Surviving as the Wife of the Swordsmanship Clan’s Troublemaker - Chapter 122

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 122

Black mist descended thick and heavy upon the room.
Soon the darkness lifted, and an uninvited guest took his place.
It was Johannes, draped in the guise of human flesh.
Upon discovering Hallara sleeping upon the bed, his lips curved upward.
“Found you.”
He gazed down at Hallara, slumbering peacefully upon the mattress, then slowly leaned closer. His platinum hair cascaded down, nearly brushing against her cheek.
There she was—the one I had searched for so desperately. My gaze, burning with fervent heat, swept across her as though binding her in place.
I reached out as if enchanted. But the moment my yearning fingertips were about to touch her cheek—
Crack!
With a burst of crimson sparks, Johannes’s hand was repelled.
His eyes contorted in an instant. Though invisible to mortal sight, Hallara’s body was enveloped in layers of intricate protective barriers woven from seven-star auras.
“How presumptuous—a mere human dares to leash what is mine.”
He moved his fingers.
Crackle—the barrier tore away like gossamer threads, powerless in Johannes’s grasp.
“Lara.”
My gaze settled upon Hallara, defenseless in sleep upon the bed.
She rested like a princess from a fairy tale, peaceful and serene.
Yet Hallara originally suffered from insomnia.
To fall asleep in this strange place—surrounded by the nauseating stench of detestable humans, no less.
“Lara.”
I called her name once more, my voice tinged with both irritation and resentment.
Her failure to answer my calls was transgression enough, but to sleep with such serene composure in the very heart of an enemy stronghold bordered on cardinal sin.
Yet again, she did not stir. So I extended my pale hand.
My glacially cold fingertips carefully brushed aside the strands of hair that fell across her cheek.
“…Mmm.”
Only then did Hallara, lost in slumber, furrow her brow and shift restlessly. As her shallow breath touched my fingertips, I exhaled in relief.
Though I could not feel the warmth of human flesh, I sensed her through her unique essence.
“Why haven’t you answered my calls all this time?”
I drew my face close to her sleeping ear, my voice wet and trembling as I whispered.
“Now that I’m here, everything will be fine.”
Just as I was rubbing my cheek against hers, seeking to feel her complete essence—
My hand froze in mid-air.
Something was different.
This was not the essence I had always sensed from Hallara.
Gone was the blood-scent that had always emanated from her, the resentment, the fury.
Instead, there lingered a clarity so pure it felt almost innocent.
“This is…”
My eyes sank into fathomless depths.
A memory I had forgotten—or perhaps deliberately tried to forget—bloomed to the surface in that moment.
At the careful footsteps echoing from beyond the door, Johannes turned his head.
“Hallara, you precious thing.”
At the woman’s whispered voice from outside the door, Johannes’s brow furrowed.
“Cardia.”
A powerfully palpable, acrid aura.
It mingled with the scent of Bloodmere’s blood and seeped into the room.
Catching Cardia’s scent, Johannes clawed at his throat.
“…Wretches gathering together.”
“What? You’re not already asleep, are you?!”
A knock on the door followed. No matter how formidable Cardia was, killing a single frail woman would be no difficult task.
But causing a commotion here would be tantamount to provoking the Duke of Cardia lurking nearby.
He gazed down at his own fingers.
From expending vast quantities of mana, the tips of his fingers had hardened black.
Attacking Cardia with such a feeble human body would be futile.
Click.
Elise carefully turned the door handle. Johannes withdrew the aura he’d been gathering toward the door and redirected his gaze to Hallara.
“…I’ll come for you.”
He whispered to the sleeping Hallara. In the next instant, his body scattered into black mist and vanished completely into the darkness.
“Hallara? Oh dear, I’m sorry. You must have been exhausted. Already asleep, I see.”
Upon discovering Hallara sleeping soundly, Elise murmured to herself before her footsteps halted abruptly.
On the bed, Hallara lay breathing softly in slumber. Yet the air in the room was enveloped in an unfamiliar, chilling aura.
“What is this? This ominous presence?”
