I Wish My Husband Were Dead - Chapter 158



Only Noblemtl

Side story 2. If you love
2024.04.06.

“Just what goes in there? Can you tell me what the ingredients are?”

“Why are you suddenly curious?”

“I might be apart from you. I thought I should know how to make it, right?”

Leonard easily agreed when I told him the appropriate excuse I had in mind.

“That’s true. Then I’ll write down the ingredients for the antidote and the recipe, so check later.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you. Go to sleep.”

Unable to endure the sleep that was pouring down, Cordelia closed her eyelids.

When she woke up again, it was late afternoon. Candias flew in when she saw her awake.

“Are you awake? Eat and take your medicine. The guy who is either your husband or your teacher told me to make sure to check. I.”

“Haaam. What time is it?”

“It’s three hours before sunset.”

“Already?”

Maybe it was because she took the medicine early on, or maybe the medicine seemed to have worked quite well, but the chills had eased a lot and her body felt much better than this morning.

Cordelia changed clothes, washed up, and sat at the table. Candias watched her emptying the soup with wide eyes.

As she was finishing her meal, a piece of paper next to her caught her eye. She read it, wondering what it was, and it was a long description of the antidote she had asked for this morning.

“If you bring this to Lisa at your next appointment… Wait, what day is it today?”

“The full moon.”

“It’s today!”

Today was the second appointment she had with Lisa. Cordelia jumped up from her seat, feeling her hair stand on end.

Normally, she would have sent someone to postpone the date, but Lisa was an extremely busy doctor. If she postponed her appointment once, she didn’t know when she would be able to make another appointment.

“What? Where are you going? Your husband told you to rest.”

“I have an important appointment! I’ll be back soon!”

Cordelia hurriedly finished preparing to go out, grabbed the paper with the ingredients for the antidote, and ran out of the lab.

Fortunately, Lisa’s mansion wasn’t too far from the magician’s house. She hurried the coachman and was able to arrive just in time for the appointment.

The maid checked Cordelia and opened the door.

“Lisa is on this floor.”

She left her coat with her and went upstairs. When she entered the familiar room, Lisa was waiting.

“Welcome, Madame Latos. The weather is really nice.”

“I see.”

Cordelia didn’t have time to look up at the sky because she was in a hurry to get in the carriage, but she smiled leisurely.

“Do you know what the ingredients for the antidote are?”

“Here they are.”

Cordelia handed her the paper she had carefully packed. Lisa put on the glasses on the table and looked at it carefully.

Perhaps because there were many ingredients inside, Lisa looked at the paper for quite a while. After a long time, she let out a short groan and opened her mouth.

“An antidote?”

“That’s right.”

“What happens if you don’t take this medicine?”

“If you don’t take it within the prescribed period, you die.”

“Ha.”

Lisa let out a deep sigh. That sounded quite ominous. Cordelia leaned forward and asked.

“Why? Is there something wrong with the antidote?”

“… … Yes. There is. I think it’s probably why I haven’t been able to get pregnant.”

“What does that mean?”

“This antidote contains a herb that prevents pregnancy. If you take it once or twice, it won’t be a big deal, but if you take it continuously, you’ll eventually become infertile.”

“… … What?”

“You didn’t know from your expression. Didn’t the doctor who made the antidote say something else?”

Cordelia experienced for the first time what it meant for the world to move slowly. Her ears went deaf and for a moment, no sound came in.

The one who made the medicine was none other than her husband, Leonard.

* * *

I don’t know how I got back to the magic kingdom. Cordelia got on the carriage in a daze, got out, and walked to the magic kingdom. Even so, my head was so complicated that I thought it would burst.

‘He probably didn’t know. Leonard

probably didn’t know that it had such effects.’ I tried to think that way, but on the other hand, I had this thought.

‘Could that smart guy have put the herbs in without knowing their effects?’

The seed of doubt had already bloomed and was firmly rooted in the ground.

“Hey! What if you come now? Do you know how long your husband has been looking for you?”

Candias’ eyes flashed at the lab door. He shouted as soon as he saw Cordelia. Cordelia, who had been walking with her head down and her eyes on the floor, muttered weakly.

“Open the door.”

“Oh my. You’ve been biting and sucking for a week, and now you’re going to fight again. I’m sick of you, I’m sick of you.”

The lab door opened wide. Despite the darkness of the night, only one weak lamp was shining. Leonard stood in the middle of it, staring at her silently.

“What time is it? Where have you been?”

“… … .”

“Aren’t you going to answer? You were lying down complaining of pain this morning, so what on earth are you promised that you’re leaving without saying anything?”

“… … .”

“Ha. You’re not going to say a word?”

Leonard strode in front of Cordelia. His stiff face clearly showed how angry he was.

“Who are you? Who did you meet?”

“You made the antidote, right?”

“… … What?”

Cordelia took out a crumpled, tear-stained piece of paper and held it up to him. The room was dark, so he realized later that the piece of paper was the antidote recipe he had written for his wife that morning.

“What is this?”

“You selected all the ingredients that went into it?”

“What have you been talking about?”

“Did you know that Arkancia is a herb that causes infertility if taken long-term?”

“… … .”

This time, Leonard was silent. Cordelia’s last remaining hope crumbled at his reaction.

“How, how could you not say a word to me? You know better than anyone that I want a child!”

“You are more important than an unborn child. That’s why I put it in.”

At first, he pretended to be cool, but in the end, Leonard’s emotions also grew more intense.

“Have you ever thought about consulting me?”

“Consulting? This is a matter of life and death. It’s not something you can choose. Why do you need to consult me?”

“You should at least say something! Then I’ll give up early. Every time I was depressed about not having a child, what did you tell me? That everything was okay. That I was still young and it didn’t matter! Why did you give me such hope?”

“Cordelia. I’m serious. I really don’t need a child,”

Leonard said with a sigh that was almost painful. He reached out and grabbed Cordelia’s arm. No, he tried to grab it. Cordelia took a firm step back and couldn’t.

“Why did you decide that on your own?”

“Damn it. Then I want you to watch me die because of that child? That herb is going to extend your life from ten days to just a month?”

“Wait. Then wasn’t that herb originally in the antidote?”

“… It was already in small amounts.”

Cordelia’s face turned to despair and betrayal as she learned the truth.

“How could you tell me something so important without telling me… .”

“What difference would it make if I told you? It would only cause me pain. Cordelia, please. I just need you. It doesn’t matter if we don’t have children. The two of us can live happily together.”

Cordelia was so confused by all this. It was shocking that the husband she loved the most in the world had made her infertile and hadn’t even mentioned it.

She felt sick to her stomach when she thought that all the tender comfort and care she had given Cordelia was a lie. She

suddenly remembered the incident before she married him, when Leonard had given money to Elector Vasquez on the condition that he not see Cordelia.

“I’m enough for you, but you’re not enough for me?”

“… … .”

“Cordelia.”

“I don’t know. I just don’t know you.”

What else could she have lied about?

This thought occurred to her absentmindedly. How could she possibly know what Leonard had done in the name of caring for her?

She understood why he had made that choice.

She knew better than anyone how much Leonard hated and obsessed she was about taking the antidote every ten days. So when she had created a long-lasting antidote, she was glad not for herself but for Leonard.

“Next time, next time,”

Cordelia said, running away from the place, feeling pained at having to face her husband.