Chapter 003
Chapter 3: The Husband’s Awakening (2)
She sat by the bedside and gently told him everything she knew about his sordid past.
The longer the story went on, the deeper the furrow between Craig’s brows became.
“My goodness, what a mess.”
“Oh, and this is something I heard from someone else. There’s a rumor that you already had an illegitimate child when you were fifteen…”
“That’s enough for today.”
“There are still some interesting parts left.”
“I don’t want to hear them. The more I listen, the dirtier my ears feel.”
That was a harsh expression to describe his own past.
Upon closer inspection, she noticed cold sweat on Craig’s forehead.
Then she remembered that only one day had passed since this man woke up from a long coma.
“You look tired. Get some rest. I’ll leave now.”
“Wait.”
Cordelia, who was about to leave the room, stopped at his call and looked back.
“I need a favor… please.”
“Pardon?”
Craig said with an awkward expression. It felt unnatural, as if this was the first time this person had ever used the word “please.”
“This… you just need to deliver a letter.”
“What letter?”
“You don’t need to know that, just do what I say.”
Even though he was asking for a favor, his attitude remained arrogant. Naturally, she felt irritated.
“Really, first you throw the divorce papers on the floor, and now you want to ask me for a favor?”
Cordelia snorted, her hands on her hips.
“Oh, really? I don’t care about your circumstances either, so sort it out yourself.”
“What? How dare you.”
He flushed red at Cordelia’s mockery, as if he had been insulted. It was absurd for him to act like someone who had never been refused in his life.
“Well, maybe you don’t remember, but if you want to send a letter, call a servant. You have the strength to ring the bell, don’t you?”
“Since I opened my eyes, no one but the servants has asked about my condition. That probably means there’s no concern for someone who doesn’t know when they’ll lose their position. But in the meantime, the master who’s become a fool wants to send a letter to someone? If I were them, I’d block his way and check its contents.”
“Hasn’t it crossed your mind that I might do the same?”
“Judging by how you came here with divorce papers the moment your husband woke up, it seems you have no authority in this family and are desperate to escape.”
He answered harshly. It was such an accurate judgment that Cordelia was left speechless for a moment.
At this point, she had a reasonable suspicion that someone else was truly inside Craig’s body.
Suddenly, her attention turned to the papers in her hand. Since she had nothing to lose, Cordelia decided to respond to him again.
“If I deliver your letter, then sign here.”
She held out the divorce papers in front of him. Craig let out a laugh, as if shocked.
“Don’t you think my signature on those divorce papers for delivering one letter is an unfair trade?”
“If you’re not going to sign, then forget it.”
In the end, he would be the one to lose. Cordelia stood up without hesitation.
As expected, Craig stopped her before she could move.
“It seems you really want this divorce.”
“Can I be honest with you?”
“Yes.”
“You’re right. I married Craig Abrams for money, and my married life has been hell for the past year.”
“…”
“You don’t know who I am anyway, and I have no feelings for you. Can’t you just let me go?”
Since trying to deceive him had failed, it was time to appeal to his emotions. Cordelia looked at him with desperation in her eyes.
Craig remained silent for a while before reaching out and taking the papers.
“Let’s do it another way.”
“How?”
“If you deliver the letter, I’ll write the first letter of my name.”
“Just the first letter?”
Craig’s name consisted of five letters in the Arzetchini script.
This meant she’d have to comply with his requests four more times from now on.
“I think I’m offering a great deal.”
“…Fine.”
Cordelia nodded reluctantly. It was better than leaving with nothing at all.
“But please understand that you can’t make unreasonable requests. They have to be within my limits.”
“Of course.”
Cordelia quickly grabbed a quill, fearing he might change his mind.
Craig wrote the first letter on the signature line without saying anything. Cordelia, who received the document, blinked when she saw the signature.
“Huh? Why is your handwriting different from before?”
It was completely different from the handwriting on their marriage document. It had been so messy that she remembered it clearly, but now his handwriting was suddenly much smoother.
“It seems we really didn’t get along. This is my original handwriting.”
Craig said shamelessly. Cordelia tilted her head but, having nothing to say in response, agreed.
That was the first and last time she closely examined his handwriting.
He took a piece of paper folded in half from his pocket. The envelope wasn’t even sealed.
“What about the seal?”
“You don’t need it.”
“What? Then who can I send it to?”
“There’s no need for you to know that.”
“Then how do I send it?”
Craig, who had lost his memory, seemed even more reckless than before, perhaps because of his curt and dismissive tone. As if annoyed by her questions, he shrugged and said, “Just do what I say.”
***
“Huff, what, huff.”
Only after reaching the observation tower did Cordelia remove the thick cloak covering her body.
She was breathing heavily from climbing the high stairs. Only after her heartbeat completely calmed did she begin to see her surroundings.
