I Healed my Husband, the Leader of the Underworld

Thank you so much, Arwen, for the support. 😘 

 

 

After calming down my heavy breathing so as not to be caught, I opened my mouth.

 

“I also had something I was curious about.”

 

“…….”

 

“How about we exchange questions?”

 

His answer came after a short pause.

 

“Alright.”

 

Contrary to my worries, there was a hint of satisfaction in the slow, feral voice.

 

“You won’t be bullied wherever you go,” he chuckled softly. “If you can handle Roam’s master so cleverly, after all, you’re quite a woman.”

 

He seemed to be happy with my choice. Perhaps that’s why I was able to think with a clear head.

 

Knowing that opportunities like this were rare, I took advantage of the fleeting moment to ponder deeply before speaking up.

 

It wasn’t difficult to come up with the most suitable question.

 

After all, It wasn’t too far off from his own question.

 

“Why should I stay in Roam?” I asked, and even after asking, I seriously thought about it.

 

My brother’s knees seemed quite valuable from what I observed during our first encounter.

 

Bartholomew Rochester was not foolish enough to not understand the hidden meaning behind the conversation we had at the ball, which proved to be an advantage for me. Him kneeling before Siegfried was definitely not a trivial matter.

 

[Understood. If that’s your wish,] he had said before leaving the party, so I thought this would be the end of it.

 

However, Bartholomew didn’t let the matter go and it seemed to have sparked curiosity in Siegfried’s mind. Hence why my husband was asking me if I wanted to leave Roam.

 

His tone was very different from the threatening one he had when he asked if I fell in love with someone else, and strangely enough, his gentle voice was trembling slightly.

 

So I asked if there was any reason for me to stay in Roam then. I knew Diana Kaiser was the woman he needed.

 

Besides, Siegfried was not a good husband to begin with. To me, he was more like Roam’s cold-hearted lord than the male protagonist of a romance novel.

 

It might be because the other party was not the heroine but rather the villainess. So, if I was to hold on to someone else’s place, I should at least know the reason.

 

Why was my husband suddenly so obsessed with me? He wasn’t the kind of person who would be blinded by a stupid sense of rivalry against a non-existent lover of mine.

 

No, the person I’ve observed for two  years, the one the old lady trusted the most, was a very clever and calculating  man.

 

Did I know too much about Roam?

 

If that’s what he thought, we could have made a deal. I would never decline If he offered me money for my silence.

 

Then, he wouldn’t need to waste the affection he should be showering Diana with on me, and I wouldn’t have to worry so much about surviving this place.

 

Life was long, but way too short to spend it suffocating in Roam.

 

“That is my question and my answer,” I added.

 

Silence lingered for a while as Siegfried stroked my hair without saying a word. I bit my lower lip, wondering if I had spoken out of turn, feeling a tremor of fear that my actions might have seemed like needless rebellion.

 

Then…

 

“I’m angry,” his voice finally cut through the silence, making me gulp hard.

 

He was still running his hand through my hair; his face obscured from my view; his tone dry.

 

“Ever since you started living here… you. ..”

 

When his hand touched me again, my body trembled uncontrollably, then his hand lingered gently on my head for a few more seconds before dropping away.

 

“Why, now that you know me, don’t you look at me with the same obsession anymore?’”

 

“..…”

 

“You are the one who chose to come here by paying a dowry so large that Rochester couldn’t afford it, so why are you looking for reasons from me?” He spoke in a tone laced with reproach.

 

If we were in close proximity, I might have been able to gauge his emotions through his heartbeat, but he was so far back now that all I could hear was his voice, and the emotions it conveyed.

 

And by the sound of it, he seemed to be trying his best to suppress his anger. But for some reason, I also sensed a hint of caution in his anger, which made me feel uneasy.

 

I stared blankly ahead, thinking: That feeling can’t be real, can it?

 

In the end, Siegfried  didn’t tell me the real reason he was keeping me here.

 

Feeling like I had to see this through, I pushed myself up to look at him, and his gaze wavered as he lay on the bed, not expecting our eyes to meet.

 

“I….I can live quietly,” I said.

 

“……”

 

“You just need to make sure that I don’t get kidnapped and threatened into revealing what I know about Roam. The lands on the outskirts of the empire are not that expensive….uhmm”

 

I tried to keep my voice from trembling as much as possible and opened my mouth again.

 

“If you could just set up a shop for me. And maybe buy a decent house… with a few guards to protect me.”

 

As the words left my mouth, it sounded like a lot of money to spend on a wife who was about to be discarded; even to myself.

 

And my confidence immediately began to waver.

 

It would be more reasonable for him to lock me up in some convent or spend the money on a bullet to take me out.

 

“If I sell the jewels I received as a gift today to the Empress, I could…….”

 

No, I might want to reuse it with Diana instead; I thought as I abruptly stopped talking in the middle of my sentence.

 

As words kept flowing out of my lips, Siegfried’s expression grew darker, as if he could see right through my thoughts.

 

“I don’t want to reach out to my family, but that amount of money is……”

 

The words gradually faded away, and the confidence I had when I stood up began to dwindle.

 

“Then I’ll start a business!”

 

A café. A café would be nice.

 

“It may seem like a favor now, but it’s actually an investment. If I pay you back…”

 

At those words, Siegfried’s brows furrowed before he rose from his seat and slowly ran his palm across his face. His hand was large enough to cover his entire face and the veins on it were prominent.

 

His blue eyes soon revealed unrefined anger, and as he moved his arms, his body trembled, so much so that it could be seen with the naked eye.

 

He paused, then reached out to touch my hand, causing me to tense up as he ran his fingers over mine. His touch made me inexplicably nervous, and I involuntarily recoiled as he pressed his firm thumb against my soft skin.

