Don’T Get Caught By Your Husband! [EN]: Chapter 100

#100. The Choice

May 31, 2024

“Commander! What do you think you’re doing?”

Graham grabbed Escalio, who was moving with a wild look in his eyes.

Blocking him with his whole body, Graham desperately signaled the surrounding knights for help.

Realizing his signal, the knights quickly approached and restrained Escalio.

“Let go.”

“Where are you going? Are you going to storm the Vatican alone?”

“If I have to.”

“Get a grip!”

Graham tried to stop him again, but Escalio pushed him away forcefully.

Graham, thrown back in an instant, stubbornly returned to him.

“Let’s find Hazel first and talk. He’ll know what’s going on!”

“…….”

“Losing your mind and charging in like this won’t help Madam [Belladona] at all! Think carefully, Escalio. Even if you plan properly, you don’t know if you can save Madam and Scarlett. If you charge in recklessly like this, nothing will work!”

“Haa…….”

Escalio let out a frustrated breath.

Graham took the opportunity to look back at Timothy.

“Young man over there! Please lead us back to your house first!”

“Ah, okay! Please follow me.”

Timothy readjusted Tina in his arms and quickly turned around.

* * *

“Commander, I’m sorry…….”

Hazel’s condition, which they confirmed at Timothy’s house, was worse than expected.

Graham frowned as he looked down at him, who was bowing his head with wounds all over his face as if he had been ambushed, and spoke.

“Is it standard practice for the Vatican to beat people like this?”

“……I have nothing to say.”

“Haa……. Still, I’m glad you regained consciousness. Tell me what you remember from the situation earlier.”

Hazel, who was constantly stroking his arm as if in pain, frowned and slowly began to recount the events.

“After Madam arrived at this house, I was looking around to ensure the area was secure. I saw the Cardinal and six men he’d hired approaching from a distance, and I was about to return to the house immediately… Suddenly, I felt a sting in the back of my neck, and my vision went dark.”

“Vision?”

Surprised by this detail, Graham questioned him further.

Hazel nodded, narrowing his eyes as he tried to recall the moment.

“Yes. I don’t know if it was a poisoned needle, an injection, or something else entirely, but I remember the sting and the sudden darkness that followed. Then I was beaten indiscriminately by them…….”

He couldn’t continue speaking and bowed his head in shame.

“……I’m truly sorry for failing to protect Madam properly.”

“Are you sure you didn’t just feel dizzy for a moment?”

“It’s possible, but…….”

Graham ruffled Hazel’s hair, who still couldn’t lift his head, roughly and deliberately raised his voice.

“That’s enough! Just pull yourself together and join us. We have to go to the Vatican to find Madam and Scarlett now.”

“Graham, investigate something.”

“Huh? What?”

Escalio, who had been silent until then, suddenly spoke.

He pointed to Hazel with a nod and repeated his request.

“Whether it’s a poisoned needle or an injection. We need to determine if they actually used it, or if another party is involved.”

“Isn’t that just this guy’s speculation?”

“No, it’s not……! I definitely felt it!”

Hazel protested, sounding wronged.

Escalio sighed and raised his head.

Hazel, looking up at him, trembled his lower lip and confessed.

“While losing consciousness, I heard their voices… They said if I cooperated quietly, they would spare my life…”

He closed his eyes tightly as if in pain.

“So… Madam followed them because of that. For me… But I couldn’t protect Madam…”

“That’s enough, stop it.”

Escalio turned away.

“Call a magician. I think it’s time to hear the full story.”

* * *

In the darkness, Belladona stared at the tightly closed door.

No sound could be heard except for her own breath.

She didn’t even know where she was trapped, or even if this place was within the Vatican.

Cardinal Nicholas, who had covered her eyes and brought her here, uttered those words and disappeared, leaving her in this confined space.

Belladona, tied to a chair in the middle of the room, could only stare at the door in front of her.

‘How long do I have to stay here?’

Her body, bound to the chair for several hours, was starting to ache.

‘Let’s wait a little longer.’

‘If no one shows up even then, I’ll have to force the chair over and cut the rope…!’

At that moment, faint footsteps echoed from afar.

She recognized the distinct dragging sound of those footsteps.

“…….”

Soon, the footsteps grew louder and stopped right in front of the door.

The doorknob turned, and the wooden door creaked open.

A ray of light from the outside gradually widened, illuminating the dark interior.

