Wishing My Husband Dead - Chapter 107

Recently, I’ve been thinking that I’m losing consciousness more frequently.

‘My master will be worried.’

When that thought reached her mind, Cordelia’s eyes flew open.

However, it was so dark all around that there was no difference between having her eyes open or closed. She also realized that her shoulders were very stiff and that her hands were tied behind her back.

She calmly looked around, recalling the last thing she had seen. The boy who awkwardly held out a single flower, her vision that blurred the moment she smelled the flower’s fragrance. And then…

“Maximilian.”

The last voice she had heard was definitely Maximilian’s.

But Cordelia wasn’t sure of what she had heard. How could he appear in broad daylight, right in the middle of Wilas?

Her doubts didn’t last long. There were more pressing issues to resolve.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could dimly make out her surroundings. Judging by the cramped space that didn’t even allow her to stretch her legs fully, it seemed she was trapped in some kind of box. Moreover, the space was shaking, causing her body to sway constantly.

A brief deduction suggested that someone, probably Maximilian, had kidnapped her and was now transporting her in a box via carriage.

With a creaking sound, the movement ceased. Footsteps gradually approached.

Cordelia tensed up. It made her lower abdomen churn as if she were about to vomit.

Someone dragged the box containing her.

[I’ll count to three, then we lift.] [I’m starving to death. Can’t we eat something after we change carriages?]

It was the Bedos language used in the Southern Continent. Since Wilas is relatively close to the Southern Continent, it’s not strange to find people from Ansen here. Cordelia held her breath and listened to their conversation.

[How long has it been since you ate bread that you’re whining about it again?] [I’m not talking about those bread crumbs. I want a proper meal.]

A man grumbled. Cordelia felt the box she was in being lifted. It seems they were indeed planning to change carriages as they said. At least it doesn’t look like they’re going to do anything to her right away, which is fortunate.

Where is this place now? How much time has passed? The Baron, and especially Leonard, must be terribly worried about her disappearance.

Rather than fear about the situation, the face of Leonard, who must be searching for her, was the first thing that came to mind.

[How are we supposed to do that with no money?] [You think I don’t know you received an advance payment from that person?] [What are you talking about? We agreed to get paid after we finish the job and hand this over.]

Someone kicked the box containing her with their foot. It seems ‘this’ refers to Cordelia. The conversation that started with a minor irritation soon turned into an argument.

[You think I don’t know anything? I know you already received 500 linkit from that man! You were planning to keep it all to yourself without telling me, weren’t you?] [You’ve been talking nonsense for a while now.]

Their bickering continued longer than expected. Cordelia’s shoulders were unbearably stiff.

After a moment’s hesitation, she kicked the box hard with her foot. It would be better to try something before getting too far from Wilas. As long as she can execute her barrier magic, they won’t be able to harm her.

[Stop talking and get the rest…!] [Wh-what’s that?]

When the box shook violently, the voices of the two men stopped abruptly. Silence fell. Cordelia broke that silence once again with her foot.

[It seems the one inside has woken up. What should we do?] [Right. Since she’s already awake, let’s just open this.] [What!]

The man jumped, apparently not expecting Cordelia to respond in Bedos. Hearing his scream, Cordelia couldn’t help but laugh. What kind of sloppy kidnappers are these?

They whispered among themselves for a while before finally opening the lid of the box. Unaccustomed to the sudden light, Cordelia kept her eyes closed for a long time before finally managing to open them.

[How is she already awake in less than a day? We were told she’d sleep for at least two days.] [I guess it’s because I slept well last night.]

Cordelia retorted somewhat brazenly. Having been in one position for so long, a tingling sensation rushed to her toes.

[D-don’t move!] [Don’t budge!]

A thin, tall man and a man with a bushy beard pointed knives at Cordelia with tense eyes. Despite her arms being tied and being a woman, while the kidnappers were sturdy adult men with knives, Cordelia seemed much more at ease.

Cordelia quickly surveyed her surroundings. There was no sign of anyone else besides these two men. She had naturally expected Maximilian to be with them, but in this secluded forest, only these two men were visible.

[Did you kidnap me knowing who I am?] [Why does that matter?] [Right. It seems you don’t know. If you did, you wouldn’t have dared to do something so brazen.]

They looked more like farmers who had been plowing fields with farm tools until yesterday evening than trained knights. Their posture was so clumsy that honestly, she wasn’t scared at all.

The tension that had built up earlier dissipated embarrassingly.

[How much are you guys being paid for this job?] [Why are you asking?] [If you release me here, I’ll give you double that amount.] [How can we trust your word?] [You idiot! You should have said no first!]

