Marriage With A Suspiciously Demure Husband - Chapter 40

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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 40

I removed the Necklace from around my neck as I prepared to leave the Hotel, holding it out for inspection.
What I offered was a Necklace made by drilling a hole through a twisted and bent Gold Coin.
Eggmen’s gaze shifted to the Necklace. His eyes widened ever so slightly—he recognized it immediately.
Jinger had been right.

‘Jinger.’
‘Yes?’
‘When we reach the Capital, you’ll need to visit your lover.’
‘Eggmen?’
‘Yes. He needs to know about our plan too. We have to give him strength to endure what’s coming.’
‘Ah… I hadn’t thought that far ahead.’
‘We can discuss the details once you return safely. Can you give me something that will prove to him it came from you?’
‘Something he’d recognize… Ah! Here. With this, Eggmen will know right away. He made it himself.’

“So he made it from something thrown into the ring when Jinger first won as a Gladiator?”
Eggmen nodded, taking a small step back.
But his eyes still held caution.
Of course—he might think I’d stolen this Necklace. It seemed Jinger understood Eggmen better than I’d realized.

‘If he still distrusts you after seeing it… well, actually, this is awkward.’
‘What is?’
‘I’m already worried he might fall for you just looking at you, and if I tell him this…’
‘Are you joking? I have no interest in your lover.’
‘No, no—you have that bigger version, the false you, I mean the Duke. I can see how high your standards are just watching him.’
‘Then there’s no problem.’
‘Within all that, Eggmen has only ever thought anyone prettier than me was impossible!’
‘Right. Eggmen will only ever think you’re beautiful. You don’t need to worry. The two of you have only ever seen each other.’
‘Sir, you know things like that too—not just information? You understand me better than the Duke does!’
‘Jinger, hurry up.’

With that, Jinger handed me the Necklace and explained to Eggmen how he would verify my identity.
“He said you’d clasp both hands together like this and check his condition while saying ‘May the Blessing of Nux, the Undefeated God, be upon you today.’ Right?”
Normally they would clasp hands and Jinger would press his forehead lightly to the other’s, then release—but to me it looked awkward no matter how I tried.
So I did a rough approximation, leaving out parts, and Eggmen flinched back a step, then nodded in understanding.
Well, he wasn’t going to hold hands anyway.
“…I see. Has something happened to Jinger?”
It sounded exactly like a secret code between the two of them.
Looking at Eggmen’s expression, I understood at once.
It was the face of someone who had just heard a confession of love.
I’d thought the phrase was common, something a Manager would say routinely, something ordinary. But seeing Eggmen’s face, all my questions dissolved.
An unsuspicious phrase, the most a Manager would naturally say.
Perhaps checking condition meant the same thing as “I love you” to Eggmen.
Their romance in this place must have unfolded in the deepest secrecy.
Anyway, seeing how completely his tone shifted, I nearly laughed.
“No, Jinger is fine. He’s at Ferrarium right now.”
“At Ferrarium…? Ah, so that’s…”
“He must have been worried you weren’t coming. I think he left without saying goodbye. I figured you’d understand at least some of it.”
Eggmen nodded.
“He only said it would be difficult for him to come for a while.”
After seeing the Necklace, Eggmen spoke freely.
“Jinger is well. He went to Ferrarium on orders for a time. It could be several months? Since he can’t move right now, I came instead.”
“But Jinger said he has no friends.”
“Well, that’s not exactly wrong. It’s hard to call it friendship, though…”
“Then who are you?”
“Hmm, a master-servant relationship feels off… I suppose I’ll say a helper of sorts.”
When I relayed that Jinger might not return for several months, Eggmen’s eyes dropped slightly lower.
“I see. He’s truly well, with no problems at all? That’s all that matters.”
“Don’t worry about that. Besides, as you can see, I’m pressed for time. So I’ll say what needs saying and go.”
“Yes.”
“You know Jinger is trying to get you out of here, don’t you?”
Eggmen nodded, his expression darkening.
“I’m fine, so please tell him not to do anything dangerous.”
I exhaled a quiet sigh at his words.
Eggmen must have wanted to leave this place terribly. He hadn’t come willingly, after all.
I didn’t know his past well, but at least from Jinger’s perspective, that much was clear.
And now that he’d met Jinger Perian, he must have grown even more desperate to escape.
“Stop worrying about that. Just listen carefully from now on.”
First and foremost, it was crucial that neither Jinger nor I fell into anyone else’s hands before we left this place.
While pseudonyms were being prepared for the two of them, just as mine had been, I needed to buy time.
And my value here couldn’t rise any further.
For now, having been here only a few months, I could maintain first place without catching Kailrus’s eye, but if I kept winning and became the primary moneymaker for this place, that would be a problem.
In the original story, even after Rilli was released with Jinger’s help, she had quite a time getting Eggmen out as repayment.
It was because her value had grown tremendously in order to stay by Jinger’s side.
Even then, she only managed it because the Crown Prince and his lover were involved—an ordinary person could never dream of such a thing.
If Kailrus discovered that I’d spirited away Eggmen after his value had been raised?
It would put me in far greater danger!
Part of me wanted to spirit Eggmen away and hide him right now……
But if anyone caught so much as a whiff of suspicion, my own escape could become impossible.
Without the kind of solid backing that Rilli had through the Crown Prince.
So all of this had to succeed perfectly, in one decisive moment.
“Who are you facing today? Do you know the name?”
Eggmen tilted his head at that.
“The match shouldn’t have been decided yet, should it?”
I gave him a sidelong look at his words.
“There can’t be more than two of you, can there? Your opponent is already set.”
“…You know even that much?”
With the amount of noble money moving around in this place, how could I not know something like that?
“Tell me. I need to confirm something.”
“It should be Jen and Matis.”
Jen and Matis, then.
Good.
I beckoned Eggmen closer with a finger.
As Eggmen bowed his head, I spoke in a low voice and then drew back.
I felt Eggmen’s body go rigid, tension crossing his frame. Perhaps he was lost in thought, turning my words over in his mind.
“Can you do as I’ve told you?”
I asked after giving him a moment.
Eggmen straightened, his expression now far more serious than before.
“Is that truly all I need to do?”
“For now. I’ll either come back once more, or I’ll send someone from my side. Until then, just act normally so no one else suspects anything. And today—pretend it never happened.”
“…Yes.”
“One more thing—and I mean this absolutely—don’t fight the Manager or any of the other Gladiators. Don’t cause trouble. It would put Jinger in a difficult position too. You understand that, right? I’m asking you, please.”
“Yes, I understand.”
After a brief exchange, I turned to leave immediately, but Eggmen grabbed my arm.
It didn’t hurt, but the suddenness caught me off-guard, and I turned my head with my eyebrows raised.
“Are you leaving?”
“Do you have something to tell Jinger? Should I pass on a message?”
“…Just tell him not to get hurt.”
I thought he might say something else entirely.
I let out a soft laugh and nodded.
“Got it. I’ll make sure to send word. I wish you luck.”
With that, I left Eggmen’s waiting room at once.

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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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