Don’T Get Caught By Your Husband! [EN]: Chapter 106

#106. Rescue (1)

2024.06.02.

‘Scarlet……!’

Belladonna knelt helplessly before Scarlet, who was slumped over. Her hand trembled as she reached out to touch Scarlet’s arm.

Anxious that Scarlet might have lost consciousness, she watched as Scarlet’s eyelids fluttered open.

Belladonna leaned closer to Scarlet’s face, which seemed to struggle to focus.

“……M-Madam……?”

Scarlet blinked, recognizing the woman before her, and managed to utter the word with difficulty.

Hearing Scarlet’s weak voice, Belladonna felt tears welling up in her eyes.

Scarlet was innocent.

It was unbelievable that she was suffering in a place like this simply because she was related to Belladonna’s husband.

All because of me…

“Madam… H-How did you… get here…?”

“Water…! Please, give her some water!”

Realizing that Scarlet was responding, Belladonna shouted at the Pope.

Scarlet’s eyes, which had been listlessly following Belladonna’s movements, widened slightly before returning to their dull state.

“Please, some water! Or even something simple to eat…!”

*Ah, what is that Pope doing?*

Belladonna, seeing no response from outside despite her calls, stood up. He had clearly promised to provide water and food!

With angry steps, Belladonna turned to find the Pope.

He was standing awkwardly in front of the desk and turned his head.

Before she could sense anything was amiss, she demanded,

“Bring food and water immediately! You promised!”

“Now that you’ve seen with your own eyes that the woman isn’t dead, will you sign the documents?”

“I will! I’ll do anything, so please don’t leave Scarlet like that! Even the healthiest person would be in danger if they were trapped in a place like this for more than three days!”

Pronan, the Pope, smiled faintly as he looked at Belladonna, who was desperately shouting.

“Welcome back to Astagne, Belladonna.”

*This crazy bastard…*

Belladonna looked at him with genuine disgust.

“Wait here. If I keep my promise, you’ll keep yours, right?”

Pronan turned and left the room. The sound of a key turning echoed from outside.

He had locked Belladonna and Scarlet in.

Belladonna glared at the closed door before turning back to Scarlet.

“Scarlet… Are you okay?”

Scarlet, who had been leaning against the wall, raised her head. She seemed to have a lot to say, but she lacked the strength.

She paused to catch her breath before speaking.

“Madam, what happened to your voice? You couldn’t speak before.”

“It’s a long story… I lost my divine power and regained my voice. I’m sorry I can’t explain it better right now.”

“That’s good. You have a pretty voice.”

She replied weakly, managing a faint smile.

Even in this situation, she was making jokes, which made Belladonna think she was definitely Escalio’s sister.

Belladonna stroked Scarlet’s arm and said,

“The Pope will bring water and food soon. Escalio is outside too. We’ll rescue you soon, so don’t worry.”

“The Pope?”

Scarlet raised her head.

Seeing the surprise in her eyes, it was clear that she had been captured and brought here without knowing anything.

She didn’t even seem to know that this was inside the Papal Palace.

“Scarlet, don’t be surprised. This is the Papal Palace of Astagne.”

“The Papal Palace? Why am I in a place like this…? I thought I had been kidnapped by mercenaries or employers from another region who held a grudge against Escalio. I thought the situation he feared had finally happened because it was revealed that I was Escalio’s sister.”

*It’s similar, but…* Belladonna looked at her with a troubled expression.

Scarlet continued to speak.

“Does the Papal Palace even *have* a place like this? Why did the Papal Palace bring me here?”

“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault…”

Belladonna lowered her head and replied.

She didn’t know where to start or how to explain.

That the Pope had demanded a divorce from Escalio to bring her to Astagne…

No, the truth was that their marriage had been planned from the beginning, and she and the Pope had made such a terrible plan together. It wasn’t easy to say all of that.

She was afraid that revealing the truth would diminish the meaning of the time she had spent with Scarlet.

Moreover, she had tried to escape from the Pope, and now Scarlet had been kidnapped…

She was tormented by the fact that Escalio and Scarlet were both suffering because of her.

Scarlet, watching Belladonna struggle to speak, said,

“He’s a bad guy, right?”

She moved her head and pointed to the door the Pope had exited a moment ago.

A bad guy…

Scarlet’s way of speaking, so similar to Escalio’s, brought a small, inappropriate smile to Belladonna’s face.

She let out a breathy sound, as if laughing in vain, and replied,

“That’s right, but Scarlet and Escalio are the only people in this empire who can call the Pope of Astagne a bad guy.”

Then, Scarlet, who had been staring at her silently, opened her mouth.

“While I was trapped, someone kept coming and going here.”

“Yes?”

“The person who captured me. They kept going in and out of here.”

