My Contract Husband Demands a Divorce - 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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“Shan! Where are you, Shan!”
I called out for him frantically as I galloped along, but no answer came.
He must have already gone quite far.
The sun sets much faster in the woods.
In just a little while, the surroundings would be plunged into total darkness.
A wild beast could leap out at any moment from anywhere.
Think. I need to think….
The easiest way to evade hunting hounds is to erase your scent.
There was nothing nearby with a pungent fragrance.
Instead, the sound of rushing water caught my ear.
I headed toward the noise and spotted a stream.
The current didn’t seem particularly swift.
There was a high probability he had moved along the waterway to mask his scent.
Turning my horse around, I rode up along the bank and shouted.
“Shan!!”
Right then, the rustling of bushes sounded from right beside me.
Fearing it might be a predator, I instinctively gripped the reins tight.
“If you shout like that, the wild beasts will hear you, Amarynthis.”
The moment Shan showed himself, I jumped down from my horse.
He looked like a drowned rat.
As a cold gust blew past, his entire frame shuddered.
“What would you have done if you really just vanished!”
“Well, I couldn’t exactly afford to be caught back there, could I?”
“Even so… what if Kildian had actually ordered those hounds to tear you to pieces? What then?”
“That is why I conducted myself carefully so as not to be caught.”
“Sigh….”
It had been a long time. That familiar feeling of my blood pressure rising and the back of my neck stiffening.
It was a sensation I had rarely experienced ever since he stopped relentlessly hounding me for a divorce.
When I squeezed my eyes shut and huffed in frustration, Shan gently patted my back.
My dress grew damp from his wet hands.
“…Please, just stop doing such reckless things.”
“What about Kildian? Why are you out here alone?”
Shan brazenly shifted the subject.
I was so accustomed to this by now that I missed my chance to even be dumbfounded.
“It was resolved reasonably well. Let’s go back.”
I mounted the horse first, and then he climbed up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“By the way, what did you mean back there about going to the Southern Region together?”
“Just because. It was nothing.”
“What? How disappointing.”
Even as I grumbled, Shan merely offered a soft smile.
* * *
A few days later, an Order arrived from Kildian.
It wasn’t written in cipher, but was an official document approved by the Emperor himself.
It stated that since exploitation was rampant in the Southern Region’s border areas, we were to go and conduct relief efforts in the name of Prince Kildian.
Furthermore, another piece of paper was tucked inside the envelope.
It was a set of Directives written in cipher.
Perhaps because he had grown accustomed to the codes while deciphering the Notebook, Shan read the Directives easily now without even consulting the Cipher Table.
“It is an instruction to head down to the Southern Region and ascertain whether Archduke Yulisian Kleinheits is alive or dead.”
“So the relief activities are just a smokescreen.”
My name was being bandied about the Social Circles day after day because of the matter involving Princess Lucretia.
On top of that, I had been sticking close to Shan recently. If I suddenly started traveling alone, people would surely gossip about where my husband had gone.
It seemed Kildian had fabricated the pretext of ‘relief work’ out of fear that his political rivals might discover he was moving his subordinates.
“It says we are to depart immediately. I must prepare.”
“I’m going with you.”
“There may be danger involved.”
“Don’t worry. I will absolutely never involve myself in anything hazardous. I value my own life quite a lot, you know.”
“You value it so much that it’s practically a flaw.”
I stared at him sullenly, but he merely brushed it off with a smile.
Then, as if he had been waiting for this very moment, he went back to his room and began packing his bags.
Leaving the household chores to the maids, I followed him to watch him pack.
His clothes were already neatly arranged, looking exactly like those of someone who knew they would have to travel far away.
“Did you know that an instruction to go to the Southern Region would be issued?”
“Papilion Cortius went down to the Southern Region yesterday. As he left, he scattered rumors here and there that Archduke Yulisian Kleinheits had recovered and was returning. Kildian must have caught wind of that information.”
“…Do the people in the Southern Region know? That Scheit attacked Archduke Yulisian Kleinheits?”
“Probably?”
Won’t we just get lynched the moment we arrive?
Whether he read the hesitation written across my face, he let out a chuckle.
“If you are anxious, stay in the Capital. I can go by myself.”
“No. I am going with you.”
With Kildian so hell-bent on destroying Shan, I couldn’t possibly send him off alone.
