My Contract Husband Demands a Divorce - Chapter 85

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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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Gunter, the Order Commander; Dietrich, the Archon; and Klaus, the Grand Butler, gathered once more in the same room.
It was all because of a single piece of paper that Papilion had discovered.
“I found this after slipping into Scheit Huniswald’s room in secret.”
He placed the paper down on the table where the three men sat.
#∞& {} ♂◆ !≠ #■# ◐■◇ ★○ (■◇ ✰∞ ↑≠≥ ♂■ #∵ ↓}! ♂§ (∞
It was Order Commander Gunter who first recognized what the paper, filled with a long string of incomprehensible symbols, actually was.
“A cipher.”
“Precisely.”
The butler stared intently down at the cipher text, then raised his head with a gentle smile.
“But slipping in secret, Advisor? They are still guests staying at the mansion, after all.”
Dietrich, who had been working until dawn before being suddenly summoned, bared his prickly temperament with a frown.
“Guests, my foot. Frankly, I don’t understand why you treat those bastards so well, Butler.”
“That is a butler’s duty.”
“Even so, aren’t they just Prince Kildian’s lackeys?”
His tone was sharp.
The elderly grand butler merely maintained his amiable, good-natured smile.
Gunter looked back and forth between the two before speaking to Dietrich.
“You’re sensitive.”
Dietrich flinched slightly.
Letting out a sigh, he wiped his face roughly with his hands, then swept his hair back neatly.
“My apologies, Butler. You know how it is. I’ve had so much work lately that I barely sleep.”
“I understand. It is no exaggeration to say that you, Archon, are bearing nearly the entire burden of His Grace the Archduke’s absence.”
“And on top of that, we have those people here. Prince Kildian’s lackeys keep wandering around, which makes my nerves even more frayed. Whenever they come near the study where the important documents are kept, I instinctively bristle… Whew. When on earth are they leaving? I thought their relief efforts were finished.”
“I cannot say for certain, but we cannot simply throw guests out, can we? The more the Archduke is away, the more care we must take not to mistreat anyone.”
The conversation went back and forth a few more times.
Dietrich found the presence of the new guests, particularly Scheit Huniswald, incredibly grating.
The butler kept a pleasant smile as he soothed the irritable archon.
Gunter, as always, listened to the two speak with an expressionless face that revealed nothing of his thoughts.
Papilion observed the three men closely.
The only people who could access Yulisian’s movements were these three.
Among them, the butler was the only one who had heard about the destination directly from Yulisian.
He was also the one showing the greatest hospitality to the Huniswald couple.
Though he wished to disbelieve it, the circumstances pointed to the butler as the traitor.
But why on earth?
The butler had raised Yulisian ever since he was a young child.
He had been the dearest friend of the master whom Yulisian trusted and followed.
It was impossible to fathom what could possess such a man to turn traitor.
Right then, the butler reached for the cipher text.
“May I take this with me?”
The room fell instantly silent.
They all knew that Yulisian had been ambushed.
They knew his destination had been leaked from the inside. Though they suspected a traitor among them, turning on one another in Yulisian’s absence would destroy the fabric of the archduchy.
Because they were longtime comrades who had served together for years, they were gritting their teeth, maintaining trust, and keeping the balance.
Yet the butler—the most likely suspect—had just offered to take the cipher text.
Dietrich reached out.
“I cannot allow that, Butler.”
He crumpled the cipher text.
“We can’t read it anyway, so let’s just burn it.”
“Decipher.”
“There’s no one who can do it anyway.”
The butler shook his head and extended his hand, asking for the paper.
“It may be impossible right now, but having a directive written in cipher fall into our hands is a massive gain. If we can decipher this, it means we will be able to read Prince Kildian’s other directives as well.”
“How do you expect to decipher anything from just a single line?”
As Dietrich’s tone sharpened, Gunter threw in a word from the side.
“Rude.”
“……”
The butler lowered his hand with an apologetic smile.
“This old man seems to have caused unnecessary strife. You may burn it, Archon.”
“No. I just, sigh…”
Dietrich set the cipher text back down on the table.
Seeing the atmosphere heat up, Papilion felt uneasy, worried he had needlessly driven a wedge between his comrades.
