Marriage With A Suspiciously Demure Husband - Chapter 60

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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 60

Ugh, my forehead hurts.
I’d thrown myself forward so hard while feigning unconsciousness that my brow throbbed with a dull ache.
These brutes didn’t even bother being subtle about it—hitting me right on the head.
I never touched the food in the first place.
Or rather, I didn’t drink the tea to begin with.
Or maybe I’d known everything all along.
Either way, I never lost consciousness.
The moment the Followers’ Dogs saw my eyes open, they jolted in alarm, and their fury flared hot—they barked orders at the attendants without delay.
They’d finally realized I’d seen through them from the start.
“Grab her!”
I snatched the Knife lying near me and scrambled backward in one fluid motion.
The chair clattered uselessly to the floor.
I planted my back against the wall so no one could attack from behind, then spoke to them coldly.
“Come closer if you want to stay fools your whole lives. Your master practices Illusion Magic—surely you knew that much?”
“Shut her mouth! Move, all of you! What are you standing around for!”
Elo, who’d been nothing but gentleness itself until now, shrieked with venom.
“So when did you figure it out?” Diggers asked me.
A Longsword had materialized in his hand.
“Figure what out? That you’re all idiots? That you’re Followers’ Dogs? Or something else? Or maybe that your food reeks? I could tell that just from the smell.”
The four of them twisted their faces into even darker scowls.
“I’ve heard there are plenty of fools among the nobility, but I never imagined they were from the Martin Family.”
“Shut it.”
Then he gave a short laugh and began advancing on me step by step.
“You don’t seem to grasp the situation. You’re alone here. Understand?”
Faye dropped her courtesies as if they’d never mattered and spoke to me coldly.
“Right. So why didn’t they come? I was waiting. Maybe…”
“What are you muttering about? Move! Seize her, now!”
Meanwhile, Faye kept hurling Illusion Magic at me again and again, burning through her Mana.
Since I was braced against her deliberately, it naturally had no effect whatsoever.
Growing even more desperate, Faye snapped at the attendants to hurry up and grab me.
“Ugh!”
“Aah!”
They were wasting their breath.
The attendants lunging at me kept clawing at their own eyes and shrieking in agony.
When one stumbled forward toward me, I drove my heel into his knee hard—he rolled sideways instead.
Honestly, this really isn’t my style.
“They should be at the door by now.”
“What…?”
Faye’s voice wavered with confusion.
That was when it happened.
From outside came a loud Crash! Crash! The sound of something splintering.
“What, what is that!”
Those who’d been attacking me froze as one, their heads snapping toward the source of the commotion.
“Someone go out there and see what’s happening!”
“Yes, at once!”
The door shattered with a Bang! and dozens of footsteps thundered through.
The attendant who’d gone to investigate rushed back inside.
“It’s, it’s the Imperial Palace Knights! The Knights have stormed in!”
“The, the Imperial Palace Knights?!”
Only then did I relax.
Even though I’d handled things smoothly enough, I’d been worried they might be late.
Soon the Crown Prince appeared with Dylan, Lux, and Josh and the other armored Knights.
“Captain Love!”
“Hazel!”
I heard Jade and Dylan call out to me.
“Yes, I’m here!”
I threw open both arms and bounced on my heels, welcoming them with open cheer.
Jade gave the order once he’d confirmed my presence, and the knights sprang into action.
The Martin Family swordsmen and attendants who’d thrown themselves at me began fleeing in panic.
Armed knights pursued them with the speed of lightning.
Dylan spoke briefly with Jade, then bolted toward me.
“Hazel!”
“Perfect timing.”
I tossed the Knife aside and gave him a thumbs up.
“You’re something else. I did what you said, but it was risky.”
“Here—the Recording Orb. Got everything on tape. I was right, wasn’t I? Search every inch of the basement, even check the walls for hidden doors they might’ve carved out. Check all of that too.”
Dylan looked at me holding out the Recording Orb and laughed helplessly, shaking his head.
“You really are….”
“I helped because Annie sent me your way. Think you can catch them all?”
“Catch them we will, or die trying. I’ve got knights positioned all around outside. The Crown Prince said we might need to call in more personnel.”
“Right….”
I leaned against the wall, watching the knights round up the Martin Family members like pest control catching roaches, binding them as they went.
The rest was for the Crown Prince to handle now.
With that loose end tied up, all that remained was for me to leave.
“God, I really didn’t want to get involved in this.”
If only that Followers’ Dog hadn’t seen me that day, I would’ve walked away clean.
I was worried that if I just fled, it would look suspicious and I’d end up summoned to the Palace.
Or worse—word spreads, spreads further, and probably for no reason, but Noah, or rather Kailas, starts to suspect something too.
It wasn’t really for his sake; I just wanted to clean things up neatly.
I’d started this whole mess out of paranoia, but at least it seemed to be ending well enough.
To explain when exactly this all began….
…I’d have to go back to yesterday, the last time I said goodbye to Dylan.

