Marriage With A Suspiciously Demure Husband - Chapter 21

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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 21

Chapter 4. Dillan Returns to the Capital

“Huh?”
I regretted it the moment the word escaped my mouth, but it was already too late.
The person I’d been speaking to turned at the sound of my voice, eyes widening in surprise.
Broad, squared shoulders and a warrior’s build befitting someone who wielded sword and shield; half-tied waves of rust-colored hair; a scar near one eye that somehow only added to a cheerful brightness that didn’t look frightening at all.
And that booming, expansive voice.
No mistake. It really was him.
I narrowed my eyes, caught halfway between delighted and dismayed.
“…Dillan?”
“Hazel? Hazel Love?”
We reached toward each other at the same moment, pointing with our fingers.
“What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?”
The Guild Association staff member who’d followed me in stared back and forth between us, utterly bewildered.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Obviously I’m here on guild business. I’m the guild master, after all. So what about you?”
“I came to ask the Guild Association for cooperation on something. Come on, if you were coming to the Capital, you should’ve sent word first!”
Dillan burst out with delayed exasperation. I grimaced and plugged one ear.
“Why would I? Besides, you’re going to end up meeting me at the palace anyway.”
“How’d you even know that? Still, if I hadn’t come here—what were you going to do?”
I let out a hollow laugh.
“What would I do? I never had any plan to meet you in the first place.”
“Wow, cold. I helped you out, and you were just going to skip town without seeing me?”
“Well, I… uh…”
“And I sent Annie too! Do you know how long it’s been—a year, a year and a half?”
Dillan laid his disappointment on thick. I let out a reluctant groan and took a step back.
“I was going to catch my breath and reach out to you.”
“You should’ve done it sooner. Man, how long has it been?”
I waved him off as he moved toward me, clearly having forgotten why he’d come here in the first place.
The staff member lingered awkwardly in the doorway behind us, waiting.
“Look, you had business to attend to. Weren’t you in the middle of explaining something? Let’s finish up, then we can talk.”
“Oh, right. My apologies. And no need for tea, really—”
“No, no, I’ll bring some right away so you can chat. I’ll contact the Association Director immediately as well. Just give me a moment.”
“Ah, thank you. No rush at all.”
“Thank you!”
The staff member bowed politely and excused himself.
Dillan insisted we continue our conversation and collapsed into the seat across from me. I dragged my chair back from where it had been pushed and sat down as well.
I never expected to run into Dillan here. If I’d had some free time, I’d planned to seek him out to catch up and thank him properly.
“So. When did you get to the Capital, Hazel?”
Dillan hunched forward with one arm draped over the table, sitting at an angle while he drummed his fingers against the surface.
“Today.”
“Today? You just arrived?”
Dillan’s fingers tapped the table several more times. I leaned back against the chair, crossed my legs, and swung them idly as I answered.
“That’s what I’m telling you. Haven’t even been here half a day. But what kind of cooperation does the Mercenary Guild need? What’s going on?”
“Ah.”
“I overheard a bit—the fact that you’re calling the Association Director makes it sound like this isn’t personal business.”
Dillan shrugged.
“It’s nothing major. Just work’s been piling up, that’s all. If things go well today, official notices will be going out soon—looks like you’ll be the first guild master to hear about it.”
“What? What is it, anyway?”
“We want to collect samples of Magical Beasts from each region every month. Hearts, hides, claws, whatever—normally hunters just sell everything they take right away, yeah? We’re thinking we’d pay them directly instead and collect it ourselves before it hits the market.”
“I see.”
“We can’t exactly send our own people on subjugation runs all the time to gather this stuff. So we’re planning to collect through the mercenaries. Could you help us out with that, Guild Master?”
Official orders were already being drafted.
My peaceful future is already falling apart from stress, and now it looks like something troublesome is about to crop up.
Still, better to be careful.
“It’s not serious, is it?”
“Not exactly. It’s purely cooperative work. The Magical Beasts seem to have gotten smarter—they’re not just appearing in coordinated waves anymore; they’re traveling in packs now. It’s strange enough to be unsettling.”
“…traveling in packs? That’s not unheard of, though.”
I said it casually.
“True. The problem is that regular Magical Beasts are doing it too, and that’s what concerns us.”
“Regular Magical Beasts are doing that?”
“That’s what the reports say. New ones come in every month—no, every week now, and they’re increasing.”
My expression hardened without my noticing.
“Does that mean there’s a leader?”
“That’s the assumption. Though they don’t seem to be moving with particular intelligence, there are clearly commands coming from somewhere. Not just the Crown Prince—His Majesty is quite concerned as well.”
