My Contract Husband Demands a Divorce - Chapter 42

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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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The atmosphere feels strange.
My eyes darted around, and I instinctively took a step back.
The cold surface of a stone wall pressed against my back.
There was nowhere left to retreat, yet Scheit Huniswald stepped closer still.
A warm, large hand came to rest upon my shoulder.
“Amarynthis.”
“W-What is it?”
A dark, secluded courtyard where no one ever walked.
The distance between us shrinking by the second.
In that instant, a scene from one of the novels Sindy had lent me flashed through my mind.
A pair of lovers sharing a kiss against a wall.
Experiencing this for the very first time made my heart thud violently against my ribs.
The moment I squeezed my eyes shut, the hand on my shoulder slid down my arm and settled at my waist.
As I took a sharp breath, his warmth seemed to rush into my lungs.
Without thinking, I held my breath.
Is this really alright? We aren’t anything to each other.
Of course, we are married, but… that was a contract, and he isn’t even the actual person involved!
“W-Wait, Scheit.”
The moment I tried to stop him, my body was suddenly spun around.
“Huh?”
My field of vision was suddenly filled with nothing but the stone wall.
Before I could even voice my confusion, my feet left the ground.
Grip firm around my waist, he had lifted me straight up into the air.
“Eek! W-What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Did I not say we were leaving?”
The ground receded further.
Terrified that I might fall, I reflexively reached out and clutched the top of the wall.
As Scheit scooped up my calves to hoist me higher, my upper body tipped over the edge.
I tried to hold on and resist, but it was useless.
In the blink of an eye, my torso bent forward, leaving my stomach draped awkwardly over the wall.
“What kind of joke is this?! Put me down this instant!”
“Very well. Just a moment.”
The support holding my legs vanished, and shortly after, I heard the sound of someone leaping off the ground.
Whoosh.
Something flew past my cheek and over the wall. When I turned my head, Scheit was already standing on the other side, looking up at me.
“Sit astride the wall for a moment. Jump down, and I will catch you.”
I was too terrified to even squirm, and he wanted me to sit astride the wall?
“Do you hear yourself right now?”
“We cannot exactly stay like this until dawn, can we?”
He was right.
He was right, but…
Hearing those words from the very man who had just flung me over a wall like a piece of laundry made my blood boil!
“Did you absolutely have to do it this way? It isn’t as if I said I wouldn’t go…!”
“I was in a hurry. If I had given you time, you would have looked for a way to sneak out quietly. That takes time. Having you find your courage was the fastest way.”
“And here I thought you were grateful! You said you were grateful just a moment ago!”
“Those feelings are sincere, but gratitude is gratitude, and business is business.”
Just as I was about to vent my fury, I thought I heard signs of someone nearby.
Instinctively, I clamped my mouth shut.
The mere thought of someone discovering me hanging here like wet laundry made a shiver run down my spine.
A fear greater than falling had suddenly gripped me.
No one, absolutely no one, could see me like this.
A noblewoman draped over a wall in the dead of night!
Scandalous rumors would undoubtedly ruin me.
‘I have to get down before anyone sees.’
Trembling all over, I managed to pull myself up and sit astride the wall.
There was nothing behind me, and nothing beneath my feet.
If I lost my balance even slightly, I felt I would pitch forward or backward.
If I landed wrong, I would easily break an ankle.
Swallowing hard, I peered down and met Scheit’s gaze.
He held out both arms toward me, gesturing for me to jump without delay.
Perhaps because I had never been up this high before, even that short distance looked like a dizzying abyss.
As I sat there shivering, he turned his head and chuckled.
“You can laugh at a time like this?! You demon!”
“The embrace of a demon will be much more comfortable than sitting precariously on top of a wall.”
“Is there no ladder or anything?”
“I can lend you my shoulder, so step on it to climb down.”
“I don’t think my feet will reach.”
“Then there is no helping it. You must jump.”
I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes tight.
Scheit whispered teasingly from below.
“Trust your husband, Amarynthis.”
You aren’t even my real husband!
Cursing him in my mind, I finally threw myself down from the wall.
Before I could even scream at the sensation of freefall, long arms wrapped securely around my waist.
At the same time, a solid chest caught my weight, leaning backward to absorb the impact of the drop.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Perhaps from the shock, my heart was hammering wildly.
