Marriage With A Suspiciously Demure Husband - Chapter 16

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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 16

It was a list of everyone I’d dealt with up until now, excluding the mercenaries.
“I’d like you to filter out the people connected to Kailrus Hadid. Some of them might be other alias names he uses.”
“Mmm… and?”
“I want to move the funds somewhere else without him noticing—somewhere as untraceable as possible. We’ll set up dummy accounts too. I’ve roughed out a list already.”
“I see. We’re relocating this as well?”
Annie pointed toward the ceiling.
“No. Just some of the assets. And I need to know if there’s a way to annul the marriage without a lawsuit or settlement. Divorce works too—I just need to find out if there’s a method. I can handle the rest myself.”
“An annulment…”
“And after we run, we go straight into exile. The moment I leave this place, everything has to be in motion at once. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“I understand. If anything goes wrong—even slightly—both Hazel and I will be offering our necks to Kailrus Hadid. Being sold into slavery or thrown into the arena as sport would be a mercy. Right?”
At those grim words, I shut my eyes tight.
I knew Noah was the puppet master, the villain—but his reputation seemed far worse than I’d imagined.
I needed Annie’s help, so I had to ask, but it still didn’t sit right with my heart. He was the man I loved.
“Everything else, I’ll leave to Annie. I’ll tell you the rest as the plan develops.”
“Sounds like there’s money in it?”
“Possibly.”
Annie smoothed her crimson lips.
“Well, let me think about it a bit more.”
Even as she said it, her eyes kept glancing at the paper with my assets listed on it.
“But before that, can I ask you something I’m curious about?”
“Anything.”
I was curious what Annie wanted to know.
“Does that man really raise magical beasts instead of animals?”
“…”
“Does he really?”
“No. He doesn’t keep any animals at all.”
“I see… I was wondering because it contradicts the rumors. I can know the public facts about Kailrus Hadid, but not the intimate details. He has to be someone quite extraordinary.”
“I understand.”
“He’s never shown you any violence or aggression?”
“Not at all.”
“That’s what I’d have guessed, but I had to ask anyway. I’m genuinely surprised.”
Annie looked as though she’d absorbed a year’s worth of exhaustion just from hearing my account.
She propped her chin on her hand, swinging her feet and furrowing her brow repeatedly before smoothing it out again.
Annie straightened up.
“What will Hazel do if I refuse to make this deal?”
The teacup had emptied without my noticing.
My mouth had gone dry. I set the cup down and answered without hesitation.
“For now, I’ll have to try it alone.”
“Ah, if you say that, what does that make me?”
I let out a short laugh at that.
“I was saying not to feel pressured. But if you help me, I’ll reward you generously.”
“I already know from experience. That’s why I’m thinking it over.”
“And I promise you—with the final commission, you’ll earn enough to close out this line of work and live comfortably.”
Annie’s mouth fell open.
Then she let out a sharp cry with those crimson lips.
“How can you say something like that when I’m already wavering!”
I smiled at her knowingly.
I’d known for a long time that Annie wanted to make one big score and get out clean.
“I have no choice but to persuade you this way.”
“That’s awful, really!”
Yet even after I said that, Annie’s frown only deepened.
She stared at the dozens of gems embedded in her fingernails, turning the matter over in her mind, before suddenly—Bang!—she slammed the table.
“Fine.”
“Annie?”
“I’ll do it. If I can make one big haul and disappear, I should. Truth is, I had a nasty entanglement with one of Kailrus’s subordinates before, so I’ve been wanting to steer clear anyway. Besides, I’m already tired of the name Annie. Let’s do this.”
“Thank you.”
Thanks to her, I could break into a genuine smile.
All right, Annie took my hand too.
“Ah! Just in case, I wanted to mention something.”
Annie tucked the documents into her bag as she spoke.
“Yes?”
“I came here as Hazel’s friend, right? Would it be possible to keep me from running into Kailrus Hadid? If we absolutely must meet, I could manage it once, but I’m not confident I can keep myself composed in front of him…….”
“Of course.”
Annie trembled visibly, her fear genuine.
“I’ll try my best.”
“You can treat me like garbage if it comes to it, but you have to keep me away from him as much as possible, understood?”
I had no choice but to nod at her earnest plea.

