My Husband is Possessed by the Main Character

Chapter 28

When he was alone in a dark place with no one around, there were no words of criticism or violence to hurt him.

So, it should have been his favorite time, but being alone was even more terrifying and depressing.

Huddled in a corner, he held back his tears and read a book. He tried reading out loud.

Steadily and clearly.

The tutor said that if he kept reading like this, he would eventually be able to speak well.

He prayed and worked hard, hoping for the day when he would speak fluently.

Wiping away his tears with a damp sleeve, he listened to his own miserable voice, which he did not want to hear.

Then one day.

For some reason, his father called him to a meal.

Did he really want to eat with him?

Would he suddenly start beating him?

Despite his anxiety, Alec forced himself to eat the soup.

Having a meal with his father was incredibly terrifying but also somehow pleasant.

Just being with him made him feel warmth.

Was this what it felt like to have a father?

In the midst of the clinking tableware, his father suddenly spoke in a deep voice.

“Your table manners are still atrocious.”

“…S-Sorry.”

“In fact, one of our plates contains poison.”

Unfortunately, Alec understood what that meant.

“One of us has to die to end this suffering.”

Even at such a young age, he didn’t want to die.

He was trying to become the person his father wanted.

He wanted to plead for more time, to promise he would become an excellent son.

But suddenly, his throat burned, and he vomited what he had eaten.

This wasn’t proper table manners. He would get punished even more.

He tried to hold it back, but the nausea persisted.

As he rolled off his chair, his father’s gaze remained cold.

It wasn’t the poison that would kill him but that cold look.

“Be born a better person in your next life.”

Then his mother’s scream pierced through.

“…My God, Alec!”

At that moment, Alec woke up.

Blinking in a daze for a moment, he then headed to the mirror.

The strong sunlight suggested that it had been morning for quite some time.

No wonder the dream felt so long.

Finding a hand mirror, he reflected his back in the large mirror.

He had thought his body was perfectly unblemished…

“…!”

But there were long scars down the center of his back that he hadn’t noticed before.

Each scar varied in color, as if accumulated over a long period.

“…It really wasn’t just a simple dream but a memory.”

Alec was deeply shocked.

Living with such scars on his back and enduring all kinds of contempt for so long…

He felt an unwarranted solemnity and rubbed his face.

He wondered if Alec, who was said to be wandering somewhere, might be facing even harsher experiences than here.

Could Alec handle it?

Suddenly, a sharp pain pricked his chest. He winced slightly and brought his hand to his heart.

It felt as if Alec’s emotions from the dream were etched into his heart, making his chest ache.

He had never felt such pain before.

Knock, knock.

Startled by the sound of knocking, he put down the hand mirror.

The door slowly opened, and Louise’s face peeked in. She glanced around the room and soon found him.

Like sunlight flooding in, Louise smiled brightly.

“Alec, you’re awake. You got up a bit late today.”

“…”

A gentle radiance emanated from Louise.

With her sweetly curved eyes and violet irises.

For a moment, he was at a loss for words.

Although she was not someone he was seeing for the first time, Louise unusually brightened his vision.

She felt like a ray of light breaking through the dark and painful dream.

Thump.

As if responding to her smile, his chest ached and his heart raced.

Why was this happening?

It felt like his heart belonged to someone else, a strange feeling of disconnection.

* * *

While Alec ate his late breakfast, I sipped tea in the drawing room.

My mother-in-law started playing the piano again, and I savored her performance, enjoying the fragrant aroma of the tea.

It was always impressive how such passion could come from her delicate frame. Every time I watched her play, I couldn’t help but be amazed.

“..Thank goodness for Alec, or we wouldn’t have bought the piano.”

How had she managed without it for those few days?

Though she hadn’t shown it outwardly, being unable to play her beloved instrument after being kicked out of the duchy must have been very disheartening for her.

Even at the duchy, she played and sang daily.

“..Ah, how nice.”

Of course, she wasn’t playing the piano for my benefit.

Deep in the music, I was suddenly approached by Eloise, who wore a soft expression.

Her eyes sparkled as if she were about to ask for something.

“Sister-.”

“No.”

Before she could even finish calling me, I gently placed my teacup on the saucer in my left hand and softly refused.

Eloise blinked in dismay, looking at me with a wronged expression.

“…I haven’t even said anything yet.”

“You want to go out again, don’t you?”

Eloise couldn’t deny it, staring at me blankly.

Of course.

Eloise, who used to flit between balls and tea parties almost daily, couldn’t easily adapt to this quiet country life.

She bit her lip, her brows drooping in a pitiable manner.

“It’s so suffocating just staying here. I want to go out and wear my new dress…”

“…”

Her eyebrows drooped sadly.

For once, she wasn’t throwing a tantrum but looked on the verge of tears.

I felt a pang of sympathy.

Since we had a new carriage, it might be more comfortable to go out this time. Should we go?

I also wanted to familiarize myself with different parts of the north.

“Shall we go somewhere else this time?”

As I took another sip of tea, Eloise’s face brightened, and she nodded vigorously.

However, my mother-in-law immediately declined our suggestion.

“I just want to play the piano all day. You two go ahead.”

I hadn’t expected her to come with us anyway.

So, we prepared to go out on our own, and I changed into a modest dress.

“The weather is certainly colder here in the north.”

We went to a larger and more distant bustling town than the market we visited before.

A chill in the air made me pull my outerwear closer.

This wasn’t even Grand Cali, the real northern part of the country, which is quite a bit further north, and it was still much chillier than the capital.

“Yes, the atmosphere here feels rather harsh.”

Eloise agreed with me.

Alec followed quietly beside me.

“Then again, there’s hardly a place in the empire that isn’t harsh these days. People are so short of food they’re even picking wildflowers by the roadside to sell…”

“…”

Eloise, not interested in the topic, pretended not to hear me.

I too began to listen to the surrounding conversations, hoping to catch news from the capital or the imperial palace.

When we were at the duchy, we couldn’t avoid knowing too much. Now, it felt like we were cut off from society.

‘I wonder if they’ve found Prince Ridit yet…’

It hadn’t been long since Alec traded that information, so it might be too soon to expect any developments.

Eloise, clinging to my arm, seemed in a very good mood.

She was like a typical fifteen-year-old, admiring every hat and trinket displayed proudly in shop windows.

I suddenly thought of my half-siblings back home and wondered how much they had grown.

But then I shook my head, knowing it was pointless to dwell on it.

A promising-looking pastry shop caught my eye.

“Shall we stop there for a bit, Alec? You too, Eloise.”