Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 73

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 73
“What?”
I was startled by a response entirely different from what I’d expected, but I immediately denied it.
“No, that’s just a rumor that spread.”
“But the Grand Duchess said it herself.”
A strange feeling washed over me.
Sherkan pressed me urgently against the wall like a man fleeing from something, and our hands were pressed together with surprising depth.
Why was Sherkan holding himself so rigidly tense?
It was odd, as though he were angry, but I repeated myself with certainty.
“I only said it to throw the Council of Elders off balance—it was a lie.”
Startled by Sherkan’s reaction, I blurted out a rougher phrase than I’d intended.
“Throw them off how?”
“…I lied to make things difficult for the Council of Elders.”
I cleared my throat and continued.
“The reason I bought those abandoned mines wasn’t for gold—it was because I wanted the coal.”
“Those black pieces of garbage?”
I glanced upward.
Sherkan’s gaze followed mine sharply.
“What are you looking at? Is there a spirit there?”
I flinched at Sherkan’s words.
His intuition was alarmingly accurate.
‘How did he know?’
Is this the hero’s perceptiveness?
Of course, Ratku wasn’t beside me at that moment.
Just moments ago, Ratku—who had been swatting Ayu’s head with his tail—suddenly let out a shriek of “Kyaaaaa!” and was pulled into the Spirit Realm.
I’d only looked up reflexively…
I recalled Ratku’s warning to me about not mentioning him to others if possible.
“Ratku is a secret!”
“You mean it’s mysterious? I absolutely cannot tell?”
“Relei can brag about Ratku if Relei really wants to. But only Relei knows Ratku’s name—no one else.”
“This is a secret, Sherkan.”
I whispered softly to him.
“There is a spirit who follows me around.”
Sherkan’s eyes widened slightly, then he quickly glanced upward again.
“Right now he’s stepped away for a moment, so he’s not here. But the spirit asked me not to tell just anyone, so you’re the only one who should know.”
“…Only I should know?”
“Yes. I’m only telling you.”
……
Even as I spoke, I thought I’d done the right thing by confiding in Sherkan about Ratku.
The tension that had been stretched taut across Sherkan’s entire frame gradually began to ease.
I couldn’t immediately guess why he’d been so wound up, or why this revelation seemed to settle him so easily…
“You asked why I need the coal, right? The spirit told me—I can make a lot of money from it.”
“Money?”
“Yes. If there’s no debt, maybe even those wretched Council of Elders will leave me alone.”
“…Is that all your reason is?”
“Isn’t that enough?”
I blinked back at him.
“You throw yourself into expeditions three hundred sixty-four days out of three hundred sixty-five because you hate debt, don’t you? It’s the same for me.”
“So it’s really only about repaying the debt?”
“…Of course?”
Sherkan’s expression seemed confused.
“Why does the Grand Duchess care about Gonet’s debt?”
“Because I’m the Grand Duchess?”
“That’s exactly what I’m asking—why should the Grand Duchess concern herself with the Grand Duke’s debt?”
It’s because you saved me, and I’m trying to repay the kindness…
……
Suddenly, his repeated questioning struck me as strange.
Why?
Only then did I realize Sherkan seemed slightly different from his usual self.
Could it be that?
In the original work, Sherkan suffered from strange outbursts from time to time.
When they struck, the surrounding area would be laid waste.
Had Sherkan not spent most of his time on the frontier, and had he not later stabilized thanks to Ayu, whose body overflowed with Holy Power, he might well have become a Grand Duke of record-breaking infamy.
‘But I don’t have Holy Power!’
As for why Sherkan suffered from these outbursts, the original work did explain it.
Sherkan Gonet had been forced to undergo a Purification Ritual by the Previous Grand Duke that was little short of torture, and the lingering trauma from that ordeal left him prone to irrational fits of madness and violent episodes.
However, the specific conditions that triggered these outbursts were never clearly established.
‘Did I just touch something sensitive in Sherkan’s mind?’
I was afraid.
Afraid he might have an outburst.
