My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 25

"Why is it at this time?"

[Puppet Stage]...The events appearing above, aside from those requiring him to make a [choice], mostly have only two outcomes: success or failure. Take [assassination] for example: it's either a failed assassination or a successful one. That's why Yang Hao is so anxious now, wanting to immediately go to Koschie's side to check on her condition.

He was terrified that Koschei would die in this assassination attempt. If Margarita's prophetic abilities allowed her to foresee their reunion decades in the future, which was why Yang Hao could confidently let her grow up outside—but what about Koschei? Would she really die in this assassination attempt?

Yang Hao knew nothing about this. It was precisely because he didn't know that he was afraid.

"Lord Yang Hao, we have arrived."

Yang Hao was lost in thought, cold sweat dripping down his face like an uncontrollable faucet. He didn't know how long he had walked, but when the head maid calmly announced that they had arrived at their destination, he realized that he was standing in front of a corridor completely surrounded by a familiar-looking Serpent Scale Army.

The Serpent Scales noticed the arrival of Yang Hao, whose face was deathly pale, and the calm-faced head maid. They made way for the two of them to go in and check the situation.

However, as she led Yang Hao inside, Head Maid Monica whispered a few words to Snake Scale as they passed each other:

'Lord Cosich? '

It's finished.

She breathed a sigh of relief and comforted Yang Hao, telling him not to act impulsively. Then she led him quickly forward in the spacious but almost empty corridor. Before long, they arrived at the entrance to the audience hall.

This is a door that will never be closed. On one hand, it's for the convenience of the maids in their cleaning duties; on the other hand, it's for the Duke to handle state affairs, receive lower-ranking nobles, or foreign guests. Right now, kneeling before this door is a man with a dark face, tightly bound by ropes. Before him lies a broken crossbow; he keeps his head down, not looking at his damaged weapon on the ground.

The snake scales seemed to be interrogating him about his origins, and Yang Haoqiang suppressed his inner turmoil. After briefly glancing at this man, presumably an assassin, using [Puppet Stage], he gritted his teeth and said to the snake scales:

"This is Duke Nicolai's assassin. His name is Antonit, a lower-ranking nobleman who once served in St. County Castle. Interrogate him thoroughly, interrogate this bastard who assassinated my wife!"

Before the [Puppet Stage], the individual called [Human] had completely lost his privacy in front of Yang Hao. He not only knew that this Mr. Antonit was a lower-ranking nobleman from Ursus Saint County Castle, but also that he was the assassin of that Duke Nikolai, a loyal bodyguard—good, very good, Duke Nikolai, is it?

Yang Hao rarely memorized the names of his enemies. The Colombian [K] was one, and now, this Duke of Nikolai is the second.

...But he simply didn't have time to wait any longer. He ignored the assassin kneeling on the ground, who suddenly looked up at him in utter terror; he ignored the Scaled Serpent who grabbed the assassin and was about to take him away for interrogation; and he ignored Monica, the head maid he had left behind, who was looking at him with a strange expression. Right now, Yang Hao desperately wanted to see his wife, to see if Koschitch was safe.

So he barged into the audience hall, into this vast and luxurious audience hall. Under the watchful eyes of the snake scales inside, he immediately spotted the lifeless, blood-covered figure sitting on the throne.

That was indeed Duke Kosiché. She remained seated on her throne, working, a crossbow bolt lodged in her chest, her eyes closed and a smile playing on her lips. She was dead, truly dead. She died in this assassination the very next day after she and Yang Hao had consummated their love.

Yang Hao stared blankly at Kosichrie's corpse. He stumbled forward, overwhelmed with grief, anger, and shame for not having accompanied her that morning. His emotions were so intense that he didn't even notice the head maid standing behind him had stepped aside. The woman he'd met a few times on the way to Ursus, Serpent Scale Paul, was now speaking to him.

"...Lord Cosiche..."

