The Fake Wife of the Strongest Husband Wants to Survive - Chapter 30

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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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Chapter 30
Yet it seemed Io failed to notice the subtle upturn at the corners of Pesha’s lips.
“Don’t talk nonsense. The Purification Power you can extract from herbs is negligible at best. Besides, you’re an ordinary person who can’t use Purification at all, let alone general magic!”
Io’s sharp rebuttal sent a ripple of commotion through the Party Venue.
Pesha glanced around at the unsettled guests and spoke with a smile.
“Whether it works or not—we’ll find out once sales begin. What exactly is your complaint, Io?”
“Purification is my life’s calling. How could I stand by while someone exploits that calling to commit fraud?”
Io had begun by questioning whether the potion could be trusted, but now she was painting Pesha outright as a charlatan.
“I’m an expert in Purification, so I know full well. Every application drains enormous vitality, and the manifestation technique is extremely complex. This isn’t something to be taken lightly.”
Pesha tilted her head at that.
“Is that so? Then I’ll simply refund anyone who doesn’t see results.”
“Pardon?”
“You’re worried I’m using Purification to defraud people, yes? So wouldn’t the solution be to offer refunds to those who purchase the potion and see no effect?”
Io and everyone nearby fell into stunned silence, whispering among themselves.
“You’re saying you’ll refund a potion that’s already been used?”
“Yes. But only if there’s no effect.”
“That’s absolutely—”
“I’m that confident.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Refund requests would pour in and you’d take a loss. Why cling to such stubbornness?”
“Whether it’s stubbornness or not—isn’t that good news for you?”
Pesha genuinely could not fathom Io’s reaction.
“If Purification is truly your calling, shouldn’t you be pleased that something has appeared to aid you in your mission? More people from all walks of life can now access Purification easily. So why are you so terrified and opposed to it?”
The truth was, the Empire had always suffered a shortage of Purification Mages, and the places where rare Purification Mages were dispatched were strictly limited.
If Io genuinely viewed Purification as her calling, she might have harbored doubts, but there was no reason to campaign so fiercely against the product before sales had even begun.
If the potion’s Purification Power was genuine and lives could be saved, it should have been cause for celebration.
“It’s quite strange, actually. From where I’m standing, it looks like you’re terrified that once Purification Potions become commonplace, your Rarity Value will disappear.”
“What—what did you just say?”
Caught red-handed in an instant, Io’s face flushed crimson.
“My apologies. Did I strike a nerve?”
Pesha glanced toward Fontloy as Io floundered.
It was impossible to continue bickering at someone else’s birthday celebration, so Pesha wrapped up the conversation tactfully.
“In any case, since you’re so unconvinced, I’ll gladly absorb the loss and offer refunds to anyone who sees no effect. Is that settled?”
Faced with a declaration that she would forfeit financial gain if the potion proved ineffective, even Io could find no rebuttal.
Fontloy, too, seemed briefly startled by the refund proposal, but as someone who had experienced the effect firsthand, he hardly seemed inclined to worry excessively.
Sure enough, he quickly cleared the air with a bold assurance.
“I understand the concern, truly. But I, having directly experienced this potion’s effect, can guarantee it.”
With Fontloy stepping in to vouch for her, and having felt the effect himself, Io had nothing further to say.
Pressing the matter further would make it look exactly as Pesha had claimed—that Io was motivated by anxiety over her own standing.
Unable to hide her frustration, Io whirled around sharply and stormed out of the Party Venue.
Clark followed her in evident anger, but that was all.
The guests’ attention quickly returned to Fontloy’s new business venture, the Sidoroka Potion.
Standing beside Fontloy as he fielded questions one after another, Pesha exhaled quietly.
‘I landed a blow, certainly. But what now?’
Setting aside the question of Io’s true nature—whom Pesha had believed to be her closest friend—the fact that she had just sparred with the female lead when she was supposed to be building bridges had created a thorny situation.
‘And more than that…’
Pesha’s eyes drifted toward Owen.
Still radiating his characteristic splendor, Owen caught her gaze immediately.
“Is something the matter?”
Is something the matter? Well, yes, actually.
Pesha shook her head, lost in thought.
‘My compatibility with the original narrative is abysmal, but Owen isn’t a bad person. Should I really go through with pairing him to someone so petty?’
For the first time since resolving to match Owen with Io, Pesha felt a pang—that Owen deserved better.
What was she to do? Yet neither could she simply continue a passionless marriage.
Now that her carefully laid relationship with Io lay in ruins, she and Io would become enemies just as in the original tale, making Owen a dangerous liability to keep near.
Her mind churned with conflicting urges: the desire to flee as soon as possible to distance herself from death, and uncertainty about Owen’s own wishes.
How long had she wrestled with this?
Unable to reach any simple conclusion, Pesha set aside her tangled thoughts and answered with a faint smile.
“It’s just—you look particularly handsome today.”
Having deflected with a weak jest, Pesha spent the rest of the evening fielding various inquiries about the potion, her answers scattered among the guests.
Save for the odd moment when Owen, her companion throughout the evening, seemed to malfunction and creak like broken machinery, the promotional event had been remarkably successful.
* * *
After concluding her moderately successful visit to the Capital and returning to her Fiefdom.
“Hmm…….”
Pesha stood watching the construction site before her.
The drainage ditch project, begun at Owen’s command, was meant to channel the meltwater from the coming winter in preparation for the cold months ahead.
By cutting such ditches into sloped terrain, there would be no risk of trouble from melting snow come late winter or early spring.
Moreover, mobilizing the Territory’s people for labor created jobs—a wise decision for a feudal lord to make.
‘A good lord with diligent subjects. That much is true, but…….’
After concluding the contract with the Fontloy Merchant Guild, the Sidoroka Potion flew off the shelves.
Yet the Guild seemed more inclined to use the Sidoroka for image-building than for profit, pricing it lower than the conventional Purification Potion and distributing it mainly throughout the Eastern Region, so sales had not been tremendous.
This meant Pesha was not raking in a vast fortune, nor could she afford to stop working for the rest of her life.
‘Besides, I’ve been funneling nearly all the profits back into the Fiefdom’s budget.’
Originally, this ditch project would have broken ground around next year due to budgetary constraints, but with the money Pesha had earned, it was proceeding this year instead.
It was far from meaningless income.
‘But I can’t rely on this kind of supplementary income forever. This Fiefdom needs the strength to stand on its own.’
The Territory could only thrive if its people prospered.
Pesha could not feed everyone by rushing about alone; she had to raise them up so they could earn their own livelihoods.
‘And only then will I survive.’
The gravest problem was that she and Io had fallen out, leaving her with no choice but to ride the express train straight to hell.
Her role as Cupid, binding Io and Owen together, was now worthless—so the only path left was to pour all her strength into saving the Fiefdom itself, to forestall the coming Villainess Pesha Subjugation Event.
‘In other words, borrowing directly from Owen without going through Io.’
For this to succeed, she needed to contribute enormously to the Fiefdom’s development—whether by exploiting hints she’d gleaned from the original story or by wringing ideas from her own mind.
Then, once she’d secured her wealth, she would divorce and flee to a foreign land.
That alone was her path to survival.

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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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