Marriage With A Suspiciously Demure Husband - Chapter 13

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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 13

Still, a gold ingot that weighed ten kilos was enough to make anyone’s mouth water.
It was a pity to part with, and I had no immediate use for such talent, but Ginger and Feerian had never failed a single commission in their lives—not once, right up until death.
There was even a touching episode at the very end, I recall.
That’s why I remembered her so well.
Because I knew the original story, she’d tasted failure today against her will.
So long as I paid steadily, she was someone who didn’t understand betrayal—which made her, in a way, a bargain.
With Annie and Ginger both free of failure, I could succeed in outmaneuvering Kailos.
As for the other subordinates, I could simply brush them aside.
Besides, Ginger wasn’t necessary right now—only from the day we left this place forward.
“And I’ll pay you double what Kailos does.”
Ginger’s jaw dropped.
Seeming to realize her mistake, she wiped her mouth roughly with the back of her hand and spoke hurriedly.
“Does that mean you’re asking me to follow you…?”
“Work for me. Do it properly, and I’ll give you this gold ingot too.”
“…Then I’d be dead. And you’re pricing my life at just a few gold coins and one ingot?”
Ginger’s eyes sharpened.
She didn’t look like she was giving up—more like she was preparing to negotiate further.
“So that wouldn’t be enough…?”
“Your death only happens if Kailos catches you. But Ginger isn’t so careless, is she?”
Ginger frowned.
“You speak as though you know an awful lot about me.”
“At least I know where your lover is.”
She started at those words, her eyes suddenly wary as they fixed on me.
I pressed on.
“The money Kailos pays you now won’t nearly cover getting them out. You know their ransom only goes up with time, don’t you? Better to betray him and follow me instead. Play your cards right with me, and later I’ll even handle identity cleansing for both of you. Simple, right?”
“Simple? How is that even possible? Do you not understand what kind of person he is?”
“I understand perfectly. He’s my husband. And you have the ability to do this, don’t you?”
Ginger stared at me in shock. Then her expression darkened.
“That man thinks you don’t know he exists.”
“Right. That needs to stay true. So I need you, Ginger.”
Ginger shook her head as if confused.
It was the look of someone watching a person gone slightly mad.
“For now, keep reporting to Kailos like you have been. Your first task is to report without letting him know I’ve found out.”
……
“Soon my friend will visit. Every time she does, I’ll send Nizela out and leave hospitality to you. Nizela will be busy with expansion business soon anyway. When that happens, you’ll understand without me saying what reports to give her.”
Ginger fell silent, mulling over my words.
“So as long as I don’t get caught, that’s all that matters?”
“Exactly. Do it right, and I’ll tell you the next task. Can you manage it?”
“What if I can’t? I’m sworn to Kailos Hadid, and we haven’t even made a deal yet—should I really be spilling like this?”
Now it struck me as funny, but I suppressed the smile.
“Then I’d have to erase your memory here and find someone else. Without this, you think you could stop me anyway?”
Ginger’s face flushed, her lips worrying at themselves.
Her gaze fixed on the necklace, freshly shattered and ruined.
I stroked the gold ingot.
As Ginger lifted her head, her eyes grew cloudy once more.
To be clear: I had cast no illusion magic on the ingot.
It was nothing but pure twenty-four carat gold.
I counted silently to ten, then opened my mouth.
“This is too much for you, isn’t it? Then we’ll call it off, and I’ll erase your memory. Once you leave here, you won’t remember any of this. So…”
“Wait—!”
“Memory erasure doesn’t hurt.”
“That’s not it—let me think about it!”
Ginger let out a heavy sigh, staring at the gold ingot.

* * *

“Sir.”
“…….”
“Sir?”
Kailos had been fingering the key since this morning, lost in thought about what had happened earlier.

“…I do too. Noah, thank you for marrying me. Marrying you is the best thing I’ve ever done in my life! I love you, more than anything in the world. I’m so lucky.”
“I built it all for you, Noah.”

