Marriage With A Suspiciously Demure Husband - Chapter 121

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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 121

I had found documents that matched exactly with the information I’d been gathering all this time.
Until now, every ounce of my attention had been devoted to keeping Hazel safe from harm.
And through that vigilance, I’d discovered they’d been pursuing her far longer than I’d initially realized.
At first, I thought it was simply a matter of removing obstacles, as Rendil, the Tower Administrator, had suggested.
Or perhaps I’d merely hoped it was something so straightforward.
But the deeper I dug, the clearer it became that this connected to some ultimate goal—that Worshipers and Followers, along with Monsters, had been obsessively, relentlessly drawn to Hazel’s power in ways far more deliberate than I’d imagined.
That was precisely why I’d tried to keep Hazel from encountering Monsters at all.
They were beneath even her touch.
And yet…….

“Answer the call. How long do you intend to feign ignorance? Acknowledge his descent and lend your strength to it.”

There were more obstacles.
So this was what their so-called plan amounted to.
I’d sealed away the ugly memories of my past, buried them as though they’d never existed, but even in death, my parents’ shadow still had me by the ankles.
The shock was real enough, but what mattered to Kailas was that this fact posed a danger to Hazel.
Kailas turned his gaze, without hesitation, toward Dylan, who’d brought the original documents.
He could have erased all trace of this place.
But if Hazel learned of it, she would grieve.
I didn’t want to hurt her anymore.
When time was too precious to waste on anything but loving her.
“What is your price.”
At those words, Dylan’s eyebrows twitched.
“Your Excellency?”
“Tell me what you want. In exchange for your silence.”
Kailas was currently searching for the “true location” as Hazel had called it.
The totality of evil—what they called darkness, the Demon King, calamity itself.
The place where they sought to bring about the descent of the one they called their king.
He didn’t know how Hazel knew of it, but she’d shown him a map and spoken of it.
Asking him to trust her, to ask nothing more.
Though even without such words, Kailas already trusted her completely.

“This place will likely be important, Kailas. We need to find the Grand Altar hidden somewhere here.”
“The Grand Altar?”
“Yes. If we destroy it, all of this will be resolved. And to destroy it completely, we’ll need the strongest Holy Power.”

Hazel had spoken with urgency.
It seemed she’d also said something like ‘Lily absolutely must succeed…….’
So the true location written in these documents—the place they meant to take Hazel and himself to.
Destroying that would resolve everything.
The threats against Hazel would cease.
Kailas had continued searching for that location, just as Hazel had instructed, and he needed more time.
But now these documents that Dylan Banker had presented were a snag.
Moreover, Dylan Banker was plainly affiliated with the Imperial Court.
Only Hazel’s wishes had allowed him entry here.
Dylan’s expression grew somewhat displeased at Kailas’s proposal.
“……I did not come expecting a reward. I brought this to you before reporting it because it concerns a friend. I cannot avoid reporting it eventually, but if there is anything I can help with, I will do so without reservation.”
At least what he’d just said was truth.
Kailas read sincerity in Dylan’s gaze.
There was no reason to refuse, then.
“Can you buy us time.”
“You mean time, sir?”
Kailas withdrew the map from beneath the table and showed it to Dylan.
After a brief explanation, Dylan raised his head.
Dylan was visibly startled.
How could the Duke and Duchess know of information they’d been unable to find for so long?
They’d only just obtained these documents themselves.
She stared at the two figures already several paces ahead with an expression of disbelief.
“…So, this is the place.”
“It won’t take long. Once we find what we’re looking for, everything will be resolved. Until then, all you need to do is buy us time. By any means necessary. I’ll take full responsibility.”
“…I understand what you’re asking.”
For Hazel’s sake, Kailas could do anything.
“Then I won’t forget what you’ve done today. I’m asking this of you.”
Dylan accepted the documents Kailas held out as he spoke those words.

The next day.
Dylan was ready to depart for the Capital before dawn broke.
“I hope to see you again soon in the Capital.”
Dylan said this to me with a wry smile.
I noticed him exchanging a brief glance with Kailas as well.
They’d talked late into the night yesterday, so it seemed they’d grown somewhat closer without realizing it.
In any case, it was a positive sign.
Right now, any ally we could secure would make things easier.
Especially if that ally was someone as trustworthy as Dylan.
“You haven’t rested at all.”
I felt a twinge of guilt toward Dylan, who’d launched into business the moment he arrived and was now departing at dawn.
Though Dylan had offered to come himself, I knew that making the journey from the Capital to the Northern Region and back in a single day was grueling for anyone.
“Well, this much is nothing. I do hope the Founding Festival ends safely and that I receive an invitation to both your wedding. Until we meet in the Capital, may you find peace. I’ll certainly see you at the Festival.”
As Dylan spoke these final words, his gaze was fixed on Kailas.
With that hearty farewell, Dylan departed from the Northern Region.
“We should begin our preparations now.”
The Founding Festival was drawing near.

