I Wish My Husband Were Dead - Chapter 160



Only Krnovel

Side Story 2. If You Love
2024.04.08.

The carriage crossed the dark night streets and stopped in front of the palace.

Today’s banquet was a gathering of the sacred eight families and several powerful families during the non-social season, so everyone was dressed up to the nines.

“Elector Attila. And Lady Attila.”

“Elector Saracen.”

The most splendid of them was not King Gabriel, but Diana Saracen, the head of the Golden Lion Saracen family.

“It seems that the Saracens use diamonds instead of lanterns.”

The entire person sparkled with diamonds attached to their clothes. Leonard said, wrinkling his nose. Diana smiled faintly.

“These are diamonds mined from this mine. Isn’t the transparency amazing?”

“Your hair is even more amazing in those clothes.”

“Men don’t know style. Lady Attila might like it.”

Diana blinked as if asking Cordelia for her consent. Cordelia, who had been standing still like a doll next to Leonard, finally spoke.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Right? Come visit my townhouse whenever you want. There are even some as big as a child’s fist. You’ll be amazed when you see them.”

“If you invite me, I’d be happy to go and see them.”

Leonard perked up his ears and listened to Cordelia’s voice. It was the first time he’d heard his wife’s voice in nearly three weeks, and it sounded softer than usual.

Diana was soon swept away by the others. Leonard glanced down at his wife and asked casually,

“Do you want a diamond?”

“No.”

The answer came so quickly that it was a little embarrassing. At that moment, Gabriel approached the couple, holding a wine glass in one hand.

“Who is this? Isn’t it the court magician of Ershe, who you never see at court?”

“Your Majesty.”

The banquet had barely begun, but Gabrielle’s body reeked of alcohol, as if she had drunk too much. Cordelia bowed to him as soon as she saw him.

“Your Majesty. It’s been a while since I’ve greeted you.”

“Lady Attila. Please send your husband to the palace. He’s been stuck in the magic all day, so I don’t have time to see our court magician. He won’t come to the palace for a while even if I want to discuss something.”

“Would you listen to me?”

Even though he knew that she was simply responding to the king’s words, Cordelia’s words felt like she was sarcastically responding to the situation. Leonard stared at her side profile, which remained motionless.

“By the way, have you met the new Elector Vasquez?”

“No. Are you coming here today?”

Originally, Cordelia should have become the Elector Vasquez after Pablo died, but Cordelia refused the title. Since it was rare for a legitimate successor to not receive the title, the council had a lot of talk about the succession issue for a while.

Moreover, even though he was in ruins, he was Vasquez, the Blue Hawk.

However, Cordelia made her intentions clear.

‘I want to end my life as Cordelia Attila.’

So the council tried to find the closest collateral lineage and hand over the position of Elector Vasquez to him, but the successors who found out that Vasquez had a huge debt than expected repeatedly gave up the position. Finally, after nearly three years, they found the master.

Cordelia had heard about the situation through letters, but this was the first time she had actually seen Elector Vasquez.

“Ah, there he is. Elector Vasquez. I have someone to introduce you to.”

Gabriel waved his hand lightly and called a man. He was a young man with light brown hair and hazel eyes. The surname Vasquez suited him well, perhaps because of his stocky physique and square jaw.

“You called, Your Majesty.”

“This is Elector Attila and Lady Attila.”

Normally, he would greet Leonard first, but the man’s gaze was fixed on Cordelia.

He looked straight into Cordelia’s eyes and said,

“My name is Blake Vasquez. Lady Attila.”

“Nice to meet you. Elector Vasquez.”

When Cordelia greeted him calmly, Leonard took a step between them and intentionally hid her behind his back.

“The new Elector Vasquez? I’ll see you often from now on.”

“Yes. Please take care of me. Elector Attila.”

“Good, good. Now that Vasquez is finished, I guess we should do something about Embly.”

“Wasn’t Elector Embly sentenced to twenty years in prison?”

Leonard asked. Gabriel furrowed his left eyebrow as if he had a headache, then took a sip of wine.

“That’s true, but I think he’ll die in less than ten years, not twenty. I heard he has some kind of illness and keeps coughing up blood in prison.”

“I guess I’ve been punished by heaven.”

Leonard said as if it was nothing special, but Gabriel’s expression changed strangely as soon as he heard that.

“Attila. Are you?”

“Are you?”

“Please talk to me.”

Gabriel grabbed Leonard’s arm and dragged him away forcibly. Cordelia was left alone with Blake because of the sudden incident.

At that moment, the orchestra began to play music for dancing. They were about to say goodbye and leave, but Blake hesitated for a moment and held out his hand to Cordelia.

“Would you allow me the honor of dancing with you?”

“… … With me? I’m not a very good dancer.”

“I’m not a very good dancer either.”

In a daze, Cordelia walked to the center of the stage with Blake. Unlike his previous modesty for dancing poorly, Blake moved quite gracefully.

Cordelia was nervous, trying not to step on his feet, as it had been a long time since she had danced with someone other than Leonard.

“… … May I ask?”

“Yes?”

Because of that, she couldn’t hear a single word the man dancing with her was saying. Cordelia absentmindedly raised her head, then leaned back when she realized Blake’s face was too close.

“May I ask why you gave up Vasquez?”

He calmly repeated the question.

“For the same reason as the others who gave up Vasquez.”

“Of course, I have a lot of debt, but Attila’s wealth could easily pay it off.”

“I didn’t want to go that far.”

“But it’s Vasquez. I would have lived under that name my whole life.”

“That’s why I gave it up. I didn’t want to carry that name with me my whole life.”

Blake hesitated at her overly honest answer. Because of that, the two of them lost their tempo and hesitated for a bit before barely getting back on track.

“Don’t misunderstand. There’s no such curse on the name Vasquez. My father didn’t acknowledge me as Vasquez my whole life, and only realized that I was the real Vasquez right before he died and said he would give me that position.”

The thought crossed her mind that she had revealed too much personal information to a man she had just met, but at the same time, she thought that this was a chance to sort out the past.

“To be honest, it’s revenge.”

“Revenge?”

“Revenge against my father who was obsessed with bloodlines. I didn’t want his blood to remain in the name of Vasquez.”

She had expected to receive pitiful looks as if she was giving up her title for such a reason, but instead, a smile spread across Blake’s lips.

“Thank goodness.”

“Why?”

“Actually, I was a little worried about what would happen if Lady Attila, the rightful successor, changed her mind.”

“The title of Elector Vasquez already belongs to the Elector. How can I?”

Blake blinked, staring into her eyes. That was all, but Cordelia realized what he was trying to say.

“Of course, if I tell my husband, he’ll probably bring it back somehow… … Then my revenge would be meaningless.”

“That’s why I’m so relieved, Lady Attila.”

“Don’t worry.”

It was the woman’s turn to do a big spin. Cordelia spun around to the music and then returned to Blake. He smiled softly and said,

“Then let me tell you something in return.”

“What is it?”

“Congratulations. You’re pregnant.”

Cordelia was momentarily surprised by the unexpected words, but soon burst into laughter.

“Haha.”

“You already knew?”

“No. That can’t be.”

Blake’s sudden words were absurd, but she was actually a little happy. But soon bitterness set in.

Blake let out a short groan and added an explanation.

“You might think it’s strange, but I recently gained a special ability.”

“I don’t know what that ability is, but it’s not very accurate. I can’t be pregnant.”

“But it’s true. “The demon I made a contract with is saying that. I can feel another life in your body.”

As Cordelia denied it with conviction, Blake also spoke actively. Cordelia, who had been denying it strongly, stopped at the word demon.