I Wish My Husband Were Dead - Chapter 97



Only Krnovel

Contract with the Devil
2024.02.05.

“… … If you keep saying that, women will misunderstand.”

Cordelia stuck out her lips and tried to protest in her own way. Rosenblur may have just blurted out those words without thinking, but she hoped that the listener would realize that his words shook them like paper dolls.

“I hope you understand the misunderstanding.”

“What the, ugh.”

She raised her head absentmindedly and was startled by Rosenblur’s face being so close. It was so close that Rosenblur’s breath touched the tip of her nose. If she hadn’t been sitting on the chair, she would have rolled over.

“Is my face screaming?”

“It’s so, so close.”

“Please understand quickly. Although I can’t say it out loud because it’s still a period of mourning.”

“Huh?”

Rosenblur muttered something incomprehensible and stepped back. Only then did Cordelia let out the breath she had been holding in one go.

But Rosenbler didn’t stop there.

“Let’s start with something easy. Call me Blai.”

“Huh?”

“Blay.”

“B, b… .”

Cordelia couldn’t finish her sentences properly at the sudden request, like a newborn who had just started babbling. Her heart had been pounding hard for some time.

Rosenbler laughed when she couldn’t get the rest of her words out.

“I guess you need time. Then practice until the next time I see you.”

“Huh? Huh… .”

When she thought that wasn’t right, Rosenbler had already left. Cordelia returned to Leonard’s lab with a blank expression, as if possessed.

* * *

“Why are you empty-handed?”

“Huh?”

“Where’s my meal?”

“Oh, that’s right!”

At Leonard’s point, Cordelia belatedly remembered why she had gone to the restaurant. Leonard had been bringing him meals himself for the past week, and today was the day he finally got permission to run his master’s meal errand.

“I’m sorry. While I was eating, a man came.”

“A man?”

Cordelia spoke frankly about Ilias, whom she had met earlier. From the way he had suddenly spoken informally to the way he had suggested they become friends. Leonard’s face hardened as he listened to her explanation.

“I didn’t know the Magic Association was so open. He asked me if I wanted to meet him. I’ve never heard that come out of someone’s mouth. I guess the South is different.”

“What’s his name?”

“Ilias… … What was it? I forgot.”

“You’re not hiding him?”

“Why would I hide him?”

Leonard stared intently at Cordelia’s face, as if he was checking if she was lying or not.

“Yeah. We can check that later. Did you forget to eat because you were so distracted by him?”

“No. No, that man was kicked out by Rosenblur. But while talking to Rosenblur, he suddenly told me to call him Blai… … I’ll go and get you some food right now!”

Cordelia was talking nonsense and tried to hurry out of the lab. Then Leonard grabbed her arm tightly and asked.

“Blai?”

“Huh?”

“Wait.”

Before she could answer, Leonard went to the study and brought something. He handed it to Cordelia.

“What’s this?”

“Shackles. Do you want to wear them? Do you want me to?”

“… … ?”

What kind of logic could lead to such an absurd conclusion? Cordelia blinked, unable to understand, and stared at her master’s face.

“Did I do that wrong? Of course, it was wrong to forget your meals, but it wasn’t a crime big enough to warrant wearing shackles.”

“No. You did a very big crime.”

“What crime?”

“The crime of not understanding my feelings.”

“What? No, you’re saying that now. How could I know what’s on your mind, Master?”

Cordelia protested strongly, as if she felt wronged. Even if he forgot to run a meal errand, to punish him for such an absurd reason? It was extremely unreasonable.

However, Leonard stubbornly held out the chain.

“What are you doing? Get out of here quickly.”

“Haha, are you kidding? Boy, I almost fooled you.”

“Why am I joking? I told you to hold out your hand?”

He said with endless seriousness. Of course, he wouldn’t just give his hand away. Cordelia quickly hid both hands behind her back.

“Ah, I get it. I now understand what’s on your mind, Master!”

“What?”

“Master, really, really!”

“Very hungry?”

“I’m so hungry! I’ll go right now!”

Cordelia opened the door and ran away. Leonard laughed as she ran without looking back. Candias floated over to his side and was surprised to see the chains in Leonard’s hands.

“Isn’t that Laziana’s ring?”

“Yes.”

“Hey, you crazy person. Are you going to put those on Cordelia? If you put one on each, they’ll never be able to leave each other within a certain radius.”

“Yes.”

When the door closed and Cordelia’s shadow was no longer visible, the smile on Leonard’s lips disappeared like a lie. Only his bright purple eyes remained.

“All the flies are swarming.”

“Flies? Are there bugs in the lab?”

“I can’t just burn them all down.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Where should I really lock you up?”

“Have you finally gone crazy?”

Leonard muttered, staring into space, so Candias had a point. What was even more surprising was that when Cordelia returned a while later, the coldness disappeared in an instant.

