My Husband Yearns For Me After My Death - Chapter 2

To such an obvious question, Grace swallowed her breath. Wouldn’t any human naturally crave life?

The desire to live a little longer. The desire to hold the child she had struggled to give birth to. Among many desires, she thought of one person.

‘Dietrich, my husband.’

Grace fluttered her eyelids towards the void, then finally nodded in response.

She wanted to see her husband. She wanted to send an urgent message, asking him to return to the castle right now.

They say you only know what you have when it’s gone. Grace regretted and regretted again the feelings she had realized too late.

A mix of guilt and regret weighed heavily on her.

She had asked Dietrich for a contract for the sake of their families.

“I will bear a legitimate heir for the Haberfeld family. In return, please help our family. After that, I will ask for nothing more.”

Him and me. Our interests aligned.

Dietrich, having married under the name of a contract, had helped the Ackellards as agreed. Under the full support of Haberfeld, the Ackellards were able to escape from the brink of losing their standing.

The Ackellards survived. That was the extent of Grace’s contractual conditions.

That’s why she thought that Dietrich would no longer help the Ackellards once they were out of danger.

She had no intention of holding him back by mentioning her family or anything else. Saving them from the brink of ruin was enough. Grace did not bring up the Ackellards, and Dietrich did the same.

If she hadn’t accidentally discovered that her husband was still secretly assisting the Ackellards, perhaps she would have never known.

By the time she found out that the Ackellards had received a lot of financial and social support, he had already left for the battlefield.

How grateful and sorry she felt. She had vowed to sincerely take good care of him if he just returned.

“I want… to live… to see him… Dietrich… just one more time…”

She had given birth to the child, a condition of the contract. Yet, given what Dietrich had bestowed upon him, her efforts seemed insignificant in comparison. Grace gasped for breath and bit her lip.

“Even if it’s just scraps of time left?”

The man probed persistently.

“What if he doesn’t recognize you, and you’re unable to tell him the truth?”

What did any of that matter? Grace struggled to catch her breath and managed to speak.

“I want to… repay him, even if it’s just a little…”

“Standing in the center of chaos for just that reason. Are you saying it’s okay for this pain to repeat just for that?”

An alien light flickered in his calm eyes.

“Even a temporary life comes with a heavy price. Pain is inevitable, and as the end approaches, the borrowed body will escape your control. Of course, even such a body won’t last long.”

The man before her was saying everything was irrational. The pain gained for a momentary life would be indescribably brutal.

“Are you fine with that?”

So what.

Grace barely managed to nod her stiff head. It was a tiny movement, but the man noticed and smiled.

“Haha.”

The man let out a suspicious smile.

“But I’ll repeat, you really won’t live long. Compatibility matters to avoid rejection.”

With a lengthy explanation, the man’s sleeve fluttered. A hand that emerged from the long robe was pale and thin at a glance.

“Moreover, to fully make that person’s body yours since you’re ‘borrowing’ it…”

The man’s lengthy explanation, as if describing a new product, began to fade from her hearing. Trying to grasp her fading consciousness was futile.

Who was this person? Considering she’s about to die, did her attendants bring a mortician?

…But what did that matter?

Grace gathered her last strength to speak.

“It doesn’t matter….”

My only wish. My one desire.

“I want to see Dietrich just one more time….”

“Then, the contract is established.”

Bright light began to spread from the man’s palm. The gently wavering light soon expanded, filling the room.

‘Ah…’

Grace let out a soft gasp. A tear rolled down her cheek as she realized this was the end of her life.

Countless moments flashed through her mind, among them, a significant portion was her contractual husband, Dietrich.

‘I’m sorry, my love, I am…’

Grace’s eyes slowly closed.

Thud. Her head fell to the side, never to be lifted again.

Thus, Grace Haberfeld died.

***

“…Ah, Denisia!”

Awakened by the vigorous shaking, Grace’s consciousness snapped back. Lifting her slightly heavy eyelids, she was greeted by a woman she had never seen before, tear-streaked.

“My goodness, thank the gods.”

Sighs of relief and exclamation followed. Around her, there were sounds of searching for God, prayers, and even cries for a doctor.

Except, all these people were strangers.

“You have no idea how relieved I am that you’ve opened your eyes. I was so afraid, truly afraid that you might die just like that…”

“I…”

“Yes, Denisia. It’s me, your Mom.”

Mom? But her mother had been gone for a long time now…

Grace, intending to speak, stopped at the sensation of burning thirst. Though her breathing eased, strangely enough, no strength returned to her body. Even sitting up and keeping her eyes open was a struggle.

After a brief examination, the doctor, seeing Grace’s pale face, recommended she lie back down. As she lay straight on the bed, the sensation of bugs crawling in her head vanished.

“Waking up is truly a miracle. We’ll have to see how things go from here…”

Through the blurry vision, she saw the woman who called herself mom and the doctor conversing.

Bright red hair. A stark contrast to the mother she remembered.

What’s going on? Why was she alive again? Grace looked on in confusion, then closed her eyes against the onslaught of a headache.

It seemed she needed to recover before she could do anything else.