Of course, the moment my own life was in jeopardy, I would ruthlessly abandon him and run away.
Even so, it was better for the two of us to go together.
If I stayed behind in the Capital by myself, I would probably just waste away doing nothing while waiting for his letters.
Though I had no idea what the Southern Region people’s reaction would be, I decided to pack some bribes first.
We ought to take everything we could carry. Surely some of it would prove useful as a bribe. Whatever was left over could be sold off in the South to supplement our Relief Goods.
Leaving Shan’s room, I took the servants with me to the Storehouse.
At first, I tried selecting items one by one, but at this rate, the sun would rise before we finished, so I gave up on being selective.
“Load everything on this side of the wall into the carriage.”
The servants moved in a tireless blur.
Having finished his own packing, Shan came to my side and watched the bustling servants.
“You are overdoing it again today, Baroness.”
“Well, since I don’t know the other party’s tastes. Surely there will be at least one thing among these that strikes their fancy.”
Shan chuckled softly and extended his hand toward me.
“If you are ready as well, Baroness, let us depart.”
* * *
The Huniswald Barony did not possess its own Order of Knights.
However, traveling down to the Southern Region without any escort was out of the question, so we hastily hired a mercenary Guild.
At the very front was the mercenaries’ carriage, followed by the carriage carrying Shan and me, then two wagons loaded with the items from the Storehouse and the Relief Goods, and finally, another mercenary carriage bringing up the rear.
It turned out to be a much longer procession than I had anticipated.
I kept peering out the window continuously.
The scenery of the Capital was gradually receding into the distance.
To tell the truth, my heart fluttered a little. Because of Shan’s relentless divorce onslaught, I hadn’t been able to leave the Capital, let alone go on a journey, for quite some time.
“Anyone watching would think we were going on a picnic.”
My excitement must have been written too transparently across my face.
Embarrassed, I let out a fake cough and corrected my posture.
“If we utilize the stations belonging to the Rootsild Family and the Imperial Family, we can keep swapping horses and ride continuously, so it shouldn’t even take two weeks to reach the Southern Region.”
“Provided we don’t encounter bandits along the way or get caught in the rain, that should be the case.”
Fortunately, no such misfortunes befell us.
We made steady, safe progress toward the Southern Region, resting at intervals.
We sat together reading books, drifted off to sleep leaning against each other, played chess, or engaged in word games.
Of course, Shan never managed to defeat me even once.
“You lost again, didn’t you? What should the penalty be this time… If carrots are served at lunch today, you have to eat them all for me, Shan.”
“Oh dear. Are you still a picky eater?”
“If I can avoid eating them, it’s better not to.”
“Eating them when you can is good for your health.”
“That’s why I’m letting you eat plenty of them. A penalty that makes you healthier—how sweet is that?”
Shan shook his head as if conceding defeat.
We were exchanging such trivial banter when suddenly, the carriage ground to a halt.
It was just like this when Hans blocked the Main Gate last time.
Is someone obstructing the road again?
I wondered, and indeed, someone really was blocking our path.
The mercenaries at the front approached and knocked on our window.
When I lowered the glass, Volkas, the mercenary captain, spoke with a troubled expression.
“Baroness, the path is narrow, but a person is lying right in the middle of it, so we cannot pass.”
“A person?”
This was a secluded hunter’s shelter of a path.
Since it wasn’t a properly cleared road, it was so narrow that a carriage could barely squeeze through.
Yet a person was lying right in the dead center of that path?
Shan seemed equally perplexed, as he stepped down from the carriage.
When I walked forward alongside him, the mercenaries surrounded us protectively as they followed.
Feeling entirely secure, I wasn’t particularly frightened.
As I tried to step closer to get a better look, Shan caught my hand.
“Do not get too close.”
“All right.”
Nodding, I observed the man collapsed face down from a slight distance away.
Just how long had he been wandering around? His blanket was utterly filthy, and strands of hair spilled out from beneath his hood.
Unable to approach and wake him directly, I called out from where I stood.
“Excuse me. The person lying there?”
As if reacting to my voice, the man twitched. After tossing and turning for a good while, he finally pushed himself up.
As his hooded cloak fell open, the man’s attire was revealed.
Most unexpectedly, he was wearing the robes of a Monk.

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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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