Chapter 4: The Awakened Husband
2023.11.04.
“How are you feeling today?”
“Like a complete mess.”
He muttered with a bitter sneer.
Having been bedridden for so long, Craig found even the smallest movements incredibly difficult.
The physician had called it a miracle that he could talk and move his upper body at all, but the man himself didn’t seem satisfied.
“What about the task I gave you?”
“It’s done.”
“Hmph.”
He gave a smug nod.
No words of thanks or appreciation. It was as if receiving a report on a task given to a subordinate—completely expected.
That, too, was drastically different from the old Craig.
Comparing him to the frivolous and undignified man from before only solidified her suspicions.
Cordelia subtly sat down in the chair and tossed out a few concerned-sounding words.
“Hopefully you’ll recover soon.”
“This damn body won’t be any better even if it does recover. What’s the point of a pretty face if the rest is useless?”
“That pretty face was your pride and joy, remember?”
Craig had once considered seducing women with his good looks the only true pleasure in life.
“Of all the bodies…”
He trailed off bitterly, glaring at his hand in disgust.
Somehow, Cordelia could guess the words he left unsaid.
‘He must be annoyed to have ended up in a body like that.’
She smiled sweetly and asked, “Did you eat?”
“You mean that garbage soup? They call that cooking? The people in this estate must have lost their sense of taste.”
“Even if it’s not to your liking, eat something. You need your strength if you want to get out of bed.”
Craig waved a hand dismissively as if too annoyed to argue.
“Forget it. Why are you here today?”
“I thought I hadn’t told you everything about your past yet.”
“Oh, right. The past. Hurry up then. I’m tired.”
Cordelia swallowed the saliva in her mouth and slowly began reciting the story she had prepared.
Craig sat back against the headboard with his eyes closed.
“You learned to read when you were three.”
“Huh? Smarter than I thought. Didn’t I fall out of a tree at four?”
“And you manifested magic for the first time when you were five.”
“What? Me—this body, I mean?”
He couldn’t hide his surprise. Naturally—this wasn’t Craig’s past.
Cordelia calmly continued.
“At twelve, your tutor said he had nothing left to teach you.”
“…”
“At seventeen, you became the youngest head of your house.”
That’s right. This was the past of Leonard, head of the White Lion family—Atilay.
His genius was so well known, there was no need to ask a servant to confirm it.
“What an incredible past. No wonder you’re the leader of Atilay.”
As soon as she said that, Craig’s—no, Leonard’s—expression turned frightening.
The moment she saw it, Cordelia knew her guess had been right.
“Did Maximilian send you?”
The sudden shift in atmosphere was sharp enough to sting her skin.
“Damn it. I should’ve known he’d plant someone even here.”
Leonard struggled to get up but his body wasn’t yet recovered enough for that.
Instead, he gritted his teeth and began gathering mana in the air. Several flames floated up, dangerously close.
Cordelia’s eyes widened in shock.
“You can still use magic even after changing bodies?”
“This body might be a wreck, but I haven’t forgotten how to wield magic. I’ve got enough strength left to kill you.”
His voice was chillingly cold. With just a flick of his finger, a fireball shot toward her.
She ducked just in time. The trajectory was visible to her eyes—enough to dodge it.
Leonard’s eyes widened slightly.
“You dodged?”
“Wait! Let’s talk, please! Why are you assuming I’m your enemy?”
“If you were an ally, you would’ve knelt before me and revealed yourself.”
More fireballs rained toward her.
Cordelia barely managed to avoid them, but one caught her sleeve and burned a part of it.
“Eek!”
“Who the hell are you? How can you see my magic?”
“W-Well, because I can see it.”
“You can see it?”
“That’s how I knew you were the head of Atilay. When I threw the letter, I saw your family crest.”
“Hah. If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable.”
“I’m not lying!”
She hurried to explain before he could cast another spell.
At this rate, she’d be dead before even starting a negotiation.
“I’ve been able to see magic since I was a child! It’s true!”
“You see magic? Barely one in ten thousand people can even sense it. Are you serious?”
“Test me. I’ll guess the form of your magic.”
Leonard studied her with a suspicious gaze.
Then, without a word, he gathered mana at his fingertip and shaped it.
“Um… a deer?”
“…”
“A rabbit?”
“…”
“Ah, uhh… a goat?”
“It’s a sheep, not a goat.”
Surprisingly, her ability to “see” was no lie. Leonard’s eyes twitched slightly.
Not even he—reputedly the strongest magician in the country—possessed such a gift.
After three correct guesses in a row, he had no choice but to accept it.
“Incredible. With such talent, why didn’t you ever study magic?”
