Marriage With A Suspiciously Demure Husband - Chapter 118

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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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Chapter 118

Dylan let out a short laugh.
I handed him the tea that Tene had brought and spoke.
“Have some tea first and catch your breath. I thought you wouldn’t be coming for a few more days, honestly.”
Dylan rubbed the back of his neck and nodded.
“Well, you never know when a Gate will seal again. Things just worked out that way. By the way, I caught a strong burnt smell on the way in. Something happen?”
“Ah…….”
I glanced toward the Reception Room window.
“A horde of Monsters came swarming in two days ago. The burnt smell is probably still lingering from dealing with them and cleaning up afterward.”
“Wait, two days ago? That’s the day before I contacted you.”
I shrugged.
“It was incredible.”
“You must have had your hands full.”
There had been plenty of other things happening, but I’d decided to explain those more slowly.
After catching his breath, Dylan’s expression had grown noticeably more relaxed than before.
He greeted me with an odd turn of phrase—’it’s been a while, my friend’—but there had to be a reason he’d come rushing over like this.
Dylan might seem to breeze through everything carelessly at first glance, but he never moved without purpose.
Suddenly Dylan straightened up and gave a small cough.
What was he about to say…….
“Well then, Duchess, the reason I’ve come here is…….”
At that, I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself.
“What, suddenly? Why now? Just talk normally!”
“I should at least try to be proper!”
“Hey, that’s something you should do outside. Are you joking?”
“Actually, I only remembered after stepping into the Reception Room. I realized too late because I was thinking about other things.”
“Never mind. Just be comfortable. If I was going to worry about formality, I would have done it myself in the first place. I told them beforehand that a close colleague was coming. Don’t worry about that sort of thing.”
I even waved my hand dismissively, and Dylan nodded, laughing awkwardly.
“Got it.”
“So why did you come?”
He’d rested enough. Now it was time to get to the main point.
“Hmm, I’m not sure where to start.”
Dylan rubbed his chin for a while before looking at me.
“First, there were more bases beyond the stronghold you found for me. They’d distributed the important ones.”
There were that many?
I was certain there were no problems with my brainwashing interrogation.
I quickly retraced my memory to see what mistake I might have made.
“Really? When he talked, he only mentioned one place, so I thought that was all…… Was the brainwashing incomplete?”
“No, that doesn’t seem to be it. That one really seemed to know only about that place. The one we found was from another stronghold. A large group was captured there.”
At that, I breathed out in relief.
“Thank goodness. If we’d been late, we would’ve been wandering around for ages.”
“That’s why I moved quickly. I should have sent you word that very day, but things were hectic. We were short on search personnel. A lot of people didn’t get to go home for days. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. What matters is that you caught them. I helped you for that reason anyway. Did you find anything useful there? You traced them so eagerly, there must be something to show for it.”
“Ah, well. That’s right.”
Dylan, who had been speaking excitedly, suddenly grew quiet and held back his words.
I tilted my head.
He was talking fine, so why the sudden silence.
“What is it? Didn’t you get much information?”
“No, it’s not that…… Oh! That’s right. Since I’m here anyway, wouldn’t it be better to talk while showing you around the Duke’s Residence?”
“While touring here?”
“Yeah. I have to leave first thing tomorrow, so I don’t have much time. When else would I get to see the Kailas Estate?”
“There’s nothing difficult about that…….”
I looked back and forth between Dylan and the door.
It was a rather abrupt change of subject, but if he wanted to tour the place, what could I do.
It was the first time I would be showing someone around.
Besides, since I’d decided to stay here now, I was gradually growing attached to the Duke’s Residence in a way I hadn’t before.
I had also meant to tell him about holding the wedding again and that I wanted to invite him, but conversation about business.
It would be better to talk about it naturally while walking around rather than in this stiff space.
“I’ll show you around the Duke’s Residence, Dylan.”
I rose from my seat with a ready smile.