Belladona, who had been in the dark for a long time, frowned and raised her head.

“Belladona.”

Pope Prononce addressed his daughter in the darkness.

He was standing against the bright light, obscuring his expression.

Belladona stared at him silently.

“It’s been a while since you’ve been in this room, hasn’t it?”

‘Has the Saintess [Belladona] ever been to this room?’

Belladona swallowed hard. An unknown anxiety gripped her.

Moving slowly, Prononce stepped inside and approached her.

Belladona raised her head as he drew closer.

“I’m a little saddened to receive such a look from my beloved daughter. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that face, except when you were a child.”

“…….”

“I won’t touch you today, so don’t worry. I’m just here to offer you a deal.”

After finishing speaking, he moved behind her.

Belladona felt the rope binding her body loosening and released a breath she had been holding in.

She focused to keep her staggering body from collapsing forward.

“There was no need to tie the rope; Cardinal Nicholas went too far. I apologize on his behalf.”

Prononce spoke in the kind and benevolent tone he usually displayed to the public.

‘What? Why is he doing this to make me more anxious?’ Belladona remained guarded and listened to his voice.

“One day, I suddenly had a thought. I wondered if I had been too strict with you.”

He said, throwing the rope that had bound Belladona to the floor.

He turned around and came to the front of her, who was still sitting in the chair, and continued to speak.

“I was so worried about you and protecting you from danger that I wondered if I had kept you by my side too much.”

“…….”

“So, you may have fallen for the charm of a place you’ve never seen before, and you may have developed affection for a type of person you’ve never encountered.”

‘What on earth is he saying…….’

Belladona kept her mouth shut and listened to his words.

Pope Prononce continued to speak in a soft voice.

“So, that’s it, my dear. You’re in a state of infatuation with something new right now. Even though those things don’t benefit you at all.”

“…….”

“You’re forgetting that you, the Saintess of Astanya, are most noble and wonderful when you’re here, and when you’re by my side.”

Prononce stood directly in front of Belladona.

“It would have been nice if you had realized that yourself, but it seems you couldn’t. But it’s okay. Don’t worry. I’m going to give you one more chance.”

He grabbed the end of her chin and lifted it high.

“It’s obvious that you won’t understand if I say it indirectly, so let me be clear. Come back to Astanya.”

Belladona shook her head violently and pulled her chin away from him.

She glared at him and shook her head again.

The Pope chuckled, letting out a low laugh.

“You still can’t understand even if I say this much. Then I’ll let you choose. In the room next door, there’s your husband’s younger sister. At first, I thought she was just a trivial mistress, but when I dug deeper, I found out that she wasn’t a mistress but a half-sister? That’s even better.”

‘Scarlett……?’

Belladona bit her lower lip. The Pope rubbed his chin and continued.

“I’ve left her alone since I brought her here, so she probably hasn’t eaten or heard anything for a whole day. I don’t know if Nicholas tied her up like this too.”

“…….”

“If you promise to stay here, I’m going to take this key and open the door to the room where that woman is trapped right away. Then that woman can go back to Griblata and live safely under your husband’s protection.”

Pope Prononce raised the key he was holding.

Belladona’s eyes widened slightly as she looked at it.

‘That is……?’

It was definitely different, but it had a very similar size and appearance to the last square key she had seen.

In particular, the bent part of the left corner was almost identical.

The Pope put the key he had shown her back into his pocket and spoke.

“But if you don’t promise, I’m going to leave that woman alone and kill her. I don’t know how long she’ll last.”

‘How dare you… How dare you threaten me with Scarlett?’

Belladona’s breath grew rough as she sat still and listened to his voice.

She couldn’t believe that a Pope who serves God would do such a thing.

“And when everything is over, I’ll tell your husband everything. Then he’ll know that none other than his wife made the choice to let his sister die.”

Belladona let out a sigh.

Her fists trembled uncontrollably with anger.

“I wonder, who will Lord Diete choose between his sister and his wife?”

“…….”

“What will he think when he finds out that his wife, who could have saved his sister’s life by simply staying in Astanya, didn’t? And if so… Can your remaining married life be happy?”

Pope Prononce’s voice rose slightly as if he was enjoying her torment.

“Belladona. You were lost in a very foolish dream. Such ordinary and small daily happiness was a life that was not allowed for you. I brought you here, and I made you. Please know your place, the one and only Saintess of Astanya.”