Remembering her bashful words, her cheeks flushed, he found himself smiling despite himself.
Today her features seemed particularly delicate and lovely.
Or was it? Perhaps it had been the same yesterday.
Now that he thought about it, perhaps it had been the day before as well. A week ago too, if he was honest.
“…Sir.”
The plan had veered off course, but he’d meant simply to hand over a gift and match her enthusiasm. Yet she’d managed something unexpected.
He’d known Hazel was preparing an anniversary gift, but he’d assumed it would be something modest.
He hadn’t expected her to think so similarly to him.
“Are you listening……?”
Hazel’s movements were predictable; unless it was important information, reports rarely came to him. And that was how he’d arranged it.
He’d made sure of it himself.
She didn’t even go out very often or for long.
Yet she’d managed something this clever.
The flowers planted throughout the Villa and the small arched windows were as delicate and charming as Hazel herself.
It seemed she’d been working on this for months, and seeing the care she’d poured into it, he found himself wanting to postpone certain matters.
“Sir, that report…….”
Perhaps he could afford to be indulgent.
Come to think of it, that was true.
She was already in the palm of his hand—what reason was there to dispose of her immediately?
Though troublesome, it would be tedious without her.
It had always been this way, but seeing what she did today, she seemed not merely infatuated but completely ensnared, unable to escape him.
She seemed like a woman who couldn’t live without him.
Perhaps he should wait a little longer?
If she’d done something truly unforgivable, he wouldn’t need to deliberate like this, but since the marriage, there’d been no sign of her siphoning off information or any trace of betrayal.
Frankly, his suspicion had weakened somewhat.
The fact that he kept thinking of her as time passed said as much.
These days she’d come to his mind at all hours, which annoyed him.
Though perhaps that was simply because he’d resolved to settle this matter.
“Sir?”
Kailos finally acknowledged the voice he’d heard a moment too late.
“What.”
He’d been thinking of Hazel when the interruption came, and his face darkened.
Sid flinched at his lethal expression and took a step back.
Sid had clearly seen his master’s lips curl upward just a moment before, and the atmosphere had frozen in an instant.
Even after serving him for years, Sid still startled at these sudden shifts.
“I apologize. I came to report…….”
As Sid trembled through his words, Kailos set down the key.
“Report.”
“They’ve failed to retrieve the Divine Purification Stone from the Divine Temple.”
“Failed?”
“Yes, sir. I’m terribly sorry.”
“I offered them fair coin. Why couldn’t they bring it? Did I ask for something difficult?”
Kailos’s voice dropped lower still.
“The matter is… it already has an owner, so they said it cannot be removed.”
“Then eliminate the owner.”
Eating out tonight would be better.
He’d seen her seem quite content with food from shabby little shops before.
Though he disliked the thought of unknown ingredients going into that small, beautiful mouth of hers, well—one evening wouldn’t hurt.
She might get a stomachache, so perhaps he should prepare some rice porridge or something she liked beforehand. What had she eaten well last time, again?
“That is…….”
Dissatisfied with Sid’s answer, Kailos raised an eyebrow.
“Either get rid of him and send someone with actual brains, or if that won’t work, eliminate the owner of the item. Must I spell out every detail? Sid, when did you become so dim?”
Sid squeezed his eyes shut.
Disposing of incompetent subordinates who failed their tasks or proved disloyal wasn’t uncommon—he’d accepted that long ago.
His master had never been a merciful man.
Ruthless toward betrayal and incompetence, yet generous beyond measure toward those who served him with ability and loyalty.
Though lately, for nearly a year now, the master had been distracted by some strange hobby and kept relatively quiet about such matters.
But eliminating the owner of the Divine Purification Stone presented a problem this time.
Sid bowed deeply.
“My apologies, master. The owner happens to be the Crown Prince’s lover. Touching her would invite considerable trouble. The Crown Prince intends to retrieve the stone himself and present it as a gift.”
Kailos’s brow furrowed.
“What?”
“The Divine Purification Stone’s owner is Lilly Daywers.”
“She hasn’t even been confirmed as the Crown Princess yet. Why should that matter?”
“There’s another complication as well.”
“What now.”
“She’s… she’s also your acquaintance’s friend.”
“Which acquaintance.”
“That is to say, the Por… ma’am.”
Every time Sid had to speak Hazel’s name aloud, he found himself wrestling with considerable doubt.
Whether to call her by her true name, Hazel Love.
Or to address her by the baroness title that came with her rank.
Or simply as “the Por,” or perhaps “that woman” instead.
At first, calling her “that woman” had seemed perfectly natural.
It made sense.
She was nothing more than a nuisance to be disposed of eventually.
After all, she was the woman who had betrayed none other than Kailos himself and fled.
Yet increasingly, whenever he ventured to mention her name or refer to her as “that woman,” his master’s gaze seemed to sharpen in a peculiar way.
It was clear the master intended to eliminate her eventually, so Sid couldn’t fathom why that glint appeared in his eyes.
That was why Sid had settled on the most genteel phrasing: the Por, ma’am.
Once she disappeared soon enough, he wouldn’t need to worry about the distinction anymore.
How much longer would he have to endure this tiresome charade?
Yet at the same time, he’d begun to wonder if he might stretch it out a little longer—because maintaining this absurd performance had made the master considerably more generous.
It wasn’t to his liking, but that Por was the one person in his surroundings who treated him with the most courtesy.
This was a circumstance Sid could never confess to anyone.

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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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