Chapter 62 The Living Husband I am your husband, I am the sea…

Lilith stared blankly at the man before her—the "master" who had bought her, the devil who haunted her dreams.

The scene before her was like the devastating fire that had destroyed everything; the terrifying dream had become reality once again. She felt her body trembling uncontrollably. She hadn't been this scared when she was kidnapped; she had been carefully planning how to make a comeback. But now, she was so panicked that she couldn't say a word, standing there frozen like a beautiful doll being manipulated.

The man clearly sensed her fear. He slowly extended a hand covered by a black leather glove, indicating that she could now climb out of the box.

Lilith took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She shouldn't be afraid. Standing before her was no longer a visible, intangible nightmare; he was a man, a man who had bought her back for five hundred ducats. Although she was a commodity in this transaction, she was also a living, breathing human being with a mouth. She still had a chance to negotiate, a chance to use her assets previously held outside Venice to redeem her freedom.

“Hello, sir. I remember you; we met in Zurich.” Lilith mustered her courage, took the man’s hand, and gracefully rose from the trunk, bowing slightly as she lifted her skirt. She looked around and found herself in a very dilapidated attic. The room’s simple furnishings didn’t seem like those of a wealthy merchant who could casually spend five hundred ducats on a slave. Perhaps he wasn’t going to live here permanently.

“…It really is you. I’ve finally found you.” A tear suddenly welled up in the eyes that had been fixed on Lilith from behind the shadows. The deep, hoarse voice behind the mask trembled, as if on the verge of tears. “How could you have been taken to such a place…My God…What did they do to you? How come you’ve lost so much weight? Damn it. I really have nothing to give you to eat…”

His fingers trembled as he reached for Lilith's cheek, but quickly withdrew them just before touching her, as if in fear. Then, he anxiously rummaged through drawers and cupboards, finally finding only a piece of hard-crusted white bread. Somewhat embarrassed, he handed the bread to Lilith, but she snatched it and began to devour it.

Lilith hadn't had fresh bread in ages. The aroma of wheat mingled with the sweet taste of the soft filling, so delicious it almost brought tears to her eyes. When she realized she was thirsty, she saw the masked man bring her a glass of white wine.

"Thank you," Lilith said between chews. "Do you recognize me?"

“Of course I know you. You are Liliana, ‘Lilith the Moneylender’.”

Perhaps seeing Lilith lower her guard under the warmth of the food, Lilith noticed that the emotion in the other person's voice gradually calmed down. His pronunciation was familiar to her. It seemed to be the pronunciation habit of a native German speaker; Heinrich had a similar accent when speaking Italian, but his voice was clear, quite different from the low, husky voice of the man in front of him.

“Then you must already know about the Knarro Bank.” Lilith breathed a sigh of relief. Since the other party knew her background, it would probably be easier to negotiate terms. She slowed down her pace of eating her bread, found a chair, and sat down comfortably, trying to appear as reserved as possible.

“My bank not only operates in Venice, but also has branches in Zurich, Florence and Rome, attracting hundreds of thousands of ducats. I ended up here entirely because I was framed by a villain. That despicable guy... killed my important partner and burned down my home... I will never let him get away with this.”

“But your current status is that of a slave I bought for five hundred ducat gold coins.” The masked man sat down in an exquisitely crafted chair in front of Lilith, looking her up and down from head to toe in her beggar-like attire, which made her words seem somewhat comical.

“Yes, that’s right, but!” Lilith took a deep breath and began to enthusiastically present her proposal: “I want to make a deal with you. If you can take me to Florence, Rome, or Ferrara, or even Zurich, and let me go to my friends and subordinates there, I’m willing to pay double the price to buy my freedom! It’s definitely a sure-fire deal, and I will always remember your kindness in helping me in my time of need.”

“But I bought you not to do business,” the man sighed. “It’s because I like you very much, and I want to protect you and not let anyone have the chance to bully you again.”

Lilith's smile suddenly froze. What if this man wasn't after money but only after women? The situation seemed a bit dire. She blinked. Since bribery hadn't worked, she'd try coercion.

This man has a German accent and has visited Zurich before, so even if he doesn't know the Knarro family, he should have heard of the Schmidl family's reputation...

"You know me... then you should also know that besides being a banker, I'm also the wife of Heinrich Schmidl. The same Heinrich who was once the first in line to the throne of the viscount family in the Frankfurt area! Although my husband is dead, if the Schmidl family knew that their daughter-in-law was with another man, they certainly wouldn't let it go. You certainly don't want to make enemies with them..."

“I don’t care about any of that,” the masked man interrupted her. “But I’d like to know what you think about your relationship with Heinrich Schmidl.”

"My heart has always been loyal to him, loved and respected him, and regarded him as my only husband in this life—"

That's great.

Lilith frowned deeply. Did this person have some strange fetish...? His reaction seemed a bit off.

“Because I am your husband.” Heinrich Schmidl suddenly leaned forward, getting close to Lilith and looking down at his fiancée. “I am Heinrich.”

Lilith instinctively leaned back in fear, but the chair was unstable, and she almost tipped over. Her husband grabbed her wrist and roughly pulled her into his arms.

“You couldn’t kill me, I survived.” He whispered in her ear, “So I came to find you, Lilith, don’t leave me again.”

