I Became the Wife of the Hero Who Killed Me - Chapter 20

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#Episode 20

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It had been a truly exhausting day.

I had met with the Archbishop at the Lombard Diocese Cathedral, returned to Lombard Castle to expose Clayton Viscount’s corruption, then stormed into the Chief Chamberlain’s Office shouting ‘I am the law’ with great fervor.

After rolling around all day, my steps back to the bedroom felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

‘I should rest while smelling Nero’s paw pads.’

I was trudging up the stairs in search of happiness when I saw servants bustling about in front of my bedroom.

They even froze stiff when they spotted me.

“M-Madam…”

“What’s going on?”

I asked, but the servants couldn’t bring themselves to answer and just squeezed their eyes shut.

Just as I was about to enter through the wide-open door with a bad feeling, Lady Olden came out from inside.

Before I could even ask what was wrong, the lady spoke first.

“I apologize. Madam’s cat has disappeared.”

“What?”

“His temperament was too fierce, so we tried to discipline him briefly in a corner, but he escaped through a window that happened to be open. I’m terribly sorry.”

The lady’s calm voice made my breath catch instead.

How could they lose Nero, whom I had finally found, that small child…

I couldn’t think of anything at the moment.

Just as I was about to rush outside to find him, a small but familiar crying sound reached my ears.

It was coming from the direction of the garden attached to the bedroom.

I pushed past the lady and hurried to the balcony.

Between the garden trees faintly glowing in the moonlight, I saw familiar dark blue hair.

“My lady?”

Had he sensed my presence? Amber eyes looked directly at me.

Next, my gaze fixed on Nero at his feet. For some reason, the little one was fiercely swatting at the Duke with his front paws.

His face looked quite fierce, so I unconsciously called out his name.

“Nero?”

“…Nya, nyaang♡”

Ah, I thought it was an attack, but it was just playing around.

Looking closely, he hadn’t even extended his claws, and his pupils weren’t sharp but sparkling prettily.

It was the original Nero I knew.

“That little rascal.”

The Duke, who let out a strange laugh, lightly picked up Nero.

Somehow managing to scoop up the little one who was trying to stretch out like rubber tree sap, he leaped off the wall in the blink of an eye.

He easily jumped the full two-story height and landed on the balcony.

“Excuse me.”

“How did you…”

While everyone was blinking in bewilderment at the Duke’s amazing physical abilities, he himself just calmly looked around the bedroom with a composed face.

Then, Lady Olden blocked the Duke’s path.

“It is against propriety for a man to freely enter and exit a lady’s inner chamber. Please leave now.”

“Surely that man doesn’t include me too? That might be true for ordinary men, but this is the first time I’ve heard that a husband cannot enter his wife’s bedroom.”

“That is…!”

The Duke lightly brushed aside the protesting lady and strode toward me.

Then he held out Nero, who had stretched like melted rubber, barely managing to gather him up with both arms.

“So it really was my lady’s cat. I saw a familiar cat walking strangely through the garden—”

“Kyao!”

“…walking normally through the garden, so I caught him just in case.”

When Nero cried out loudly, the Duke for some reason cleared his throat and changed his words.

He looked uncharacteristically awkward, but since it wasn’t particularly important, I hurriedly took the squirming Nero from the Duke’s grasp.

Nero’s posture immediately became comfortable once he was in my arms.

“Thank you. Earlier I was so shocked thinking I had lost Nero that I was in such a state…”

“I see. It’s fortunate that I happened to find him.”

The Duke reached out his hand as if to pet Nero.

Then Nero’s head pulled back with a stretch.

Seeing Nero, who always had teary eyes like he was frightened, express himself so comfortably like this, it seemed the two had become quite close.

After a silent battle, the Duke successfully petted Nero and continued speaking.

“In any case, since you nearly lost a cat that the mistress cherishes, it would be good to severely punish the person responsible. With so many servants around, not one of them went looking until I spotted him.”

“I apologize, Your Grace, but we left the Imperial Capital to serve Madam.”