“No, don’t call me Lord Koschei. I am not Duke Koschei, she is.” Yang Hao was deeply grieved by Koschei’s death. His mind was now consumed with thoughts of revenge against Duke Nikolai. A multitude of dark ideas began to coalesce in his mind. He began searching the National Policy Tree, the resolutions, and the Cabinet System’s [Conspiracy] section for anything that could directly destroy Duke Nikolai—and he had a premonition that he would find it. However, that would destroy Duke Nikolai and his territory along with him.

But clearly, those who called for him did not intend to let Yang Hao remain depressed.

“My lord, Lord Kosiché is waiting for you.” Paul felt that his voice might have been too soft, so he raised it a bit. “Lord Kosiché is waiting for you in the next room—please don’t be sad, Lord Kosiché is safe and sound.”

"What do you mean, 'unharmed'?! Isn't she right in front of me?!" Filled with grief and indignation, Yang Hao turned around and grabbed Paul's collar. He was utterly bewildered, having been furiously rebuking Paul: Kosichev's corpse was right in front of him, and this shrew was saying she was unharmed?

Was it his own brain that was malfunctioning, or theirs? Just as Yang Hao was about to question the snake-scaled man, he suddenly noticed a detail.

.....

The crossbow bolt lodged in Kosiché's chest appeared to have pierced the left side of her lung, but... here, with timely treatment, saving her life should have been easy.

Furthermore, given the sheer number of Serpent Scales present, is it really possible that an assassin could attempt to kill Koschei, and then, due to her lung injury, she would simply sit on her throne and await death without calling for her men to rescue her? Moreover, the Serpent Scales wouldn't just stand by; as Koschei's elite subordinates, many of them should also be waiting in the shadows of this audience hall...

Would Koschke really sit on his throne and wait to die, even ordering his men not to try to save him?

Thinking of this, the grief and indignation on Yang Hao's face twisted into a strange and complex expression. He released his grip on Paul's collar, came back to his senses, and carefully examined Koschche's body. He forced himself to calm down and not let grief affect his senses.

...That's right. He found it. The arrow wasn't the real cause of Koschei's death. What truly killed Koschei was a sword wound not far from the arrow wound, one that pierced her heart. A sword pierced her ribs and struck her heart, causing her death in a very short time—that's the truth.

But a sword? The assassin? No, impossible... The assassin only had a crossbow. If they had a sword, regardless of Serpent Scales' loyalty, they would have taken out that sword as well.

Furthermore, it couldn't have been one of her carefully cultivated, loyal subordinates who assassinated Koschei. Who killed her? She herself had seen someone carrying a sword walking around the Duke's mansion—

...Um, Felin? The successor to Koschei?

A picture of a blue-eyed woman with long gray hair flashed through Yang Hao's mind. She did indeed have a longsword at her waist, a sword that seemed capable of inflicting such a fatal wound on Kosichek.

But why would the heir to the Koschei kill her after she was wounded? No, more importantly, why did the Serpent Scales watch her kill her? Could it be that Philin was the real Duke of Koschei?

...He felt his mind was in turmoil again. If that Philin was Duke Kosicheal, then who was Ursus, the man he had spent the night with yesterday? But soon, he realized that there was no point in dwelling on it any longer.

"...Paul, please take me there."

He took a deep breath, took the handkerchief offered by the head maid who had appeared out of nowhere, and used it to wipe away the tears from his eyes. He decided that he had to find out what was going on.

Paul nodded. He first had the other snake scales clean up the mess, then he quietly said to Yang Hao, "Please follow me," before silently leading Yang Hao and Head Maid Monica towards the room on the right side of the audience hall.

It seemed to lead to a reception room. Looking at the blurry yet clearly visible bloody footprints on the floor, Yang Hao was even more certain that they belonged to the gray-haired woman, Felin—what on earth was going on?

He shook his head, and after the snake scales opened the door to the guest room and indicated that only he needed to go in, he took a few steps inside.

It was indeed a small reception room, giving it the feel of a "secret base".

