My Husband is Possessed by the Main Character

Chapter 87

My eyes widened at the unfamiliar yet somewhat recognizable name. Alec seemed a bit puzzled as well.

Before long, the wild men dragged someone in.

A tall, kind-looking figure with platinum blonde hair that seemed vaguely familiar.

His face was dirty, as if he’d rolled on the ground, and his clothes were in tatters.

Even so, I immediately recognized him and covered my mouth with my hand.

“Count Andrew Mondely?”

At my outcry, Andrew looked around in confusion before spotting me.

He alternated his gaze between me and Alec, his eyes widening in disbelief.

“Louise! Ah, Alec!”

“M-My God, Count Andrew!”

You’re alive?

Andrew had been sent to the north as punishment by the tyrant about six months ago.

It was unlucky for him that his name started with an “A.”

Come to think of it, Alec’ name also starts with an “A.”

‘Were they planning to kill them all in alphabetical order?’

Anyway, since Andrew hadn’t returned for nearly half a year, everyone assumed he had died.

But here he was, alive.

We hadn’t been on bad terms, so I was genuinely relieved and glad to see him.

After a moment of shock that left me speechless, I hurriedly asked,

“What about the others? Are you alone?”

“T-The others…”

Andrew’s face twisted in anguish, and he couldn’t continue speaking.

Even without hearing the rest, I had a good idea of what had happened.

“We were trying to reach Wiltsbrook Castle, but no matter how hard we looked, we couldn’t find a path. So we decided to go around and came to these Kalanysh Mountains. But then some ferocious beasts appeared, and I was captured by these wild men.”

“My goodness…”

“It’s all that damn Emperor’s fault! If I had known we’d all die like this, I would have at least left a scar on that bastard’s neck before going down!”

“Andrew…”

At that moment, Kililul signaled with his eyes, and Kels kicked Andrew’s leg, forcing him to kneel.

“Ugh!”

“Andrew!”

I was about to step toward Andrew when Kililul spoke.

“Did you hear that? Even this pale man barely survived trying to reach Wiltsbrook Castle. He had a whole brigade with him, but half of them froze to death crossing the rugged mountain leading to the castle.”

“……”

“That’s the kind of place it is. The north is not easy to conquer. But suddenly, after days of lightning strikes, a path appears, and people live there?”

Kililul gripped the armrest of his chair tightly as he spoke.

“Who are you people?”

“……”

“Are you not human? Or… envoy of the gods?”

What?

envoy of the gods?

I wondered where this absurd idea had come from, but Kililul was serious.

There was a faint hint of fear in his eyes, perhaps a reverence for nature.

It seemed like these wild men, living in the mountains, had a tendency to believe in sorcery.

He appeared both skeptical and in awe of the unusual events happening at Wiltsbrook Castle.

Suddenly, I thought that maybe we could use this situation to our advantage.

I looked directly at Kililul with more determination.

I raised my chin slightly and curled one corner of my lips into a relaxed smile.

“We plan to establish ourselves as the lords of Grand Cali from now on. So, perhaps you should consider becoming our ally.”

“Ridiculous!”

Kililul slammed his chair and stood up.

“You intend to become the lords of Grand Cali?”

Alec was on guard against Kililul.

I deliberately didn’t blink as I stared at Kililul. Soon, he spoke again.

“It seems the Emperor of the south holds this northern land in utter contempt. How can those who’ve never even climbed Kalanysh Mountain expect to rule the north?”

“We have nothing to do with that emperor.”

“What?”

Kililul responded, and even Andrew’s eyes widened slightly.

My gaze sharpened a bit.

“In truth, we were sent here by imperial command, much like Andrew, to rule this land in the name of the Emperor. He ordered us to make the north fully part of his empire.”

“……”

“But since when has the north ever truly belonged to the Emperor?”

“……!”

Andrew’s eyes widened even more, and even Alec appeared startled.

Ignoring their reactions, I continued speaking.

“Of course, it’s true that this land has long belonged to the Rilt Empire. But it’s hard to distinguish whether we’re invading a peaceful land or if you’re unlawfully enjoying someone else’s territory.”

“What did you say?”

Kililul immediately refuted my words.

“This is our land. If the emperor keeps coveting it, we’ll have no choice but to go to war.”

“War? Can you obtain the kind of weapons we have?”

“Weapons…?”

