Please Kill My Husband - Chapter 51

Late afternoon.

While Ludmila, who had been invited to Beressa’s tea party, was away, Aden called for the doctor who had examined her condition.

Aden had received a belated report that Ludmila had collapsed when he left for the capital.

It was due to Ludmila’s efforts to thoroughly prevent her news from being delivered to him.

“It’s difficult to assess after time has passed, but the reaction that Lady Ludmila showed when she collapsed at that time was indeed a symptom of drug addiction.”

A face as pale as white paper, lifeless eyes, dry cracked lips, and a feverish body.

Ludmila was clearly in an addicted state.

“Fortunately, she’s improved now, and the absence of addiction symptoms craving for drugs suggests it wasn’t an overdose in a short period. Very slowly. A minute amount was administered, so small that she might not have noticed it herself.”

“The type? Any guesses?”

“It’s not easy to control the dosage this precisely. The manufacturing method must be well-known, and the drug’s effects must have been studied to some extent. Typically…”

Opium poppy.

Aden’s eyebrow twitched at the word that came out of the doctor’s mouth.

The scent that had emanated from Baron Ferington, Kedilen’s aide, whom he had encountered during their altercation at the Imperial Palace last time, was now being mentioned by the doctor.

Aden, who had momentarily held his breath, mixed his voice with a long exhalation.

“The scent is so strong that even a small whiff is noticeable, but if used in extremely small amounts, there would be no smell. If administered over a very long period, Lady Ludmila might not have even realized she was addicted, just like now.”

“…I see. Thank you for your hard work.”

Aden nodded briefly and dismissed the doctor.

With a respectful bow, the doctor turned and left the room. Aden, who had been watching the door close, stood up.

He opened the office window and looked outside. The white plum tree that Ludmila had recently come to cherish was visible at a glance.

Although winter had deepened and quite some time had passed, causing the flowers to fall, it still hadn’t lost its beauty.

‘Someone wants Ludmila dead.’

At least it wouldn’t be her husband Kedilen, that dull man.

A man who needs his wife wouldn’t throw away such a blessing with his own hands.

Then what remains is Baron Ferington, Kedilen’s aide…

Considering his position and current status, he was one of the few who could freely approach both Ludmila and Kedilen.

Moreover, there was that strong scent that had brushed his nose when he encountered him.

Aden pulled the bell rope. After a moment, the door opened and a maid entered.

After instructing her to call Salom, Aden lifted his head to look at the sky. Snow was continuously falling from the gloomy sky.

As if heralding the beginning of melancholy, against a bleak landscape.

It was near the end of dinner when Ludmila asked Aden about the painting.

Aden, who had finished his meal first, lifted his head while holding a wine glass brought by the chef.

“Painting?”

Ludmila, who was still picking at her remaining salad with her fork, moved her head vertically in a short motion.

At the mention of the boy’s painting she had seen in the history hall, Aden tilted his head to the side.

“Well. I’m not sure.”

Being the lord of the castle didn’t mean he knew everything.

Rather, the lord of the castle was more likely to know only peripheral things.

Especially for places like the history hall, which he might visit once a year, if at all.

Sipping his wine and pondering her question, Aden shook his head slightly.

Try as he might, he couldn’t remember anything. If a painting had been hung in the history hall, it would have required his approval.

Moreover, if it was a painting that seemed to have been done recently, it would surely have been of him.

Aden, who had been thinking carefully until he emptied his wine glass, quietly opened his mouth.

“I’m not sure of the details, but if it’s hung there, it must be of the Habertz direct line. Probably me.”

“Is… that so?”

“Why? Did you like that boy in the painting?”

At his uncharacteristic teasing, Ludmila pursed her lips.

Having finished her meal and finding it difficult to eat more, Ludmila gently pushed away her plate and grasped her water glass.

“Yes, I did like it. Unlike someone, he was smiling cutely and brightly. Doesn’t that seem quite unlike you, Aden?”

“Someone might think I was born looking like this.”

Ludmila let out a thin laugh at his quiet complaint.

As dinner ended and Ludmila stood up, she glanced at Beressa’s empty seat.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Beressa today.”

“She’s busier than she looks. She’s very occupied dealing with things I haven’t been able to pay attention to. Ah, speaking of which, didn’t you say you heard about Beressa’s background?”

Ludmila nodded briefly and recited the story she had heard from Beressa earlier. Listening to that story, Aden slightly pushed up the corners of his mouth.

“Beressa hasn’t often told others so much about herself. She must have liked you more than I thought.”

“When you think about it, we’re sisters, aren’t we?”

The Emperor’s illegitimate child. It was natural to feel sympathy for someone in a similar situation.

