Wicked Husband-Chapter 185 - 184

Eileen slowly lowered the handkerchief. Clutching the damp fabric in her hands, she turned to Michele.

"Michele."

Michele, who had been nervously watching, flinched before answering in a small voice,

"Yes?"

"You remember what I asked of you before?"

"Of course! I haven’t forgotten, not even once!"

Eileen had previously asked Michele to tell her everything she knew about Cesare, things Eileen wasn’t aware of. At the time, Michele had agreed. But so far, she had told her nothing.

Now, in her panic, Michele was rambling, saying she would even turn herself inside out to help if Eileen asked. She was too nervous to speak coherently.

Eileen met the eyes of each knight in turn. As her gaze settled on them, they stiffened as if they had been impaled by a spear.

"Then tell me everything now. Everything you know."

By then, her tears had stopped. With unwavering determination, she declared,

"I want to bring Cesare back to how he was."

***

The Traon Empire was in turmoil after the series of incidents at the ducal residence.

Many had witnessed the Grand Duke, who was supposedly recovering from an injury, desperately digging through the rubble at the Pantheon, frantically searching for the Grand Duchess.

Rumors spread that, despite his shoulder wound, he had torn through the debris with his bare hands until they bled, screaming Eileen’s name.

Fortunately, the Grand Duchess had been rescued unharmed, and the empire was moved by the deep love between them. However, some found the situation peculiar.

How had the Grand Duke, injured by a gunshot, managed to lift such heavy stones?

Still, given the gravity of the incident, these doubts were soon buried beneath more pressing matters.

Meanwhile, Grand Duke Erzet requested an unofficial audience with the Emperor.

Publicly, the meeting was unannounced. It was less a formal discussion between sovereign and subject, and more a conversation between brothers.

"...Cesare."

Leon let out a short, dry laugh as he looked at his younger brother. Unlike his usual military uniform, Cesare was dressed in formal attire, showing no signs of physical discomfort.

Apart from his slightly pale complexion, he looked completely fine. Though his eyes were shadowed from lack of sleep, his irises burned with an even fiercer crimson.

Leon frowned as he spoke,

"Is your shoulder already healed? Even so, at the Pantheon, you–"

"Why did you do it?"

Cesare cut him off abruptly. Leone fell silent for a moment before responding.

"...Do what?"

"Why did you send Eileen to the temple? You knew she didn’t get along with Lady Farbellini."

Cesare took a step closer. For a fleeting moment, Leon felt an instinctive sense of danger, the urge to step back. But he forced himself to stand his ground.

Cesare stared down at him, his face unreadable.

"You’re not hiding something from me, are you, brother?"

Leon’s eyes widened as he stared up at Cesare. Blood vessels burst in the whites of his eyes, his gaze bloodshot as he locked eyes with his only brother.

"And what if I did?"

His voice was sharp.

"If I lied to you, what would you do?"

Even as Leon glared at him with intensity, Cesare showed no visible reaction. Unlike Leon, who burned with emotion, Cesare seemed to grow colder.

As he watched the light in Cesare’s crimson eyes dim, Leon felt a difficult-to-name but undeniably negative emotion well up within him. It was directed at both Cesare and himself.

"You’re the one hiding everything from start to finish."

A dark tide surged from deep within him, swallowing him whole. In the end, Leon could no longer hold back.

"Do you regret giving me the throne?"

The words had been buried deep inside him for a long time, but the moment they finally surfaced, they brought with them a sharp pain. It was the pain of a bond breaking apart, one that had already been doomed from the moment distrust crept into the brothers’ relationship.

For a while, only the sound of breathing filled the space between them. Cesare remained calm, even indifferent, while Leon alone was left gasping for breath.

Cesare looked down at him and finally spoke.

"I’ve never regretted it."

Leon’s face twisted into a bitter smile. Even now, after everything, he was the only one losing his composure.

The inferiority complex he had hidden away in the deepest recesses of his heart had festered over the years, rotting away in the shadows.

If only you had remained perfect.

If only you had been someone beyond my reach, like a god.

Then I wouldn’t have felt this way. I would have accepted that you and I were simply different. That my shortcomings were natural.

But from the moment Cesare declared his intent to marry Eileen, everything had started to unravel. The brother he had viewed as untouchable had made a foolish, all-too-human choice. And every strange, reckless act Cesare had committed since then was connected to Eileen.

"...Why are you doing this?" Leon asked. "The entire empire knows about your injury. With so many eyes watching, you went and dug through the ruins of the Pantheon..."

There were plenty of other reckless acts Cesare had committed that Leon didn’t even bother mentioning. His voice trembled with disbelief.

"You’re willing to destroy everything we built together over a woman?"

"That’s right."

"Cesare!"

Leon’s anger exploded as he grabbed Cesare by the collar. But even with the forceful grip, Cesare’s expression remained unchanged. Leon glared at him from up close.

"Are you even in your right mind?"

For the first time, Cesare’s lips twisted into something resembling a smirk. His answer came easily.

"If I were in my right mind, I wouldn’t have done any of this."

As he spoke, he grabbed Leon’s wrist. Having lived his life as a soldier, Cesare had never hesitated to use force. The strength he exerted made Leon’s grip falter, forcing him to let go of Cesare’s collar.

"..."

That was all it took. Just a brief squeeze, yet it left a lingering ache in his wrist. For the first time in a long while, Leon was reminded of how others saw Cesare.

The only reason he had never realized Cesare’s sheer physical prowess before was because Cesare had never used force against him. They had been close since childhood. Unlike other siblings who often fought, they had never needed to.