The Pope kept coming in and out of here? There was no need to monitor Scarlet, so why?

Hearing her words, the suspicious and strange feeling she had when she first entered this room, and the Pope’s somewhat strange and awkward attitude a moment ago, kept bothering her.

“Before that, where *is* this place anyway? I thought the Papal Palace was always bright and sacred, but there’s a dungeon-like place like this?”

“Scarlet is right. This is a room in the underground, far down a complicated path from the outside. I don’t know what purpose it was built for either.”

“So it’s a very secret space.”

Scarlet asked, brushing the hair that had fallen over her face.

*Why isn’t the Pope coming?* Belladonna became anxious for no reason and kept looking outside.

*I want to give her water quickly…*

Scarlet blinked a few times and opened her mouth again.

“I was sleeping at home when someone suddenly raided my bedroom. I tried to see their face, but they were covered with a thick cloth. When I resisted strongly, they covered my mouth with a handkerchief soaked in drugs. I lost consciousness immediately, so I don’t remember anything after that.”

Recalling the situation made her feel chills.

If Escalio hadn’t woken up in time and dealt with the stranger, she might have been in the same situation.

“When I came to, I was in this space. A dark, empty place.”

“Scarlet…”

Belladonna muttered in a small voice. She continued to feel sorry for her.

“Since I couldn’t see anything, I relied on my hearing, and someone would come in periodically and listen to the sounds outside. At first, I thought they were monitoring me, but it didn’t seem like that either.”

*Indeed… Is there something in this room?* Belladonna frowned.

“Were they usually alone?”

“Sometimes they were alone, and sometimes they had company. Most of the time, they didn’t speak or lowered their voices, so I didn’t hear the conversations.”

*Then there’s a high possibility that the Pope or Cardinal Nicholas visited… What’s in here?*

“There was a commotion in the next room for a while, and that’s when you were captured, right, Madam?”

“That’s right.”

“He’s really a bad guy, the Pope.”

Scarlet muttered.

With those words, she caught her breath and leaned the back of her head against the wall.

She seemed to be out of breath from talking for a long time in her weakened state.

“Scarlet, just hang in there a little longer. Water and food will be here soon. When you regain your strength, I’ll talk to the Pope and have him take you to Escalio right away.”

Scarlet nodded instead of answering.

Belladonna, looking down at Scarlet, who had closed her eyes weakly against the wall, slowly got up from her seat.

If she wanted to check something, now was the right time while the Pope was away.

She swallowed hard and came out of the room where Scarlet was.

“……”

It was still a small space with nothing much in it.

Belladonna walked towards the safe with the lock without hesitation.

*If my guess is correct…*

Belladonna reached into her pocket and grabbed the square key.

She thought it couldn’t be a coincidence that the key the Saintess had and the key the Pope carried were similar in shape.

*Quickly…*

She knelt down and picked up the lock. The keyhole…

She felt anxious about what could be inside.

With trembling hands, Belladonna put the key into the keyhole.

But whether it was because the lock itself was too old, or because her trembling hands were soaked in sweat, the key didn’t fit into the hole as easily as she thought.

*Ah, why is this…!* Belladonna nervously put force on the key.

Click.

“……!”

At that moment, she heard someone outside turning the key to open the locked door.

Belladonna was startled and dropped the hand holding the lock.

*Why now…!*

She resented the Pope, who hadn’t shown even the tip of his hair when she told him to come quickly, for returning at this moment.

Belladonna moved quickly to avoid being caught there and ran into the room where Scarlet was sitting.

As soon as she entered the room, the door opened and the Pope appeared.

He held out a tray, not hiding his annoyed expression.

“Take it.”

Belladonna approached him and took the plate and glass of water from the tray.

“When Scarlet regains some strength, please take her to her husband right away.”

“Your signature comes first. Regardless of that woman, if you just sign the documents, I can do anything.”

Belladonna watched him walk past her to the desk attached to the wall.

Watching him organize the documents on the desk, she turned and approached Scarlet.

“Scarlet, please have some of this. First, some water…”

At Belladonna’s words, Scarlet raised her head, which had been weakly drooping.

She raised her trembling hand and took the glass of water.

*She’s too weak…* Worried that she might drop the glass, Belladonna took it from her and held it to her parched lips.

“Slowly…”

Scarlet slowly sipped the water and swallowed before taking her lips off the glass.

Belladonna turned to the plate she had temporarily placed on the floor to give her food.

“Cough, cough, cough…! Aagh!”

At that moment, Scarlet, who had swallowed the water, screamed in pain from behind and began to twist her body.

W-What’s going on? Belladonna was startled and turned her head.

“Aagh…! Ack!”

Scarlet, who had already fallen to the floor and was writhing in pain, screamed and scratched the floor with her sharp nails.