Marriage With A Suspiciously Demure Husband - Chapter 2

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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 2

I simply wanted to commission a villa as a first-anniversary gift for him.
Compared to what he’d given me, a villa was nothing, but it was a special day, and I’d wanted to make him happy with money I’d earned through my own hard work.
I never expected to uncover my husband’s true identity in the process.
After that, while he was away, I began tearing the entire mansion apart, searching for evidence.
I couldn’t follow him to his workplace without being discovered.
So there I was, searching all one hundred and some rooms in that five-story mansion, collapsing in exhaustion more than once.
After searching and searching, I finally found a piece of evidence in a double drawer at the back of his study desk.
A detailed profile documenting my every movement from the capital, Elcard, to Ferarium, along with several documents related to me.
Given how meticulously it was written, it seemed he’d left it there deliberately.
If it hadn’t been the same design as the desk in my own study, I never would have found it at all.
It was locked so securely that my heart nearly stopped as I stole the key while he slept.
Even after finding those documents with such difficulty, I left them in place for fear of being discovered, but…….
Honestly, I still couldn’t believe it.
Just this morning he picked out clothes for me to wear, dried my hair with his own hands, and combed it for me.
How was that not love……?
I made a diamond shape with my hands and rested my forehead on my thumbs, groaning in despair.
He was Kailos Hadid.
Not Noah Edisi—Kailos Hadid.
No wonder the baron had said he was extraordinarily wealthy. How could I have missed it?
I’d been absolutely blinded by love.
Kailos Hadid.
He was the hidden mastermind and villain in “Prevent the Apocalypse and Film a Happy Ending”—another protagonist who brought trials to the main characters.
But even such a villain had one undeniably attractive quality: he was staggeringly rich.
As the wealthiest man in the empire, he was said to possess a temperament that was brutal, vicious, and merciless.
Moreover, unlike me, Hazel Love, who was supposed to have exited the story early through overwork, he was a character whose presence dominated until the very end.
He was dangerous enough that no one should ever become entangled with him, but among all people, I was the one who absolutely, positively could not afford to be.
Because…….
I had scammed him before.
Not openly, of course.
Since I’d read the original work, I leaked some information about the future, and I pocketed a portion of the dirty money that his subordinates had skimmed.
A wanted poster circulated briefly, but since I was wearing a mask, I’d never been exposed, and I came down to Ferarium undetected.
“No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t make sense.”
The day I first met him was truly a day of destiny.
It was exactly one month after I opened the Mercenary Guild in Ferarium, the day I saw yellow butterflies welcoming spring.
It was also the day the guild received its first S-Rank commission and when another S-Rank mercenary arrived, and we finalized a contract that same day.
It was the morning I ate my favorite scones topped with peach compote, and when I cracked eggs to make fries, two yolks came tumbling out—that kind of fateful day.
The moment I closed the guild doors and stepped outside, he arrived with perfect timing, greeting me as if he’d come to make a request, and just then the spring breeze swept through his soft dark hair.
“…That’s how it happened.”
That’s what I’m saying. It’s still so vivid!
I fell for Noah at first sight, and he did too.
Not long after, I nearly wept at his confession as he held out red roses.
And three months later, when he presented me with a Diamond Ring the size of my eye and proposed, I thought, this life is going to be a success.
“Ugh…….”
Honestly, I was still confused.
My husband Noah has hair black as the night sky, brilliant and radiant,
yet Kailos Hadid was said to have dull, unremarkable black hair!
My husband Noah has elegant crimson eyes like the finest ruby,
but Kailos Hadid was supposed to have blood-red, ghastly eyes—how could they possibly be the same…….
What? How could they be the same?
I haven’t found any other evidence yet, but if he really is Kailos Hadid, he must have come to kill me.
But I couldn’t flee immediately.
He knew far too much about me right now.
He knew my real name and all my personal information.
And I didn’t want to lose the Mercenary Guild I’d worked so hard to build and nurture.
I’d considered asking for forgiveness, but a man who’d issued a wanted poster for my head wouldn’t forgive me.
I needed to find a way.
I couldn’t die a gruesome death just to avoid overwork death.
If I abandoned everything and left, I’d starve before long.
If he hid this forever, I’d go mad with anxiety and it would be the death of me.
…Is my only fate death?
“Director.”
“…….”
“Director?”
At the sound of my name being called, I snapped back to attention and lifted my head.
I’d thought I was alone, but Nijela, my secretary, was standing before me.
“…Oh. Yes?”
“I called several times, but you didn’t answer, so I came in. May I give my report?”
Right, I’d told her to bring me the report today.
“Go ahead.”
“This month’s completed requests and mission reports, along with the sales documents. As you’ll see from the statistics, our success rate in acquiring and completing A-Rank and S-Rank requests has increased tenfold compared to this time last year. At this rate, I’d estimate we could double these figures in the first half of next year. What are your thoughts, Director?”
“Tenfold?”
I asked in surprise, and Nijela beamed with pride.
“Yes! It’s all thanks to your foresight, Director. Your husband has been tremendously helpful as well. The only regret is that we haven’t received any X-Rank requests yet, but those require teams of three or more, so I think it would be better to wait a bit before expanding. Increasing our full-time mercenaries should be the priority first.”
“…Yes, that sounds better. For now, even single requests keep us busy.”
Nijela was someone Noah had introduced when I was expanding the business.
He’d called her extremely capable, and his words had proven true—she’d been invaluable in growing the company.
Wait. Did that mean Nijela too……?
The fear crept back in, slowly rising like floodwater.
Nijela had never done anything suspicious, not once.
“Oh, Director. Will the two of you be going on your scheduled date this afternoon?”
Nijela adjusted her monocle and asked me.
“…Date? What date?”
Nijela looked puzzled and quickly checked the schedule she’d pulled from her jacket pocket.
“Let me see—today is Tuesday. I’m certain you instructed me to clear your afternoon schedule because you and your husband were going on a date.”
Oh, that’s right. Noah had even said he’d come pick me up, and I’d completely forgotten.
I’d been so frightened by his mention of going somewhere over the weekend that my mind had gone blank.
In any case, I couldn’t let Nijela know I was suspecting her.
“Oh, right. Yes, that’s correct. My husband did say he’d pick me up.”
“How wonderful for you.”
“Of course. Noah is the person I love most in this world…obviously. Nijela, why don’t you leave early today too?”
“Me as well?”
“Yes, we don’t have anything urgent today, do we? Let me think—there are no deadlines until tomorrow either, so the other staff can leave early too. Everyone deserves an occasional early day off.”
“Thank you so much, Director!”
Nijela bowed happily and left the office.
I collapsed onto my desk.
“…What am I going to do about this date.”
And the real reason I was hesitating most of all was this:
Above all else, I loved him with all my heart, completely and utterly.
How many people could truly abandon someone they believed would be their lifelong companion?
Perhaps others could cut ties and walk away without hesitation, but I wasn’t one of them.
I dragged a hand through my hair in frustration.
Maybe if I prepared gradually, my heart would gradually sort itself out too?
Perhaps betrayal and fear would overtake love in the end.
This date might very well be the last happy one we ever had.
No—today, I’ll just enjoy the date and be happy!
…….
“…I’m so finished. Really.”
I collapsed onto my desk again.

