Marriage With A Suspiciously Demure Husband - Chapter 34

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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 34

What are you talking about?
This makes absolutely no sense.
“His Highness asked me—he wanted to know if you’d be willing to teach Faye Martin Illusion Magic. If you can’t, then he said he’d bring you along on this expedition instead….”
“Ah… what in the world is he saying….”
No matter how I turned it over in my mind, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d been played.
I was the fool for deciding to help out of gratitude!
Seeing my bleak expression, Dylan went pale.
“Of course! If Faye Martin just manages to use Illusion Magic properly, then this whole thing never happened, right? Right? That’s why I think this is the better approach. And I happened to run into you there….”
“Dylan.”
“Wh-what?”
Dylan blinked his eyes rapidly as if seized by fear.
“Don’t tell me our meeting at the Guild Association wasn’t a coincidence.”
“No! Absolutely not. I wouldn’t stoop to something so shameless, no matter how much I needed your help. I was actually planning to reach out to you first.”
…….
I stared at Dylan with my arms crossed.
“I wanted to give you a heads-up before His Highness summoned you. I was also going to ask how things were going with Noah.”
…….
“Running into you at the Guild was genuinely a coincidence. I really did have something to discuss with the chairwoman, and I was truly happy to see you.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Come on….”
I pressed my temples firmly, and soon a dull ache began to gnaw at me.
Whenever the Emperor or the Crown Prince made a move, things became complicated.
To be honest, who in their right mind would refuse a summons from the Emperor and Crown Prince?
That probably held true for everyone in the Elkium Empire, not just an Illusion Mage like myself.
How could I openly refuse when the Emperor made a request?
Since he wasn’t a tyrant, he wouldn’t force me if I said I had unavoidable circumstances.
It had been such a peaceful year!
The moment I learned of Kailrus’s existence, my luck seemed to hit rock bottom.
If I wanted to avoid being dragged into the expedition, I had no choice but to take Faye Martin under my wing.
So I had to choose: teach Faye Martin for a few days, or get dragged into the expedition? Obviously….
“The former.”
“Huh?”
“You don’t need to explain.”
I said it bluntly.
Then a thought suddenly struck me, and my eyes widened.
Could I turn this situation to my advantage?
Normally, when you go on an expedition, you’re away for months—time I could spend away from Noah’s watchful eye.
What if I ran away on the way back from the expedition?
Almost immediately, I shook my head firmly.
As if I’d willingly go on an expedition.
I couldn’t bathe properly while out there, I’d be constantly hunting Magical Beasts, and I’d have to sleep on bare stone with just a thin cloth for bedding.
And a major expedition lasts months.
It would be difficult to communicate with Noah while I was away.
Worse, with the Magical Beasts acting up lately, if the expedition took more than three months, I might even miss rescuing Ginger’s lover.
No, absolutely not. That couldn’t happen.
I murmured to myself and shook my head.
Dylan awkwardly approached and smiled placatingly, trying to lift my mood.
“I did tell His Highness that calling you was too much to ask.”
“Hmm.”
“I said that since you’re newlyweds, you absolutely shouldn’t be separated, and that if he summoned you, it would ruin your relationship with the Lady of Dewears, who adores you so much.”
…….
“So please, just help me this once. And if the professors could’ve handled it, they would’ve. He already has the theory down pat. If even one of the professors had been an Illusion Mage, there would’ve been no problem. It’s my fault for not explaining clearly beforehand—I’m really sorry. It’ll only take a few days! That guy seems to be making an effort, so it’ll work out. And if it doesn’t work this time, he said he’d give up….”
Dylan kept apologizing and sweet-talking, promising he’d do his best to prevent the summons if I’d just help him this once.
Though I felt burdened with all these annoyances, I began mentally reworking my plans ahead.
First, the important thing was that Noah was handling things….
Since a larger headache was visible on the horizon, this didn’t seem like such a bad direction after all.
It wouldn’t be bad to help out a little while Noah handles things, and use it as a cover.
Well, that’s how it is.
If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it.
Since things had come to this anyway, I decided to go ahead with the work while Noah prepared everything, right down to the false identity.
And there was one thing I needed to confirm.
“One week. No longer than that.”
“Heizel!”
Dylan looked ready to drop to his knees on the spot.
“His Highness must never summon me for this.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll tell him I barely managed to make it up again this time.”
Dylan went on rattling off promises that he’d grant any of my requests, speaking as though he were hammering the final nail into the coffin.
I nodded, filing that point away carefully in my mind.
I’ll definitely use that, you.
“…All right.”
After our conversation ended, Dylan and I made our way back to the Training Ground.
I wasn’t particularly good at teaching, but I wasn’t entirely ignorant of what Faye feared.
If I approached Faye by drawing on how I’d felt when I first used Illusion Magic in this body, things seemed like they might proceed more smoothly.
If it didn’t work, well… there was nothing to be done about it.
By then, Faye had seemingly steadied his mind and was conversing with his comrades, smiling faintly.
Faye noticed me and widened his eyes, rushing over.
He bent at the waist until his forehead nearly touched the ground.
“I apologize for showing you such a shameful display! I will work even harder!”
I sent the other knights off to train, then called Faye over alone.
“Faye, I need to teach you as a favor to Dylan.”
“Yes, yes! I understand…….”
“Before that, I have a few questions. Well, what I mean is, I’d like to know more details about your reaction when you use Illusion Magic.”
“Ah, well…….”
I listened to Faye’s account for a long time.
Missing nothing, concentrating hard to absorb every detail.
In fact, Faye was a character who never appeared in the original work.
That meant someone I had absolutely no knowledge of had emerged for the first time.
In my memory, no other Illusion Mage had ever been mentioned after Heizel Love died.
So where had this boy named Faye Martin come from?
If he belonged to the 1st Knight Order under the Crown Prince, he surely would have been mentioned at least once.
Especially since he’s also the person Dylan now supervises.
Of course, my memory could be faulty.
But so far, nothing I’d recalled had proven wrong.
So I trusted my memory.
Which meant Faye Martin was a new character that had emerged differently from the original…….
To understand why, it was first important to know as much as possible about Faye Martin.

For Faye Martin, Illusion Magic was nothing short of terror itself.
The cause seemed to trace back to the environment he’d faced when he first awakened to his power.
Faye had haltingly spoken around the subject, but it appeared he’d been subjected to abuse by someone for some reason.
I found it odd that he showed virtually no resistance to fear in the face of that, but because Faye was suffering so greatly, I couldn’t bring myself to press deeper.
Was it because the texture of the fear was different? Everyone experiences fear differently, after all.
Still, an unsettling discomfort refused to leave me.

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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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