The Fake Wife of the Strongest Husband Wants to Survive - Chapter 66

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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 66
What if the help I’d offered had only plunged the Territory into greater peril?
As guilt kept me from sleep night after night, Owen spoke first.
“It is not your fault, madam. Everyone knew the area near the Abyss was dangerous even when we were mining Emerald.”
“And yet… I cannot deny that Beryl mining has become a provocation to the Monsters.”
“I intend to limit the number of miners entering the Beryl mines. I also plan to establish mining qualifications and enforce strict safety training.”
No matter how much we try to minimize the impact, danger persists.
Swamp may be rough terrain with sparse population, but Owen has done his utmost to protect the Territory all this time.
I could not bear the thought of him reaching a point where he must compromise the lives of his people.
“I think we need to stop mining Beryl.”
The ripples that statement sent were enormous.
The moment I suggested abandoning Beryl—which we’d thought was our breakthrough to save the Territory—even the leadership of Namoi Castle split into factions, arguing fiercely whenever the topic arose.
“This is madness. Beryl springs from the ground like water, and you want us to find another business? That’s letting the land rot!”
“But the Monster Wave accelerated for a reason! We cannot continue mining and accept this risk!”
Owen, the most critical decision-maker, ordered the path to the Beryl mines closed.
It was meant as a temporary measure, but it amounted to siding with me.
Yet what would become of these people if we took Beryl away from them?
If this choice pushed back those who had only just learned to stand on their own feet and taken a single step forward…
Pesha shook her head sharply, as if to scatter the thought.
‘I can find another way to make money. What matters is people’s lives.’
After reaching that conclusion, I explored various alternatives but could not find a replacement I could trust.
My steps turned toward the Old Town.
It was where the damage was most severe in the vicinity.
The reconstruction site was as chaotic as a battlefield.
Broken walls were being rebuilt, charred timber was being cut away and replaced with new support beams—everyone seemed frantic.
Then I spotted Owen standing near the collapsed rampart, listening to a site supervisor’s report.
“This district was particularly devastated. It wasn’t merely buildings that fell—the Monsters upturned the very ground, and a landslide compounded the destruction, causing secondary damage.”
“A landslide as well……”
He frowned, gazing at the hillside where earth had slumped down.
I pushed back the hood of my robe to reveal my face as I approached him.
“Is the reconstruction progressing well?”
He looked startled to see me.
“…How did you come to such a place?”
“I grew restless staying only within the castle, so I came out.”
“Without even a handmaid……”
“My maid is following somewhere behind, and I covered my face so no one would recognize me on the way.”
I shrugged and looked around the construction site.
“This is the worst damage in the vicinity, isn’t it?”
Owen fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
“Yes. The ground itself was destroyed. As earth gave way and flowed downward, it buried both the rampart and homes simultaneously. The ground remains unstable even now.”
As I listened to his explanation, my gaze shifted to the earthen debris below the rampart.
Among the ruins, one unusually large stone stood out—nearly as tall as I was.
Looking at it, Owen suddenly changed the subject.
“Madam.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve been thinking of pursuing serious sheep and goat husbandry in the Territory.”
“Sheep and… goats?”
“I considered a livelihood far from the Abyss—something without risk. Clothing and fabric always have demand, and we could begin production quickly with just a few small Looms, so it seems worthwhile.”
I couldn’t tell whether he was sincere or jesting, for his expression was always so grave.
But one thing was clear: this was Owen’s way of offering comfort.
“…It’s not a bad idea at all.”
“I’m grateful for your approval.”
“Tomorrow I should put Bedford at the Loom. Since he refuses to return home, grumbling about grape farming, he needs something to do.”
I spoke cheerfully, mentioning Encho, who was resisting going back to his homeland, and Owen glanced at me as I laughed.
“Don’t mind what Fulton said.”
Fulton, Owen’s adjutant, had argued most forcefully for resuming the Beryl operation at yesterday’s emergency meeting.
He’d insisted that minimizing risk was sufficient—why abandon a lucrative business?
Jane, by contrast, had surprisingly sided with me, quarreling with Fulton fiercely.
When I tried to mediate between them as I once would have, Fulton spoke coldly.
“Both of you stop. I’ll find a better solution too. If we put our heads together, we’ll find an answer.”
“A better way, perhaps. The one most at ease in this room is you, my lady. Could you say the same to the people of your Territory whose livelihoods are threatened? Asking them to wait vaguely—that’s something only those who’ve never known hunger can manage. Only the complacent can ask it.”
Pesha stood dazed at those words, and Owen, who had remained silent until then, finally spoke.
“Fulton.”
“I apologize. But this is the reality we face…….”
“While you were away, she worked harder than anyone on the Territory’s affairs and achieved remarkable progress. Even setting that aside, your tone toward the Lord’s wife has been nothing short of disrespectful.”
“……I apologize.”
“I’m confining you to quarters. Reflect on what you’ve said and exercise restraint.”
Days passed after that.
True to his orders, Fulton was nowhere to be found in the castle after that day.
She wasn’t deeply shaken, but his words returned to her mind often.
Something only the never-hungry could say.
In truth, it wasn’t wrong.
However noble the cause, if that decision made the people’s lives harder, then it was surely the wrong choice.
Before hunger, all grand principles fade to nothing.
Even stopping the Beryl mining wouldn’t make her own daily life impoverished, so perhaps all of this was merely the hypocrisy of the ruling class. And yet…….
“He only recently returned to duty, so he’s only just heard fragments of what you’ve accomplished. It was careless of him to speak so—don’t take it to heart.”
Pesha answered nothing, only smiled faintly as she stepped over the rubble of the broken buildings.
Owen suddenly reached out and caught her by the wrist.
“That way is heavily buried under debris. It’s dangerous.”
“Debris is manageable. It’s not as though Monsters are coming out of it.”
“We recovered the dead from that debris during the day.”
A brief silence fell between them.
Pesha looked down at the wrist held fast, then slowly raised her head to meet Owen’s gaze.
“Then come with me. That way it’s safe, isn’t it?”
“…….”
“Just hold on like this so I don’t come to harm. That’s all there is to it.”

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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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