force of the impact. With an indifferent expression, Michele repeatedly bashed the man’s head against the table with a steady rhythm—thud, thud, thud.

"Ugh..."

Diego, who had followed her inside, grimaced as he stepped around a tooth that had fallen from the bloody man’s mouth. He scanned the building while Michele, having knocked the man unconscious, tossed him aside and joined Diego.

"Godd@mn idiots," Michele muttered. "I told them not to touch that stuff, but these fools treat the Empire’s laws like they’re nothing."

Diego shrugged at Michele’s coarse language, which was no different from that of any common thug. Officially, this operation was about arresting drug users, but there was no real reason for Michele and Diego to be involved in something as trivial as rounding up addicts.

The real purpose of their presence was to secure a list of the nobles using drugs in this place. Cesare had given specific orders, down to the exact date, so there was no doubt the list would be accurate.

But Diego, who was supposed to be assisting with the search, seemed distracted. He stopped his search and approached Michele.

Michele, who had been firing shots into a suspicious corner, paused and turned to him. "What’s up?"

"Do you remember when we blew up that tavern in Fiore?"

"Oh, yeah."

After Cesare executed the King of Kalpen, he had blown up one of the largest taverns in Fiore. At the time, it had seemed like an odd decision, and even Cesare’s knights had been puzzled by the sudden and seemingly random act.

"Now that I think about it... maybe that tavern was ’the’ place." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

His vague comment was clear enough to Michele. It was a guess that Eileen’s corpse might have been desecrated there after her death.

Michele holstered her gun and crossed her arms over her chest, her brows furrowing so tightly that her freckles seemed to bunch together.

"I’ve been pondering something, too. Remember that delusion Senon mentioned? In that delusion, what choices would we have made? I suppose we would have followed His Excellency, as always."

"...Most likely."

It wasn’t certain, but what Cesare had just begun beneath the surface in the Traon Empire—a subtle yet relentless purge—would be nothing compared to what was to come.

Though he was the Supreme Commander of Traon, Cesare lacked any genuine sense of patriotism. The same went for his knights. They were likely devoted to Cesare to the extent that they would eagerly participate in the slaughter themselves.

For the sake of the dead Eileen...

Michele spat a curse, the mere thought of it souring her mood. The idea of ’the dead’ Eileen was revolting.

"You heard from Lotan, didn’t you?"

"..."

Michele pressed her lips together and nodded in response to the sudden question. When they had learned that their master had nearly killed Eileen, the knights were left momentarily speechless.

They had realized that Cesare’s mental state was far more unstable than they had imagined, but even so, they had no clear solution, leaving them feeling helpless.

"For now, it’s best not to do anything that might provoke His Excellency."

Diego sighed, his face etched with concern as he shared his worries with Michele.

"But that guy... he said he’s coming with the professors. To see Lady Eileen."

Michele narrowed her eyes and asked in disbelief.

"...You mean that stalker b’stard?"

***

A faint trace of cigarette smoke lingered in the air, like a distant memory brushing against the tip of her nose. Eileen absentmindedly rubbed her cheek as the events of the previous night replayed in her mind.

She recalled standing side by side in the rain beneath the orange trees, sharing a kiss.

"Not all rainy days are bad, after all," Cesare had said, leading her back into the mansion. As they entered, Sonio, who had been observing from the courtyard, immediately approached with a dry towel.

Although Eileen hadn’t gotten too wet—Cesare had draped his uniform coat over her—he still made sure to tend to her first. He handed his soaked uniform to Sonio and gently dried Eileen with the towel.

’We slept together too.’

She had fallen asleep in Cesare’s arms, the sound of rain soothing her. Cesare had seemed to sleep well as well. Though she hadn’t seen him asleep, his calmer expression this morning suggested he had rested better than usual.

Eileen smiled to herself, then quickly composed her expression. Even though no one was watching, she felt a pang of embarrassment. Shaking her head, she refocused on her research.

The grand duke’s laboratory was equipped with every tool Eileen needed, a far cry from her previous days of tinkering in a dingy room with outdated equipment.

Back then, she had experimented with cheap, low-purity opium, but now she had access to fresh opium and could use it freely, thanks to Cesare’s unwavering support. His backing had made the experiments progress much more smoothly.

While waiting for the water to boil, Eileen meticulously reviewed her experiment log.

Her goal was to extract about 10% of the analgesic component in op!um in crystalline form. However, isolating the pain-relieving agent from the unnecessary compounds was proving more challenging than she had anticipated.

She had been filtering the opium with boiling water and repeatedly adding various chemical compounds in an effort to refine it.

’Sigh...’

Impatience began to creep in as she yearned for quicker results. Though she reminded herself to stay calm, her heart refused to settle.

To soothe her mind, Eileen glanced at the poppy she had placed by the window. Its red petals, bathed in sunlight, looked vibrant and fresh. The sight of the crimson color naturally reminded her of someone.

The analgesic she was developing, named Morpheus, was inspired by the god of dreams. Eileen hoped that patients suffering from pain would find relief and restful sleep through Morpheus.

According to myth, there were two doors in the realm of the dream god: one made of bone and the other of ivory.

Dreams that passed through the bone door were meaningless and easily forgotten. However, those that passed through the ivory door carried the will of the gods.

Eileen wondered if Cesare’s dreams had come through the ivory door. If so, what meaning might they hold? From what Cesare had said, it seemed he had been having the same dream repeatedly...

’And of all things, a dream where he kills me.’

It was impossible not to be curious about the meaning behind it. Just as Eileen was about to turn off the gas, the water fully boiled, a polite knock echoed through the lab. A servant followed, announcing the arrival of a guest.

"A guest has arrived for you. They’re early for their scheduled appointment. Should I ask them to wait?"

"No, that’s alright. I’ll be right out!"

Eileen quickly tidied up her lab equipment and hurried out. It was a visitor she had been eagerly anticipating: her professors from her university days.

She straightened her outfit and descended to the drawing room. There, she found a middle-aged man and woman, along with a young man who sat awkwardly, glancing around nervously. They seemed overwhelmed by the grandeur of the grand duke’s residence.

The guests, who had been clinking their teacups awkwardly, immediately rose to their feet when Eileen entered the room. At first, they didn’t recognize her and hesitated, but when she greeted them with a bright smile, they finally realized who she was and called out her name.

"Eileen!"

The professors exclaimed with joy, but their enthusiasm quickly waned as they glanced around at the servants. Though the servants continued to smile, their eyes lacked warmth, making the professors visibly nervous.

"It’s an honor to meet you..." one professor stammered, trying to be polite. Before they could continue, Eileen stepped forward and clasped their hands tightly.

"Welcome! I’ve been looking forward to seeing you all."

Her warm greeting brought an emotional gleam to the professors’ eyes. Just then, the young man who had been quietly standing by finally spoke up.

"How have you been?"

The young man had a friendly, open face, but Eileen didn’t recognize him. She blinked in confusion, assuming he was one of the professors’ students. The man offered a sheepish smile and introduced himself.

"I’m Lucio."

"What? Lucio... senior?"

Eileen’s shock was evident. Lucio had been her closest senior during her university days, but his appearance had changed so dramatically that she hadn’t recognized him at all.

"I’ve missed you, Lady Eileen."

As Eileen stood there, wide-eyed, Lucio added with a soft smile,

"Truly, a lot."