My Former Lover Didn't Die And Came Back - Chapter 14

“…How was your first night with Adrian?”

Blair froze in surprise at Cedric’s sudden and unexpected question.

She didn’t expect her husband’s name to come out of his mouth like that. It was surprising that he even knew her husband’s full name. Before Blair could recover from her shock, Cedric continued speaking.

“Nobles hang the sheets from their nights outside.”

“…?”

Apparently, nobles had a custom of hanging out the sheets stained with blood from the night to prove the wife’s purity the next day.

“How did you handle it?”

Cedric asked persistently.

…Why is he asking about this? She found it strange, but it wasn’t difficult to answer.

“Adrian… made a mark with his blood on his palm.”

Blair revealed the truth. On their wedding day, since she was unable to forget her former lover, Adrian comforted her as she cried and marked the sheet with the blood from his palm.

“…He was a considerate husband.”

Cedric murmured quietly.

…Unlike me. The words he added softly were too quiet for her to hear.

“…Ah,”

Their bodies were still connected. As Cedric continued his movements, Blair weakly trembled and let out a moan.

When Cedric spoke, memories of her husband flooded her mind one after another.

Their wedding night was certainly uneventful. Adrian ended all physical contact that day by kissing her forehead.

It was about a hundred days into their marriage when they attempted to make love for the first time.

…When was that day? For some reason, her usually considerate husband seemed quite upset then.

Strangely, her memories around that time were always fuzzy.

* * *

“…Blair! Blair?!”

Blair opened her eyes. Someone was vigorously shaking her shoulders.

“…!!”

Cedric stood before her with a bewildered expression. His large hand was squeezing her tear-stained cheek. Blair briefly lowered her gaze to check her body. Both of them on the bed were still clothed.

‘Why… are my cheeks wet like this?’

Blair frowned. She couldn’t recall crying so much.

A sharp pain suddenly struck her head.

“…You lost consciousness. Don’t you remember?”

Cedric said. Blair tried to recall the memories from a while ago but she could only feel her headache worsening. She recalled trying to remember a memory with her husband, but it was a blank after that.

Blair slowly looked around.

It seemed like quite some time had passed since she lost consciousness; she noticed things in the room she hadn’t seen before. A white cloth covered a bowl of water, and there was a teapot and a glass on the bedside table.

“Do you remember anything?”

He let out a deep sigh when she nodded slightly. He ran his hand through his hair and rose to his full height.

Blair took a moment to catch her breath. Her headache lessened as time passed. She glanced between his legs for a moment, recalling that he hadn’t finished properly today. After hesitating for a moment, Blair asked Cedric.

“…Not done?”

“…What?”

“…You probably didn’t finish properly today. I’m feeling better now.”

Cedric stared at her face for a moment. The room was dim, so she couldn’t clearly see his expression. His closed lips indicated his usual expressionless demeanor.

“……”

He stood upright, holding her head near her temples with both hands. Blair gazed at him for a while, waiting for him to speak first. But his low voice didn’t come.

“……”

The bed lightened when he left it. Blair watched as he picked up the clothes scattered on the floor and put them on.

‘…Why is he suddenly getting dressed?’

The man, now covered in pants and a shirt, concealed his contoured body and left the room after closing the bedroom door.

Thud.

Blair focused on the closed door and tried to understand his actions but soon gave up. A burning thirst surged within her. She must have sweated quite a bit when she lost consciousness.

Turning her head to the bedside table, she saw a water jug and glass made of pottery. She reached out and drank from it.

* * *

One day, while Blair was preparing a meal as usual, she discovered a dead mouse in the corner of the kitchen. She stared for a moment, then grabbed a dustpan and swept it into a bag. It seemed like she could dispose of it when she went out to do the laundry.

The first time she found the mouse was a week into the infestation. She was so startled that she screamed and ran straight to the front door to ask Theo if he could help catch the mouse.

“You want me to… catch the mouse?”

Theo looked puzzled. Despite Blair’s earnest plea, his response was firm.

“No matter what happens, we cannot enter the mansion. I apologize.”

Blair returned to the mansion where the mouse was.

Clatter.

As she opened the cupboard to get spices, she heard the sound of mice scurrying towards her.

‘Come to think of it… Recently, there have been more mice and insects in the mansion.’

Since she had nothing else to do, she often spent her daytime cleaning the mansion. But the musty smell that had appeared in the mansion some time ago had not disappeared.

