I Think My Husband is a Murderer

Looking back now, it didn’t take a long time from meeting my husband to getting married.

Dochilia had been defeated.

On a winter morning, I had fallen into a restless sleep, worrying about my father who had fought in the war.

Knock, knock.

Awakening to the sound of someone knocking on the door, I greeted the uninvited guest in a disheveled state.

“Who…?”

A pristine uniform, golden buttons, a stiff collar that reached up to the neck.

It was a naval uniform.

As soon as I saw the figures filling my field of vision, I smiled brightly.

“Father?”

I quickly raised my head. However, my face turned blurry in an instant, without a chance to welcome joy.

The man blocking my way was not my father.

A stern face under the naval cap, a rigid posture.

I had a bad feeling. In an instant, I was wide awake, and instinctively, I knew.

The man in front of me was undoubtedly here to deliver bad news.

The man soon took off his hat. His features, hidden in the shadow, slowly revealed themselves. Blue irises, reflecting the breaking sunlight, sparkled like the sea.

His firmly closed lips moved slowly.

“Edith Prim, the daughter of Isaac Prim. Is that correct?”

“…Yes.”

My eyelids trembled. Subconsciously, I unbuttoned my clothes to hide any emotions.

After confirming my identity, the man continued speaking nonchalantly.

“I’ve come to deliver a condolence message. Naval Petty Officer Isaac Prim, who fought bravely on the battlefield in Dochilia, passed away on December 18, 1824, at around 2:15 PM.”

His dry and indifferent voice matched perfectly with the cruel news.

I blinked slowly.

What on earth did I just hear?

Everything in front of me, except for the man, plunged into darkness, and the bustling sounds of the street quieted down.

“What did you just say…”

It had to be a mistake. I had to think that way. Otherwise, I must have misheard or misunderstood something in my drowsiness.

I took a deep breath calmly and asked again.

“I think I misheard, could you please repeat it once more?”

“I regret to inform you of this news.”

Hope did not return.

“That can’t… that can’t be true. How could my father…”

He had always sent me letters.

He said he was safe. Although Dochilia seemed to be losing, he seemed to be able to come and see me soon.

But how could this…

Everything in front of me turned white. It was the moment when I felt my legs give out and was about to collapse.

“Be careful.”

The man held my arm with a firm grip and lifted me up.

After I could stand on my own two feet, he released his grip on me.

“…Thank you.”

I couldn’t even understand what I was saying. It just came out instinctively.

As I slowly raised my head, the man was looking at my face intently. He spoke dryly.

“The body is being held at the Naval Headquarters. You need to attend the Naval Headquarters in Muesenhavn within a week for identification and to apply for the death insurance claim.”

I forced myself to nod. It was the best I could do right now.

Everything in front of me turned pitch black. I closed the door with a blank expression.

“This can’t be true…”

Finally alone, I slowly sank to the floor.

That was the unforgettable first meeting with my husband, Johannes Schultz.

* * *

Since hearing the news of my father’s passing, I hadn’t been in my right mind.

Half of me wanted to go and confirm the body, while the other half didn’t want to accept my father’s death.

I managed to hold myself together enough to stay locked up at home.

But cruelly, the deadline of one week that the man had informed me of arrived in no time.

It was a long yet short period of time.

I didn’t even have the energy to confirm the address. After barely pulling myself together, I quickly prepared and left the house.

The streets were quieter than usual. Strangely, I couldn’t even register that it was strange.

“The Naval Headquarters…”

I followed the map that the man had given me. As I approached the destination, a bustling noise pierced my ears.

“What a tragedy. In this day and age…”

“He deserved it.”

People were murmuring incomprehensible words.

As I walked a little further, I saw a crowd gathered at the front of the harbor.

Could it be that they were all gathered for the identification of the deceased…?

It was only natural that there were many casualties considering the defeat.

As I looked around, I noticed naval officers lined up along the street. My gaze stopped at a particularly noticeable man.

He was staring ahead with an indifferent expression. As I stared at him, the man turned his head.

The golden naval badge on his hat reflected the breaking sunlight and sparkled.

I frowned and lowered my gaze, and our eyes met as the man’s blue eyes locked onto mine.

It was him.

The naval officer who came to deliver the news of my father’s death.

I had found the person I was looking for, so there was no need to hesitate. I quickly approached him.

“Excuse me, where is the Naval Headquarters…?”

