My Contract Husband Demands a Divorce - Chapter 70

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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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As I bickered with Shan over trivial matters, the Mansion finally came into view.
However, the carriage pulled to a halt before passing through the Main Gate.
Wondering what was going on, I slid the window open, and the commotion outside drifted into the carriage.
“Please, just let me see her once. There is something I must tell her.”
“You’re that scoundrel who threatened our mistress the other day! How dare you show your face here?”
That scoundrel?
As I leaned forward to get a better look, Shan blocked my face with his hand.
“It seems he’s looking for you, Baroness. It might be dangerous, so please wait inside without showing your face. I’ll step out and check.”
I still found it difficult to understand words like that so easily.
Did this man lack a basic instinct for self-preservation?
Tilting my head, I caught the sleeve of his coat just as he was about to step down.
“Why go down if you think it’s dangerous? We can just ask from inside.”
Sometimes he carried himself like a well-mannered royal, but at moments like this, he acted exactly like a knight.
My thoughts drifted elsewhere.
While I was trying to deduce his true identity, a loud voice erupted from outside.
“I said no! Do you think this place is some sort of tavern? You think you can just wander in whenever you please?”
“Please don’t say that, I beg of you, just this once. At least pass along my words. Please, I implore you.”
The intruder trying to trespass into the mansion wasn’t shouting or causing a violent scene.
He was simply groveling like a sinner.
Listening closely, I found the voice somewhat familiar.
Where had I heard it before?
After a moment of contemplation, it clicked.
It sounded just like the voice that had hurled curses at me while throwing raw eggs at the Opera House.
It was Tommy’s Father.
Shan seemed to realize it too.
“What would you like to do?”
I pondered for a moment.
On the day I learned Tommy was alive, I had pressed a pouch of money into the boy’s hands.
I had been concerned because he mentioned having a sick sister.
He must have come here after receiving the money from Tommy.
To be honest, I was worried he might shout again and claim he would never accept such dirty money.
Well, if he refused it, it would be his own loss.
Besides, with Shan by my side, I wasn’t particularly afraid. I felt just as secure as when Sindy was with me.
Frankly, he felt a little more reliable than Sindy…
“Ahem!”
I cleared my throat for no reason, cooling my flushed cheeks with the back of my hand.
“Let’s go down together. Instead, I’ll stay behind you.”
At those words, a faint smile graced Shan’s lips.
“So you want me to be your shield. Gladly.”
Shan opened the carriage door first.
A sizable crowd had gathered nearby.
Passersby seemed to have stopped in their tracks to watch the commotion unfolding in front of a noble household.
Shan stepped down first, and I took my place behind him just as I had planned.
The moment he spotted me, Tommy’s Father shifted his stance.
“Baroness, I have shamelessly come here to offer you my deepest apologies.”
He took off his hat and bowed his head low.
“I heard that you protected my son. I had no idea and acted so terribly to you, Baroness… I am truly sorry.”
“It’s fine. It’s already in the past. Besides, Tommy is safe.”
Tears streamed down his face as he fumbled inside his coat, pulling out a familiar pouch to offer it to me.
It was the very pouch I had given Tommy on the day I found out he was alive.
The child had accepted it readily with gratitude, but it seemed the father simply could not bring himself to keep it.
“Baroness, I cannot accept this. After causing you so much trouble, I don’t have the face to take your money.”
Whispers broke out among the crowd.
The onlookers were busy speculating about what was happening.
In the past, I would have seized this perfect opportunity to use his tears to elevate my own reputation.
I would have held his hand, comforted him with warm words, and pretended to sincerely forgive and embrace him in front of everyone.
But that was not how I truly felt.
In truth, I hadn’t completely forgiven the man.
Even now, thinking back to that day filled me with a sense of injustice and dread.
Still, with so many eyes watching, I had to put on an act.
As I stepped forward, I felt Shan’s gaze upon me.
His smile was gentle yet calm, making it impossible to gauge his thoughts, and his glassy eyes stared straight into me.
It felt as though his gaze was peering into my inner thoughts, capturing my very soul.
“What do you wish to do, Baroness?”
“…Open the gate.”
Whatever I chose to do, I didn’t want to speak in a place crowded with people.
I was afraid my words wouldn’t come out very nicely.
As I turned around, Shan escorted me with practiced ease.