“Amarynthis, your heart is beating so loudly that the guards might hear. Hmm. Did I perhaps make it flutter?”
Flutter? Did he just ask if my heart fluttered?! It was so obviously meant to mock me that heat surged within me, and I began to pummel his chest.
“It’s because I was startled!”
When I hissed at him in a lowered voice, he merely smiled with an expression that didn’t look hurt at all, thoroughly provoking me.
“You have a heavy hand. You might break my ribs.”
Leaving me huffing with indignation, he pulled away.
Then, he extended a hand down to me as I remained seated on the ground.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
I wasn’t. I was disappointingly, perfectly fine.
Glaring at him, I slapped his hand away and pushed myself up on my own.
Scheit shrugged with a smirk and took the lead.
“We have to walk a bit from here. Will you be alright?”
“Even if I am not, what choice do I have? I have already crossed the wall. It isn’t as if you intend to send me back.”
“True enough.”
Scheit replied shamelessly, quickening his pace.
I followed him into the forest. The distant howl of a wild animal echoed through the trees.
Frightened, I pressed close to him, causing Scheit to pause briefly and look back at me. He then guided me to walk in front of him, placing his hands on my shoulders as we resumed our march.
“What are you doing? Are you going to use me as a shield if a wolf appears?”
Scheit let out a soft chuckle.
“Quite the opposite. Wild beasts usually target the back, so I am acting as your shield.”
I hesitated in spite of myself. However, the gentle pressure pushing me forward from behind left me no choice but to keep moving.
Before long, a cabin came into view.
Scheit opened the door with practiced familiarity and stepped inside.
Following him down into the basement, a massive mechanical apparatus greeted us. Judging by the mechanism attached to the door, it appeared to be the entrance to a secret passage.
Just as I moved closer to get a better look, he covered my eyes from behind, almost like an embrace.
“What is the meaning of this…”
Amidst the rumbling and whirring of the large machinery, Scheit’s voice drifted into my ears.
“I have a feeling that if you see it even once, you will memorize how to enter the secret passage.”
“A secret passage? Is this a path leading to Cortius’s mansion?”
“No. It leads to the Archduke’s residence in the Capital.”
“What?”
With a loud screech, the door swung open.
Scheit removed his hand from my eyes, but it was too dark to see much of anything inside.
Scritch, scritch!
Sparks flew accompanied by the sound of a firestick being struck.
Scheit transferred the flame to a lamp and stepped forward.
So, this is the path that leads to Archduke Yulisian Kleinheits’s estate?
But why does he look so accustomed to sneaking in?
Don’t tell me…
“Have you been sneaking in like this all this time? From the very beginning?”
“Yes.”
It was an answer without a shred of hesitation.
“With that face?”
“That is rather harsh. It may look gloomy and sinister, but it is still your husband’s face. To insult my appearance like that.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…! The problem is that you are currently Scheit.”
Scheit paused in his tracks and turned to look at me.
“Did you also know that the culprit who attacked the Archduke was Scheit Huniswald?”
“You knew as well?”
A man who knew that was sneaking into the Archduke’s residence wearing the face of the very man who tried to murder him?
“The Archduke’s subordinates are fiercely loyal… If a sword fight breaks out, it will be Scheit’s fault.”
“It would indeed be Scheit Huniswald’s fault.”
“No, not that Scheit, I mean you!”
He tilted his head provokingly, acting as though he had no idea what I was talking about.
When he clearly understood everything!
Seeing him remain completely nonchalant even after I pointed out that his life could have been in danger made my anger flare up again.
I couldn’t understand why I was getting so furious.
‘Am I worried about him?’
No! Absolutely not!
I violently denied the sudden thought.
This is… yes! This is just anger.
The same way one gets angry when someone else handles something precious carelessly.
I am simply annoyed because he doesn’t value his own life.
I hurried to keep up as he began walking again.
“Are you always this reckless? Like when you entered the annex claiming you were going to put out the fire… Do you have multiple lives or something?”
“Until now, I thought I only had one, but seeing how I ended up in this body, I suppose having several is a possibility.”
His playful tone left me utterly speechless.
Scheit glanced back at me, his lips curling into a smirk.
“Besides, I used to hear that I was reckless quite often.”
“It wasn’t a compliment, so stop looking so proud.”

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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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