Don’T Get Caught By Your Husband! [EN]: Chapter 12

Don’t Get Caught by Your Husband! Episode 12. Meeting in the Unconscious (12/130)

#Episode 12. Meeting in the Unconscious

2024.03.12.

Toc. Toc.

“…….”

Toc. Toc. Toc.

Somewhere, the sound of steadily dripping water echoed.

The sound of water droplets slowly falling from the ceiling and hitting the floor.

Belladonna, barely conscious, frowned.

Where am I……?

Slowly, she lifted her heavy eyelids, and a completely unfamiliar space unfolded before her eyes.

Belladonna looked around, bewildered. It was a place she had never been to before, a place she was seeing for the first time in her life.

Not Astanya, not Griblata.

No, not even the Elinus Empire. Where is this place?

{Are you awake?}

A low voice echoed in her mind.

Belladonna was startled and turned her head.

But her surroundings were still just a blue space, empty except for the sound of water droplets.

Just where is this……!

Belladonna hunched her shoulders and looked around.

{It’s here.}

The voice from before echoed again in her mind.

Belladonna got up from where she was lying and slowly began to walk.

She didn’t know where she should go, but she walked forward.

She just felt like she had to.

{Good. But that’s not the way.}

Another voice.

Belladonna was startled and turned her head to the opposite side.

In the spot where she had been lying just a moment ago, a woman was sitting still.

The silver hair flowing down her back felt familiar.

Who is it?

At that moment, the woman turned her head towards her.

That’s……!

A woman with blue eyes and sparkling silver hair was smiling at her.

That’s Saint Belladonna?

Confirming her appearance, Belladonna’s legs gave way, and she collapsed to the ground.

{Oh my, you must be careful.}

The Saint spoke in a kind voice to Belladonna, who had fallen.

Belladonna still stared at her with a dazed expression.

A mirror? Or…….

Belladonna frowned and looked down at her own appearance.

Her palms were calloused, blistered, and horribly swollen.

A dark skin tone, pathetically tanned by the sun. Thin, bony legs covered in small scars.

She was startled and pushed herself back, away from the floor.

Th-this is me, the farmer’s daughter from my previous life……!

{That’s right. That’s you.}

The Saint opened her mouth.

Belladonna looked up at her with trembling eyes.

The Saint looked at her and gave a benevolent smile.

{How was it, being me?}

Belladonna slowly shook her head.

W-what is this……? Am I dead again?

{Don’t worry. You’re not dead. I was just curious, so I called you here for a moment.}

Curious? Called me here for a moment?

Belladonna still looked up at the Saint with a bewildered expression.

{You still don’t understand?}

I don’t understand…….

Who you are, who I am, where this place is—I don’t understand any of it…….

Belladonna raised her arms and grabbed her hair.

The hair that wrapped around her fingers was not rich silver hair but severely split black hair.

The Saint, watching Belladonna’s confusion, smiled knowingly and opened her mouth.

{Which do you like better, that appearance? Or your current appearance?}

O-of course…….

Belladonna hesitated, unable to open her mouth, as she was about to answer that she preferred the Saint’s appearance.

……Is Saint Belladonna’s life really a good life?

She had a beautiful appearance, never did any work that would harm her body, and always ate good food in a rich castle.

{Of course, it’s me?}

But she…….

Belladonna frowned, recalling the cunning and insidious appearance of the Pope and the two-faced nature of the people around her.

A feeling of coldness rose from within, and soon she felt so disgusted that she felt like she was going to vomit.

“Ugh……!”

Belladonna covered her mouth with both hands, trying to suppress the sudden surge of nausea.

{It’s a difficult question, isn’t it?}

The Saint got up from her seat and spun around, smiling as if she was in a good mood.

{But you wouldn’t like being a short-lived, poor farmer’s daughter, would you? I feel somewhat sorry for you that I could only give you such a life.}

The Saint, who had stopped spinning in place, slowly approached her.

Soon, she reached out her finger, lifted her chin, and made eye contact with Belladonna, raising the corners of her lips.

{Hmm……. It seems I called you too hastily. I was just so curious. I don’t have much patience, you see.}

Belladonna looked up at the Saint with tears welling up in her eyes.

She was confused and scared.

She had no idea what was happening to her, or why it was happening.

{Then, stay a little longer. I’ll call you again later. Don’t cry.}

As soon as the Saint finished speaking, the blue space-time began to distort from the outside.

W-what……!

Belladonna was startled as she looked around at her surroundings, which were being crumpled like a piece of paper.

The space, which had been gradually distorting, quickly approached Belladonna and the Saint, and soon swallowed them up.

No……!!

* * *

“Haa……!”

Belladonna woke up from her dream, gasping for breath.

Where am I?

A ceiling that was both unfamiliar and familiar.

Belladonna opened her eyes wide and blinked repeatedly, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart.

‘What is it? I feel like I had a dream…….’

She couldn’t remember anything at all.