* * *

The day of the Founding Festival dawned.
Kailas and I arrived at the Capital Town House only yesterday evening, rather pressed for time.
The Capital was already in a frenzy—the eve of the Founding Festival kept the city stirring even through the night.
And now, today.
After finishing our preparations until dawn, we attended the Founding Festival—a celebration for all, though perhaps a perilous day as well.
I stood atop one of the highest buildings in the heart of the Capital, not among the crowds, looking down at the people already beginning to gather below—Kailas, Rendil, and I together.
“You remember what I said, don’t you?”
Rendil asked.
I recalled all the days I’d spent preparing diligently for this.

* * *

“Duchess. Did you know that Black Magic and Holy Power can sometimes aid one another?”
“Aid one another?”
Weren’t they the fundamental opposition of all oppositions?
I’d felt it directly in my body when I’d examined Lily’s Holy Power not long ago.
From the fingertips where our power touched, it was as though it refused to accept even the slightest contact—a sensation of the whole body rejecting the intrusion.
The stronger it grew, the more sharp, searing, scorching, and unpleasant the sensation became.
And yet they could aid each other?
“Look at this, if you will.”
Rendil held out to me a sphere of pure white.
“What is this?”
“It’s a Holy Power Orb. I formed it using a priest’s Holy Power to confirm the concept.”
Rendil tossed it into the air as though playing with a toy, then caught it again.
“Even so, it contains quite a high density of power.”
“I see.”
“Try breaking it with Black Magic. It’s not the usual way to use it, but I’m trying to show you what it means.”
“With Black Magic alone?”
“Yes.”
Rendil held out the orb, urging me to try.
“You know Dark Magic Power and Holy Power are in fundamental opposition, yet you’re asking me to subject my wife to this dangerous experiment?”
Kailas, who had been silent beside me, turned on Rendil sharply.
“Yes? I told you, the Duchess’s power is absolutely necessary.”
“You never mentioned this particular experiment.”
“No, I was only trying to explain the principle—”
“I’ll try it.”
I stopped Kailas and took the orb from Rendil’s hands.
Kailas deferred to my judgment on almost everything, but the moment any hint of danger appeared, he turned sharp as a blade.
Still, this felt like something I genuinely needed to attempt.
The moment it touched my palm, aside from the white mist swirling inside it, the orb felt no different from any ordinary sphere.
Break this? Just like that?
The instant I gathered Dark Magic Power in my hand, the Holy Power Orb shattered with a crisp snap.
A flash like a brief lightning strike, consuming the Dark Magic Power and vanishing without a trace.
It was as if I’d visualized what I felt when I first accepted Lily’s Holy Power.
Rendil placed another orb on my palm.
“This time, if you would, strike it all at once—short and sharp.”
But this time, Kailas’s hand moved to stop me.
Having felt the small shock that had rippled across my palm just moments before, he couldn’t help but reach out.
“This is far too dangerous.”
I started to accept the orb but hesitated.
Outwardly, it had only looked like a small bolt of lightning—little more than a tingle.
“I beg your pardon?”
Rendil stared at Kailas with a bewildered expression.
Kailas extended his hand to Rendil.
“Let me do it instead.”
Seeing Kailas begin to guard defensively with his eyes full of warning—as if objecting to asking Hazel to perform something so perilous—Rendil let out a hollow laugh.
“Please don’t worry, Your Highness. This will cause only slight discomfort, and it’s been specially treated so the Duchess won’t sustain any injury. And the truly formidable one here is the Duchess herself, not this orb.”
“Kailas, it’s all right.”
I took Kailas’s hand and soothed him. Only then did he step back a little.
I took the orb from Rendil again.
“If it hurts at all, you stop immediately.”
Kailas looked as though he wanted to crush the orb into dust with his eyes alone.
“I understand. Don’t worry.”
I nodded and immediately drove a strong surge of Dark Magic Power into the orb.
Crack-pop! Bang!
Crackle-crackle!
It shattered the same way, but this time a stronger lightning erupted, sharp enough to make my hand sting.
It was as if two forces had collided powerfully head-on.
I looked up with surprise in my eyes.
I’d never seen anything like this before.
“Perhaps this orb had stronger Holy Power inside it.”
“No, they both contained the same amount.”
“Then why wasn’t this one immediately consumed by the Dark Magic Power?”
“Although they are in fundamental opposition, when the forces align perfectly, they actually generate even greater power from each other. Do you know what happens when the strongest Dark Magic Power meets the strongest Holy Power?”
“Hmm?”
“I can’t show you that right now, but imagine it for yourself. Of course, it requires extremely precise control of the forces. Yet without my instruction, it seems the Duchess instinctively adjusted the balance. This is why inborn talent is truly unstoppable.”
Rendil whistled in amazement at the sight.
And then he held out another orb to me. This was already the third.
“Well then, shall we try once more, just as you did? This is the power I’m requesting from the Duchess at this Founding Festival. It’s also the reason why it must be you, and no one else.”

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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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