Kililul’s eyes flickered with suspicion as he repeated my question.

“I’m talking about the weapon you referred to as lightning. The one that flashed so brightly that you thought we were envoy of the gods.”

“….”

A silence fell between us as we locked eyes.

‘Then suddenly, lightning flashed for days, a path appeared, and people settled there?’

That lightning was probably Alec’s doing.

Alec had said he discovered an ancient path through an old manuscript, but maybe he used his power to find it. Even though the path was drawn in the manuscript, it wouldn’t have been easy to discover after all this time.

I thought Alec might have been a bit flustered at the sudden mention of his power.

However, I didn’t intend to expose his ability.

If anything, I wanted to keep it hidden.

Right now, we needed something to captivate the wild men.

“It’s a substance that causes a sudden explosion. Depending on how it’s used, it can become either a bomb or a firework.”

“Firework…?”

Kililul furrowed his brows deeply.

Though he hadn’t seen Alec’s power directly, if it resembled lightning, it might be somewhat akin to fireworks.

Even if Alec and I could overpower the wild men by force, that wasn’t an option.

Though the emperor had sent us here, I couldn’t ignore the perspective of the northerners.

I needed to truly befriend the wild men and coexist with them.

To do that, we needed to earn their trust by offering things they would appreciate.

Fireworks, something novel, seemed like a good possibility.

“The explosives also helped us discover the path to Wiltsbrook Castle. We had to blast through part of the mountain.”

“I see…”

Andrew, who had been silently listening, murmured to himself.

Given that he had nearly died trying to find the castle and ended up the sole survivor, my words seemed surprising to him.

Tearing up slightly, Andrew spoke again.

“We… we never thought of doing that. Destroying a mountain…”

Indeed, it wasn’t an idea that would come easily in this world.

Unless they had lived in my past life, where people commonly tunneled through mountains.

I turned back to Kililul and spoke again.

“There are plenty of those weapons in the capital of Rilt. If you’d like, we could even acquire some for you. Though it would cost some money.”

“….”

Kililul’s expression stiffened.

Was the offer unappealing?

If so, I had other options to offer.

Not knowing exactly what he wanted, I considered as many possibilities as I could.

I softened my tone slightly.

“What I’m saying is that we truly want to be your friends. Though the emperor sent us with the intention of conquest, neither my husband nor I have any desire to conquer the North.”

“….”

“We also have no intention of disrupting your way of life. We simply want to make life in the North a bit more comfortable for its people.”

“….”

I looked at Kililul with sincerity.

My gaze wasn’t desperate, but it wasn’t indifferent either.

Even if this conversation went well, there might come a time when Kililul betrayed us.

I couldn’t trust the wild men completely.

But at the same time, I couldn’t hope to win their hearts while hiding my true intentions.

Kililul would also find it difficult to trust us.

After watching me with a steady gaze, Kililul finally spoke stiffly.

“I don’t see how I’m supposed to believe that.”

As expected, he was still suspicious.

“And we’re already strong enough.”

“….”

“We don’t need useless friends. We only accept those who are strong.”

“….”

Should I retreat for now?

At the very least, I needed to take Andrew with us.

“However, there is one way. If you truly want to become my ally.”

“…What is it?”

Kililul smirked coldly.

“Prove your strength, in our way.”

Did he mean for us to run around the mountains like the wild men did earlier? Or perhaps join them in a hunt?

The words Kililul spoke next were unexpected.

“On Mount Kalanysh, there is an elixir that looks like a cherry.”

“…An elixir?”

“It’s a rare medicine that’s hard to find. According to legend, it’s called the Hiliberry. Even we, who freely roam Mount Kalanysh, can hardly spot it.”

“….”

“If you manage to find it, I’ll recognize you as my ally.”

“….”

For a moment, I wondered if I had misheard.

Was he asking us to climb a mountain that resembled the Himalayas and find a legendary fruit that may or may not exist?

I wondered if he really needed to be that roundabout just to say he had no intention of becoming allies with us.

“If you fail even once, you won’t leave the North with all your limbs intact. So, what do you say? Will you do it?”

“…”

I quietly turned my head to look at Alec. Noticing my gaze, Alec looked back at me.

He stared at me for a moment before nodding once.

Finally, I turned back to Kililul and smiled.

“Alright, I’ll accept—on the condition that you release Andrew.