Before I could say anything, Lady Olden interjected into the conversation.

For an extremely brief moment, the Duke’s gaze turned coldly.

“So you bear no responsibility?”

“We are hands and feet that work solely for Madam, so I’m saying that Your Grace cannot arbitrarily hold us accountable.”

“I know well that you are my lady’s closest retainer. That’s why I’ve been tolerating your insolence like this, isn’t it?”

“As one who serves Madam, I dare to say this. Madam is indisposed today and cannot receive guests, so Your Grace, please visit again another day.”

I quietly rolled my eyes.

Lady Olden’s voice toward the Duke was elegant and polite, but the problem was that her words contained none of my intentions.

Of course, it was true that I was tired, and it was also true that the Duke questioning my people, who were imperial concubines, was clearly overstepping his authority.

But having Lady Olden, who was a maid, step forward to say this was a completely different dimension of problem.

‘This is definitely…’

Suddenly something occurred to me.

Having finished my brief deliberation, I abruptly interjected between the two.

“Earlier I couldn’t properly thank Your Grace. If it’s alright, would you stay for a cup of tea?”

“Not bad. I was just feeling thirsty after finishing my training.”

I was worried about what to do if the Duke flatly refused, but he nodded without much ado.

Fortunately, it seemed he was trying to maintain at least the minimum dignity as the lady of the house.

But for some reason, Lady Olden’s lips twisted slightly.

‘As I thought, something’s strange.’

If I maintained a good relationship with the Duke, the mistress’s authority would naturally become more solid, which would be good for the servants who followed me too.

The servants should rather be wary of situations where they received cold treatment from the Duke.

‘But Lady Olden seems very uncomfortable with me getting close to the Duke.’

To the point where she couldn’t even tolerate us being together briefly.

I impulsively gestured toward the door.

“I have urgent matters to discuss with His Grace, so all of you go out.”

“Madam, without even consulting, what is this sudden…!”

This time, not only Lady Olden but also the other servants from the Imperial Capital stood firm together.

Still, when I didn’t bat an eye, Lady Olden approached me.

Then she whispered secretly so no one else could hear.

“If you continue to act as you please, you will have to pay the consequences.”

Her gaze toward me was cold, but I didn’t feel particularly moved.

Unlike the precious Princess Elisia, I was familiar with such looks from others.

This situation where she was trying to control me with a single word just made me laugh bitterly.

‘How on earth did the original Elisia manage her subordinates…’

Eventually the servants who couldn’t hold out retreated one by one, and silence descended on the bedroom with just the two of us remaining.

I had acted without much thought, but with the married couple alone in the bedroom at this late hour, the atmosphere flowed in a subtle direction.

Even when I tried not to mind it, I became conscious of even the smallest sound he made.

“Ahem, please sit over here.”

“Yes, well then….”

If there was any consolation, it was that the Duke also seemed quite awkward about this situation.

He sat in the chair I had offered, but instead of looking straight ahead normally, he was turning his head at an awkward angle.

About 50 degrees diagonally.

“Your Grace, did you perhaps sleep poorly? The angle of your neck seems a bit strange.”

“That’s not it.”

“If your neck isn’t stiff, wouldn’t it be better to look straight ahead comfortably?”

“Well, you see, on the bed….”

Uncharacteristically, the Duke couldn’t continue his words and just pressed his temple needlessly.

When I turned my gaze, there was a semi-transparent negligee spread out like butterfly wings.

That was something noble ladies commonly wore as indoor dress.

While it would be somewhat see-through when worn, I had just come in and was dressed in ordinary outdoor clothes.

‘But he’s reacting like this just from seeing spread-out undergarments?’

My eyes looking at the Duke changed to look at him like he was slightly crazy.

“Shall I put it away for you?”

“…Th, that would be much appreciated.”

The Duke’s ears were bright red as he muttered this.

I moved the negligee to the bedside table.

Then the Duke’s head twisted to a 70-degree angle, so I ended up putting the negligee in the drawer entirely.

Only then did the Duke’s neck return to its proper position.

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