There was no light in the dark observation tower, so it wasn’t easy to make out objects. If she hadn’t brought a lantern, she would’ve been in trouble.
“He told me to just throw it here, right?”
Cordelia hesitated for a moment, leaning against the castle wall.
The conversation she had with Craig during the day flashed through her mind.
“Tonight, go up to the highest observation tower in the castle and throw this letter there.”
“Pardon? You mean just throw it on the ground?”
“I’m not telling you to throw it away, just do what I say.”
It was a completely incomprehensible request. She made sure no one was around.
Wouldn’t it be fine to see what’s inside since it wasn’t deliberately sealed?
However, the contents of the letter, which she slightly opened, were written in symbols she couldn’t understand.
“What?”
At this point, doubts began to creep in.
Questions flooded her mind, starting with the suspicion that he was pretending to have forgotten the past rather than suffering from amnesia. Was he really Craig?
A person who doesn’t even know his own name sends someone a coded letter as soon as he wakes up?
She had a strong suspicion that he was hiding something. However, she only had mental suspicions and no evidence.
“Does he really want me to throw it?”
It was a strange way to deliver a letter, but she couldn’t do anything about it.
Cordelia set aside her momentary hesitation and threw the letter into the air. Naturally, the paper fluttered and fell.
It was at that moment.
The letter she threw burst into flames and began to form a different shape.
The hazy shape gradually became clearer.
“This…!”
Cordelia was stunned and pulled herself back from the observation tower. After a while, the shape scattered like stardust and disappeared without a trace.
It lasted only a few seconds, but the hazy image was clearly a symbol she knew well.
“The White Serpent…”
It was the emblem of Atily, the White Serpent, the most powerful of the eight sacred families.
And within the family, only the head of the family could use this emblem.
“Why is Atily’s emblem here? Did Craig have any connections with that family?”
She was utterly confused.
Her husband, who had been unconscious, returned from the dead and used magic to draw Atily’s emblem?
Even a street dog wouldn’t believe that.
“The White Serpent… It’s the White Serpent.”
Perhaps, to an ordinary person, what just happened was merely a flash of light.
If it weren’t for her “special ability,” Cordelia wouldn’t have noticed it either.
“Now that I think about it, his personality, behavior, and even the way he speaks are all strange.”
The White Serpent Atily and Craig Abrams.
Two things that seemed unrelated were connected as a single link.
There was definitely something she didn’t know, but she would surely find out.
Cordelia looked at the sky for a while, where the illusion of the White Serpent had vanished, then descended from the observation tower.
***
“Is all this true?”
“Yes. Everyone’s saying it, but it seems true that the head of the family has died.”
The next day, Cordelia ordered Emily to find out news about Atily, the White Serpent.
The news the maid brought back after a few days was unexpected.
“What was the cause of his death?”
“They say it was an accidental death, but it seems no one believes that.”
Indeed, the person they were talking about was the head of the Atily family, renowned for being a powerful sorcerer. Anyone who heard that such a person died in an accident would find it suspicious. Emily added in a low voice.
“Actually, there are many rumors that the second son of that family killed him to become the head.”
“Hmm?”
“He’s already requested the General Council to inherit the title. He hasn’t even held a funeral for the former head yet.”
The General Council was a gathering of powerful nobles at the time and the highest decision-making body. It was also the place where trials were held when disputes among nobles couldn’t be resolved, and where the inheritance of noble titles was recognized.
When she heard Emily’s words, her eyes quietly sparkled. Cordelia handed Emily a pouch containing coins.
“Good job. If you have any new information about Atily in the future, report it to me immediately.”
“Thank you, young lady.”
Emily bowed and left the room.
Cordelia sat at the tea table and tapped the top with her fingers.
No matter how despondent she felt about the world, she had heard rumors about the head of Atily.
The most powerful sorcerer in this iron-blooded country, Ershe.
Leonard Atily.
Leonard, gifted with the strongest magical power in Atily’s history, showed genius from a young age and became the head of the family at an early age.
A man like that dies during a fight for succession rights, and Craig, who came back to life, uses Atily’s emblem?
No matter how much she thought about it, there was only one reasonable conclusion.
“The person in Craig’s body now is Leonard Atily.”
Although she wondered “how?”, Leonard was a great sorcerer. As the most powerful sorcerer in the land, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if he possessed some mysterious, unknown magical abilities.
“I will find out.”
If Cordelia’s thoughts were correct, her escape plan could be executed much sooner.
Unable to sit still in her chair, she paced around the desk. Her heart was pounding heavily.
She tried to control her emotions and judge the situation rationally.
Leonard might truly be in Craig’s body, but on the other hand, the letter might be nothing more than a coincidence.
Only after conducting more research did she go to see Craig.
