I Became the Wife of the Hero Who Killed Me - Chapter 74

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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 74

It was a familiar voice.

But instead of the hearty yet somewhat rough tone from my memories, it was clearly tinged with nervous emotion.

“I apologize to the Duchess for committing such rudeness that even slaughtering my distant relatives wouldn’t be enough! If my life alone could atone for this sin, I would gladly offer it!”

“Life? What do you suddenly mean by life.”

At Gibson’s unexpected outburst, I looked back at Gareth who stood firmly guarding the carriage window.

“Sir, didn’t you say you explained things properly?”

“….”

“Hey. Don’t avoid my eyes.”

I had consulted with Gareth beforehand about this very concern, and since he said he happened to meet someone from the hideout and explained things clearly, I had passed it over without much worry.

I should have expected this from that dense man.

Meanwhile, Gibson and the citizens kneeling in front of the carriage continued speaking desperately.

“However, we beseech you! We do not want a new governor!”

“We heard rumors that the Duchess would make this land her direct territory. If you would do so, we would never forget the Duchess’s grace!”

“Please liberate us from the governor!”

No, when did those damn false rumors spread all the way there?!

I tried to kick open the carriage door but remembered my ankle condition and held back… actually no, I didn’t hold back and just kicked it.

Of course, a bandaged ankle couldn’t possibly break the carriage door, and Gareth, who heard the tapping sounds, simply opened the carriage normally and carefully lifted me out.

A group of citizens was blocking the front of the carriage, prostrated flat on the ground.

Having spotted me, they bowed their heads even deeper.

“Don’t treat me so formally. It was I who concealed my identity, so it’s not your fault.”

“B-but….”

“You didn’t deliberately kidnap me either. You thought an ordinary woman got caught up in an incident and tried to help in your own way, but things got complicated.”

At the word kidnapping, the prostrated citizens flinched their shoulders.

I quickly added to comfort the timid people.

“Anyway, I have absolutely no intention of punishing you, so be at ease. Ah, and Bellamare won’t become the Duchess’s direct territory either, so don’t harbor false hopes.”

“But we want someone like the Duchess to govern Bellamare.”

Ahhhhh, I can’t hear anything.

“I’m considering various things regarding Bellamare’s treatment. His Grace knows about the governor’s tyranny and your difficulties, and is looking for a suitable person to succeed Count Dorva.”

“That would be the Duchess herself….”

I gestured toward the carriage, meaning let’s go back.

As soon as Gareth turned around, the citizens desperately clung to us.

“Please look after Bellamare! The bureaucrats at the government office are incompetent and we don’t have the strength to endure the harsh winter!”

“…That’s true.”

Gibson’s desperate cry struck a chord in my heart.

Especially the part about the government office bureaucrats being incompetent.

Since he was once the merchant guild president, he seemed to know quite well about how things worked in Bellamare.

I ordered the knights to prepare a place so I could properly listen to their words. As a duchess in name, it would look undignified to listen while being carried by someone.

Then the knights brought out something like a decent sofa from the carriage – when did they even prepare that?

I had been thinking of something like a simple chair.

“D-Duchess!”

“Just call me Madam comfortably.”

When I showed I was ready to listen, color returned to the citizens’ faces.

But they wouldn’t have known.

That the duchess who seemed like a savior was actually looking day and night for a competent administrative slave to work to death.

“Now speak.”

“Th-then, forgive me for speaking….”

Our conversation continued for a full five hours.

Since the prostrated citizens seemed to be getting numb feet at some point, I had those with nothing to say get up and sent them away appropriately.

After that, the conversation turned into heated discussion.

When the sun began to set, Gareth and the knights pleaded to move locations, but I didn’t listen at all.

By the time we parted promising to meet again tomorrow, the sun had already set and the surroundings had grown completely dark.

“I should tell Ed that I thought of a good method.”

Today, a new administrative threshing machine had rolled into my grasp, vines and all.