…….
Traveling in packs, he said.
Normally, Magical Beasts don’t travel in packs unless they’re offspring of their own kind.
And even that phenomenon is only really seen among younger individuals.
There’s the matter of intelligence, but Magical Beasts are fundamentally destructive by nature.
That’s why Magical Beasts that travel in packs are usually of specific species—and the defining trait of those species is their ability to speak.
Low-intelligence Magical Beasts fight and kill each other on sight; survival is every creature for itself.
“If the Guild cooperates, the palace will send direct support, so this won’t be entirely unrewarding for you either.”
“I suppose… but even so. And if His Majesty is involved, we can hardly refuse.”
At that, Dillan let out a low chuckle.
“Right. Nothing critical yet, anyway. You’re in constant conversation with mercenaries, so you probably know. You might even catch wind of things faster than I do.”
Dillan’s words held true.
“That’s fair.”
“And if it were urgent, we’d have mobilized before requesting cooperation. This is preventive preparation—we’re just helping each other out. Is there anything inconvenient with running the Guild, or anything you need? If you tell me, I’ll see about factoring it into the support we’re providing this time.”
“Nothing in particular… I’ll think about it.”
Dillan then relaxed his somewhat stiffened shoulders and smiled with easy confidence.
“But it’s been ages. You look even better.”
I laughed outright and rubbed my cheek.
“Better, my foot.”
I came back from the dead, and here he is.
I could have spent three days and nights holding onto Dillan, pouring out everything about how it felt to come here, but I swallowed the words.
There was no good in everyone knowing.
“Your letter had me worried.”
“I was really grateful about that. You sent Annie right away. I’m surprised she wasn’t shocked getting suddenly contacted like that.”
“That’s what friends do—help each other out. What’s so difficult about that? Am I not looking cool right now?”
I was trying to express gratitude, my hands clasped as if in prayer, when that remark made me scowl and wrench my hands apart.
“Oh yes, of course. How dashing you are, Dillan Banker.”
At that, Dillan shook his shoulders with obvious delight and giggled.
“So how long are you staying? You’re not planning to come in today and head back right away, are you?”
“No, I thought I’d look around while I’m here, take care of various things. I have some work to handle as well.”
Dillan studied my face carefully. I let out an awkward cough.
We’d only been quiet for a moment, but the air seemed to grow heavier.
“Is your sudden trip to the Capital connected to sending for Annie?”
“Um…….”
I couldn’t deny it outright, so I answered through deliberate hesitation. Dillan then leaned back against his chair much like I had, folding his arms across his chest.
“You wouldn’t have called Annie for something trivial. What’s going on? Is it serious?”
It’s serious, all right. The problem is I can’t easily open my heart to anyone else about it.
When I dragged out my silence, evading the question, Dillan changed the subject.
“If it’s hard to talk about, then so be it. But if you need my help, tell me anytime.”
“Thank you, Dillan. For always helping me out. You know how proud I am of you, right?”
At that, Dillan snorted derisively.
“Just in words? When will you show me your husband? I was shocked when you said you were retiring to live a quiet life and went off to some rural village, and then suddenly you’re married!”
“Ha… husband. It does sound strange. I never did show him to you.”
I’d only informed Dillan after the wedding ceremony, so naturally no one had ever seen him.
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate that not a single person from the Knight Order had seen my husband, I couldn’t quite say.
I found myself thinking the useless thought: if I’d invited them to the wedding and someone had known him, couldn’t we have prevented the catastrophe rushing toward us today?
I wondered if the day would ever come when I could show this man to Dillan and call him my husband.
That day would probably be somewhere near my final day… wouldn’t it?
“Still, it’s strange. Not a single colleague from the Mercenary Guild invited?”
“It’s not that unusual. We didn’t even hold the ceremony in the Capital. Kept it very small and quiet. I was too swamped building up the Guild at the time.”
“Ah, you were that busy, yet you still had time to fall in love?”
“I’m sorry…?”
“What kind of remarkable man is he, really? You’ve been completely swept away and won’t even show his face. Introduce me to him sometime, would you? The Crown Prince himself was curious about you.”
At that, my shoulders tensed without my meaning to.
Why on earth would I let those two meet?
The male lead and the mastermind—absolutely not!
I’d rather eat dirt than let something like that happen.
Once those words sank in, a new question occurred to me.
“How is the Crown Prince doing these days?”
Dillan’s eyebrow arched slightly.
“Of course he’s doing well. He’s having the time of his life lately.”
“The time of his life?”

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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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