We're Married, After All - Chapter 81
I had a long, relentless dream. Flames burned endlessly, dark and consuming.
The fire felt eerily familiar, so Danel searched his memories, trying to place it. Was it from the time he set the hideout at Pamonte ablaze after capturing Petios, right after the wedding? Or perhaps the fire that consumed the outskirts of Mereone village? Or…
Sparks crackled sharply, and the flames surged higher with a dry, snapping sound. Thick, suffocating smoke billowed, dark enough to stain lungs black.
The stench was unmistakable—a smell from burning poisonous herbs, used to sedate animals. When mixed correctly with other herbs, it acted like a disinfectant and sleeping agent, masking its true purpose. Useful, especially when deception was needed.
Of course, there were side effects. Prolonged exposure caused hallucinations. People driven mad by hallucinations would often fall into frenzies.
Sometimes, the symptoms were mild. But occasionally, the effects were catastrophic—hallucinations driving people into paralyzing fear, unlocking unnatural strength, or pushing them into unimaginable acts.
Just like Laurea had done.
“Gah—!”
Danel gasped, sucking in a desperate breath.
The searing flames faded in an instant, replaced by a crushing weight and a splitting headache. He opened his eyes, still trapped in pain.
“Ah… ha… ah…”
His violet eyes stared up at the dark sky. He must’ve been unconscious for quite a while; night had fully fallen.
A few more ragged breaths cleared his lingering drowsiness. The sharp clarity that followed was almost painful.
He hadn’t rested like this for a long time—not since the day he caught Laurea when she fell from the windowsill. He couldn’t even remember the last time he slept properly.
The cruel irony of having such a clear mind after waking was unbearable.
Danel turned his head and took in his surroundings. Empty glass bottles lay scattered across the floor—strong sedatives and narcotics, the kind meant to subdue even the worst injuries. Two bottles, in particular, had been brewed from potent herbs. A proper dose could lull a patient into sleep through unbearable pain—even after limb amputation.
A slight overdose, however, meant eternal sleep.
Yet, even that hadn’t worked on him.
“So… even this won’t kill me.”
He shut his eyes again, frustration seeping through him. If he couldn’t die, he wished at least for the lingering drug haze to dull his mind. But his thoughts remained sharp and clear—an unwanted side effect of prolonged exposure to the drugs.
His body felt unbearably heavy, weighed down by cold forest air and the damp stench of the decrepit cabin. Only his cursed mind stayed painfully lucid.
Danel covered his eyes with the back of his hand, trying to suppress the invasive memories clawing at his thoughts—memories he had long tried to forget.
Laurea under the drug’s influence had been anything but passive. She was docile only when asleep, but when awake, she fought fiercely—even with a body reduced to skin and bones. Her relentless resistance left Danel feeling on the verge of tears more than once.
But none of it mattered—he was content just being near her. He thought he could endure anything, even the possibility of Laurea toppling the incense burner and setting him on fire in the process.
He thought he could…
Until the day she tried to hang herself.
“…”
After she jumped from the window, he resorted to using a stronger drug, forcing her into a sleep so deep it nearly killed her. She never remembered it—but he did.
The memory burned vividly in his mind: Laurea, sitting lifelessly by the bed, chains twisted tight around her pale neck. The faint, chilling smoke from the incense, meant to lull her into peace as she suffocated. Her frozen, fragile body, cold as an ice sculpture…
That moment was seared into his mind with horrifying clarity, as though it had just happened.
Desperate and frenzied, he’d saved her—doing everything possible to restart her failing breath. And yet… when she finally breathed again, he fled.
He ran, unable to face the truth he had denied for so long.
He knew the drugs were to blame. Perhaps it was all just a terrible accident.
But even if it wasn’t, letting her go… was the only choice left.
Even if the child were born, nothing would change. Laurea would still try to escape, and Danel would use every possible means to stop her. Even if, by some miracle, she grew attached to the child, the situation would remain the same. There was never a path leading to a better future.
From the start, the answer had already been decided: everything Danel Beloce had done was wrong. No matter how desperately he tried to ignore it, he had already walked down a path from which there was no return. He just didn’t want to admit it.
And so, that day, Danel finally gave up—on staying by Laurea’s side, knowing she would choose death rather than remain with him.
Truthfully, it was closer to just holding on until I couldn’t anymore…
Danel let out a hollow laugh.
He reached into the inner pocket of his coat. A glass vial with a thick, opaque liquid swished inside. The double-layered bottle held a reagent that would devour the air upon breaking, igniting a massive fire—just as he had reduced all of Petios’ hideouts to ashes.
Laurea had staked her life on Petios’ freedom, and Danel had kept his promise. Even though knowing that she ultimately chose Petios over him was unbearable, even though his hands couldn’t stop trembling, he endured it for a full day.
The next day, Danel scoured Lamprey Castle and every surrounding area in search of Petios. That still wasn’t enough. He retraced each of Petios’ former hideouts and set them all ablaze to ensure they could never be used again.
But he never found him. For days now, there hadn’t even been a trace.
By that point, he no longer felt fear—just emptiness. As long as he had a purpose, he could run endlessly without looking back. But the moment he stopped, everything he had tried so hard to ignore came crashing down.
And this… was the result.
He left behind documents asserting Laurea’s rights, walked away from the estate alone, drank poison in the shadows of his memories… and still couldn’t die.
Even now, he was thinking of Laurea. How fitting for Danel Veloce.