* * *

When I returned to the mansion, Gilbert lamented that he was surrounded by disobedient patients everywhere.

Though my ears stung, knowing it was all affection, I let Gilbert tend to my wounds as he pleased while organizing today’s conversation in my head.

The conversation with Gibson and the merchant guild members had given me much inspiration.

Methods to develop Bellamare into a strategic city beyond a simple trading port branched out in my mind.

“You look happy, Eli.”

“Was it obvious?”

Having finished his official duties, Edwin happened to return to the mansion just then.

He glanced strangely at Gilbert who was grumbling and disinfecting my wounds, then naturally sat down next to me on the sofa.

“How is your headache?”

“The headache isn’t the problem right now. Do you know who I met today? Well, I had quite a conversation with former executives of the Bellamare merchant guild.”

Bellamare is an autonomous territory.

The bureaucrats from the main castle cannot interfere with the politics here, and Bellamare’s officials prostrated themselves flat under my feet, afraid of my blade.

There couldn’t be a better opportunity than this to realize the ideals I had long dreamed of.

I excitedly chattered about my grand ambitions to transform Bellamare.

I continued doing so even as the personal physician who had finished examining my wounds withdrew, and the knights and servants guarding the reception room disappeared one by one at Edwin’s subtle gestures.

Only when my throat hurt and I looked for warm tea did I finally realize I had been too excited alone.

My face flushed hot with embarrassment.

“I-I talked too much, didn’t I? You must be tired from official duties, but I kept you here too long.”

“No, I enjoyed it.”

Edwin brought the teapot from the fireplace and poured it into my cup as he continued speaking.

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen Eli with this kind of expression.”

“Don’t tease me….”

“I’m serious. I could feel Eli’s heart caring for Bellamare so much that the citizens would be envious.”

“I just thought it was my natural duty as a duchess.”

Judging by the smile on his lips, he’s definitely teasing me.

While grumbling but inwardly embarrassed and avoiding his gaze, I suddenly realized that Edwin’s right hand had nothing on it.

Actually, this was the first time I had looked closely at his hands in this life.

I hadn’t had occasion to see them up close anyway.

“Ed, I’m curious about something.”

“Please speak.”

“Why aren’t you wearing… your seal ring?”

Family heads, especially owners of great noble houses, never removed their rings from their hands for even a moment.

This was because it wasn’t simply jewelry, but a symbol of absolute power that could control the family’s fate.

Edwin, who had a strong sense of responsibility, understood the weight of the ring inherited from the previous generation more deeply than anyone, and valued it accordingly.

“Ah, it’s nothing special.”

As if my careful question seemed amusing, Edwin looked down at his left hand nonchalantly.

“I am Lombard’s sole master, and that’s not a position that can be proven by a small ring.”

“Then you don’t wear it normally, not just today?”

“Would you like to check for yourself?”

He readily extended his hand as if it was fine to touch.

His fingers, calloused from long sword practice, looked unusually long and neat today.

I stared down at his hand as if entranced by something, then suddenly shifted my gaze to his left pinky finger.

“There’s no mark….”

“Right?”

In the past, Edwin’s left pinky had a clear indented mark.

When stamping the family head’s seal, he had to temporarily remove the ring from his hand, and due to wearing the ring for so long, only that part of his skin had become discolored.

But now it was clean.

As if he had never worn anything there from the beginning.

“Then where is the ring now?”

“It’s stored in the main castle’s treasury.”

“Someone could steal the ring and impersonate you.”

“That won’t happen. Everyone knows that I don’t wear the ring.”

The brazier’s light flared up momentarily, casting deep shadows across his face.

Was it because of the strange silence?

I felt as if Edwin’s eyes had wavered gloomily.

“Lombard obeys only orders I give directly. Even so, if an emergency situation arises, I’ve arranged for Bertol to command the Castle Administration and Gareth to lead the military.”

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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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