I Wish My Husband Were Dead - Chapter 86



Only Krnovel

What do you think of me?
2024.01.25.

“What’s wrong with your face?”

“What, what, what? Why is my face like that?”

“What are you so surprised about? Why? Were you uncomfortable sleeping?”

“T, that… … .”

The next day, Cordelia somehow became conscious of looking at Leonard’s face, or even talking to him. Even things she normally did without thinking about were more conscious.

“I understand. I’ll ask Laxen to quickly assign you a room today, so wait.”

“… … Thank you.”

Her voice was so small that it was almost like the sound of the wind.

Leonard looked down at Cordelia’s crown. The area under her eyes was sunken, as if she hadn’t slept a wink. It seemed like she had been sleeping quite comfortably.

‘I should change the bed to a better one. I can sleep there sometimes.’

He had no way of knowing what Cordelia was thinking, so he simply changed his train of thought to providing her with a comfortable place to sleep. Cordelia seemed unusually surprised today, but he ignored it as well.

“Matilda is back, let’s go together.”

“Matilda? Oh, Mother, Master! Let’s go, let’s go quickly.”

Cordelia, who had been tapping away for a while, reacted strongly to the name Matilda. She still walked far away from Leonard, but her footsteps showed excitement.
“What kind of person is Matilda?”

“A cold but kind old woman.”

“Huh?”

“You’ll know when you meet her.”

Matilda’s lab was a long way down. He could tell that he had arrived without even asking if he was there. He could feel a strong magical power rippling through the rusty iron door.

As he approached the door, his pupils floated above it just like in Candias. The difference was that he had two eyes.

“Attila.”

“Lekan. Is Matilda inside?”

Lekan, who was probably a demon, blinked lightly to confirm his decision. His gaze fell on Cordelia.

“Who are you?”

“Hello. My name is Cordelia Vasquez. I am the disciple of Lord Atile.”

“Vasquez?”

Lekan stared at Cordelia with curious eyes. He could not take his eyes off her.

He did not know why the demons were so interested in her. Cordelia hesitated at the excessive attention and took a step back.

“Hmm. That’s unusual.”

“Should I open the door?”

“Okay, go in first.”

Lekan averted his gaze from Cordelia and opened the door. She looked inside the laboratory. It was the most gloomy and darkest laboratory she had ever been in. Even though it was broad daylight, all the few windows were closed, making the room as dark as night.

“Hello.”

“Huh!”

At that moment, a small girl with black hair suddenly appeared. Cordelia was startled and took a step back, not expecting a person to appear.

Fortunately, Leonard, who was behind her, caught her, but she almost fell down badly.

“The Master wants you to come inside. Follow me.”

The girl walked first as silently as when she had appeared.

“What are you so surprised about?”

“You’re too close.”

She forgot that she was leaning her back against his chest. Leonard’s voice in her ear seemed even lower today.

Cordelia fussed and moved away from him again. Leonard looked at her with strange eyes.

“What? You were the one who leaned in first.”

“That, that’s that!”

Leonard was dumbfounded by her attitude. However, since the one who likes loses, Leonard would have been annoyed if it had been normally, but he let it go.

“Okay, let’s go see Matilda. She’ll wait.”

“Yes.”

When she was guided into the lab, she saw a small tea room. A woman with her white hair tied neatly without a single strand sticking out was sitting there. Judging by the wrinkles on his face, he must be well over sixty, but his back was straight.

Leonard made Cordelia stand in front of her.

“My disciple. Please greet me. Sirius of Trisca, Matilda Erk.”

“Hello. My name is Cordelia Vasquez. I am the disciple of Atilei.”

Cordelia held back her pounding heart and bowed as politely as she could.

“I heard from Hayden. You are Grita’s daughter?”

“Yes! The teacher who taught my mother… .”

“Understood, then sit over there.”

“Oh. Yes.”

Matilda pointed to the sofa on the other side in a small but dignified voice. Cordelia kept her mouth shut and sat down obediently where her finger was pointing. Leonard followed suit and sat down next to Cordelia.

There was a rattling sound, and soon the girl we saw earlier came with a steaming teapot. Matilda poured the tea herself.

“Try it. I brewed it with flowers I grew myself.”

Cordelia took a sip without saying a word. It was an ordinary tea with the scent of flower petals. However, Leonard frowned and put the cup down as soon as he put the tea to his lips.

“Ugh, what on earth did you brew?”

“Tsk, tsk. The taste is still the same. That’s enough. If it doesn’t taste good, don’t drink it.”

Matilda clicked her tongue. Leonard immediately pushed the tea away without a moment’s hesitation.

“More importantly, I heard there was a collapse.”