* * *

“This is my favorite place. Even in this cold, there’s somewhere this warm. It’s close to my room, so I come here fairly often.”
Hazel led me through the Greenhouse with a radiant smile.
Dylan found himself amused by the slight lift in Hazel’s demeanor.
He’d made time to come by—wanting to see Hazel’s face and exchange a few words before submitting the documents to his superiors.
Dylan waited for the right moment.
‘Since I’m here anyway, I might as well enjoy a brief respite.’
As he followed Hazel into the Greenhouse, a peculiar door caught his eye.
“What’s that door?”
It fit the aesthetics of the verdant space, yet a door standing alone like that struck him as strange.
It seemed either decorative or perhaps some kind of magical construct.
Could there be something related to that beyond it?
Thinking of Kailas, he couldn’t shake the suspicion.
Hazel laughed lightly.
“Oh, that. A passage to another world.”
“Another w—what?”
Hazel broke into a warm laugh at his confusion.
“A bunker. You need a key to open it, and I’ve left mine with Tene, so there isn’t one right now. In the worst case, it’s a hiding place.”
“Ah, a bunker.”
It wasn’t uncommon to have them installed in estates, though most were kept underground as sturdy storage rooms of sorts.
But then again, this was the Northern Region.
With danger lurking at all times, there was nothing strange about such precautions.
“We don’t show this to outsiders—no one from outside has ever been inside the Greenhouse. Kailas, my husband, said I could show you specially. Once I get the key, would you like me to show you inside?”
As if mocking his earlier suspicion, Hazel made the offer readily.
Having known Dylan for so long, she recognized the sincerity in her words, and he laughed, shaking his head.
“If war breaks out later, I’ll flee here, so keep it hidden for me.”
“You can come, of course. I’ll definitely keep it safe.”
Hazel paused mid-tour, as if remembering something she wanted to say.
Her cheeks flushed unexpectedly, making Dylan regard her with curiosity.
“Why the sudden expression?”
“Oh, it’s nothing—just that mentioning my husband reminded me. Actually, we’ve decided to have another wedding ceremony.”
“Another wedding? I thought you already had one.”
“Yes, well, that one had its reasons—I was busy, and it was just the two of us, so we decided to hold a proper one in Ferrarium this time. I was planning to send you an invitation…”
Dylan narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms.
Hazel glanced at him nervously and asked, “What, why are you looking at me like that?”
“You don’t need to bring a wedding gift.”
“In the midst of all this chaos, the two of you have been cultivating love? I didn’t think the Duke was the type, yet he seems quite passionate—holding two wedding ceremonies?”
Hazel then gave Dylan’s forearm a light tap.
“No! You lot were the ones complaining—’Why didn’t you invite us to the wedding?’ I’m not talking about now. After the Foundation Day Festival ends, once things are much more stable than they are now. You’ll come, won’t you?”
Dylan paused for a moment, then broke into a hearty laugh.
“Of course! Who else would you call but us? I’d go even with a broken leg. Once the date is set, make sure you tell me. The Grand Princess should attend as well.”
Hazel nodded with a smile.
She’d already planned quite a bit, happiness blooming across her face.
Had Hazel always smiled this much?
She wasn’t reserved by nature, but unlike before, her laughter now seemed woven into her very being.
The weight she’d carried when he’d seen her in the Capital seemed to have lifted, though it appeared she’d grown leaner now from subjugating the Monsters of the Northern Region—yet strangely, she seemed happier than ever.
‘Is this really the right time to bring it up?’
Thinking of how her face would cloud over the moment he opened his mouth, his mouth went dry.
“If we leave the Greenhouse here and head to the Main Corridor, there’s a separate path that leads to the outer Castle Walls. From there, you can check the external situation quickly without going through the main gate. I often need to go out at dawn, so…”
Dylan left the Greenhouse and followed Hazel to the Main Corridor.
As they walked through the wide hallway—spacious as an Imperial corridor—and talked at length, the broad Castle Walls emerged where Hazel had indicated, opening to the outside.
As they stepped outside, the acrid smell he’d caught upon entering the Duke’s Residence returned to him.
“Hazel.”
“Hmm?”
“Have you ever encountered any Cultists here, or perhaps Follower Demonic Beasts?”
“Of course. I’ve caught cultists here and handed them over to the Imperial Palace before. I’m sure those reports included the Follower Demonic Beasts we captured too—though the numbers were small and the locations scattered. Didn’t you receive them?”
“I did receive them, but……”
Dylan hesitated again, and Hazel waited a moment before letting out a light laugh.
“What is it? You have something to say?”

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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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