* * *

“Dylan.”
I found Dylan after saying goodbye to Faye.
“Oh, you’re done already? I was about to come pick you up. Want some tea?”
“I can skip the tea. I can just take a carriage back. Besides, you asked me before about Faye, remember?”
I sat on the sofa in the office. Dylan settled into the seat across from me.
“Yeah, I did.”
“No matter how much I think about it, something’s off.”
“I know what you mean. You’re saying Faye’s hiding something, right?”
“Yeah.”
I laid out everything Faye had said over time, the contradictions that didn’t add up, the strange way she’d acted when the beast appeared.
I told him everything that had happened.
Dylan nodded but wore a somewhat troubled expression.
“I’ve thought something was odd from the moment I brought her into the Knight Order. But without proof, I can’t take it to the higher-ups. And if I move too recklessly, I might tip her off, make her run.”
“Right, I get that. But what if we just leave it and people end up getting hurt?”
Dylan scratched the bridge of his nose with his index finger, lost in thought for a moment.
“Hah, you wouldn’t say something like that without reason. Alright, what do you need me to do?”
“You said you couldn’t move without evidence.”
“That’s your request. I can’t refuse you. I’d strip naked and dance in the square if you asked. Tell me what you need. I’ll take responsibility for it.”
At that, I nodded and spoke.
“I think I saw something in Faye.”
It was coincidence, really.
Once suspicious details began appearing one after another, I couldn’t help but keep watching Faye.
And that’s when she cast Illusion Magic on me, showing me Hazel Love’s childhood memories—which was clearly her mistake.
She’d apparently tried to seduce me with Darkness Power, but since the pain young Hazel had endured wasn’t mine, it didn’t stir anything in me.
The real problem was that she wielded far more power than she’d let on. When I tested her by making her maintain several Illusion spells simultaneously, her concentration slipped.
That’s when the mark appeared. Or rather—a mark drawn on her neck briefly showed itself before vanishing.
It was identical to the Dark Mark I’d seen in the original story, the followers bear to show their loyalty to the Darkness King. Not bat wings, not talons, but a strange oval shape.
It was only a flash, but that’s when I realized Faye had wrapped her entire body in her power. She was hiding the mark with her Mana.
I’d thought it was just unexpressed strength pooling inside her, but she was deliberately concealing it.
This was the first time I’d seen power used this way.
The Followers’ Dogs that Jade had captured bore no Dark Marks—presumably because they ranked far below Faye.
In other words, it seemed he’d arrested underlings who ran errands for the Followers’ Dogs themselves.
Ones without even a Mark.
To confirm this, there was no choice but to identify the Martin Family members directly.
So I asked Dylan for help, and that’s how this whole affair came about.
Since Dylan was the one to persuade the Crown Prince, the matter went rather smoothly.
Because I was the one who brought it up, I had to take the lead, and I received a Recording Orb to use when needed.
And whether it was good instinct or not, my hunch proved correct—the Knights who raided the Martin Family succeeded in rooting out every Followers’ Dog hiding within the mansion in less than an hour.
Bound in rags, they knelt in a line, all fixing their eyes on me with undisguised malice.
Though the Crown Prince Jade blocked them from my view.
“Love, you’ve worked so hard. With all their voices recorded in the Orb, the investigation will be far easier.”
“Since I’ve done the work, give me a proper reward. Money or jewels would be nice—my business expansion has me stretched thin these days.”
I mixed a touch of sincerity with the jest, and Jade let out a quiet laugh. Behind us, the Knights continued their busy work.
“I’ll keep that in mind. I do hope the roots don’t run too deep.”
Jade’s murmur seemed to signal the true beginning of this affair.
I hoped for the same.
No matter how happy an ending might await, there was no pleasure in a difficult road to reach it.
“May I leave now?”
“A carriage is waiting. Take it and go. If they’ve marked you as a target, there may still be those hunting you, so be careful.”
“I haven’t felt any watching eyes, but I’ll be mindful. You’ll have your hands full for a while.”
“About as much as you did today. Which is why I was going to ask—do you have any thoughts about rejoining the Knight Order……”
“Not a chance. I’ll be on my way.”
Jade shook his head as though resigned to my refusal.
I left the Martin Family mansion under the escort of his Knights.

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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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