My Contract Husband Demands a Divorce - Chapter 47

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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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“Scheit, aren’t you tired?”
“Not particularly.”
“Still, it would be better for you to go to your room and rest……”
“Sleeping comfortably alone wouldn’t be right for an accomplice.”
Scheit propped his elbow on the table, rested his chin on his hand, and leaned his upper body toward me.
“Are you perhaps uncomfortable with me being in front of you?”
“No? It’s not so much uncomfortable as it is a bit overwhelming.”
“Don’t pay it any mind.”
“Then stop staring at me so much.”
“Understood.”
Scheit turned his head slightly.
I focused back on decrypting the notebook.
Perhaps because it was written in a memo format, the contents were disjointed.
Ingredients to be used in sorcery, notes that looked like they had been copied from somewhere, and ingredients that went into a potion to swap souls.
And how they had attempted to swap the souls of a cat and a mouse with that potion.
It was written like an experimental log, but it didn’t flow continuously; it was recorded fitfully like intermittent notes.
After decrypting about half of it, my eyes grew fatigued, so I set the pen down for a moment.
Perhaps because summer was coming to an end, the dawn air was quite chilly.
As I rubbed my upper arms, a blanket settled over my shoulders.
Scheit had draped the blanket over me.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
He returned to his seat opposite me and began reading his book again.
I glanced at him for a moment before looking down once more.
As I focused for a long while again, my throat felt parched.
When I moistened my dry lips with my tongue, Scheit closed his book.
Is he finally going back to his room? I wondered, but he walked over to the nightstand beside the bed, poured a glass of water, and brought it to me.
“…What is this? Why are you acting like this?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you suddenly being so nice to me? How much are you planning to work me to the bone?”
“Oh dear. I only looked after you because I felt bad seeing you struggle alone. Hearing you say that makes me think I really ought to work my wife hard.”
I wondered for a second if someone else had possessed his body, but seeing him put on such a spitefully sly act, he was definitely the man I knew.
After glaring at him with no real malice, I picked up the pen again, and Scheit reopened his book.
The room filled with the sound of firewood crackling, the occasional turning of a page, and the scratch of a pen nib against paper.
Those warm, serene sounds floated through the air like dust motes.
The more I concentrated, the heavier my eyelids became. I could feel my posture gradually collapsing, but I couldn’t muster the strength in my body.
By the time the dawn began to break in the distance, I was practically sprawled across the table. Yet, I couldn’t stop because I felt like something important would come up if I decrypted just a little bit more.
Would pressing my cheek against the cold table wake me up a little?
Leaning forward on the hard, cold surface of the table, I moved my pen. However, far from waking up, the moment I rested my head, my eyelids plummeted rapidly.
Gradually, the strength in my hand faded, and the pen slipped away.
Before I could even pick it up again, my consciousness drifted into a deep sleep.
* * *
Thud.
Yulisian, who had been reading his book, raised his head at the faint noise.
Amarynthis was fast asleep, looking as though she had passed out.
Her fragile body rose and fell with each even breath she exhaled. Her cheek was pressed against the hard desk, and her lips, pushed back by her cheek, were parted slightly like a blooming bud.
It was a sight she would absolutely never show anyone if she were conscious. After all, she was someone who valued dignity and reputation above life itself.
“Why are you vulnerable only in front of me like this?”
For trust shown to a mere accomplice, wasn’t this a bit too excessive?
His gently extended hand brushed against her hair.
As the wavy texture beneath his palm swept past like silk, Yulisian pulled his hand back as if he had been burned.
‘I should head back and sleep now too.’
The kindness extended to an accomplice was already sufficient with what he had done while she was awake.
Yet, even as he thought that, the sight of her sleeping uncomfortably stayed with him, making it difficult for him to move easily.
Her pressed cheek, the back of her hand awkwardly trapped beneath her head. Her completely exposed nape.
Leaving her like that might give her a stiff neck.
‘She is a precious asset, so I must take good care of her.’
And if he just left her and went out, it would be a disaster if she happened to drool and erase the letters written in the notebook.
Conjuring up excuses that no one was listening to, he closed his book.
Approaching Amarynthis, he carefully wrapped her arm around his neck. Then, sliding his hands behind her back and under the hollows of her knees, he lifted her lightly.
The weight that had become familiar over the past few days settled into his embrace.
