Don’T Get Caught By Your Husband! [EN]: Chapter 120

Don’t Get Caught by Your Husband! 120. The Last Conversation (2)

#120. The Last Conversation (2)

2024.06.06.

{You’ve worked hard, Belladonna.}

Many emotions were contained in that short sentence. Belladonna felt a surge of emotion welling up from deep inside as she met the Saintess’s eyes.

The Saintess gave a gentle smile and carefully tucked a strand of Belladonna’s disheveled hair behind her ear.

{I’m sorry it seems you’ve gone through unnecessary hardships because of me.}

Belladonna shook her head.

Looking back now, everything that had happened to her felt distant and vague, like a half-remembered dream.

A sense of relief, regret, and bittersweet emotions enveloped her, signaling that it was truly over. The tumultuous chapter of her life as the Saintess was finally closing.

After briefly reminiscing about the past, Belladonna raised her eyes slightly to look at the Saintess.

“Is your time as the Saintess over now? Am I going to heaven now?”

{What? Ahahaha!}

At Belladonna’s question, the Saintess widened her eyes and then burst into laughter, opening her mouth wide in amusement.

She bent over, her waist nearly folded in half, laughing boisterously. Then, she took a deep breath and straightened up.

{Haa, really… you’re so cute.}

‘Why…? You said it was the end now…!’ Belladonna thought, feeling a pang of injustice.

Belladonna looked at her, feeling somehow wronged. Now that everything was over, shouldn’t she be returning to her own body?

The Saintess looked at Belladonna and shook her head.

{No, you’re not going to heaven. God hasn’t called you yet.}

“Then…”

{What do you mean, ‘then’? You have to continue living happily with your husband, right? Now that everything is back in place, were you just going to give up like this?}

“That’s not true!”

Belladonna shook her head instantly. After all the hardships I’ve endured to get here…

If she had asked for her body back now, she would have felt incredibly cheated. She might have even knelt down and begged to live a little longer!

{That’s a good attitude. There are many people around you who wish for your happiness, so now you just have to live happily, meeting their expectations.}

Belladonna met the Saintess’s warm gaze. After hesitating for a moment, she slowly opened her mouth.

“Um… Saintess, can I ask why you gave me this opportunity? Why did you revive me, who had already died once, to live again as the Saintess…?”

At her question, the Saintess blinked.

‘Ah, did I ask a difficult question?’ Belladonna stammered again.

“Ah, you don’t have to answer if it’s difficult! I was just curious… Because in my previous life, I lived a life far removed from the Saintess or the Holy See.”

In her previous life, she lived a life too busy toiling in the fields every day without fail.

A life that didn’t even allow her a brief moment to consider donating to the church or going to pray.

So, the fact that she woke up as the Saintess after death and lived a new life was unbelievable and hard to fathom.

Besides, she didn’t have to go back? Before she could fully embrace her happiness, she felt a sense of bewilderment.

The Saintess, having received Belladonna’s question, groaned softly and closed her eyes. She seemed to be pondering how to explain it to her.

{It’s a bit embarrassing to tell you when you ask like that…}

After thinking for a moment, she opened her mouth.

{You know, there are days like that. Days when you feel particularly tired and exhausted, and you want to give up everything. Days when life feels heavy and difficult, and you want to escape even into endless darkness.}

The Saintess raised her eyes as if recalling those days.

{At that time, I was trying to take my own life. I thought that no matter how hard I tried, nothing would change. The nobles who flooded the confessional every day, the pressure to manifest divine power, and the violence and abuse that continued without anyone knowing… Since I couldn’t even speak, I thought no one would understand my heart.}

‘Herself…?’

At the shocking statement, Belladonna inhaled sharply. She was stunned by the Saintess’s confession.

Having lived as the Saintess for a short time, she vaguely understood how difficult that life was, but she hadn’t realized it was to that extent.

Thinking about the Saintess’s difficult life, she felt a pang of sympathy.

{I also had deep resentment towards God. I kept thinking, why did you choose me and take away my voice when you could have just let me live well?}

“Saintess…”

{Then I heard it.}

The Saintess said.

{One day, I ran out of the Holy See, prepared to be severely punished, but I ended up getting lost. I tried to walk around with my head down and my face covered as much as possible, but people who knew me glanced at me suspiciously. Afraid, I ran to a deserted place. I was going to just die there… but I heard it, someone’s singing.}

‘Singing…’

Belladonna swallowed hard and silently waited for her next words.

{It was a beautiful labor song. You know who sang it, right? Belladonna, your song had power. It soothed my heart, which was torn to shreds in despair, and gave me the courage to live again.}

“…”

{But it was already too late, so instead of just dying, I made a different decision.}

“Then that’s…”

The Saintess nodded.

{I knew that your previous life was very regrettable and would end shortly. I wanted to give you a new life. But the life I gave you wasn’t easy either, so was it more like a punishment for you?}

She said with a gentle smile. Belladonna quickly shook her head.