 

“You want to work with these hands?”

 

His voice was low and raspy.

 

His eyes still locked on my fingers.

 

“You, the golden leaf of Rochester, who’ve never soiled their hands with even a drop of water.”

 

His tone had remained monotone, but it felt as though there was a hint of mockery in his words, making it hard to pry my lips apart.

 

As he continued to fiddle with my hand, I could feel his trembling fingertips against mine.

 

“You’d rather leave and work than being Mrs. Roam. I have to say that’s the cruelest thing anyone ever said to me…..Congratulations, Milena. You’ve broken my father’s record.”

 

Then, his cold gaze suddenly  turned towards my face.

 

“You forced your way into my territory, invading my life as you please. Senselessly parading in front of me…”

 

But as if he realized his emotions were getting too intense, Siegfried abruptly stopped speaking and bit his lower lip. The image of his skin being pressed down was so unexpected that I felt tension even at that moment.

 

As the man’s lower lip slowly returned to its original position, and his gaze fell on me again, I couldn’t help but freeze in place.

 

“Unlike those cheap trinkets of yours, you can’t control me at your whim. Did you think you could just dump me and find another man because things didn’t meet your expectations? Since two years ago, you’ve been…”

 

Two years ago, what? I thought, narrowing my eyes at him.

 

However, Siegfried averted his gaze before changing the subject, saying :

 

“You really went all out to cover your tracks , didn’t you?”

 

“……”

 

“How much do you love this so-called new crush to leave no trace? So much so that I couldn’t even find his shadow….”

 

He said sarcastically.

 

“No, that’s not it.”

 

“…….”

 

“If you adored him that much, you probably just watched from the sidelines. It turns out my wife has been lavishing that kind of extraordinary favor on another man. Meanwhile, I, her husband, am not the beneficiary of such treatment.”

 

“……”

 

“Or was this also part of the great duty of a wife that you always speak of? Fine, then I’ll just ask you this,” he sneered and then approached me.

 

Drenched in the night, he was breathtakingly beautiful, but the madness in his eyes terrified me.

 

As he drew closer, I held my breath and retreated.

 

“Come to me on this bed.”

 

He approached with the unmistakable look of a predator. I knew I should back away, but my body stiffened, unable to move.

 

My entire body refused to listen to me.

 

Do prey have similar thoughts when they sense a predator approaching? Knowing they will die, do they remain frozen, unable to move, and face their inevitable fate, exhaling their last breath?

 

“…Hey!” I managed to open my mouth, the only part of my body that still listened to me.

 

Though my voice quivered, the message seemed clear enough.

 

Because the wild beast that looked like it was about to pounce on me at any moment, was now  staring at me with a surprised face. He might have never been addressed like this before today. The unfamiliar word might have sounded strange to the cold-blooded beast’s ears.

 

Upon seeing his expression, I forgot what I was supposed to say next. And despite mustering all my strength to speak, I quickly lost my confidence.

 

The plan was to say, ‘Don’t touch me, you bastard.’ But now, even my lips refused to obey. Frustration welled up as I tried to suppress my emotions, and my vision blurred.

 

I was terrified.

 

The rough movements from that night came to mind, making me even more miserable. I hid my tear-streaked face behind the sleeves of my evening dress, stealing glances through the fabric.

 

“It hurts.”

 

But in the end, my voice came out  tinged with tears.

 

“It hurts when you do it carelessly.”

 

There was no response, and not caring about whether he was listening or not, I just let out whatever came to mind.

 

“You did nothing but treat me like I didn’t exist. Always doing as you pleased……..Why should I stay in this mansion, and keep quiet? What have you ever done for me? I said I’d divorce you without making a scene, so what’s the problem, huh?”

 

Everything was a mess.

 

Seeing that I was still somewhat polite even when complaining to my husband, it seemed that I was really concerned about survival.

 

After I said all that, a cold chill ran down my spine.

 

Why had I kept these thoughts buried inside me all this time and never said them to him?

 

It was to survive.

 

My mind, always working fast towards that ultimate goal, concluded that I was now dead.

 

I couldn’t bring myself to look up.

 

So I turned my back on him, curled up my body, buried my head in my arms crossed over my knees, and sobbed silently.

 

“It really hurt back then….”I mumbled in a very small voice.

 

“It was my first experience, and it’s really precious to a woman.”

 

“…….”

 

“It wasn’t as sweet as I had dreamed. You think you being my husband or good-looking make it better?…Ugh.”

 

I protested very timidly, thinking that I should at least leave proper last words before I die.

 

At that moment, a very gentle hand touched my back with a soft tap.

 

It was his hand.

 

A warm sensation immediately spread through my skin where our skin touched.

 

Tap.

 

He tapped my back

 

He patted me on the back again. My eyes widened, wondering if this was also one way to kill someone, when he tapped my back  once again.

 

The clumsy hand movements weren’t tapping, it was more like patting.

 

Pat, pat.

 

Unless I was mistaken, it seemed like he was trying to comfort me.When I tried to turn around, a soft voice, which I didn’t expect to hear from him, tickled my ears.

 

“…Don’t cry.”

 

“…….”

 

“I’m sorry….”

 

His voice, His voice, coated with affection, was oddly deep and seductive.

 

“It’s all my fault. Okay?”

 

“…….”

 

“I hurt you.”

 

He said as he slowly stroked my back.

 

“So, can you stop crying?”

 

When I nodded, I sensed him coming closer. My body trembled in response and I hugged my knees even tighter.

 

“Can I hold you?” he carefully asked.

 

I didn’t answer.

 

Being in his arms was frightening.

 

Just as I was about to refuse, I realized that, for once, he had actually asked for my permission before acting.

 

Permission, of all things.