The skin of her arm brushing against his nape was so soft that his throat went dry.
He hesitated for a moment before taking a step forward.
Laying her down gently on the bed, he stared down at her for a long time.
Only then did he finally snap out of it and reach out. He carefully tidied her sky-blue hair, which she cherished so dearly, adjusted the position of the pillow, and even pulled the blanket over her.
A faint, self-mocking laugh escaped him out of nowhere.
To think that the ruler of Kleins had grown accustomed to serving someone.
He turned around and approached the table again.
As he went to pick up the lamp, his eyes suddenly landed on the notebook Amarynthis had decrypted.
If the body dies, the sorcery is undone. The soul is presumed to vanish.
He stared at that content for a long while before organizing the notebook, hiding it away, and quietly slipping out of the room.
* * *
Ah…… I’m so tired.
Having to climb over the wall every night and walk all the way to Archduke Yulisian’s mansion left me suffering from muscle aches every single day.
It felt like I was doing physical training every night.
On top of that, even after returning yesterday, I ended up staying up all night decrypting the contents of the notebook.
Even while eating my soup, my head felt like it was going to drop straight down, so I forced myself to focus.
All the servants are watching, so I can’t afford to show myself dozing off mid-meal.
The moment I strained my eyes, Scheit teased me as if he had been waiting for the chance.
“Were you perhaps fighting with your soup in your dreams? Your expression looks as though you’ve encountered a sworn enemy.”
“…Why are you so perfectly fine, Scheit? Didn’t you fall asleep later than I did yesterday?”
“Unlike you, Baroness, I happen to have quite a bit of stamina.”
He meant that my stamina was pathetic.
It was infuriating, but I couldn’t refute it.
As I was about to spoon up some soup, a sudden question made me snap my head around.
Wait a minute. Now that I’ve given him the cipher decryption table, Scheit can decrypt the ciphers too, can’t he?
Then instead of just reading a book while I was deciphering the ancient language, he should have been decrypting the ciphers with me!
“Slacker……?”
Behind Scheit, who was smiling mockingly, I saw the Butler entering.
He approached Scheit and bowed at the waist.
“Master, an investigator has arrived.”
“An investigator?”
“Yes. He left word that they have found the culprit who threw the stone at the Baroness’s horse, so he requests your presence at the Palace Guard.”
Silence fell over the dining hall.
I set my spoon down and clasped my hands together.
My hands shook slightly.
If someone was trying to assassinate me, how am I supposed to go outside in the future?
No, is the house even safe?
As I swallowed hard, a large hand covered mine.
I raised my head.
Holding my hand, Scheit gave a calm command.
“Prepare the carriage.”
“Yes, Master.”
Scheit stood up from his seat first.
His hand naturally slid away from the back of my hand. Before I knew it, the trembling had stopped.
“I will handle this, so you should rest more, Baroness.”
“No. I’m coming with you.”
I was dying to know exactly who had thrown the stone and why.
Besides, I planned to take Sindy along too. Since the culprit was locked up at the guard station, it wouldn’t be particularly dangerous.
As I quickly prepared to go out and came downstairs, Scheit offered me his arm.
Receiving his escort, I climbed into the carriage. Sindy took the seat next to the coachman.
The scenery blurred past, and we turned onto a familiar road.
Even on the way to the Palace Guard, I kept pondering who the culprit could be.
No one suitable came to mind. But whoever it was, I intended to make them pay for the crime of daring to throw a stone at my horse to harm me.
The moment the door opened, I saw a poorly dressed man sitting with his head bowed.
Beside him was a boy who looked to be about twelve years old.
Which of the two was the culprit? Or were they both culprits?
In that instant, the man snapped his head up. His face turned deathly pale as he bolted upright from his seat.
When I flinched and stepped back without realizing it, Scheit shielded me from the side, and Sindy stepped forward.
“You are startling the Baroness, so it would be best if you did not approach any further.”
At Scheit’s words, the man dropped to his knees right then and there.
“Baroness. I am truly, truly sorry! Please, have mercy……”
A grown man threw a stone at a horse carrying a person, and now he wants mercy?
I didn’t intend to have him executed, but he had to pay for the crime of trying to hurt someone.
As I steeled my heart, the man shouted at the boy.
“Tommy! You rascal, hurry up and apologize right now! What do you think you’re doing!”

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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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