“Master, I brought you a hot meal. Eat it before it gets cold. Now, sit down quickly,”

Cordelia said, putting down her tray slyly. Leonard crossed his arms and looked down at Cordelia.

“If you get distracted by those weirdos one more time and forget my meal, I’ll really chain you up and keep you from leaving the lab.”

“Of course. Of course. You know my priority is always my Master, right?”

“You always sound good.”

Cordelia clasped her hands together and tried to please her Master. If she didn’t, she instinctively feared that the chains he was jokingly talking about might actually be put on her wrists.

She sat down across from Leonard at the table where he was eating.

“That’s right. I met Lydia on the way here.”

“When is she going back to Elfenbaum?”

“Huh? Did you hear from Rosenblur? Lydia is going back?”

“Do you really need to ask that? Would Rosenblur keep my sister here? He’d probably break the contract and send her back to her hometown.”

“Do you think that’s right, Master?”

Cordelia said, resting her chin on her hand. Leonard noticed that her eyes were filled with something other than pity for Lydia and asked back.

“Why do you ask that?”

“It’s just… … . I thought of something. I thought that maybe Lydia was desperate enough to learn magic, so she made a deal with the devil.”

“Just because you’re desperate doesn’t mean everything is forgiven. You and I are different. If Lydia really wanted to learn magic, she would have had the chance at any time. But she just didn’t want to put in the effort. She wanted to achieve in a month what others would have had to do in ten years.”

“That’s right.”

Leonard was right. Cordelia nodded, convinced. Unlike Cordelia, who lived in a remote village where she had never seen a wizard, Lydia had ample opportunity to learn magic.

Skipping all the difficult steps could be an insult to someone who had walked the path silently.

Then, Candias suddenly retched and her eyeball split in half. Surprisingly, a letter popped out from inside.

“What, what is it?”

Cordelia was startled when she first saw it. Leonard picked up the letter and said calmly.

“A letter from outside.”

“Outside?”

“Outside the magic confederacy.”

“Ah.” Now

that she thought about it, it was strange that there was no other way to contact the outside world in the magic confederacy. However, seeing her eyeball split open gave her goosebumps.

Leonard glanced at the letter briefly and got up.

“I’m going out for a bit, so do the homework I gave you. I’ll come back and check it right away.”

“Yes. “ Have a nice day.”

Cordelia often studied alone in the lab, so she saw him off and returned to her seat.

She opened her book and picked up her pen as usual, but then suddenly remembered something she had forgotten to ask. “Oh, right.” “What?” “I forgot to ask why eye color changes.” “Who changed their eye color? That’s a very difficult magic.” Candias flew over and said. “Really? When I talked to Lydia earlier, her eyes definitely turned black. At first, I thought it was my imagination, but this time, they’ve been like that for quite some time.” “Lydia? The one who made a contract with the devil?” “Yes.” “Do you know who she made a contract with?”

“No. I won’t even mention that.”

“You said your personality changed a bit, right?”

“Yes, yes.”

Cordelia responded appropriately to Candias’s words, but her eyes were fixed on a complicated formula.

“Did he descend?”

“Descent? What’s that?”

“It’s accepting the full power of the devil into my body.”

Cordelia’s back straightened on its own at the word she had never heard before.

“Is it different from a contract?”

“It is different. A contract transfers a part of the devil to the human world, so you can use a very weak power here, but a descent is bringing the entire body to the human world, so the power is beyond imagination. I only have one eyeball in the human world, so it’s amazing when I come back as the main body.”

“Huh? Wasn’t he originally a devil with only one eyeball?”

“What are you talking about? Do you think I’m some kind of monster? The appearance of a devil is almost identical to a human’s. That bastard Attila made a contract with only one of my eyes and is here.”

Candias was bragging about how cool her own body was. Cordelia let it slide and asked,

“If you descend, your eye color and personality will change?”

“If the descended demon takes control of your body, it can change. Ah, but it wouldn’t be a descent. If you descend, there would be a huge collapse. That’s why, in principle, descending to the human world is prohibited.”

“It happened a while ago.”

“What?”

“A collapse. Matilda said. There was a major collapse in the southern part of Ershe for the first time in twenty years.”

“… … .”

“… … .”

Candias and Cordelia met eyes for a moment and were silent. Cordelia suddenly got up from her seat.

“W-you really descended into Lydia’s body? What happens when you descend?”

“What happens? Your body and mind are completely controlled by the demon, you go crazy, and in the end, bang.”

“bang?”

“It explodes. There’s no way a human body can withstand a demon, right?”

Cordelia couldn’t stay still after hearing Candias’s words. It might not be true, but if there was even a slight possibility, she had to tell him quickly.

She headed to the lab door in a hurry. Candias followed her.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“I’m going to Lydia, no, to Mr. Rosenblu!”

“Atilio told me to stay here, and he’s already gone.”

Candias shook her eyes as she looked at the already closed door.