* * *

The moment the clock struck 11:50, Noah’s carriage came to a halt in front of the guild.
Noah had never made me wait—not once—and today was no exception. I’d even come out ten minutes early.
The carriage door swung open before it had even fully stopped. His long legs touched the ground.
He is my husband now.
Not Kailos Hadid — my beloved husband.
I took a deep breath, stretched my mouth wide with an exaggerated vowel exercise, then broke into a smile.
“Noah!”
At my cheerful call, he approached quickly.
“Hazel, why did you come out first?”
“To see my husband even a moment sooner.”
Noah’s expression shifted to one of pleasant surprise, his smile deepening. Those crimson eyes, narrowed by the curve of his mouth, swept across my face before his fingers traced my cheek with gentle care.
“How could you think something so lovely?”
He opened his arms in invitation.
I grinned and reached out, taking his arm.
As naturally as breathing.
“Come on. I sent the staff home early today. I have wonderful news.”
“Wonderful news?”
“I’ll tell you on the way.”
I accepted his escort and climbed into the carriage.
Inside, it overflowed with flowers so vibrant they seemed almost too bright — and on one of the seats sat a basket.
How did he manage this every time, when he was busier than me and never once arrived late to an appointment?
“When do you find time to prepare all this? You’re always so busy.”
“Does it please you?”
“Did I mention that my husband is the most wonderful man in the world?”
At that, Noah let out a low, warm laugh.
I settled into the seat and opened the basket.
Choux pastries appeared — fragrant and crowned with clouds of cream.
Among all the baked goods Noah made for me by hand, this was undoubtedly my favorite; I’d always had a weakness for sweet desserts.
Imagine that tall, broad-shouldered, handsome man in an apron, baking bread and cakes.
Absolute perfection.
I reached for a choux pastry in delight, then hesitated.
…Was this part of the act? Surely not this too?
And yet this was something Noah did for me every single day.
It was precisely why I looked forward to coming home.
A wave of melancholy swept through me, but I didn’t let it show.
I bit into the choux pastry he’d made. The fresh, sweet cream melted on my tongue the moment it touched.
……
…God, it tastes good.
I nearly wept.
Tenderness lifted me to the heavens, doubt plunged me back to hell, and then the sweetness carried me skyward once more. The constant cycling left me dizzy.
Since yesterday, my feelings had been this way — swinging wildly between hope and suspicion, confusion never letting up.
I might actually lose my mind at this rate.
As the carriage began to move, his gaze never left me.
“Would you like one too, Noah?”
I offered him a choux pastry.
He shifted to face me, one leg crossed casually, elbow propped on his knee and chin resting in his palm, smiling faintly as he reached out his hand.
But his hand didn’t move toward the pastry — it moved to my mouth.
His fingertip brushed against my lips, and then he extended his crimson tongue, licking away the cream that clung to his fingertip.
“This is enough for me, Hazel.”

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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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