I felt my way carefully, then asked him honestly.
“Then why do you, as Grand Duke, concern yourself with the Grand Duchess’s Dignity Maintenance Allowance?”
……
Sherkan closed his mouth.
I, who had been watching his expression intently the whole time, felt my mood sink.
Not for any other reason—it was simply that Sherkan’s face in that moment looked no different from that of a lost child.
Yes, that was right.
In the original work, Sherkan struggled through life in solitude.
Though the Gonet Knights had sworn their lives to him, they remained his subordinates in the end.
No one had ever stood beside him as an equal.
Ayu was an existence he could only meet once he had set down nearly every burden…….
Sherkan stared at me blankly for a moment, then muttered.
“I misunderstood.”
“Misunderstood what?”
As I pressed him, Sherkan’s expression suddenly shifted, as if he had come to his senses. It brightened visibly.
“What did you misunderstand?”
“Nothing.”
“What did you misunderstand? Tell me.”
A faint dimple appeared at the corner of Sherkan’s mouth.
He suddenly hoisted me up by cradling my thighs and buried his forehead against my belly.
My surprise lasted only a moment before I felt my face flush hot.
What are you doing?
“Why are you doing this? Put me down!”
“You told me to drop the formal speech. Why aren’t you?”
Because I’m afraid you’ll have an outburst!
That you’ll lose control and sweep me away into nothing!
In any case, there’s no harm in being careful, is there?
Don’t you see how carefully I’m treating you, trying not to touch another nerve and cause trouble?
“Lorel.”
Sherkan rubbed his cheek against me as he spoke.
“Do you really dislike that I’m younger?”
“I never said— Put me down!”
“It’s nice that you only relax when you’re angry. My wife is truly willful.”
I was at a loss, sputtering a response.
“I’m the willful one?”
“Yes.”
“You’re the one acting willful right now!”
“Yes.”
……
I could not follow Sherkan’s mental state at all.
Why had he suddenly become so cheerful?
Just moments ago he was interrogating me about everything.
‘Did he suddenly go mad from seeing Ayu dragged away by the Empress Dowager?’
I struck his shoulders repeatedly, but Sherkan didn’t even tickle.
He carried me, still cradled in his arms, over to the bed and sat down with a soft thud.
“Put me down, I’m telling you.”
“I will. We need to sleep together anyway.”
“Sherkan Gonet!”
Annoyed at how willfully he was acting, I immediately pointed toward the door.
“You’re a noble Grand Duke—you’ve been assigned a separate residence in the palace. Haven’t you heard?”
Unlike other noble couples, the Grand Duke’s House held such high rank that the Grand Duchess and Grand Duke were each assigned separate palaces as a mark of honor.
Sherkan’s Separate Palace was also adjoined to this Central Palace.
Of course, his Separate Palace was quite luxurious and fine, but smaller than the Central Palace.
The fact that the Emperor had given Sherkan the smaller Separate Palace told me precisely how much he doted on me.
“So you want me to leave?”
“This is my palace, after all.”
“And? I was taught that married couples sleep together.”
Sherkan kicked off his shoes and then stripped away the shoes I was wearing, flinging them carelessly to the floor.
He reached for my dress but soon grew tired of the intricate ribbons, so he stood and yanked the bell pull instead.
Briget entered after knocking and bowed her head.
“You called for me?”
“Help the lady change her clothes.”
“Very good.”
Three handmaidens who came in with Briget swiftly helped me undress, then assisted with washing my face and brushing my teeth.
Sherkan went alone into the adjoining bathroom and returned.
The bedroom fell quiet again.
“Sleep now.”
……
“If you go to another room, I’ll come drag you back. Just sleep here.”
……
Left with no choice, I rolled to the far end of the bed and fell asleep, but when I woke in the early dawn, Sherkan was already pressed close against me, deep in slumber.
I held my breath and studied him quietly.
It was strange to see him sleeping so deeply—he usually woke far earlier than I did.
He must have ridden hard without rest to get here.
As I gazed at Sherkan, my thoughts turned to Ayu.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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