“That’s not true!”

{Still, you resented me a lot sometimes, didn’t you? Terrible curses echoed eerily here.}

“That’s…”

Belladonna’s words faltered, and she closed her mouth. ‘D, did I? I resented her sometimes, but I don’t think I cursed…’ she thought, feeling a little guilty.

The Saintess saw Belladonna’s subtle expression and burst into laughter again.

{I’m just kidding.}

“…”

{Belladonna, I knew you would do very well. Unlike me, you are a very strong and kind person.}

After finishing speaking, the Saintess looked at Belladonna for a long time with a soft gaze, then took a step back. Feeling her moving away from her, Belladonna unconsciously reached out her hand.

“Saintess…!”

{Unfortunately, it’s time to say goodbye. Today is the last day I can watch by your side to see if you’re on the right path.}

“What do you mean?”

Belladonna asked in an uneasy voice. The Saintess said with a playful smile.

{Actually, God called me a long time ago. I’ve been ignoring it, pretending not to hear, but I’ll probably get scolded when I go back.}

Belladonna grabbed her hand with an unknown sense of regret.

“Saintess, thank you for giving me this opportunity. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to live this second life.”

{Thank you for saying that.}

“Thanks to you, I… was able to feel various emotions that I didn’t know in my previous life. Although there were many difficult things, there were far more enjoyable things.”

The Saintess, looking at Belladonna with a proud face, held her hand tightly. With her face close to Belladonna’s, the Saintess asked.

{Belladonna, are you happy?}

Belladonna nodded without hesitation.

“I’m happy. Very much so.”

{Then I’m happy too.}

The Saintess gave a bright smile and slowly moved their clasped hands up and down.

{I hope you will always be happy in the future. I won’t be able to watch over you from the side, but I know you will do very well.}

“Thank you.”

Belladonna nodded. For some reason, her eyes turned red, and the tip of her nose tingled.

{Don’t cry! I hate soggy farewells.}

The Saintess, uttering her last words, hugged Belladonna tightly. Belladonna hugged her back and sniffed, trying not to be soggy!

{Thank you, Belladonna. Thanks to you, my life was meaningful enough.}

With her words as the last, time and space began to crumple rapidly from the outside.

Belladonna closed her eyes tightly and buried her face in her shoulder.

* * *

When she slowly lifted her eyelids, she saw a familiar ceiling.

Belladonna blankly stared at the ceiling pattern. This was the bedroom of Gribalta Castle.

‘I guess I’m back…’ It seemed that Escalio had safely brought her back after she slipped and lost consciousness while coming down the mountain.

“…”

She was lost in thought for a moment.

She felt as if she had experienced a very long and impressive dream.

Although she didn’t remember anything exactly, the vaguely remaining emotions made her feel that everything had returned to its place and a stable knot had been tied. A sense of completion washed over her.

What was certain was that nothing that troubled her remained, and she was confident that only a happy life lay ahead.

As she organized her thoughts and slowly tried to raise her upper body, her left hand, held by someone, felt heavy.

“Huh…?”

Turning her head, she saw the crown of Escalio’s head, who was holding her hand tightly and sleeping face down on the bed.

Belladonna let out a silent laugh and raised her right hand to slowly stroke the crown of his head.

The black hair moved softly under her fingers.

Even though it had only been about half a day since she last saw him, she felt as if she was seeing him after a very long time.

“Bella?”

Even though it was just a small sensation of her hair brushing against him, Escalio immediately woke up and quickly raised his head.

Widening his eyes and barely focusing his golden eyes, he saw Belladonna in front of him and let out a trembling breath.

“You’ve regained consciousness? Really, I… I thought I was going to lose you before my eyes…”

“I just slipped and lost consciousness while coming down the mountain. Did I hurt my head when I fell…?”

It was a joke, but Escalio kicked the chair and stood up, touching the back of Belladonna’s head.

The chair that fell backward made a loud noise.

“Are you dizzy? Does anything hurt?”

“No. I’m fine.”

Belladonna gave an embarrassed smile and grabbed his arm. She felt sorry and ashamed that she had worried him so much when she had just lost her strength and fallen.

“I thought I was going to lose my wife because of my vain greed. If that had happened, I really… I would never have forgiven myself.”

Escalio said in a trembling voice. He grabbed Belladonna’s hand and pulled it towards his heart.

Under the palm placed on his solid chest, she could feel his heart beating very fast.

“You know what? There’s only one bad thing since I brought you here. If it’s related to you, my heart drops even at the smallest thing. Even things that other people can handle calmly, I become irrational when it’s connected to you.”

“I’m sorry for surprising you.”

“It’s not your fault, I’ve just become more afraid.”

After finishing speaking, Escalio grabbed Belladonna and pulled her into his arms.

Belladonna felt his heart, still beating strongly, with her whole body and buried herself in his thick arms.

Her heart, which collided with his, was also beating happily.