The room contained three long sofas, a blackboard hanging against the wall, and a set of wooden table and chairs opposite the blackboard, which was directly opposite the door.

The gray-haired Phil was sitting there, with the blood-stained sword still on the table.

She noticed Yang Hao's arrival, and a gloomy smile, so familiar to Yang Hao, appeared on her face. She said:

"How do you feel about the surprise I gave you, my husband?"

A gloomy smile, and a somber tone that could not be concealed no matter what.

This was indeed the Koschke Yang Hao knew—except for his size and appearance, he was exactly the same Koschke.

Chapter 66

...

Looking at the film in front of him, and recalling Kosiche from last night... it would be a lie to say that Yang Hao is calm now.

At this moment, he was in a state of extreme confusion. He simply couldn't determine from the information he had whether the person in front of him, Felin, was Koschke, or rather, whether the person from last night was Koschke. He felt a slight headache, but fortunately, Felin didn't seem to expect an answer right now.

She simply jumped off the table and chairs, walked up to Yang Hao, took his hand, and pulled him, who was still unable to understand what was happening, to sit down on the sofa next to her.

"Need something to drink?"

"...Ice water."

Yang Hao answered instinctively, because he could smell the Koschke scent emanating from Felin.

“While I’d love to recommend you try the vodka cocktails from Ursus, judging from your current state, you definitely need to calm down first—Monica, two glasses of ice water,” Koschei said with a smile. She ordered two drinks from the head maid outside the door, and after confirming that Monica had gone to prepare them, she sat down next to Yang Hao and reached out to stroke his cheek: “So, where would you like to start?”

"...I want to figure this out first...Are you Koschke?"

“Yes, I am Koschke,” Felin replied naturally.

"What about yesterday's—"

"I was the same person yesterday."

"..."

“I know you don’t want to believe it. After all, this is the first time you’ve ever seen something like this. That’s why I wanted to find an opportunity to explain it to you and to explain my special circumstances.”

Monica entered carrying two glasses of iced water. After placing the water on the table, she asked Philin if he wanted her sword cleaned. She addressed Philin as "Your Grace."

"Take it away and wash it thoroughly. Then put it in our room."

"As you command, Your Excellency the Duke."

Monica took the sword that Felin had placed on the table with her, and when she left the reception room, which resembled a secret base, she didn't forget to close the door behind her.

Listening to Monica's way of addressing her... Yang Hao, whose mind was now even more confused, felt that his top priority was to figure out what exactly was going on with Koschche.

Is the current Philin the real Koschke? Was yesterday's Koschke just a puppet? Or was yesterday's Koschke truly Koschke, and is the current Koschke also Koschke? In fact, are they, or some kind of collective consciousness?

Thinking of this, Yang Hao silently picked up his water glass and took a sip of the ice-cold water. The ice water calmed him down considerably; he was no longer blinded by his previous grief and anger, which was good.

"Are you a little calmer now?"

Feilin also took a sip of ice water. However, unlike Yang Hao, who needed ice water to calm down, she seemed to be trying to help Yang Hao relax a little in her own way.

"Ah."

"So, how can I prove to you that I am Koschei?"

she asked.

Yang Hao gave a strange look when faced with Fei Lin's question.

...Proof, huh? It's not what he said...proof. If yesterday's Koschke told the current Felin everything, wouldn't that be meaningless?

Just as Yang Hao was pondering this, even forgetting to use the [Puppet Stage] to confirm, Felin took the lead and began to talk about what had happened after Koschke and Yang Hao met.

From the very beginning, Yang Hao used his phone to arrange a blind date with Kosic. [Detailed down to the word level.]

After a while, the small unpleasantness between the two sides caused by the arrival of the Serpent Scale troops was eased and their relationship was further improved after they exchanged gifts.

Later, there was the incident where Yang Hao had to ask her for help because of Columbia's situation, the incident where Yang Hao fainted for some unknown reason on his way to Ursus, and the incident where Kosichrie sent a second Serpent Scale and logistics personnel to take care of him because she was worried about his condition after he fainted.

