Marriage With A Suspiciously Demure Husband - Chapter 72

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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 72

“…….”
Kailas made his way to the bedroom with measured steps.
He carried Hazel cradled against his chest.
So deeply asleep that she wouldn’t have stirred even if he’d carried her on his back, Hazel naturally turned her body toward the warmth of his embrace.
“…Mmm.”
Her cheek came to rest near his heart.
For a moment, Kailas stopped walking.
Then he continued on toward the bedroom.
A maid passing near the bedroom door froze at the sight of them.
Kailas jerked his chin toward the door, and she bowed her head quickly, easing it open with care.
Click.
The door closed, and the hallway light cut off, leaving the bedroom in darkness.
Even as Kailas laid her on the bed, Hazel did not wake.
He gazed at her face for a moment, then carefully traced the back of his hand across her pale cheek.
Hazel, worn out and asleep, was quiet.
Eyes closed in slumber, she looked no different than before.
Yet he wished those beautiful lips would speak an answer for him.
How he might win back her love.
Kailas watched her like that for hours before finally leaving the bedroom.

* * *

The person Kailas sought was Annie.
He’d first looked for Ginger, but she’d trembled so violently before fainting that he’d given up on that approach.
Annie was his second choice.
The woman who had come directly to Ferarium claiming to be a friend.
He’d had Syde look into a few things, but they’d yielded nothing useful.
Just as Kailas had suspected, it was this woman who had helped Hazel escape.
From the Capital to Pyront.
From Pyront to Kastalte.
She’d stayed in the village of Debousran, spent more than a month in Mayblan—he knew all of it.
And she’d even used an alias: Levian Nishitar.
Days utterly mundane.
None of it explained the reason.
So he had no choice but to ask directly.
“Tell me everything that happened in Mayblan during that month. Don’t leave out a single detail.”
Annie tried her best to remain composed.
But with Kailas standing before her, her teeth chattered and her hands had no idea where to go.
Most of all, this suffocating killing intent was unbearable.
Where was the Noah Edisi that Hazel had spoken of before she ran? The version Kailas had described?
It seemed that even if she scrubbed him raw, peeling away every layer of shell, she’d never find that person.
And above all—those eyes. They weren’t the eyes of an ordinary man at all.
Was it true, then? That the man had presented a gift and told a woman he loved her?
She’d thought she’d experienced plenty of frightening and ugly things in her time, but it seemed she was helpless before the real thing.
Though Hazel’s presence made her think he wouldn’t kill her, she couldn’t help but feel the terror nonetheless.
“…I told your subordinate everything.”
“Not the obvious things.”
“…Then what?”
“What Hazel was trying to do.”
“I said I told you.”
“So it was just finding a house, decorating it, and going to the seaside?”
“Yes.”
Annie felt as though her heart might burst from her chest, but she forced herself not to look away from Kailas’s eyes.
She hadn’t mentioned the immigration.
No matter how thorough Kailas was, he couldn’t have found traces of immigration preparations that hadn’t even truly begun.
She was trapped and in trouble, but come what may, Annie’s professional code was to protect her client’s secrets—even if it meant risking her life.
To be honest, she was starting to regret it.
She should have ended the job once Hazel escaped and taken her payment, then left.
The Immigration preparations could have waited until Hazel was safe and ready, at which point she could accept that job separately.
Then there would have been none of this trouble.
She was beginning to regret getting involved with the Duke’s affairs in the first place.
She’d always completed her jobs successfully, yet here she was, failing spectacularly.
Annie had been growing disillusioned with her work lately, and it was Hazel who’d brought her this headache of a commission.
Accepting a job anyone else would have refused—that had been an impulsive decision born of confusion brewing inside her.
And normally, once a job was done, she cut all contact and ties with her clients without hesitation, yet somehow she’d come to think of Hazel as a friend.
Naturally, all outside communication had been severed.
The treatment here was better than expected, but the Duke was notorious for his mercilessness, and who knew how long he’d keep them alive?
Rumor had it that he particularly despised being deceived, and had left no one who’d ever lied to him alive.
So it was strange that Hazel was still breathing at all, let alone that he’d spared her too. She was astonished, genuinely astonished.
But what on earth did he want from her?
Honestly, there was no secret about Hazel’s life that she needed to keep.
She wouldn’t talk about Immigration matters—not while the sword hung over her neck—but aside from that, there was nothing to hide.
She’d already revealed the entire escape plan and answered questions about their life in Mayblan.
Four of them throwing a party, tending a postage-stamp garden, visiting the night market, decorating the house. That was it!
What had Hazel done that was so remarkable?
She could stake her life on the fact that she hadn’t.
Kailas stood with his arms folded, his face wearing an expression of deep deliberation—as if he were wrestling with whether to ask a question at all.
What question could possibly take this long to ask?
What could be so important?
A hesitant Duke—she’d never even heard of such a thing.
Was he plotting some ultimate harm against her?
But if he’d already figured everything out, surely there wouldn’t be anything left to discover.
So what in the world was it, then?
At any rate, Annie was witnessing a remarkable phenomenon unfold in stages.
“Was there perhaps someone who came looking for Hazel secretly?”
“Pardon? No one came looking for her separately. And don’t you already know all that?”
“I mean—did Hazel ask you to hide anything, or was there someone she wanted you to find?”
“There was nothing like that.”
Wait—why was he asking that?
Annie quickly added more, afraid of provoking Kailas’s anger.
“As far as I know, there wasn’t. No, absolutely nothing.”
That was the moment.
Annie distinctly saw relief wash across Kailas’s face.
Reading expressions came to her as naturally as breathing—it was second nature to her profession.
And in that same instant, even though she had no idea about anything else he might want to know, she became certain of one thing: whoever he was asking about was male.
‘He was asking if there was another man!’
If she’d hedged her answer even slightly in that moment, her head might have rolled right off her shoulders.
Annie felt her mind beginning to cloud.
Even as she trembled, she found herself wanting to praise her own mouth for speaking with such certainty in that moment of doubt.
“Then what on earth…”
Kailas ran a hand through his hair in frustration, his expression darkening.
“There had better not be a shred of a lie in what you just said.”
With that threat—more terrifying than any explicit coercion—he left the room.
Annie, alone once more, trembled violently in the silence.