Lilith used all her strength to shake him off, but accidentally fell to the ground, hitting her head on the cabinet, which made her head throb with pain. He really was a vengeful ghost, coming to haunt her and claim her life.

Now that he knew the truth about her killing him, she had no more excuses to continue pretending. She simply gave up and burst into maniacal laughter.

"why are you laughing?"

“I’ve actually been thinking about this,” Lilith laughed uncontrollably, her tone mercilessly sarcastic, “why you always wear that dark mask whenever I see you, and I’ve never seen you take it off. It makes you seem so mysterious, like you have some shameful secret. Now I know the answer. If I looked like the person in that portrait, I’d definitely wear a mask every day to hide my face, I’d be too embarrassed to show my face to anyone. No wonder you held me so tightly; if it weren’t for your family’s wealth and arranged marriage, what girl would even want a man as ugly as you—”

Before Lilith could finish laughing, her chin was suddenly grabbed hard, and the pain made it impossible for her to laugh anymore.

"Get your facts straight," the man warned coldly, his voice trembling. "Is this how you talk to your husband?"

Lilith glared at him defiantly, plotting her next move. Suddenly, she noticed the sapphire ring on his left ring finger—the very one she had given Heinrich herself. How had it ended up in his hands?

"Where did you get this ring?!" Lilith demanded sharply.

“This is my ring,” her husband replied matter-of-factly. “It’s the wedding ring I had made for our marriage, why can’t I wear it?”

"You don't deserve to wear the ring Heinrich wore..." Lilith's mind was instantly filled with the image of Heinrich's expression as he bid her farewell amidst the flames. For some reason, a sharp, gripping pain shot through her chest. If Heinrich were still by her side, he would have done everything in his power to protect her; he would never have let her suffer such injustice...

"Heinrich?"

“I named a slave I bought for fifty ducats the same as you,” Lilith said with a wicked grin. “But you are not worthy to be compared to him, because he is a trusted partner, an important friend, and far more handsome than you—”

As she spoke, Lilith suddenly stood up and rushed to her husband, forcefully lifting his mask. His black hat was also thrown to the ground. Before Lilith could even see his face clearly, he shoved her away, causing her to fall to the ground again. In a daze, she saw a blurry mass of flesh and blood, reddish, constricted, and deformed skin—a face that could hardly be called human, far more terrifying than any portrait, as if he truly were a demon crawling out of hell.

"My God." Lilith was startled and backed away on all fours until she reached the corner of the wall and turned her face away, not daring to look at him.

"Are you satisfied now? You found out I wasn't killed by you as you wished, so you first humiliated me severely, then reopened my wounds and mocked my face." Her husband sighed, his tone extremely sorrowful.

Lilith cautiously tilted her head for another look and saw him covering the left half of his face with one hand, kneeling on one knee and bending down to pick up the mask and hat she had thrown on the ground. The exposed right half of his face was covered with hideous scars and scabs, the rough skin shimmering with liquid, whether it was still blood or his tears, she couldn't tell.

Upon seeing that face, even the vicious Lilith felt a pang of regret for her earlier harsh words. Living in the slums with her mother, she had seen many ugly and deformed faces and bodies. They were either the unfortunate offspring of parents who had committed adultery, or victims of accidents while doing hard labor, ultimately reduced to begging for a living; most did not survive their first winter on the streets.

It wasn't their fault, yet they had to endure immense suffering due to the injustice of fate. Just like Lilith, who was born out of wedlock. Both were their father's children, but her brother was born to inherit the family fortune, while she had to climb the social ladder herself.

“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have said those things.” Lilith watched him turn away, unable to bear it any longer, as he silently put his mask back on, pressing the black brim of his hat down over his short, light blonde hair. “At least… you have beautiful blonde hair, like sunshine. Oh, by the way, I know a very powerful witch; her potions might help your wounds. I apologize for what I just said. I will help you, as long as you set me free. You’ve already seen what a wicked and terrible woman I am, I even almost killed you, why do you still insist on me marrying you? Let me go, you’ll definitely meet a more suitable wife—”

“I won’t let you go. This is to get revenge on you. I had no grudge against you, yet you conspired with Helmut to first hire someone to kill my confidant, and then plotted to kill my father. Now you’ve been deprived of your freedom… and you deserve it.” The man stated calmly, his voice very soft. “But you are my wife. So I will do everything I can to be good to you. I love you very much, so I won’t let you suffer. Please believe me, don’t leave me, okay…”

As he spoke, he suddenly knelt down in front of Lilith, leaned against the wall, and buried his face in his hands, sobbing uncontrollably, as if he were the poor wretch who had been stripped of everything, lost his freedom, and become a slave.

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The author says: It will be cured (i.e., the answer).

Heinrich's physical wounds were roughly proportional to the trauma he suffered, so both his body and mind would heal!

Actually, as a new author, I was so anxious after my first VIP chapter went live that my hands and feet were cold and I was shaking for hours! I was so worried that people wouldn't read my work anymore... But I really wanted to put it on the platform so more people could have a chance to see my story, because I truly love the stories I write! I will definitely work hard to write works that live up to everyone's expectations...! My heartfelt thanks to every reader who subscribed [pity][pity][pity] I love you all...

The next update will be on Monday!