Hiding My Identity From My Husband - Chapter 42

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

Episode 42
The Steering Room, enclosed on all sides by vast glass panes, appeared unremarkable save for a certain disorder scattered about.
At the center stood a large wooden Steering Wheel, and beside the speed control lever lay an open log book and charts.
I moved slowly across the wooden deck, my eyes sweeping methodically through the chamber.
At first glance, the Steering Room seemed to contain nothing of consequence.
But……
‘My instincts are screaming.’
This wasn’t simply a Steering Room—I was certain of it.
If I were Henry—if I were the captain of Cataclysm, facing a death threat for speaking against the commander’s orders—I would leave some kind of record, no matter what form it took.
Either for the next person who might face the same peril, or to vindicate myself.
‘It might not be this ship.’
With four other vessels, I would need to search them all.
And yet.
Creak, creak—
The Steering Wheel groaned with a grating sound.
I sensed something subtle within it—a hairline fracture.
I held my breath and listened intently, ears straining to pinpoint where the sound emanated from.
And then.
‘There.’
Below the chart drawer, a panel was slightly raised.
The sound was coming from within it.
I wedged my fingers into the gap and wrenched the panel free.
Snap!
A metal drawer slid out.
As expected. I knew it.
“Now, how to open it……”
The metal drawer showed signs of slight corrosion, yet its overall structure remained solid.
There was no visible handle.
Instead, a peculiar circular groove was shallowly carved into its center.
The groove was subtly recessed, and unlike an ordinary lock, it bore no keyhole.
Then.
“I’m glad I brought this.”
The Magnetic Pin that Pinky had given me.
I roughly extracted the pin that had been wound into my hair.
My hair tumbled down across my shoulders, but I paid it no mind.
Instead, I pressed the pin against the groove in the drawer.
Click.
A faint sound echoed.
At first, nothing changed.
But through the subtle vibration transmitted to my fingertips, I knew my suspicion was correct.
‘They designed it so that a team member could open it.’
Tap.
I felt a small mechanical device unlock within.
Moments later, the metal drawer slid forward with deliberate slowness.
I quickly peered inside.
As I’d anticipated, there was a notebook in the drawer.
‘My instincts haven’t failed me once.’
Elite operative in both Guardian and Cataclysm—that’s who I am.
Having congratulated myself, I hurried to examine the notebook.
‘Let me see……’

[Day X, Month X]
I’ve felt something strange since yesterday.
Wherever I go, a watchful gaze follows me.
Ah. Am I to be abandoned like this?

The words on the final page.
My brow furrowed involuntarily.
Reading the memoirs of someone presumed long dead from this world was far from pleasant.
But there was no time for sentiment, so I hastily turned the pages toward the beginning.

[X Month, X Day]
Contact with the Ivory Palace had grown sparse these past few months.
Are we still loyal Shadows, or have we become the worms gnawing at ivory?
There’s no way to know.

‘Ivory Palace’ is a euphemism for the imperial court.
Reduced contact must mean fewer orders filtering down from the court.

[X Month, X Day]
We survived because we were Shadows. A Shadow must never rebel against the light.
But he no longer seems inclined to stay hidden in darkness.

[X Month, X Day]
“We will begin to intervene,” he said. And I wonder—am I truly included in that ‘we’?
No.
I am an obstacle to his plans.

I checked the dates.
When I returned to the Empire and when Beiler began moving in earnest aligned perfectly.
Perhaps that’s why I caught on so quickly.
I turned the page.
[X Month, X Day]
Adrian came to visit.

My eyes widened.
Adrian?

[Adrian handed me the Themis Drug.
He said he would use it to bring the young nobles into his faction.
When I asked why, Adrian answered as if it were obvious.
“For the next generation.”
And he added:
Don’t tell him about this.
He wants to seize the Ivory Palace, and his son wants to have the next generation in his grasp.
This would become a struggle between father and son…….]

That was the end of it.
Well, to be precise, the dark entry I’d seen at first did appear on the next page, but there was nothing more beyond that.
Yet even this much of the diary was enough to understand the situation clearly.
‘It was Beiler who tried to eliminate the Emperor’s faction nobles.’
And.
‘It was Adrian who distributed the drug and ensnared the young nobles.’
In other words,
Beiler was making his move to usurp the imperial throne as it stood,
while Adrian was positioning himself to seize the advantage in the power struggle that would follow.
‘Now that I think about it, the commander seemed ignorant about Aura.’
He’d never said a single word to me about her.
“So it’s really possible that the commander and Adrian could clash… is that it.”
I couldn’t quite grasp it.
What was power? What was strength? That they would fight over it within their own family?
If Asmerald were still alive, she would have stopped them.
I let out a bitter laugh and drew my chin taut. Then I rolled up Henry’s diary and tucked it into my breast.
“I should search to see if there’s anything else…….”
“There’s not much outside, really.”
“I see. So that’s how it is.”
I answered casually, then immediately sensed something amiss.
“……Hm?”
I lifted my head.
There, leaning against the Steering Room’s door, stood Ru.
Huh? What—?
I jerked upright with a start, as though yanked by invisible strings.
“You—what are you doing here!”
I pointed accusingly and shouted, but Luge simply tilted his head.
“And what might Charles be doing in this place?”
He peeled himself from the doorframe and began walking toward me, one deliberate step at a time.
I instinctively backed away, but there were only so many places to run in the cramped Steering Room.
“Is it really Charles’s place to go rifling through the steering room of a ship whose master he doesn’t even know?”
“I—well…”
My mind raced.
If I gave the wrong answer now, I was done for. Finished.
Actually finished.
“I was—!”
I answered quickly.
“I was only tracking down Themis’s death!”
Brilliant.
Even I had to admire the excuse I’d just invented. Absolutely flawless.
I mentally applauded myself while looking up at Luge.
“Why?”
“Well… because it was strange the way Themis was attacked and killed like that.”
“So you decided to track his death this way?”
“Exactly!”
Luge smiled crookedly.
“Our Charles is such a tender-hearted fellow. Worrying over the death of someone you only brushed past once—how touching.”
Yeah. Anyone could see he didn’t believe me.
But it wasn’t a shoddy enough lie to be immediately disproven on the spot.
That was probably why Luge seemed willing to let it slide.
‘How many times is he going to let this slide?’
I couldn’t understand why I kept getting caught in front of Luge specifically.
I exhaled a long sigh and wiped the cold sweat from my brow.
“Let’s just go. We can talk about how you found this place once we’re outside.”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
That was the moment we turned to leave.
Bang!
A tremendous sound erupted. Loud enough to shake the entire ship.
At the same instant, the Steering Room door slammed shut with a crash, and a lock clicked into place.
What—?
And then, from somewhere, came the sound of water.
Wait, what—?
The deck tilted—the entire ship lurched to one side.

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