Wicked Husband-Chapter 177 - 176

Anyone with eyes and ears could tell. This was not a sacrifice for the gods.

Eileen only realized belatedly that she was trembling. She was shaking so violently that her teeth chattered as she looked at Cesare.

She knew that Cesare was not a good man. If one had to categorize him as good or evil, he leaned closer to evil.

She knew his nature was neither gentle nor kind, that he treated her specially, unlike others.

Even so, witnessing his killings was not easy.

It was even harder because the beheaded man did not appear to be a criminal. He looked like an ordinary citizen of the empire, far too ordinary to be Cesare’s enemy.

Eileen slowly lowered her gaze. She saw the balls rolling on the ground–no, the severed heads. The headless bodies lay in a tangled mess.

This was the aftermath of Cesare’s slaughter.

Even though she believed that he would not do such a thing without reason, Eileen could not suppress the instinctive shock that overtook her.

This couldn’t be real. It had to be a dreadful dream. But even as she tried to convince herself, Eileen looked at Cesare, who was drenched in blood, his figure resembling a demonic wraith.

Cesare, his sword hanging loosely at his side, was smiling. It was a smile unlike any she had seen from him before, laced with madness. As if he could throw her body into the sacrificial flames at any moment.

"Cesare...."

Eileen called out to him. But her voice still did not reach him. He had declared that tomorrow, he would offer a hundred more lives.

Even if this was just a dream, she wanted to stop him. Eileen ran toward him. She nearly tripped over her own feet but barely managed to reach him.

Yet Cesare did not see her. Even though she desperately called out to him right in front of him, he did not notice. Hesitating, she cautiously grabbed his forearm.

At that moment, the world turned upside down. Just moments ago, it had been night, but now the sky was bathed in the hues of sunset. Beneath the blood-red sky, Cesare was committing another massacre.

Expressionless, he stood before the altar, beheading men one after another. The number of corpses strewn around the altar had increased significantly from the day before.

Eileen stood frozen, watching as he beheaded the last man. The sunset sky darkened into night, and stars appeared. The hundredth head rolled onto the ground.

Cesare slowly wiped the blood splattered on his face with the back of his hand. And then, just as he had the previous night, he spoke.

"Tomorrow, I will offer a thousand lives."

But now, the number had increased to a thousand. A thousand, how could it be? Eileen, her face pale, desperately reached out with trembling hands.

" Cesare... Cesare...."

She called his name countless times, but Cesare did not answer. He simply gazed at the altar’s flames, as if waiting for a response.

Then, suddenly, an intense heat surged forth. The flames on the altar swelled in an instant.

Sparks scattered in all directions, and the crimson flames transformed into a golden hue, the radiant gold of a winged lion’s feathers.

The sacred golden flames flickered and danced like waves. It was a miraculous sight, yet Cesare remained expressionless. As if he had been waiting for this moment, he stepped toward the altar.

As he released his grip, the bloodstained sword clattered to the ground. His crimson eyes reflected the golden fire.

Though he was dangerously close to the flames, Cesare seemed unaffected by the heat. He stared at the golden flames for a moment, then murmured.

"...At last."

That short phrase struck deep into Eileen’s heart. Because Cesare looked utterly tormented. His face was calm, yet for some reason, Eileen felt as though her chest was being crushed.

Cesare, who had been gazing up at the flames, slowly closed his eyes. A drop of blood fell from his fingertips into the pool of blood on the ground, sending ripples across its surface. Then, he reopened his eyes.

"There is only one thing I desire. The revival of the dead...."

His quiet voice whispered as if in prayer.

"I wish for Eileen Elrod to be brought back to life."

***

"Hkk...."

Eileen let out a faint groan as she opened her eyes. Her head throbbed as if it were splitting apart, and her throat burned as if it had been torn.

Even after regaining consciousness, she could barely see, as the surroundings were still shrouded in darkness. She did not know whether she was still dreaming or if this was reality, and she groped the air in confusion.

The blade that had taken innocent lives, the crimson eyes that had declared their slaughter was for her resurrection, all of it lingered in her mind. As she trembled with cold sweat, a chilling voice reached her ears.

"You’ve finally woken up."

That voice struck her like a bucket of cold water, snapping her back to reality. Eileen swallowed hard and steadied her breath. Her eyes, now adjusted to the darkness, slowly took in her surroundings.