As he repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists, the butler took the cipher text once more.
“I shall attempt a deciphering, and if it fails, I will bring it back.”
The butler stood up from his seat.
“Then I shall excuse myself first. Good night to you all.”
Click.
The door closed with a quiet sound.
Silence settled over the room.
No one dared to voice their suspicions about the butler.
However, Papilion guessed that the exact same doubt was taking root in everyone’s minds.
Gunter’s low voice echoed in the quiet room.
“Apologize.”
“…Yeah.”
Feeling uncomfortable, Papilion bit his lip nervously before speaking.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, Papilion, you have nothing to be sorry for. If something like that turns up, it’s only right to bring it in. If you had hidden it, you would have been the one suspected.”
Dietrich pulled on his white cotton gloves, swept his hair back, and rose from his seat.
“Well, I still have some work left to finish.”
Gunter stood up right after him.
“Training.”
Papilion’s room emptied in an instant.
He let out another deep sigh, staring at the three empty seats across from him.
Suspecting a comrade was a miserable thing.
Yet he could not put it off just because it was painful.
The contents of the cipher text Amarynthis had crafted read: ‘The southern dog has outlived its usefulness, so kill it.’
And Scheit Huniswald, who had been in possession of that cipher text, was a man who handled Prince Kildian’s dirty work.
His was a name that cropped up every time Yulisian investigated Kildian, so everyone knew it.
If the one colluding with Kildian was among those three, the moment they deciphered the text, they would try to eliminate Scheit Huniswald first.
Otherwise, their own life would be forfeit.
Before long, that rock-solid trust would likely crack.
The plan born from Amarynthis’s mind was swift, precise, and entirely ruthless.
* * *
Ever since the day Papilion leaked the cipher text, I hadn’t been able to sleep.
Yulisian had confidently promised that no matter which of the three came, he wouldn’t get hurt, but human affairs were inherently unpredictable.
In the dead of night, I grabbed a crossbow and knocked on his bedroom door.
“Come in.”
When I opened the door, Yulisian was just pushing himself up.
“My word. I never dreamed my wife would turn into an intruder.”
Ignoring his playful banter, I walked over to his side and hid the crossbow under the bed.
“I’m sleeping here with you from tonight onward.”
“You truly have no fear, my lady.”
“Weren’t you calling me a coward just a while ago?”
“Ever since the monster incident, you’ve become worryingly brave, and I was just thinking it might be a problem.”
I had grown a bit braver.
Even I thought I had developed some nerve.
In the past, let alone coming to find him with a crossbow, I wouldn’t have even wanted to use the same floor and would have fled to the villa.
“…It’s thanks to you.”
“My fault, no doubt.”
“Aren’t you proud of me for becoming brave? Don’t you find it commendable?”
“How do you feel about it?”
“I—I am proud of myself.”
“Then that is enough. I am simply worried.”
He pulled my arm, guiding me to lie down beside him.
I faced him at a distance that was neither too close nor too far, just within arm’s reach.
A long, pale hand reached out to sweep the hair from my face.
“Worried that you might get hurt. Terrified that something might go wrong. That is my concern.”
“……”
Even in the dark, I felt like my flushed face would be visible.
I pulled the blanket all the way over my head.
Yulisian didn’t tug the blanket back down.
A long silence settled over us. We lay there, listening only to the sound of each other’s breathing until the night grew deep.
Then, shattering the peaceful quiet, the window rattled with a faint click.
Yulisian pulled the blanket tight, covering my body completely.
Someone stepped into the room, stifling their noise.
Thud, thud.
Slow, cautious footsteps approached the bed.
I felt Yulisian slip his hand between the mattress and the headboard.
The presence drew closer and closer, and the moment the footsteps finally stopped—
Crash!
Yulisian threw his body forward, pinning the intruder down.
The dagger of Archduke Yulisian, which he had begun using since the monster incident, was pressed against the overturned traitor’s throat.
Pressing his knee into the traitor’s back, Yulisian yanked off the hood.
I had been certain it would be the butler.
But the man pinned beneath Yulisian was Dietrich, the Archon.

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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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