Hiding My Identity From My Husband - Chapter 38

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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 38

‘Why does this annoy me?’
Thinking of Charle lifted my spirits one moment, then soured them the next.

—I like Charle.
—And I also dislike her.

I couldn’t understand myself for swinging so wildly at such words.
‘What am I even feeling?’
I ran a hand across my chest and muttered the question aloud. But no answer came.
Tsk.
I clicked my tongue sharply and shook my head once or twice.
Get a grip.
I wanted to dwell longer on my feelings toward Charle, but there was work to be done.
A moonless night.
At an hour when everyone should have been asleep, I moved toward the window.
Beyond the glass lay a dark garden, and past the fence loomed the shadowed boundary of the estate.
After being caught sneaking out last night, I wondered if I could really risk leaving again—but then again.
The inexplicable accidents befalling the nobles, one after another.
And the corrupted Aura.
Tracing all of this back to its source revealed only one name.
‘Katakul.’
And so, I had to confirm it.
What was truly happening within Katakul.
Whether it served the Empire’s interests—or threatened them.
Truth be told, even if I investigated, it wouldn’t change how I acted.
I would follow the commander’s orders regardless, move as Adrian wished.
And yet.
‘I want to know why.’
Why these things were happening at all.
What maelstrom I was caught in.
So I set my foot on the windowsill.
At last,
I was heading to Katakul’s headquarters.

* * *

Charle’s feet touched down in the Back Alleys of the Capital, specifically in the Slum District—a place where few souls ventured.
The street was filthy enough to make anyone grimace, yet Charle crossed it without hesitation, as though thoroughly accustomed to such places.
She arrived at a dilapidated tavern from which faint light seeped.
Charle thrust open the tavern door and called out.
“Everyone! Long time no see!”
The tavern was crowded with people enjoying the festive atmosphere and making noise.
But the moment Charle appeared, the mood turned cold in an instant.
“What? Jenny’s here too? Oh, Garen! It’s been a while.”
Of course, Charle paid no mind to the sudden silence and greeted people here and there.
But.
“Damn it, she ruins the whole vibe.”
Only icy replies came back.
Every Katakul operative in the tavern scowled the moment they saw Charle. Some even rose to their feet.
“Come on, let’s go.”
“If I’d known she was coming, I wouldn’t have shown up. Hell, she kills the mood.”
They not only ignored her greeting but hurled curses at her.
Yet Charle,
“Everyone seems to be in a foul mood.”
As though their reaction was nothing new to her.
She paid no mind to the insults, turning to the tavern owner with a disarming smile despite his bewildered expression.
“Good grief, this place is filthy every time I come. You should clean up a bit, yes? That’s why everyone rushes home so quickly.”
……
The owner was utterly lost for words.
Who was she, after all?
Within Katakul, it would be far quicker to name those who liked her than those who despised her—she was disliked by nearly everyone.
And yet she carried herself with such unflappable composure.
All the while wearing a smile so utterly charming it was almost unsettling.
A person whose true nature remained utterly opaque, the owner thought.
Then it happened.
“Hey.”
One of the operatives, stacking bottles of liquor high on the counter, addressed her. Charle tilted her head.
“You calling me?”
“Who else would I be talking to?”
He smirked, his eyes hardening with intent.
“What are you doing here?”
He tossed the apple he’d been eating into the air and caught it again, repeating the motion.
“Nobody’s looking for someone like you—so why’d you come?”
He growled at Charle, as if ready to fight if things went that way.
“Oh. To see the commander?”
Charle answered brightly, her smile widening.
“You know how it is. The commander’s always wanting to see me. That’s why I’m here—but why, you ask? Should I leave? And should I tell the commander that you sent me away?”
The man’s face twisted.
“He never dies when he goes out. I wish he’d get himself killed already. Listen, finish your business and get out. I’m tired of being in the same room as you.”
Charle fixed the man with a steady gaze.
A chill hung between them.
The others remaining in the tavern swallowed hard, watching the situation unfold.
But then.
“My, my.”
Charle burst into laughter as though nothing were amiss.
“Turning my own words around like that. How kind of you.”
Without so much as a flicker of hesitation, Charle shrugged her shoulders lightly.
“Got it, got it. I’m heading down now, yes.”
With practiced ease, she vaulted over the bar table. A staircase leading underground lay beyond it.
“Oh.”
She paused then, leaning her head back out.
“Jin, one more thing……”
She looked back at the man, whose edge remained sharp.
In that instant.
Whip-thunk!
A fork flew like an arrow, piercing clean through the apple Jin had been tossing.
“Didn’t I tell you once before—if you say another word, I’ll kill you?”
Charle, who’d thrown the fork, spoke coldly with a slight nod.
She seized another fork from the bar table with a tight grip.
As if to say: next time it won’t be the apple that gets skewered—it’ll be you.
“You, you……!”
Jin’s face flushed crimson, his body trembling.
“Hehe.”
Charle laughed again, as though she’d read Jin’s mind.
“Just kidding. Scaredy-cat.”
With a light wink at Jin, Charle waved her hand and disappeared underground.
“Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone!”
She called back over her shoulder as she went.

* * *

Ugh.
My head hurts again……
I know well enough that the Katakul operatives dislike me, but knowing something in your head and witnessing it with your own eyes are hardly the same thing.
‘Why do they hate me so much?’
A sudden thought struck me, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
Why would I resent him?
‘It’s just that I’m me, and that’s reason enough.’
From the moment I first took the commander’s hand and entered Katakul, no one welcomed me.
They despised me as a nepotist placement, scorned me for my youth, dismissed me for being a woman.
So I gritted my teeth and endured.
And when I persevered, they said I was stubborn and unlikable.
That was when I finally understood: there was no reason for their hatred.
‘They simply hate me for being me.’
It hurt.
It hurt, and it felt so unfair.
I hadn’t done anything wrong. I hadn’t done anything at all…… Why?
But my sorrow and resentment changed nothing.
So I had no choice but to lean on the only ones who ever cared for me.
Adrian.
And Asmerald, who died because of me.
And finally,
Tap-tap.
I knocked on the firmly closed door.
A voice soon called for me to enter, and I grasped the handle, pushing the door wide open.
The one who had looked after me.
The one who gave me reason to live.
That person was,
“Charle! You’re here!”
The commander. Bailer alone.

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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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