Aden let out a deflating laugh and stood up, following Ludmila.

The two, leaving the dining room and heading to the garden, naturally walked towards the white plum tree.

Walking together here after having dinner together had now become a routine.

Even though neither had specifically suggested it, before they knew it, the time they spent together had increased.

And for Ludmila, it wasn’t such a bad way to end the day.

However, it did cause unnecessary misunderstandings because of it.

‘…The prospective Duchess, huh.’

It was natural for such suspicions to arise when she, who was thought to be just passing through, had stayed here for nearly two months.

No, such suspicions had been circulating from the beginning. They were just simple rumors, though.

When Ludmila rolled her eyes slightly to observe Aden, the wind blew as if it had been waiting.

The now faint scent of plum blossoms brushed her nose. Ludmila turned her gaze to stare at the trees in front of her and quietly smiled.

At some point, staying here had become natural and expected.

As he had said, there was no need to be mindful of anything while staying here. He seemed to pay attention to providing Ludmila with safety, protection, and comfort, as if keeping his word.

No, he even took care of more than that. The white plum trees right in front of her were a prime example.

It was a comfortable time. So much so that she wondered if there had ever been a time in her life when she had lived so comfortably.

“The painting seems to be nearing completion.”

The languid voice rang out after Aden had shifted his gaze to Ludmila. Likewise turning her gaze to Aden, Ludmila smiled brightly.

“I’ll give the first painting to you, Aden. It might not be a great masterpiece, but it’s the first work by a person named Ludmila. You’ll accept it, won’t you?”

“I’ll personally order it to be placed in the most visible spot in the history hall.”

“Not there.”

Where then? As Aden tilted his head askew, Ludmila extended her finger to point at the window where Aden’s office was located.

“Over there.”

“…”

“Put it somewhere visible. It’s the first gift to my patron, so it should be placed where many people often see it. Otherwise, no one will know that you sponsored me, right? It’ll be too late if you hurriedly take it out of the history hall when my paintings become very expensive later.”

Ludmila crossed her arms and lifted her chin.

Seeing her playful demeanor, unlike her usual self, Aden twisted his lips.

He seemed to ponder for a moment, then nodded.

“Then I’ll hang it on the wall behind me. Right below the frame with the family crest.”

“There’s no need to go that far…”

“It’s a painting that deserves to be there.”

Although Ludmila tried to dissuade Aden in embarrassment, he shrugged as if to say it didn’t matter.

Seeing him respond to her joke with another joke, Ludmila narrowed her eyes.

Aden raised his lips crookedly and walked forward, facing her cat-like narrowed eyes.

Her gaze followed his moving body.

The white plum blossoms, just beginning to fade overhead, fell along with the thinning snow.

A beautiful scene where it was hard to tell what was snow and what was petals.

With the crunching sound of stepping on snow, Ludmila also moved her steps, following Aden as he walked away.

The sound of falling snow filled the silence amidst the quietness.

How long would this peace last? As time passed, people would start to wonder.

Why the woman who called herself a merchant wasn’t returning to the capital and remained here. And as they did, they would gradually learn about the person called Ludmila, and eventually, the secret would be revealed.

This meant that even if she wanted to stay here, she couldn’t.

When she first came here, she felt time passed extremely slowly. But not anymore. It flew by too quickly.

When this snow stops and the cold spells its fury one more time before leaving, a mild spring breeze will blow.

By the time the first spring rain falls, the frozen ground will thaw, and then it will be time to leave this place.

Then it would be farewell. A land she could never return to. People she would never meet again.

Ludmila acknowledged that this time she spent with Aden was an incredibly precious four months in her life, and she wished she could extend that time and stay here just a little longer.

The man she had become accustomed to living with at some point.

The man who made her endlessly comfortable. Before she knew it, her eyes were following him.

Suddenly, she remembered when she first opened the door, sat across from that man, and asked him to kill her husband.

The man who was crooked and gruff, and politely refused her request. But now, a man who assured her he was on her side.

Recalling their changed relationship made her newly aware of the passage of time.

She never imagined they would become like this.

Now she couldn’t deny it.

That she was feeling something different for that man.

Aden, who had stopped among the lined-up trees, turned around.

Ludmila’s steps gradually quickened as she saw him looking at her with a refreshing smile.

Was it because of her hurried steps, trying to approach him quickly? She stumbled as she stepped on a broken branch.

In the fleeting moment when Ludmila’s stumbling body gently fell into Aden’s arms. When she immediately lifted her head to express her gratitude.

In the quiet garden where only the sound of falling snow resounded.

She clearly saw the golden eyes looking down at her, amid the fluttering flowers and pure white snow.