Almost everything matched Yang Hao's memory—but even so, Yang Hao still felt that these things, which could be completely recounted to another person verbally, were still not enough to prove that this Felin was Koschche!

He knew he was being too harsh, but... he still felt vaguely uneasy, especially when he recalled her corpse...

So, while he was rationally willing to believe it, he still harbored doubts emotionally. After drinking the water a second time, which was no longer so cold, his gaze towards Felin was still filled with countless questions.

......

Phil began to explain some things about Yang Hao's abilities.

This includes the fact that as long as she gives him control, Snake Scales will be forcibly controlled by him regardless of whether she wants to or not.

This includes the fact that he used his [Puppet Stage] ability to carve some kind of strange effect onto that Sarkaz statue.

...

After these things were revealed, Yang Hao was already willing to believe that the little Feilin beside him was Koschke.

She has Koschke's scent, and besides Koschke and Margarita, no one else knows how the [Puppet Stage] ability works.

Even so... his limited knowledge [compared to Kosiché] still made it subconsciously difficult for him to accept the fact that his wife had changed from an Ursus to a Feline...

Seeing this, Felin sighed and decided to use a drastic measure to quickly convince her husband that she was Koschke.

"Although I didn't want to talk about our private matters, I have no choice now. My husband, you were in so much pain last night—"

"No, don't say it! I believe you, I believe you are Koschche! But... what's going on outside?"

...

It had become so private that even if Yang Hao felt something was off, he had no choice but to admit that this Phil was indeed Koschche.

But even if we figure out that she is Koschke, what exactly is going on outside?

Seeing that Yang Hao finally believed her, Kosicie gave a helpless, sinister smile. She propped herself up from the sofa, sat on Yang Hao's lap, and said:

"You can think of me as an immortal being—just like the abbreviation for me on that phone, that marriage agency. [The Immortal Black Serpent], I can live forever by possessing other people's bodies. That's my special characteristic, and that's what I need to explain to you."

"what..."

“I know you must be feeling incredibly frustrated right now. After all, you just experienced the Blood Demon, an immortal being, causing you problems with your sense of time, and now your wife is also an immortal being, explaining my abilities to you in this way. I understand. But my husband, you must try to accept it, okay?”

Felin...no, Kosichrie reached out and gently stroked Yang Hao's face. She hoped Yang Hao could accept this fact as soon as possible, because only after he accepted that he was a monster who could achieve immortality by possessing other people's bodies could she proceed with her next plan—to make Yang Hao immortal as well, to make him her eternal partner.

...And what about Yang Hao?

His focus wasn't on that; his focus was on...

"...In short, let's put the matter of immortality aside for now. You are Koschke, right?"

“Yes, I am indeed Koschitch.” Koschitch nodded, looking at Yang Hao’s chin with some confusion—her body was somewhat smaller than the previous one. If she could see the lower half of his face when she sat on his lap and turned to the side, now she could only see his chin.

The moment Kosichrie admitted once again that she was indeed Kosichrie, Yang Hao reached out and hugged her tightly.

"My husband?"

"...To be honest, I was terrified when I received the news of your assassination attempt." Burying his face in her unfamiliar hair, inhaling her familiar scent, Yang Hao sniffed and sighed heavily. Although there was no reason to cry now, the feeling of having gained and then losing her was still too much for him. He didn't want to experience it again. "...It'll be over in a minute. And next time you want to do something like this, could you tell me first?"

"...sure."

She nodded. She thought to herself that she had found the reason why she didn't have any physical desires for this husband.

That is—a being named Koschitch, who has endured far too much loneliness and solitude over the course of a thousand years. Even if she could handle everything on her own before, what about now?

Now, she has a supportive partner who will do many things for her. They will give to each other, and their relationship will gradually become unbreakable. He might even be willing to live forever for it.

Is there anything better than someone dedicating themselves to the prosperity of Ursus forever? Of course there is.

That means two people working together, two immortals working together.