“Come in.”
Nizela was out on site preparing for the expansion, so I looked up to see who it was—white hair caught my eye first.
“Director. It’s Ginger.”
Ginger bowed slightly and entered.
“I didn’t call for anyone. Do we have a visitor?”
“No, it’s not that…….”
Ginger pulled a nearby chair over to sit, straightening his spine with fists clenched tight.
Since I’d proposed the deal to Ginger, I hadn’t said another word until he made his decision.
The time was stretching longer than I’d expected, so I’d begun to think he might refuse—and now here he was.
I’d actually taken precaution that day, slipping him a Suggestion just in case Ginger Perian decided to run off and tell Kailrus. The fact that it hadn’t been triggered meant he hadn’t told anyone.
Has he decided?
I held my anticipation close, keeping my expression neutral.
“Director.”
“Speak freely.”
Ginger then let out a series of loud, awkward coughs—”Ahem! Hmm! Ahem!”
When he finally looked up, his eyes held a challenging spark.
“I’ll make the deal.”
Those words felt like a breath I’d been holding finally releasing.
He’d chosen me over Kailrus. Or more precisely, he’d chosen money.
“Make a deal with me? Even with the danger?”
“Either way, things are dangerous. Since both paths carry risk, I decided I’d simply go with the money.”
“I see…….”
He’s always chosen money—that much I already knew.
“And… you’ll really get her out… for me?”
I understood immediately what he meant.
He was talking about his lover. I nodded readily.
“I will serve with absolute loyalty, Director!”
Ginger sprung to his feet and bowed at a ninety-degree angle.
When he lifted his head again, his eyes gleamed with such naked hunger for money that I actually flinched.
He really is sincere about the gold…….
In any case, having him come to my side was naturally welcome.
I extended my hand to shake his.
Ginger stepped forward eagerly.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“Same to you, Director. Ah, should I call you Master?”
Ginger wagged with the enthusiasm of a fox about to swish its tail.
“Ha, no. Just keep calling me Director. It’ll be easier that way, and we won’t raise suspicion. Do you already know what needs to be done?”
“Yes, Director. I’ll report promptly to Nizela about whatever you do, making sure she doesn’t get suspicious.”
“Good. For now, there shouldn’t be anything difficult. I just won’t tell Nizela about what I’m doing.”
“Understood. Um… but Director, could I touch that Gold Bar from before? Just once?”
“Well, I suppose so.”
At those words, I let Ginger feel the Gold Bar.
Ginger declared he’d do his best with this opportunity and left, shouting “Let’s go!”
When he was heading out, I handed him a smaller Gold Bar as a gift instead of the one I’d shown him originally—he wiped the drool from his mouth and actually begged me to chain him down around the neck so he couldn’t betray me.
I’d simply wanted to welcome someone who would have otherwise remained a stranger, and since he’d so readily agreed, I’d given it as a gift. Besides, I’d already placed a Suggestion on him once before.

But Ginger laughed, saying that if he was afraid of that, how would he survive in this world at all.
I obtained Ginger’s consent and, to prevent any unfortunate discovery by Kailrus, applied a far more potent Compulsion.
I couldn’t impose something as sinister as self-termination, so I cast it in the direction of erasing all memories, though it was equally perilous—akin to turning the brain into mush.
I threatened Ginger that if he betrayed me, he would lose his life right then and there.
Placing such a powerful Compulsion on someone I’d considered one of my own felt unprecedented and left me uneasy, but once I thought of it as a minimal safety mechanism for us both, I felt slightly more at ease.
Above all, it was better than being discovered by Kailrus.

* * *

Nearly a fortnight had passed since then.
Now the height of summer was truly drawing near.
Noah showed no suspicious behavior, as though what I’d overheard that day hadn’t been a mishearing at all.
When I claimed a friend had come to Ferarium for a holiday, Noah didn’t seem to doubt it much.
In the meantime, Annie dutifully played the part of a friend on holiday, and I had been maintaining contact by occasionally showing her around Ferarium.
Ginger, too, had been faithfully covering for me with Nizela.
And today, I heard from Annie the results concerning the first assignment.

‘Normally, a list like this would take no more than a week to find, but they’ve blocked it remarkably well. That’s why it took so long. It turns out each Alias Name has subordinates managing it. I actually doubted my own abilities while searching for this. I’m sorry for being late.’

“Ha…….”
I wondered how carefully Kailrus Hadid must have hidden things to cause even Annie such trouble, but seeing the list, I understood.
I went through each name marked in red one by one.
Count Lachman.
Baron Rentain.
Viscount Maihue.
And Noah Edisi as well.
They were all other Nobility Ranks of Kailrus Hadid.
The five other names were supposedly people serving as Kailrus’s retainers or subordinates.
Fortunately, some twenty or so of the remainder had no connection to Kailrus Hadid, but the problem was they were either people with whom I’d made only a single Transaction or people of no real value to begin with.
That meant the core of my Transaction connections were nearly all tied to Kailrus.
Ha! I thought Count Lachman was someone I could trust.
And come to think of it, Noah Edisi was the same way, and Baron Rentain—for a baron—was remarkably wealthy.
Coming from a commoner background, I’d assumed all nobles were wealthy!

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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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