My Husband Hid His Regression, So I Hid Mine Too Chapter 38

“……As you know, this happened because of His Grace’s own actions.”

Odely added, almost as if she were making an excuse.

At those words, Ludville let out a short sigh.

“Who said anything?”

It was probably true that he needed regular purification.

But the three-to-five-year period was undoubtedly a time frame Odely had decided on herself.

After all, she was the only person who could heal his incurable condition.

Right now, the only choice he had was to ‘accept.’

But……

He had never really wanted to live in the first place.

At the same time, he didn’t have enough energy to take his own life.

He had simply been living without any will of his own, letting himself drift wherever life took him.

But the young lady had caught him.

Caught him when he was on the verge of becoming a monster.

With a power close to a miracle, she had removed the demonic energy and offered to lend him that power without asking for anything in return.

‘No, did she say she had ambitions?’

But the condition was merely a ‘five-year contract marriage.’

Wasn’t that a terrible deal for her?

At that point, it was practically volunteer work.

‘Is she planning to assassinate me within five years and take my title?’

If that were the case, it would make a little more sense.

‘Actually, if that’s what she’s plotting, it would be interesting.’

But Odely’s intentions were the exact opposite.

She was desperately trying to drag him away from death, even though he kept willingly moving closer to it.

“What about you, young lady?”

Ludville suddenly asked.

“Yes?”

“Are there any side effects from your purification ability?”

It was a question that struck right at the heart of the matter.

“You use a power that is practically a miracle, but there is no price to pay? In this world, the law of equivalent exchange tends to apply whether we notice it or not.”

“……”

For a moment, silence filled the room.

Odely’s fingertips trembled slightly, but she naturally grasped the edge of her skirt.

After remaining silent for a moment, Odely calmly replied without even blinking.

“That is why I set the period so long.”

“Hmm. So as long as you purify me over a long period, there won’t be a problem?”

“There will be no problem.”

Ludville nodded without much suspicion.

“I see.”

He had instinctively asked a sharp question, but he didn’t seem to consider the possibility that she was performing the purification at the cost of her own life.

“So the side effects must be something you can tolerate.”

“……You could say that.”

It was only natural.

Who would readily assume that someone they had never even met would suddenly sacrifice their life for them?

Odely quietly sighed in relief to herself.

He hadn’t found out.

Not yet.

Fortunately, she had been able to hide the condition her body was in after using her purification power by getting into the carriage and claiming that she was simply tired.

So no one in the Grand Duke’s castle would know about Odely’s condition.

Meanwhile, as Odely reassured herself, a brief silence settled over the room.

Ludville glanced at Odely, whose expression remained calm.

In a way, Ludville was in an unpleasant situation, with every possible choice blocked off.

Normally, he would have told her to get lost and let him enjoy his new life as a monster, or kicked her out while telling her to stop caring whether he lived or died.

But strangely……

He didn’t find those restrictions entirely unpleasant.

She was being deliberate, completely transparent about her intentions, and didn’t even bother hiding them.

‘Strange.’

Because the young lady was so determined to fix him, he found himself wanting to simply tell her to go ahead.

It wasn’t as if he had suddenly developed a desire to live.

Rather, he felt a strange and completely unfamiliar urge to tell her to do whatever she wanted……

Ludville stared at her silently for a while before slowly turning his gaze away.

“……It hasn’t been two weeks yet. Let’s talk about the contract then.”

Odely was secretly a little disappointed.

But she soon nodded and calmly replied.

“All right.”

Because she could instinctively feel that he was already halfway convinced.

It seemed that what Ludville needed right now was time to think.

She had already made her move.

All that remained was to quietly wait until he gave her a definite answer.

While doing what she could in the meantime.

“Then, I will wait until you call for me.”

Ludville suddenly left the castle.

With his aide, Edwin, tagging along behind him like a little goldfish tail.

Edwin hadn’t been asked to come, nor had Ludville given him permission, but he simply followed along as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Just like always.

“Your Grace, I heard you almost became a monster?”

The moment Ludville saw Edwin, he openly frowned.

He didn’t say anything, but his glare clearly asked why the hell Edwin was following him.

The pressure in his gaze was enough to make anyone’s knees tremble.

But Edwin shamelessly met his gaze with an expression that seemed to say, ‘Here we go again.’

“They do say that you have to become a monster to hunt monsters. But I don’t think they meant that you should actually become one……”

“……”

“You kept leaving me behind, and look where that got you. If this is how things were going to turn out, why did you make me your aide in the first place?”

“……”

Edwin continued nagging without pause before narrowing his eyes.

It looked like Ludville wasn’t listening to a single word he said.

“You’re not saying anything because you’re too annoyed to even talk to me, aren’t you?”

“……I was actually trying to remember why I made you my aide in the first place.”

“You don’t remember? You kept me around because you thought I was funny.”

“Apparently, my sense of humor had a serious flaw back then.”

Ludville imagined sewing Edwin’s mouth shut.

Unfortunately, even if he covered his mouth, his aide was the kind of person who would keep talking with his expressions and gestures, so it was probably best to just leave him alone.

“So where are you going?”

“Rosenbach.”

“That country village? Why are you going all the way there……”

Ludville silently continued riding.

After experiencing the power of Odely’s ‘purification ability’ firsthand, Ludville had a feeling.

Perhaps she held the key to ‘ancient magic.’

No, perhaps……

‘Her power itself might be the true identity and essence of the Cardel family.’

The thought occurred to him.

So Ludville decided to investigate the Cardel family in earnest.

He decided to visit one of the territories said to have been purified by the Cardel family using ‘ancient magic.’

And as a result, his vague suspicion gradually hardened into certainty.

The same thing happened in every village.

The scenery looked perfectly normal from the outside.

The streets were far too quiet.

The residents were smiling.

But there was something strangely artificial about the entire village, and the way the people moved was awkward, like actors in a play.

‘……An illusion spell.’