I couldn’t even finish my sentence.

“Oh…!”

I lost my balance amidst the crowd rushing towards me. It was just before I was about to be swept away.

The man grabbed me before I could fall. In a clumsy embrace, I couldn’t move because there were still many people pushing against me.

“Th-thank you.”

“The Naval Headquarters is on the other side. However, the situation is not good right now, so it’s better to move a little later.”

“Okay…?”

As I looked up at him, the man turned his gaze towards the front of the harbor. My eyes following him widened.

“A public execution…?”

Underneath a rusty guillotine that hadn’t been used for quite some time, there was a middle-aged man.

He was dressed in a simple yet expensive garment, and his hair was neatly styled, showing no signs of disarray. His exposed skin was flawless and immaculate.

Public executions and unethical punishments like this had been abolished for a considerable amount of time, considering them relics of the past.

But why…?

I was too shocked to feel any embarrassment being held by a stranger, so I blinked blankly.

And then, I became even more confused by the low voice coming from above my head.

“I am Duke Schultz.”

“Yes? Why is the Duke here…?”

I didn’t need to hear the man’s answer. The explanation that followed was provided by the chattering onlookers.

“Oh, how outrageous! A public execution for mere embezzlement? Isn’t it too much?”

“Hah! Mere embezzlement? He embezzled an amount equivalent to the country’s annual budget! And on top of that, nobody knows his whereabouts.”

I involuntarily swallowed my breath.

If it was an amount equivalent to the country’s annual budget, it was truly an enormous sum. And to top it off, he had disappeared.

Duke Schultz was known not only in Muesen but also in the capital city, Baden, for his good reputation.

Such a person had been committing despicable acts behind the scenes. Considering the defeat, the royal family must have chosen a public execution out of sheer frustration.

But…

“The Duke wouldn’t…”

“It’s the official announcement from the royal family. Everyone believes it.”

As I murmured to myself, the man dryly retorted. The onlookers continued to chatter.

“It’s not just the Duke. But thanks to the Duke, we gained many victories in the war. They won’t touch him. By now, he must be returning from the battlefield. I wonder if he heard the news of his father.”

“Why should we worry about him? I heard the war compensation is quite generous. If we don’t know where the embezzled money went, they might just burden us with taxes!”

After that, a noisy dispute ensued. Some defended Duke Schultz, while others criticized him with sharp words.

One thing was clear.

The majority of the onlookers gathered at the harbor harbored negative feelings towards Duke Schultz.

I looked around at the crowd gathered in pitch black.

In front of the guillotine, there lay the blue expanse of the sea. The clear sky, oblivious to the commotion, was beautiful.

For a place where life comes to an end, it was excessively sentimental and poetic.

Perhaps it was intended to make one regret their committed mistakes even more, knowing that they would never see such things again.

Did Duke Schultz really embezzle? If so, how would he feel standing on the threshold of death?

Was it a feeling of disappointment for being caught in a crime, a sense of injustice, or perhaps remorse?

However, contrary to my expectations, his eyes showed no emotions.

There was no look of injustice in this situation, nor was there a look of regret. He simply wore a resigned expression.

His fingertips grew pale and his face turned pale.

If he truly committed a crime, there was no way he would have such eyes, such an expression.

I instinctively realized.

“That person is innocent…”

But no one would believe it. If not, he might be an innate actor, pretending innocence until the end.

But then?

Even if Duke Schultz were innocent, there was no way I could help him. There were various political reasons involved.

However, there was one thing I could do for him right now.

“Let’s go back.”

I wasn’t completely indifferent to turning someone’s potentially innocent death into a spectacle.

“I should leave now. The naval headquarters are on the opposite side, right…?”

I was about to turn around hesitantly when he tightened his grip on my hand.

“It’s dangerous to leave now with the crowd rushing.”

“But—”

At that moment, a loud trumpet sound silenced me. The onlookers also fell silent one by one.

The soldiers began to climb the execution platform one by one. The sound of their heavy boots filled the harbor.

“They must be about to carry out the execution.”

Someone spoke those words, but the man still firmly held onto me.

He spoke calmly.

“It’s best not to look.”

As I looked up at the man, his large hand covered my vision. That’s when it happened.

Thud—

A cruel sound echoed through the harbor, and sighs could be heard from all around.

Even then, the man never took his eyes off the execution platform.

It was an untimely public execution.

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Translator Note:

 

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