She was trapped beneath the ruins of a collapsed temple. With Ornella.

Only then did she clearly realize that what she had just experienced had been some kind of vision or hallucination. Without thinking, Eileen fumbled in her pocket.

Her fingers closed around a smooth pocket watch. When she opened the lid, she faintly heard the ticking of the second hand.

’It had definitely stopped before....’

Her mind was still clouded as if she were in a dream. For now, Eileen put the watch back into her pocket and checked the condition of her body.

The temple had collapsed right above her. Yet miraculously, she was unscathed. The marble altar had fallen in a way that created a small space, shielding her. She had not suffered so much as a scratch, though she was covered in dust.

’Why did the temple collapse in the first place?’

The Grand Temple in the capital had once been destroyed and later rebuilt, but that had been an act of human destruction. Since the founding emperor had reconstructed it, it had withstood every natural disaster.

The construction method, which mixed volcanic ash with concrete and wove horsehair between the layers, was so sturdy that even modern architecture studied and employed it.

And yet, such a temple had collapsed in an instant. It was an impossible event.

However, there was no point in pondering the cause of the collapse now. Pushing aside her questions, Eileen turned toward the direction of Ornella’s voice. Ornella sneered.

"You seem fine, so stop acting dumb and help me, will you?"

Only then did Eileen notice the smell of blood and flinch. Ornella, her arm twisted unnaturally, was leaning against the altar, breathing heavily.

"O-Ornella!"

With no room to stand, Eileen crawled toward her. Ornella, just as dust-covered as Eileen, nodded slightly.

"There are candles next to you. Light one. Here, matches."

She extended her uninjured hand, revealing a damp matchbox clenched in her fist.

Eileen quickly took the matchbox, set up a fallen candle, and lit it. The flickering light revealed Ornella’s condition in full detail.

It seemed that a falling piece of debris had struck Ornella’s arm, breaking the bone. However, the bleeding was coming from her lower body.

"Hold on, let me check."

Eileen immediately lifted Ornella’s skirt.

Ornella shouted something in protest, but Eileen ignored her.

A deep gash on her thigh continued to bleed profusely. Fortunately, it looked like the wound had narrowly missed an artery.

’First, I need to stop the bleeding... and then stabilize her arm.’

Eileen picked up a fallen candlestick from a distance.

Using the sharp edge of the candlestick, she tore a long strip of fabric from her own dress, turning it into a makeshift bandage.

"Don’t move."

She pressed the cloth firmly against the wound to stem the bleeding.

Ornella groaned in pain and muttered curses under her breath, but Eileen paid no mind.

’Her arm... I need to secure it in a sling.’

As she tied a tight knot around the wound and thought about how to immobilize the broken arm, Ornella scoffed, her voice laced with bitter amusement.

"There’s no point in doing all this."

"What?"

"How do you think we’re going to get out of here? Even outside, no one could move these stones. We’re going to die here anyway, so I’d rather have a cigarette before that happens. Just hand it to me already."

"We’ll make it out."

Eileen finished securing the knot, answering with absolute certainty.

"Cesare will come to save us."

*** Ornella’s lips parted. She stared at Eileen with a look of disbelief before asking again.

"Do you think he’s some kind of... god?"

Her question was laced with sarcasm, as if she couldn’t understand the absolute faith Eileen had in him.

Being questioned like that, Eileen suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. She had answered too quickly, without hesitation. Realizing it belatedly, she added in a small voice,

"Yes... to me, he is."

To Eileen, Cesare was no different from a god. She firmly believed that he would save her. He had always found her, no matter the circumstances. So, she wasn’t afraid.

Of course, it wasn’t that she wasn’t scared at all, but the fear of being trapped was far less than it could have been. She wasn’t crying or breaking down, and she could calmly help Ornella, all thanks to her unwavering faith in Cesare.

As she secured Ornella’s broken arm, she could feel the weight of her gaze pressing against her cheek. Eileen wanted to rub her cheek with the back of her hand, but both hands were occupied, so she simply blinked and continued the treatment.

Ornella watched Eileen intently until the treatment was completely finished. When their eyes met, Eileen spoke.

"You should lie down instead of sitting. The wound needs to be elevated above your heart."

She reached out to help her down, but just as she was about to support her, Ornella asked instead of complying,

"Why are you helping me?"