By the time the carriage began to move, I looked out the window.
Tommy’s Father remained standing there, his face contorted with guilt and his head bowed low.
“Let that man in as well.”
Only after seeing him snap his head up did I close the window.
Shan watched me silently, a deepened smile playing on his lips.
It was that exact, ticklish expression of his.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
His lips parted slightly as if swallowing the words rising to the tip of his tongue, but he merely chuckled.
“No reason. Just looking.”
The carriage rolled slowly through the Garden before coming to a stop at the Entrance.
As soon as I stepped down, I spoke to the Butler who had come out to greet us.
“The man walking in from the Main Gate—once he arrives at the mansion, guide him to the Drawing Room.”
“Yes, mistress.”
I entered the Drawing Room and sat down side by side with Shan.
Perhaps walking up took longer than expected, because a significant amount of time passed before the man finally appeared.
The man still kept his head bowed low.
He didn’t even ask if he could take a seat.
Unable to watch him flounder any longer, I spoke up first.
“Sit down.”
Only then did he take a seat across from us. Even so, he hesitated for a long time before his hips touched the sofa.
He then held out the pouch with both hands, offering it to me.
I didn’t take it.
“I won’t take that back. I didn’t give it to you; I gave it to Tommy.”
“We cannot accept this. How could we dare, after what I did to you, Baroness?”
“I found out the whole story while investigating Princess Lucretia’s maid.”
Princess Lucretia had apparently been searching for a poor, young child with a sick family member from the very beginning.
Pretending to offer charity, she paid for the medicine a few times, and then ordered the boy—who followed her faithfully and seemed tight-lipped—to throw the stones.
She had even demanded that he must aim for the horse’s eyes if possible.
Since she kept providing money for the medicine, the Princess must have been a savior to Tommy’s family.
When the savior’s maid brought Tommy’s blood-stained shoes and Sindy’s identification tag, they had no choice but to believe it.
In reality, they had merely brought shoes belonging to a child of a similar build to Tommy, and the blood was just pig’s blood.
This man had been thoroughly deceived as well.
All because he had a weakness called a sick family.
“Don’t worry about your pride. Isn’t your daughter’s life far more important than your pride?”
My words came out sharp, but I had no intention of softening them.
Tommy’s Father gripped the pouch tightly.
“What can I do for you? I will do absolutely anything you command.”
It was the voice of a man who had learned that goodwill never came without a price.
Yet, the money for the medicine I gave wasn’t out of goodwill.
“Anyone who sees something precious naturally wants to preserve it. That is how I viewed your paternal love.”
If my own parents had been in his situation, would they have been that enraged upon realizing I had vanished and died?
They would have searched for the culprit for the sake of the clan’s honor. However, they would have first calculated whether they could extract any profit from the person who harmed me.
They might have used my death as a bargaining chip, perhaps securing something in exchange for a pardon.
But this man was different.
Even though he knew harming the Nobility could lead to the gallows, he still threw eggs at me. He tried to retrieve even his son’s corpse, even if it meant threatening me.
In the face of paternal love, even the terror of death was powerless.
“There is no need for you to do anything. Just keep living for your children like that. And I will send a doctor, so have your daughter’s health re-examined.”
“Ugh…”
Leaving the sobbing man behind, I rose from my seat.
Shan stood up with me.
As I walked toward the door with him, the man’s voice rang out.
“My name is Hans, Baroness.”
The man stood up, pressed his hat to his chest, and bowed deeply to offer his respects.
“I will never forget this kindness for the rest of my life. If I can ever repay it, I surely will. I am truly sorry, and so incredibly grateful.”
Without offering an answer, I walked outside.
I instructed the Butler to put Hans in a laborer’s carriage and send him on his way once he came out.
Returning to my room, I leaned against the Terrace and watched the carriage drive away from the mansion.
“Amarynthis.”
Standing quietly beside me, Shan called out to me softly.
By my name.
Startled, I turned my head, and he gently brushed aside my hair fluttering in the wind.
“Won’t you come to the Southern Region with me?”
The Southern Region? Why the Southern Region all of a sudden?
As I tilted my head, Shan parted his lips to speak.
But before he could utter a sound, a knock interrupted us.
“Baron, Prince Kildian has sent word requesting your presence at the Hunter’s Shelter.”

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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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