Side Story 3.12 - HAPPILY EVER AFTER(12) (1/2)

HAPPILY EVER AFTER(12)

By the time he arrived at Roam after a few days journey on his horse without sleep, the entire situation was already over and waiting for him. As soon as he entered the walls of Roam, he could feel a gloomy aura in the air. The people that came out to see him gave their greetings with utmost respect. Their attitude wasn’t that of meeting the young master but that of greeting a new master.

He slowly got down from the horse. He couldn’t take a step forward; it was as if his two feet were rooted to the floor. Someone approached him and said something to him but it went unheard.

“…Where?”

“Pardon? The two bodies are insi…”

“Not that!”

“Th—the west tower…”

“All of you…withdraw. Do not come until I call for you. If I catch you in my sight, I will cut off your head.”

His voice started off calmly but ended in a tone oozing with blood. He swept a cold glance over the wavering and unmoving figures of the people around him then thick bloodthirst burst forth from him. He was suppressing his desire to rip out the necks of everyone here and slaughter them.

Several weak-minded people held other people for support as they sank to their knees and dispersed with pale complexions. His cold red eyes gazed at them then he headed for the west tower.

As soon as he reached the top of the stairs and opened the door, he was swarmed with the smell of blood. A smell he had never found repulsive before made him feel nauseous. The stone floor was smeared with a large black blood stain.

The vassals were shocked by the fact that the culprit who murdered the ducal couple, was the spitting image of the young master so they couldn’t bear to move the body and left it there. All they did was take a wooden coffin and put the corpse inside.

He dragged his feet to the wooden coffin. As he looked at the closed coffin, he took in a deep breath like he had just ran a race. He slowly bent down and got on his knees, then he pushed the lid of the coffin aside with trembling hands.

A young man with a grey complexion, like that never seen on a living being, lay inside with his eyes closed. The cracked wounds on his neck were spotted with dried blood stains. The expression on the dead body was serene. The stench of the corpse that was beginning to decay pierced his nose.

As he looked at the face of the young man, which was just like him, extreme emotions swirled in his eyes. It felt like his blood was flowing backwards. Grief, and anger that seemed to drive him mad burst forth from within.

“AAARGGHH!!”

~

Hugo opened his eyes with a start. The warmth of the body next to him quickly dragged him back to reality.

A dream. Hugo heaved a sigh.

As he stared into space, he felt the own unstable pounding of his heart.

‘That damned guy.’

Even though he left like that, why was his first appearance in his dream that of the last time he saw him? Hugo inwardly spewed curses at his brother. He sighed heavily and carefully removed his hand that was wrapped around his wife’s back because he didn’t want to wake her up. He sat down motionlessly on the bed for a bit, then he came down from the bed.

Quite a long time passed after Hugo left the bedroom. The world was immersed in the deepest darkness that occurred just before dawn.

Lucia turned on the bed, wanting to feel his warmth but only felt a vacant, cold space. She woke up halfway and opened her eyes to realize that the space next to her was completely empty. Although her husband was the type to get up early, that didn’t mean in the dead of the night.

Lucia got down from bed to search for him. As she looked around, she noticed a small light coming from the door crevice of the receiving room. She approached quietly, opened the door and poked her head inside. The first thing she noticed was the three or so uncorked wine bottles lying on the table.

She frowned slightly. He was definitely not that much of a wine lover that he would go drink a few bottles of wine, alone, at this time of the night. She looked for her husband, and when she saw his rearview by the window, her heart throbbed. He seemed strange, as he stood there with the moonlight falling on him through the window.

For some reason, she felt lonely as she once again realized that no matter how much they loved each other, they could only be separate people.

Lucia wondered what it could be. Perhaps this wasn’t the first time he had come out here in thought and she had never seen it so she didn’t know.

Should she go comfort him? Or would it be better for her not to disturb him? She didn’t know what to choose, so she didn’t approach, and just stood holding the doorknob. She couldn’t even turn around and go back to the bedroom like she hadn’t seen anything.

‘Hugh.’

She merely called him inside, but like magic, he turned around. Then he smiled faintly and gestured to her, as if telling her to come here. Lucia walked up to him as fast as she could, almost like she was running.

She threw her arms around him and buried her head in his chest. His arms reliably wrapped around her waist. As his large hand stroked her hair, she lifted her face and he kissed her forehead.

“Did you have a bad dream?”

“You weren’t there so it felt empty and I woke up. What about you? Did you have a bad dream?”

“Yeah. Even though I’ve never had one before.”

Hugo smiled wryly. He had never even had dreams before. Perhaps he might have had a dream while he slept but he never remembered when he woke up. This was his first time waking up from a bad dream and being unable to go back to sleep because his mind was disturbed.

“A dream is just a dream, Hugh. You don’t have a pendant, after all.”

Hugo leaned on her shoulder and chuckled.

“The guy who made a mess out of your workshop in your dream. You really won’t tell me who it is?”

The fact that Count Matin got off so easy still annoyed him. So he tried to blow off steam with the other guy, but she completely refused to say anything.

“It didn’t happen in reality. He might be living a diligent life now, so I don’t want to blame him for a crime he didn’t commit.”

“I doubt he’s being diligent. I can assure you, people’s nature don’t change that easily.”

“Still, there’s no need for you to know.”

“But you told me about Count Matin.”

“Well, I couldn’t explain well without mentioning Count Matin, so it couldn’t be helped. Let’s stop talking about this. I’m never telling.”

“Tsk. Stubborn.”

Hugo swept her into his arms then he walked to the sofa and sat down. He sat her on his knees and hugged her soft body tight. As he breathed in her smell, Hugo felt his subsided feeling gradually rising again.

Lucia gently stroked his hair without asking anything. Although she wanted to know everything about him, she could understand if there was something he couldn’t tell her.

“Philip is dead.”

“…I feel complicated.”

“It’s just as you say. I wonder why I don’t feel lighthearted.”

“Because Philip was there for a huge part of your life.”

A long time after Lucia gave birth to Evangeline, Hugo gave her the full story of what Philip had done. Her heart ached when she finally realized how hard it was for her husband at the time. She felt sorry for not being able to share his pain.

However, she didn’t hate Philip that much. She simply felt that the life of the man called Philip was pitiful. Her connection to him in her dream was also part of it, and if it wasn’t for Philip, she wouldn’t have gotten Evangeline in the end. After all, Lucia wouldn’t have ever taken the medicine to treat herself, personally.

In addition, whether she hated him or not, Philip was a remnant of her husband’s lonely childhood. Her husband might disagree, but Lucia thought so.

“If you really want, you can take a visit to the north. Perhaps you need a break.”