Marriage With A Suspiciously Demure Husband - Chapter 8

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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 8

Chapter 2. Emergency Wanted Notice! How to Survive My Dark-Hearted Husband

God has heard my prayers.
I’m still furious that He crammed me into this wretched fate, but today, at least, I’ll sing His praises.
Something had felt wrong since dawn, and by morning the rain was falling hard enough that I didn’t need to fake illness to stay home.
It was coming down in sheets—enough to wash the entire estate away.
I’d planned to limp through Saturday with feigned illness and do the same on Sunday, but now I didn’t have to bother.
Even if the rain stopped now, the roads would be too muddy for carriages to move.
And if he’d had them dig somewhere to bury me, this downpour would surely have caved it all in.
There’s no reason the rain would have missed that spot.
Heh.
If Noah hadn’t been beside me, I would have burst out laughing.
Noah, by contrast, looked deeply displeased with the weather.
Like someone whose carefully laid plans had been disrupted and he was seething about it.
When I called to him he barely let it show, but the moment I glanced away, that terrifying expression returned to his face.
“What a shame the rain came. I would have gone out if it hadn’t.”
Either way, thanks to the downpour, I drank the tea Noah had prepared instead of going anywhere.
Even if he’d served me rainwater collected from outside, it would taste sweet today.
“It’s quite all right. There’s plenty of time ahead.”
…….
Plenty of time? What plenty? There absolutely is not!
“But where were you really planning to take me? You’ve been looking forward to the weekend all week.”
I glanced sideways at Noah sitting beside me.
Yes, I wanted to see what he’d say.
What would come out of those perfect lips.
Noah took my hand with those long, delicate fingers of his.
He kissed the back of my hand lightly and smiled.
“It’s a place you must see for yourself, my dear.”
“Ah, I wonder where that could be… Since it’s somewhere you want to go, it must be a lovely place, mustn’t it?”
My fingertips began to tremble despite myself.
I gently slipped my hand free before he could notice—something I wouldn’t normally have done.
“It’s likely somewhere Hazel has never been before.”
Somewhere I’ve never been……?
Surely he doesn’t mean Heaven?
My stiffened jaw tightened further as he grasped my hand again.
It wasn’t painful at all, but he interlaced our fingers and then began to examine each knuckle and fingertip so thoroughly that cold sweat began to seep from my pores.
I’d have to remember never to use my fingerprints anywhere if they ask for them later.
Each time Noah kissed my fingertips, I couldn’t help but flinch.
If this had truly been a gift or a date, he would have given me some hint by now, but Noah showed no sign of saying anything.
In any case, once he’s set his mind to acting, the danger isn’t limited to yesterday or today.
He’s watching for his moment, waiting to dispose of me in whatever way pleases him most.
That could happen tomorrow, or the day after.
Next time, he might use a method that doesn’t depend on the weather.
To be truly free, I need to escape Noah and secure a divorce—complete freedom.
His love is false, but I hate to see those happy days of courtship and a year of married life fade away. If I could manage it, I’d want to resolve this without him ever discovering that I’ve seen through him, but…….
I need to be ruthless about this.
If possible, I want to break free from him in one decisive move.
I’m even considering exile as a last resort, so a temporary separation might work as well.
When I disappear, how long will it take before he stops commanding his subordinates and moves personally?
A day, two days, three days? A week or longer?
My Illusion Magic works on all the other subordinates, but the moment he acts directly, it’s useless.
Maybe I should slip back to the Capital for a bit, just to test the waters?
If I suddenly announce I’m going to some remote region with no ties there, he might grow suspicious.
After all, everything I’ve shown him so far has been a woman who craves stability.
There’s no peaceful ending between us… is there?
Ugh.
Every which way I looked at it, nothing sat right with me.
In any case, to evacuate safely, I’d need to start by reducing the time I spent with him.
Once I got back to work, I’d move funds he didn’t know about, piece by piece.
Since everything here was Kaylus’s domain, it was better to surround myself with people I could actually trust.
I’d lived my whole life believing I walked my own path alone, but perhaps if I looked, I might find someone to share that trust with.
‘The only one I can halfway trust is…’
“Ah!”
The exclamation escaped me before I could stop it, and I clamped my mouth shut.
I couldn’t afford to do things like that anymore.
“What’s the matter, Hazel?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Just a passing thought.”
“A passing thought?”
Kaylus—or rather, Noah—smiled with his eyes and leaned his cheek against my hand, asking softly.
“These days, it seems you’re lost in thought more often than not, avoiding my gaze. I’m curious why that might be.”
Through the creases of those narrowing eyes, I met his crimson gaze, and ice crept down my spine.
“No, that can’t be. You know I always watch only Noah, don’t you? That’s strange.”
I smiled the way Noah loved most and deflected smoothly.
“And now?”
“Now?”
I tensed my eyes as much as I could to avoid letting them wander in front of Noah.
“Yes. I think only of Hazel, always. Yet my wife doesn’t seem to do the same. It hurts a little.”
“Ah, that’s absurd. I think of Noah all the time, really. I was just remembering that Pumpkin Pie we had last night—it was so delicious! And you made it for me, didn’t you?”
The sharpened corners of his eyes softened again, mollifying into that familiar warmth.
Whenever I mentioned food or how tasty something was, that expression appeared.
Had the witch fattening up Hansel and Gretel worn that same face?
I couldn’t say I didn’t understand Noah’s words.
When we were together, I’d gazed at only him, honey dripping from my eyes, and I spoke as if he were the world.
In fact, whenever Noah seemed lost in thought, it was I who’d pulled his hand, curious about what occupied his mind.
Though admittedly, not quite so terrifyingly.
But that was when I was blind, blinded by infatuation and saw nothing at all.
“Look only at me, Hazel. Not at other places, not at other thoughts. Won’t you? At least while we’re together.”
The way he made a threat—not to escape his grip—sound so sweet was sickening.
The fragrant tea turned bitter on my tongue.

