My Contract Husband Demands a Divorce - Chapter 77

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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 carriage jolted.
It was the same seat where she had sat beside Shan, her heart fluttering as if they were going on a trip, but now she was alone.
It felt bleak.
This is right. I cannot die in a place like that.
My choice is the best one, and his choice is foolish.
She kept repeating those words to herself. She squeezed her eyes shut.
Sindy always said she could throw away her life for the sake of love.
The memory of Shan’s eyes surfaced, looking at her while calling her a ‘precious person.’
Love?
Yes, perhaps that was it.
The moment she heard Kildian’s question asking if she loved him, she had admitted it.
She liked him. Her heart raced, fluttering, and for the first time she realized that the emotions she had only ever seen in the romance novels Sindy raved about actually existed.
But throwing your life away over a single feeling like that is just stupid.
Then why am I so dissatisfied?
Choosing safety is the right thing to do; this is clearly the correct answer.
Yet when she recalled that firmly set back, her heart burned so hot it pained her.
She buried her face in her hands.
And after a moment, she finally flung the window open.
“Stop the carriage!”
The carriage ground to a halt, and unrest stirred among the crowd.
The servants’ faces were pale with fear, while the mercenaries bore hardened expressions.
It felt as though if she urged them to turn back, they would either abandon her or cut her down right then and there.
Amarynthis climbed down from the carriage and threw open all the doors of the supply wagon.
She racked her brain, frantically pulling out everything that could serve as a weapon, medicinal herbs for treatment, and pillows and long cloths that could hold cotton for stopping blood.
Think. Think.
What I can do right now.
What I can make use of.
By the time she had unloaded all the goods, her thoughts were settled.
She straightened her back once more.
“Load all of this onto the wagon carrying the relief goods.”
At her command, the servants and maids moved hesitantly. Volkas, the mercenary captain, stepped forward.
“What do you think you’re doing right now?”
“We haven’t gone far. We’re going back.”
“You’re insane. The two of you are out of your minds.”
“I’m not asking you to come with me.”
“Are you planning to go back alone and throw your life away for some petty sense of justice? When you’re trembling so much you can’t even stand properly?”
Only then did she look down at her own body.
Her arms, legs, chin, and even her hands were all shivering in a pitiful display.
It was a sight a perfect noblewoman should never show to others, but she could not hide it.
“What can a baroness even do if she goes back there?”
“I know. But, but this feels like the right thing to do.”
“…….”
“I can’t just leave him to die alone, so what else am I supposed to do?”
She turned around.
“Everyone, take as much as you want from inside the carriage. Consider that the remainder of the payment for this commission.”
She spoke to the servants and maids who were hesitating after moving all the luggage.
“You all, too. Take anything that looks valuable. You may return to the Huniswald Mansion, or you may head to your hometowns.”
No one moved. Amarynthis walked over to the supply wagon, pulled out the most expensive jewel, and approached Volkas.
Then she pressed it into his hand.
“What’s this.”
Volkas asked in a gruff voice.
“It’s the most expensive gemstone among everything here.”
“What, you expect me to take this and head back to Glenmoor with you? Ha! Keep dreaming.”
“No. Accept a commission.”
Recalling the lords who had entrusted Rutshield Bank with the proxy payment of signal fire maintenance tax and the locations of the territories they ruled, she raised a finger and pointed east.
“Ride a horse thirty minutes east from here. There is a signal fire station there.”
“…….”
She handed him the official order sent by the Imperial Family, a pouch of money, and the handkerchief with Rootsild Seal.
“Give them these and tell them to light the fire. Mark it as an emergency. Say that the Huniswald Baron and Baroness, who were heading south under imperial orders, have been taken hostage in an enemy invasion. The location is Glenmoor, a small village about three hours away by carriage, northwest of the canyon.”
If she were to go to Kleins herself to deliver the word, it would take an entire day just to get there; if luck was against her, it would take days to navigate the procedures and meet with the duchess’s clan chief manager, and another day to return.
It would consume far too much time.
However, a signal fire is faster than a horse.
Not just anyone could light it, but with the imperial decree and the Rootsild Family seal, they would ignite the signal fire immediately.
It would take only a few hours for the smoke to reach Kleins. If Kleins saw the signal fire and moved immediately, it would take a day.
If they moved on warhorses, it would be around ten hours.