“Yes. In the south of Ershe. At first, it was passed over as nothing serious, but the scale was bigger than I thought.”

“How tall is it?”

“At least fifty.”

“Fifty? A high-ranking demon of that level was summoned?”

“Yes. “It’s the first time in twenty years that this has happened, so everyone is on edge.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes because she couldn’t keep up with the conversation. Matilda’s gaze met hers.

“Do you know what a collapse is?”

“Oh, no.”

“What? You don’t know what a collapse is?”

“Mr. Lee, didn’t you explain it to me?”

Cordelia pouted at Leonard’s accusatory question. Anyway, this master often seemed to forget that she had only been a wizard for half a year. Matilda asked.

“How does a contract with a demon work?”

“Uh… … . Hmm… … .”

“I guess I’ll explain from the beginning. A wizard can summon a demon using his magic as collateral, and if he pays an appropriate price, he can make a contract.”

Matilda began to explain kindly.

“Why would you make a contract with a demon?”

“Because you can get what you want easily.”

Leonard added an explanation. Matilda added to that.

“You can’t say that making a contract with the devil is bad in itself. There must be some who use it to their advantage. However, it’s not easy to resist the temptation of the powerful power obtained through the devil. In the end, if you can’t control that power, you’re the one who gets eaten by the devil.”

At first glance, it didn’t seem like a very attractive option. No matter how powerful you gain, if the end result is destruction, what’s the point of making that choice?

Candias suddenly came to mind. Cordelia turned her head and looked at Leonard’s profile.

“Then what about Candias, whom you made a contract with? Isn’t he dangerous too?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve already paid the full price of the contract to him. And I didn’t make a contract asking for power.”

“… … Attila’s case is a bit unusual. He made a contract by eating the devil.”

Somewhat harsh words came out of Matilda’s mouth, who seemed very polite. The worries that Cordelia had left disappeared in an instant.

“Eating… … That’s why Candias hates you, Master.”

“It’s because his personality is naturally twisted.”

“Your personality is even more twisted, Attila. It’s not your place to talk about others.”

“Phew. Ahem. Sorry. I suddenly thought of a funny joke.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Matilda’s blunt revelation. I felt Leonard, sitting next to me, glaring at her. Cordelia quickly looked into the distance and pretended not to know.

“… … Weren’t you about to explain the collapse, Lady Matilda?”

“Oh, right. The collapse refers to the distortion of dimensions that occurs when summoning a demon. Usually, the larger the scale of the collapse, the more high-ranking demons are summoned.”

After hearing some explanation, I understood the situation, but I didn’t think it was that important. It didn’t really have much to do with Cordelia anyway.

However, it must have been important to the two of them, because they talked about the collapse for a while. I understood the first few sentences, but as the story got more complicated and technical, I became increasingly bored.

Matilda seemed to notice this and spoke first.

“If you don’t mind, could you run an errand for me?”

“Yes? An errand?”

“Yes. It’s been a while since I’ve seen your master, so I have a lot to talk about.”

“Understood. What should I do?”

“It’s simple. Just give this to Kanon.”

She said, handing Cordelia a letter.

“Who is Kanon?”

“Seiris of Diduacell.”

“Diduacell, oh! The school of Master Rosenblu.”

“I know him well. I’ll probably find him in his lab.”

“Can you go alone?”

Leonard looked up at Cordelia with a hint of worry. Cordelia answered cheerfully.

“Of course. I’ll be back shortly.”

Cordelia carefully put the letter in her pocket and left Matilda’s study. Leonard stared at her back until she was completely out of sight, then turned his head and stared at Matilda.

“Do you have something to say to me alone?”

“Yes.”

Matilda’s face suddenly turned cold. She picked up the tea that Leonard had left unsold and sprinkled it on the plants next to her.

Then something amazing happened. The plants that had been green and fresh just a moment ago turned brown and withered in an instant.

Leonard’s eyes twitched.

“It’s tea mixed with demon blood. Normal humans would be as disgusted as you and not be able to drink even a sip.”

“Then what about Cordelia… … .”

“At least that means she’s not a complete human. When Lekan told me, I didn’t think it was possible.”

“That’s, that’s ridiculous. Cordelia is the eldest daughter of the Vasquez family. Didn’t you say that Matilda knew her mother?”

“Yes. Grita was my disciple. And she was incapable of having children.”

“Isn’t it too premature to doubt Cordelia’s birth based on that?”

“You said that this collapse occurred about twenty years ago. To be exact, there was another collapse twenty-one years ago. How old is your disciple this year?”

Twenty. Cordelia was twenty this year. Leonard’s face hardened.

“From the look of your expression, it seems that my guess was correct. Do you now understand why I doubt your disciple’s birth?”