The Fake Wife of the Strongest Husband Wants to Survive - Chapter 50

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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 50
The hotel lobby where Pesha had just arrived by carriage was so crowded with people who’d flocked to the Capital for the Founding Festival that there was barely room to stand.
Servants hurried about here and there, bellhops carried luggage, and nobles lounged in the lobby sipping tea and laughing loudly—a lively, chaotic scene.
Pesha deliberately wore a bright smile as she approached the hotel counter, trying to erase the unpleasant memory of what had just happened at Duke Raidel’s Mansion.
But the manager’s expression had grown noticeably strained.
“Countess Namoi, I’m terribly sorry, but our room situation is quite difficult at the moment.”
“What do you mean?”
The manager wiped sweat from his brow with an apologetic expression and explained again.
“The Founding Festival is approaching, you see, so guests arriving from distant places have already booked every single room.”
“I made a reservation too.”
“Yes, of course, but there seems to have been an error on our part—we took reservations for more guests than we have rooms. Not only the standard suites but even the modest rooms are fully booked. At this moment, the only high-class room suitable for a count and countess is…….”
The manager hesitated and swallowed hard.
“Just one.”
It was bewildering.
She’d thought the reservation had gone through smoothly, but there was only a single room available.
“Truly no other rooms? We only need one more.”
When Pesha pressed the question, the manager’s face twisted with genuine distress before he reluctantly spoke.
“Yes. I’m deeply sorry, but that is the case. If you absolutely must have another room…….”
The manager hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth with great caution.
“There is a…… warehouse in the back of the hotel…….”
Pesha stood silent, her words catching in her throat as she listened.
A warehouse. It was so absurd she couldn’t even manage a bitter laugh.
How could he possibly suggest a warehouse to a count and countess?
Would he have offered the warehouse to any other nobleman in the same situation?
Pesha didn’t think he would have.
It was only because Owen came from a commoner’s background that the warehouse had left his lips. Whether it was indifference or rudeness, it was both.
Pesha was about to speak.
Then Owen, who had been quietly listening to the exchange beside her the whole time, spoke softly.
“It’s fine. Even a warehouse is acceptable. I’ll take it.”
Pesha turned sharply to look at Owen, startled.
“What on earth are you saying? A warehouse!”
“There are only a few days left until the Military Parade anyway. I’m accustomed to sleeping rough, and a warehouse is far better than the street. It doesn’t matter.”
“The street? Is that even something to say? If it comes to that, we should go to the Imperial Palace instead and ask them to arrange lodging. That would be better.”
The moment the words left her mouth, Pesha stopped herself with a sharp breath.
She’d come here to prevent something from happening on the day of the Military Parade—spending time in the Imperial Palace, the Emperor’s residence, made no sense whatsoever.
Besides, Owen seemed uncomfortable with the Imperial Palace, and Pesha felt the same way.
“A, another hotel perhaps…….”
“I was told all the other places were fully booked, which is why we booked here.”
“Ah…….”
As Pesha’s eyes darted about in confusion, Owen offered an alternative.
“Or I could stay with the knights. That should work, shouldn’t it?”
“Absolutely not!”
Pesha cried out before he’d even finished speaking.
‘There’s a traitor among those knights, and he’s going on about staying with them!’
She knew Owen wasn’t someone to be underestimated, but there was no telling what kind of trap he might fall into if he stayed close to the knights.
Moreover, if she left Owen uncomfortable staying with the knights while she alone enjoyed a luxurious room, her own rest would never come easy.
As Pesha’s heated voice drew the attention of those nearby, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and she lowered her voice.
Then, grabbing Owen’s arm, she whispered quietly.
“Fine. Let’s just…… share a room.”
Owen’s eyes wavered at that moment.
He stood rigid, offering no response at all.
When the thought that he might refuse crossed her mind, Pesha grew anxious and whispered more forcefully.
“You’re suggesting I take a fine room alone while you sleep in a warehouse or squeeze in with the knights? How do you see me?”
“But——”
“There are so many people waiting behind us, and I don’t want to waste more time. B, besides, we’re not strangers—we’re husband and wife, so there’s nothing strange about sharing a room.”
The manager, who had been listening to their exchange, let out a relieved sigh and quickly began leading them.
“Thank you so much for your understanding. I’ll show you to your room at once. Again, my apologies for the inconvenience, Count.”
Pesha nodded lightly and followed the manager down the corridor.
Owen, who had been standing rigid as if bewildered, only came to his senses when Pesha, walking ahead, suddenly turned around and called out.
“What are you doing standing there?”
Once Pesha made up her mind, Owen had no other choice.
In the end, he followed her in silence.
Even as they walked down the corridor toward the guest room, Pesha’s thoughts remained tangled.
‘I’ve lost my mind. Why did I say we’d share a bed? But if I’d shoved Owen into the warehouse or the Imperial Palace or the knights’ quarters instead, I’d be too uncomfortable to sleep a wink.’
At last, the manager arrived at the guest room door and opened it with a respectful bow.
“I do hope you rest comfortably.”
Pesha took a deep breath and stepped inside.
The moment the door closed, an odd silence fell between them.
The room was indeed as luxurious and inviting as befitted the Capital’s most sought-after hotel.
What caught her eye most was the large bed at the center of the room, its soft white bedding and plump pillows arranged neatly across it.
As her gaze moved to the bed, color crept steadily into her cheeks.
The bed was smaller than she’d expected, and worse—there was only one.
“Ah… the bed is a bit narrower than I thought.”
She tried to laugh to hide her nervousness, but couldn’t quite mask the tremor in her voice.
Owen, who had been arranging the luggage the bellhop left beside him, glanced quietly around the room at her words.
A rare tension seemed to emanate from him as well.
“I can sleep on the sofa, I think.”
“The sofa?”
“Since I’m larger than you, it would be more appropriate.”
It made no sense—a bigger frame would find a sofa even more uncomfortable—yet Owen pressed on with this peculiar logic.
At that, Pesha’s resolve, which had been softening, stiffened again.
“Absolutely not. How can you possibly sleep on a sofa when there’s a perfectly good bed? If you keep being stubborn about this, I really will get angry.”
At her firm words, Owen lifted his eyebrows slightly, as if caught off guard.
Then, his expression turning serious, he asked:
“Will you be all right?”
“Will… will I be all right?”
Asked so earnestly, her nervousness only spiked higher.
To break the awkward tension, Pesha attempted a joke.
“Ha ha, ha ha. Do you thrash about in your sleep? Because I sleep like the dead, perfectly still…”
“I’m asking if you’d be comfortable spending the night in the same bed.”
Same bed… what? Spending the night? The same words, but why do they sound so… well, they’re not wrong, but… what I mean is…
A flood of unbidden images crashed over her, and Pesha’s face turned as red as a beet.
“Why… is there a reason we can’t?”
…….
“I’ll go wash up. In the meantime, you could… um… get ready for bed.”
She meant to give him space so he could prepare for sleep comfortably, but somehow the words came out with an odd insinuation.
Sure enough, Owen’s brow furrowed slightly.
He seemed to be turning over the implications of what he’d heard.
Unable to bear the atmosphere any longer, Pesha bolted from the room.

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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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