“I didn’t know it was a talent when I was young. And when I got older…”
When she was thirteen, her mother died, and the family fell into ruin.
They were so poor, they had to sell their furniture, and couldn’t even afford to pay the servants.
In that situation, learning magic—something that cost a fortune—was a luxury beyond dreams.
Besides, her father would never have allowed it.
“There were… unavoidable circumstances.”
But she didn’t want to pour out her pitiful backstory to a man she just met. Cordelia deflected lightly.
“Do you believe me now?”
“You’re really not someone Maximilian sent?”
“No. If I’m right, Maximilian is your younger brother—the one who tried to kill you?”
At her casual question, the wariness in Leonard’s eyes flared up again.
Cordelia quickly added another line before another fireball came flying.
“It’s already all over the capital, you know.”
“What is?”
“That the head of House Atilay was murdered, and the likely culprit is his younger brother. I heard the second son has already petitioned the council to inherit the title.”
“Hah. Inherit? By whose permission?”
“Exactly. And here you are, alive and well with your eyes wide open.”
Cordelia matched his anger with a chuckle.
“And think about it logically. Maximilian knew you’d wake up in Craig’s body and bribed me a year ago to marry him? That doesn’t make any sense.”
She defended herself passionately.
Considering Leonard had asked her who he was right after waking up, it was clear even he hadn’t expected to awaken in Craig’s body.
“So?”
“Sorry?”
“So what do you want? A divorce?”
“Is a simple divorce really worth more than the head of Atilay’s life?”
“…Ha.”
Throwing his own words from a few days ago back at him, Leonard swept his bangs in irritation.
Cordelia swallowed the saliva collecting in her mouth, trying to relax her tense body.
A divorce. Yes, it mattered a lot to her.
But if he was truly Leonard Atilay, she could demand something far sweeter. Getting a signature on divorce papers could wait.
“We made a deal, didn’t we? That I’d help you four more times. That’s not a fair trade for just four letters. I want to add one more condition.”
“What is it?”
“It’s nothing major. Just… mutual cooperation. Symbiosis.”
“Symbiosis? That only works when the other party is trustworthy. Why should I trust you?”
“You trusted me enough to send that letter, didn’t you?”
Cordelia blinked her big, round eyes.
Leonard suddenly understood why the servants pitied and called her “that poor, innocent lady.”
She was surprisingly shrewd, bolder and calmer than anyone he knew.
As if she knew he’d wake up in Craig’s body all along.
Which only made him trust her less.
“Did sending a letter require trust? It’d be easier to kill you now and shut you up.”
“…That’s certainly an option.”
‘This guy is terrifying.’
His voice was so calm it gave her chills, like he was squashing a bug. Cordelia crossed her legs and feigned composure.
“But do you have anyone you can trust in this estate?”
“…”
“With that wreck of a body, you’re limited in what you can do.”
“…”
“Maybe that’s why you haven’t stormed out of this mansion yet.”
Cordelia had stayed up almost all night figuring out the most likely reason.
If he was truly the head of Atilay, why had he ended up in Craig’s body? Why was he staying here?
No matter how she looked at it, there was only one answer:
This man couldn’t act freely without someone’s help. That must be why he’d entrusted her to deliver that important letter.
“This world is a hard and difficult place. It’s not easy going solo. Let’s team up.”
She smiled softly and spoke in a relaxed tone.
“That almost sounds like a promise to help me.”
“That’s right. I’ll help you return to Atilay safely—physically and financially. As long as it doesn’t put my life in danger.”
“How generous.”
Despite the words, Leonard’s smile was sharp like a predator’s.
“Your terms?”
‘Good. This is going well.’
Cordelia struggled to suppress the urge to cheer, keeping her trembling lips in check.
“I only want one thing.”
“What is it?”
“I want to become your student.”
“Student? You want to learn magic? You?”
He looked her up and down with arrogant eyes.
“You think magic is easy just because you can see a little mana? Magic is hard even for those who start training from a young age.”
“You haven’t even tried teaching me yet.”
His condescending attitude, despite not knowing her at all, rubbed her the wrong way. She snapped back immediately, making him scoff.
“Think you can keep up if I teach you?”
“I may not look it, but I was called a prodigy as a child!”
“Oh really? A prodigy? From some backwater village?”
He curled one lip into a smirk. It was infuriating, but Cordelia forced herself to hold it in.
“If I become your student, I promise to study harder than anyone else. I mean it.”
“And what are you going to do with magic anyway? Starting this late, you’ll fall far behind others.”
“…Actually, my father… he’s very ill.”
She secretly pinched her thigh to summon tears, trying hard to cry.
Thankfully, a single tear welled up in her right eye.