The bearded man slapped the back of the tall man’s head with his palm. It looked like a scene from a comedy skit, making Cordelia laugh involuntarily.

[You’re laughing? You don’t seem to understand your situation. If you don’t want to die, stay quiet.]

He said, threateningly waving the knife in his hand.

[Go ahead and stab me.] […What?]

Cordelia confidently thrust out her stomach. She had blocked even Beluce’s attack, so she could deflect all of these clumsy attacks.

[What? Can’t do it when I tell you to? Come on, stab me. Are you scared?] [Is, is this woman crazy?] [Hey, Roku. Let’s just close the lid and take her away without engaging.]

The tall man, overwhelmed by her demeanor, tried to stop Roku from behind. However, Roku, seemingly hurt in his pride, strode towards Cordelia.

[You think I can’t do it?]

He raised his right hand holding the knife high. Cordelia didn’t avert her eyes from his.

[Hey! Are you the one who’s crazy? What are you doing? We were told to bring her alive, remember?] [We will bring her alive. A scar on her face won’t kill her, right?] [Yeah, so go ahead and stab me. You can’t do it, can you? You’re scared, aren’t you?] [Y-you!] [Roku, calm down! Roku!]

If someone had witnessed this scene, they would have burst into laughter. A man with a red face waving a knife in the air and a woman calmly presenting her stomach in front of him didn’t look normal from any perspective.

Either the man holding him back from behind lacked strength, or Roku was quite heated, because the knife he swung grazed Cordelia’s chest vertically. Of course, Cordelia wasn’t hurt at all.

[Oops!]

Instead, the two men fell backwards from the recoil. They looked up at her blankly, puzzled as to why they had fallen.

Cordelia stood straight and spoke with a stern face as if scolding them. She completely changed her attitude, as if her previous taunting behavior had been a lie.

[My name is Cordelia Vasquez. I’m a magician.] [A ma-magician?] [Oh my god! Roku, there was no mention of kidnapping a magician!] [Shut up, Tom! How was I supposed to know?] [I don’t know how much the client promised to pay you, but if you release me quietly, I promise to give you double that amount. On my honor as a magician.]

She spoke as if she were being brave and generous. If she knew proper attack magic, she could defeat these weaklings and escape proudly, but all she knew was creating barriers, drawing magic circles, or identifying food.

‘When I get back, I must ask my master to teach me attack magic.’

[Um, will you really give us double the money?] [Of course. I am the daughter of the Blue Hawk Vasquez. I cannot tolerate lies.] [Roku. Let’s just release this lady and take the money, okay?] [Don’t be stupid. If we release her here, we’ll die. Don’t you get it yet?]

Unfortunately, Roku seems to be thinking more clearly than Tom. Cordelia bit her lip to avoid showing a disappointed expression.

[But if you don’t release me here, my master will cut you into eight pieces and throw you to the wild dogs as food!]

She kindly added an explanation for the two men who didn’t know who her master was.

[My master is Leonard Atilei, the head of the White Snake Atilei family. Even if you’re from the Southern Continent, you must have heard of the Atilei’s reputation, right?] [Did you say Atilei?] [Gasp!]

Roku’s expression became severely distorted. Tom is on the verge of collapsing. It seems the master’s name carries weight everywhere. She shook her arms vigorously.

[Now, if you understand, hurry up and untie these arms.] [Roku, what do we do now? It’s all your fault! If you hadn’t suggested we take this job first!] [Be quiet. I’m thinking.] [We’re doomed, we’re doomed! Oh, mother! Your son is going to die like this!]

Tom plopped down on the ground and started crying, beating the earth. His crying was so mournful that anyone who didn’t know the situation might have thought a funeral was taking place.

[Stop crying and untie these arms first. I’ll give you money and forgive you, okay?] [Tom. Get up. Let’s kill this woman here.] [Waaah. Sniff, what? What did you say we should do?]

Roku forcibly lifted Tom, who was crying like a child, and gripped his knife firmly. Then he took out a pouch from his chest.

[Take it. It’s money we took from that woman’s body. You can have it all.] [Wh-when did you take this?]

Seeing this, Tom immediately wiped away his tears and opened Cordelia’s money pouch.

[It seems we’ve gotten involved in some bad business. If we take this woman to the client, we’ll die, and if we let her go, the client will kill us too. So let’s kill this woman here and return to Ansen. That’s the only way we can survive.]

A rather smart choice. Cordelia both admired and lamented.

Of course, she could deflect their attacks with her barrier magic.

But that wouldn’t work forever, and in the worst case, if they buried her alive by digging a hole or pushed her off a cliff, Cordelia would have no way to survive.