And why are my eyes wet……? Did I have a scary dream without realizing it?

After a few minutes, as her heart gradually regained its pace, Belladonna slowly turned her head.

Thud.

The sound of a wet towel that had been placed on her forehead falling onto the bed was heard.

Her gaze followed the bed from where the wet towel had fallen.

At the end of her gaze, she saw the figure of a man sitting in a chair next to the bed, quietly watching her.

A cold golden gaze looking down at her with a low, sunken expression.

* * *

Hurried footsteps echoed through the hallway.

The owner of the footsteps, barely managing to catch up with the man in front, opened his mouth.

“Lord! Pl-please calm down!”

Escalion, striding ahead, did not slow his pace.

Damn it…….

The muscles of his chiseled jaw bulged angrily.

He kept repeating vulgar curses in his mind as he took quick steps.

Bang!

“L-Lord!”

The maid, who had turned her tear-stained face as he opened the door and entered, stood up from her seat.

Behind her, a small figure lying on the bed could be seen.

“Since when.”

“Ah, earlier in the day……. After the jeweler and the tailor couple left, she was taking a short walk in the garden when suddenly…….”

The maid answered, sobbing.

Escalion passed her by and looked down at Belladonna on the bed.

Wolf, who had rushed into the room a beat later, patted Cindy’s shoulder, who was crying, and comforted her.

“Cindy, you must have been very surprised too. You’ve worked hard.”

“N-no, Butler. Sob…….”

“What did the doctor say?”

Escalion asked in a low voice, clenching his fists tightly.

She collapsed during the day. While she was collapsed and the doctor had come and gone, that idiot himself was spending time outside the castle.

“H-he said it’s the flu……. He said it seems she has been overworking recently or exposed to the cold wind for a long time.”

“So.”

“F-fortunately, her life is not in danger. However, she is in a very weakened state……. He said we have to watch her until her condition improves…….”

Only after hearing that her life was not in danger did he feel like the breath that had been stuck in his throat was finally released.

Even that wasn’t refreshing, though.

“The medicine.”

“I have already given her the medicine. Her fever has gone down a lot since earlier, but she still has a slight fever…….”

“She’s a Saint. Can’t she use her Saintess powers to heal her own body?”

“Originally, Saintess powers are said to put a burden on the user’s body without them realizing it……. Especially the Saintess’s powers, that is, her healing powers, are said to use a certain amount of life force each time she uses them. It would be quite a strain on the Saintess’s body, so it would be difficult for her to heal herself.”

“……I see.”

Escalion frowned and spat out.

“Get out now.”

“Y-yes……?”

“…….”

“Let’s go, let’s go. Let’s get out of here.”

Instead of the unresponsive Escalion, Wolf grabbed Cindy’s shoulder and pulled her away.

Cindy looked at Escalion’s back with a puzzled expression.

“B-but…….”

“Lord, then we will see you again tomorrow morning.”

The quick-witted Wolf dragged Cindy out into the hallway and closed the door behind him.

Cindy quickly turned around and tried to go back into the room.

“Butler! The Lady is still……!”

“Shh! Be quiet. Isn’t that what the Lord wants to do?”

“But I have to stay by the Lady’s side and watch over her……!”

“Let’s go back now. The Lord will be able to take care of everything for the Lady.”

Cindy looked at Wolf with an aggrieved expression.

“It’s not because you’re not good enough.”

“Then……?”

“……It’s because the Lord is too much.”

Cindy still had a puzzled expression, but she reluctantly turned around at his repeated dissuasion.

Beyond the hallway, the sound of two people’s footsteps gradually faded away and soon disappeared.

“…….”

Escalion, who had pulled out the chair that the maid had been sitting on and sat down, quietly looked down at Belladonna on the bed.

“Hic……. Huff…….”

She seemed to be in a lot of pain, breathing heavily and frowning.

Escalion, with his jaw clenched tightly, looked down at Belladonna and reached out his hand to her forehead.

The lukewarm wet towel was in his hand.

Splash, splash.

He rinsed the lukewarm wet towel several times in the cold water in the nearby basin.

He squeezed the water out completely with his large hands and placed it back on her forehead.

“Haa…….”

Her face was much more relaxed than before, but she was still breathing heavily.

Escalion clenched his fists tightly on his knees.

Why am I so angry?

He couldn’t understand why he was so consumed by anger.

Is it because the woman he brought in with expensive dowry money is so weak?

Is it because she was led away without a word, caught a cold wind at the beach, and got the flu?

Or…….

Is it because this happened to my wife while I was out? Am I angry at myself for being so complacent?

Perhaps there was another reason, or perhaps all of those things were the reason.

“Ugh…….”

At that moment, a very small voice flowed out through her slightly parted lips.

Escalion hardened his face and looked down at Belladonna.

“Ugh……. Hic…….”

Belladonna was groaning softly.

Escalion’s golden eyes dilated slightly.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her and unconsciously held his breath.