* * *

That evening.
Leaving Hazel to sleep, a little earlier than usual, Kaylus returned to his study to finish his remaining work.
As he reviewed today’s reports, his thoughts grew heavy.
Hazel’s behavior had been odd these past few days.
She who always laughed so brightly now seemed startled at every turn.
Her gaze, once fixed on him like a nail, now rolled away the moment it had the chance, searching elsewhere.
Had something happened that differed from the usual?
Nothing particularly unusual appeared in the reports.
Surely she wasn’t thinking of another man.
He’d removed everyone from her surroundings, so there was no opportunity for that.
“Ah.”
He flipped through a list meticulously written out: the tenth day, the twenty-second, one month, fifty days, one hundred days, the betrothal ceremony, the wedding, and so on.
These were milestones he’d marked with care to match Hazel’s ideal of commemorations.
Could she be preoccupied preparing a gift for their marriage anniversary?
The moment he considered this, her behavior made sense.
Of course that was it.
She’d done the same on the day she told him was her birthday.
What cute gift was she scheming to prepare this time, going through such effort?
The dark mood coiling in his chest unwound in an instant, and his handsome lips curved into a satisfied smile.
“I should pretend not to know, then.”
Turning a blind eye to something like that was hardly difficult.
He leaned back against the chair at leisure and withdrew a single document from the innermost drawer, spreading it open before him.
“Hmm.”
Already more than a year had passed since this file was created.
It contained Hazel’s personal information and details about her ideal type.
Remembering the first time he’d encountered this document, a stifled laugh escaped him.

* * *

“Here it is, sir.”
A stack of roughly ten documents was placed into Kaylus’s hands.
“Name: Hazel Love. Age: twenty-three. Gender: female.”
He rested his chin on his thumb and slowly traced his forefinger along his lips as he murmured the words aloud.
“No family. Born and currently residing in the Capital….”
“Yes, sir. Having no family would make her disposal quite convenient, wouldn’t it? There’d be no complications whatsoever.”
Sid, Kaylus’s direct subordinate, chimed in with a shrug.
“Height: one hundred sixty-four centimeters, weight: forty-four kilograms… What is this, a feather? Tsk. Not even a handful.”
He shook his head slowly, skeptical.
Kaylus’s crimson eyes moved steadily downward across the page.
Top-ranked entry into the Imperial Knights upon graduation.
Over one hundred subjugation records with both the Imperial Knights and the White Dragon Knights.
Her Target-type Illusion Magic has never failed, and she’s equally skilled in wide-area Illusion Arts—capable of casting Sleep Magic across military-scale ranges.
“I’d written her off as just a woman with courage, but it seems I shouldn’t underestimate her.”
In truth, Illusion Magic held no sway over him, so there was little genuine cause for concern.
She’d never failed a Target-type casting, or so the report claimed.
There might be a certain entertainment value in watching a woman who’d never tasted failure experience it for once before him.
Kaylus continued reading.
She’d since resigned and relocated her residence to Perareum.
The report noted that she now operates a Mercenary Guild there, expanding at a remarkably steep pace with minimal capital investment.
Kaylus’s lips twisted into a sardonic curve.
The source of that capital was all too obvious—it would be his own.
She’d absconded with his money and was cunningly multiplying her wealth in that rural backwater.
He let out a hollow laugh and turned the page.
He flipped through casually at first, reading onward for some time, before pausing at a particular section.
“Ideal type: tall, with shoulders as broad as the Pacific… What is a Pacific?”
“I’m uncertain, sir. If she said broad, perhaps she’s referring to something exceptionally vast?”
As Kaylus’s brow furrowed, Sid, disciplined as ever, clasped his hands behind his back.
“In any case. Gentle, kind, and soft-spoken during the day with proper manners. At night, equally gentle but wild, bestial-like… what? Some degree of obsession is acceptable? Why would she favor such a thing? Shouldn’t she be avoiding it entirely?”
“Could her ideal type suffer from a split personality? She may simply possess unusual tastes unlike ordinary people. Given that she’s a woman with her heart laid bare, her preferences might well be equally peculiar. Is there nothing else? Or should I investigate whether this is some current trend in ideal types?”

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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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