She only needed to hold out for that long.
“Lighting a signal fire isn’t a dangerous task, so you’ll accept the commission, right?”
“Damn it.”
Volkas snatched what she held out.
He struck his own forehead repeatedly with his palm, cursing under his breath, before turning around and shoving everything he had received into someone else’s hands.
“Hey, clerk. You’re the sharpest and you ride the best, so you go.”
“Captain?”
“Hurry up and move!”
Grit his teeth, the clerk turned his horse’s head and shook the reins.
A single horse swiftly sprinted away into the distance.
It didn’t matter who went, as long as someone did. Now that she had confirmed the departure, she had to head to Glenmoor. She turned back toward the supply wagon.
A few items were missing, and the only people remaining were two servants and a single maid.
Paying them no mind, she walked up to the driver’s seat.
“I will drive the carriage.”
“No, Baroness. I shall escort you to our destination.”
“…Thank you.”
The coachman tipped his hat in greeting and gripped the reins tightly.
The servants pushed the luggage aside to clear a space inside the carriage.
“We will escort you, Baroness.”
“Please, get inside.”
Just as she was about to climb into the carriage, several heavy footsteps surrounded the vehicle.
Volkas and about ten mercenaries had readied their weapons and mounted their horses, encircling the carriage as if to guard it.
“People who don’t even know how to hold a sword are walking right into that monster’s den, for Christ’s sake… how can men who claim to have rolled around in war fields just run away? It’s embarrassing.”
As she stood frozen with wide eyes, he turned around and barked an order.
“Those who are leaving, take the wounded and go! Only those who are staying, fall in.”
Complaints erupted from all around.
“Damn it, we got caught up in something terrible this time.”
“I never should have followed this bastard of a captain.”
“No wonder the pay was so damn high, it was the price of our lives.”
Even as they grumbled, every single one of them drew their weapons.
Beneath the gloomy sky, the cold metal gleamed sharply.
A sense of justice had spread through this small group like a plague.
Yet, unlike a plague, it wasn’t painful. It was terrifying, but it wasn’t shameful.
Even if she died, it felt as though it wouldn’t be in vain.
“Let’s go.”
The carriage turned around.
The wheels began to roll back toward Glenmoor.
Silence enveloped the inside of the jolting carriage.
As they entered the canyon, some people began to regret their choice.
She simply sat there, staring out the window.
Right then, a crimson glow flared between the trees.
The moment the thought flashed through her mind that there might be a demonic beast that had awakened early just like before, the beast lunged at the carriage before anyone could even scream.
“Aaargh!”
“Gah!”
“The weapons aren’t working!! We can’t pierce it!!”
“Run away!”
The weapons aren’t working?
Like a survival instinct, the memory of when she first saw a demonic beast came flooding back. Back then, Shan’s dagger couldn’t pierce the beast’s hide either, but when the monk chanted the prayer, the blade tore through its flesh.
“Oh, my master Bartes. Grant that this ferocious flesh, born from the hands of an insidious servant, may be cloven by your grace……”
The moment she began to recite the ‘Prayer for the Extinction of Evil,’ a faint light began to seep out from the middle of the supply wagon.
The shriek of the demonic beast echoed from outside.
A servant dug through the luggage and pulled out the glowing object.
It was the stone that Saint Karkov had held for a hundred days.
The useless stone she had bought simply because she wanted to go home quickly was now sustaining the lives of everyone here.
The servants and maids held hands in a circle.
Soon, they began to follow along, chanting the prayer she was reciting.
“Touch the soul stained with evil with the radiance of light, and thus let the ultimate poison become the ultimate medicine, and the curse become a blessing……”
Outside, the commotion stirred once more.
“Its movements have slowed down!”
“The blades are cutting through!”
“It worked, it worked! Shoot the arrows!”
Thud.
With a sharp screech, the ground vibrated once, and the carriage began to roll forward again.
“Reform the formation! We move out again.”
She recited every single prayer she knew.
She dragged out every prayer she had been forced to memorize while attending the Department of Theology.
Her throat ached and her cheeks felt stiff.
Though the carriage occasionally jolted and grew chaotic, she kept praying alongside the servants and maids, staring only at the light of the holy stone.
So that the holy stone would not lose its light during the three-hour journey to Glenmoor.
In the midst of it all, a small village began to appear in the distance.

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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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