‘I’ve wiped away all visible bloodstains’

Her furrowed brow showed she was lost in thought.

‘Surely… it can’t be.’

The thought that crossed her mind was horrifying, but not entirely implausible. She slowly made her way to the room where the mansion staff stayed.

Step by step…

Blair hesitated at the door for a moment, then quickly grabbed the handle and opened it.

As her gaze swept over the old wooden bed, crumpled sheets, desk, and chair, it landed on a corner of the room.

“…Ugh!!”

A decomposed body was leaning against the wall, barely recognizable in its decayed state. The body of a servant who had been dead for a month emitted a foul odor, with flies and maggots wriggling in its decaying parts.

It was the source of the foul stench in the mansion. Although she cleaned every nook and cranny, she hadn’t thought of entering this room. Since Cedric also didn’t go beyond her bedroom, the body had decomposed, undisturbed.

‘Should I call his subordinates outside the gate?’

But they wouldn’t enter the mansion and likely wouldn’t care about this matter. They’re probably tired from just monitoring a detested woman under their boss’s orders.

Upon closer inspection, she realized it was her favorite maid, Mary. At that moment, her initial disgust turned into remorse. If Mary hadn’t become her maid, then she wouldn’t have to smell so bad.

Blair gathered her courage and grabbed Mary’s decaying hands. If she pulled with all her might, she could drag her to the front door. She tried not to pay attention to the wriggling insects.

At that moment, the corpse moved one hand and grabbed Blair’s fingers.

“AAAAAAAHHH!”

Blair screamed as hard as he could, and the sound reached Cedric’s subordinates standing guard at the front door.

“What’s going on?”

The subordinates rushed to the mansion’s door. One of them opened the door, which had been fixed to open from the outside.

Creak. But the view inside the open door showed nothing unusual in the hall.

“……I can only see the hall from here.”

“The commander ordered us not to step inside the mansion no matter what happens…”

The subordinates looked at the short-haired soldier who held the highest rank among them. They were asking him to decide. Theo furrowed his brow for a moment and spoke.

“…Let’s wait for now.”

If they could hear another scream, then they would enter the mansion. But no sounds came from the mansion after that.

As evening approached, Cedric arrived at the mansion. When he got off the carriage, Theo ran up to report on the day’s events.

“…I heard screams from inside but stayed put.”

Cedric chuckled as he spoke. It was true that he ordered them not to enter the mansion no matter what sounds came from inside. Whether it was the screams of a torn woman, sounds of struggle during their sexual intercourse, or cries, it was his despicable intention to never come inside.

He said Blair was screaming inside while he was away. But the soldiers outside the mansion just twiddled their thumbs. They simply followed orders without question, and Cedric couldn’t blame anyone else. He had given the orders himself and he had no intention of changing them.

It would be better to confine her somewhere where not even a speck of dust could pass through, or to vacate the adjacent room to his study where she stayed during the day.

Cedric quickened his pace outside.

Thud. Cedric forcefully opened the massive mansion door and looked around. He soon stopped in his tracks.

A body leaned against a wall near the door. The bloodstains led from the stairs as if the body had been dragged from there.

“Urgh…!”

A nauseating stench emanated from the body that had been dead for over a month.

…This was why Blair screamed. She discovered a maid’s body hidden in a corner. Cedric frantically opened doors searching for Blair.

“Blair? Blair!”

She wasn’t in the drawing room or bedroom. The last place he checked in the mansion was the bathroom, which was firmly closed. As he listened closely, he sensed a faint presence.

After knocking on the door a couple of times, Cedric finally opened the bathroom door.

Blair, sitting in the bathtub, raised her head. When he entered, she gathered her knees and covered her body.

It seemed like she had been there for quite some time. There was no steam left in the bathroom, indicating that the water had cooled down a while ago. The foam that had been in the bathwater had mostly disappeared, leaving Blair’s body fully exposed.

Cedric stared at her intently, and Blair pulled her knees closer, but her ample breasts remained uncovered. Between her thin arms wrapped around her knees, a pink nub faintly showed.

He lowered his heavy body to sit and gripped the bathtub with one hand, exhaling heavily.

“…The water has cooled down.”

Cedric dipped his fingers into the bathtub water and then withdrew them as he spoke.

“I saw what you moved near the door, Blair.”

“……”

“I’ll have my subordinates take care of it.”

He spoke without a subject, but she understood what he meant.