Elise’s gaze turned toward the window standing wide open.
Only the biting winter wind rushed through the slightly ajar gap.
​
***
​
I yawned and forced my heavy eyelids open.
Had I overexerted myself yesterday?
My entire body felt oddly heavy, like a water-logged sponge.
My shoulders ached as though I’d been pinned by nightmares all night, and one arm tingled with pins and needles.
“Hmm?”
Something felt wrong, so I pulled back the blanket.
“Mmmph. Nom nom smack smack meat… yum…”
Elise was sprawled across my arm, sleeping soundly.
“M-Miss Elise!”
Her carefully brushed hair had become delightfully disheveled, and she continued her sleep-talking with evident contentment.
“My meat… meat.”
Even in her dreams, she was still eating meat.
“Miss Elise, wake up!”
I shook her shoulder in alarm, and Elise’s eyes fluttered open, her hair sticking up in all directions like a bird’s nest.
“Huh? Where did my meat go? It was right in front of me just now?”
“You were dreaming. But what are you doing in my room? If the Duke finds out you weren’t in your own, won’t you get scolded?”
She’d come to visit, but if she was caught here like this, she’d definitely be in trouble.
Elise then glanced around quickly, piecing together the situation. It seemed she’d finally remembered why she was here.
“Oh, I think it’s fine now.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I actually came to visit and chat because I wanted to thank you, but I felt something eerie and strange in this room. So I stayed here because I was worried something might happen to you… but the bed was so comfortable that I just fell asleep. Hehe.”
She laughed while scratching the back of her head.
“You felt something eerie?”
“Yeah. It was a feeling hard to put into words. Really, it’s the kind of thing you can’t explain… anyway, that’s what it was. But it seems fine now.”
Elise surveyed the room.
“Thank you.”
I wasn’t sure what she’d sensed, but it was clear she’d opened her heart to me.
“Oh, come on. It’s nothing. Besides, the bed was so comfortable I slept like a log. What is this bed? It’s on a completely different level from the one in the guest room.”
She bounced playfully on the mattress.
“Mother-in-law gave it to me as a gift.”
“The Duchess? She seemed the most rigid, but she’s changed the most. Really.”
Elise grinned mischievously and patted my back.
“Hmm~ I see. Not a single creak, and the elasticity is incredible. So this is what they put in a newlywed couple’s room?”
“N-No, what are you saying!”
“It won’t give way no matter what happens all night! The Duchess really selected something sturdy and excellent for her daughter-in-law!”
“That’s not it! What are you talking about!”
My face flushed crimson like a tomato in an instant, and she rolled across the bed giggling.
“Embarrassed, are you! That man, I mean that prince recently awakened too. With that stamina, a bed like this is essential! You’ve got a good mother-in-law.”
“Miss Elise!”
This girl, who’s never even been in love, knows more than me, a middle-aged woman.
After bickering with her for a while, I sighed and glanced around the room.
Speaking of which, Docheop, who promised to stay by my side last night, had vanished the moment I fell asleep—presumably to meet with Casio.
“My lady!”
Just then, the door burst open and May came tumbling in, breathless.
“My lady! You’re awake… wait, the Crown Prince’s sister? Where did the young master go, and why are you here…?”
“May, that’s what I’d like to know. Where did the young master go?”
At my question, May’s face went pale as she cried out.
“Oh no, that’s not even the problem! Last night, a massive horde of demons attacked the outer reaches of the Dominion, so the young master Docheop went there!”
“What? A demon horde?”
Demons in the Dominion?
That meant the barrier had collapsed.
“Where is it? I need to go too.”
I had to follow him. If there was anything I could help with…
“No, my lady.”
But May blocked my path.
Then she delivered another piece of news.
“We have a guest at the Castle. Now that all the young masters are away, only the Mother-in-law and I can receive them.”
“A guest? All of a sudden?”
“Someone from the Northern Empire has arrived.”
“The Northern Empire?”
The very place at war with Bloodmere right now?
“Yes. The Crown Prince himself has come.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————