* * *

“Seriously.”
Absurd wasn’t even the word for it.
She’d been worried sick about whether Annie, Eggman, and Ginger were truly all right, and after being brought here, she hadn’t slept properly at all—just closed her eyes for a moment.
Just a moment it was supposed to be, yet when she came to, there she was on the bed.
Did I have sleepwalking episodes?
Or had I wandered back to my room on pure instinct while half-asleep?
Whatever it was, it boded nothing good for me, so I threw on my coat and hurried toward the office.
But the moment I caught sight of the door hanging half-open, its broken knob rattling uselessly, I realized something: I hadn’t moved of my own accord.
I’d distinctly told the maid I wouldn’t go to the bedroom!
This was only the beginning.
Kailas’s transgressions didn’t end.
The next morning, afternoon, evening—every meal.
Each time I staged a hunger strike, Kailas spitefully leveraged the people around me.
Every time, the attendants trembled as if their lives hung by a thread, looking at me with pathetic eyes.
Every time, I swallowed my roiling fury and filled my belly.
How on earth was I supposed to break through this impasse?
More than anything, I felt I needed to see Annie, Ginger, and Eggman with my own eyes.
I’d heard from the maids only that they were safe, resting in their rooms—but the more I listened, the more my distrust festered.
It was Kailas’s conduct, ignoring my words entirely, that fueled it.
At this rate, he’d never show me the three of them.
A month, a year—things would just drag on endlessly like this.
Fine. If protest won’t work, I’ll change tactics.
But why is he coming home so late?
I timed my appearance to when Kailas usually arrived, dressing myself in a fine gown and stepping out.
Kailas was coming in. I could see from here how stiff the attendants’ shoulders had gone.
Why hadn’t I noticed this before?
“Noah!”
At the same instant, Kailas’s head snapped toward me on the staircase like a lightning strike.
……
His eyes were wider than usual—a face full of surprise.
“You’ve had a long day. Thank you for your hard work.”
I forced out a syrupy voice and descended the stairs. My lips twitched with the effort.
His surprise faded quickly; he softened into a smile and moved to greet me, then stopped short and tilted his head.
His expression turned cold in an instant.
“…That won’t do.”
At those words, I froze mid-step. One stair remained between us.
“…I haven’t even said anything yet.”
“Divorce is off the table.”

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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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