The Husband I Thought Was Dead Has Returned - Chapter 105

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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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The Husband Who Should Have Died Returns Episode 105
Hayden stretched his short fingers as far as they would reach.
“Roana is here! Hayden is here!”
Hayden, who had designated our spots on the bed, gestured for me to join him.
“Come on! Good children go to sleep early!”
Seeing Hayden’s wide eyes, I could tell he was about to throw a tantrum and cry. I set down my cup and quietly got to my feet. As I sat in the spot Hayden had assigned, Cherez followed suit.
“Where should I sleep?”
Cherez spoke in a voice tinged with amusement.
“You don’t sleep here!”
Hayden shook his hand firmly in refusal.
“Roana and Hayden are family! We’re one! We can’t be separated!”
Hayden’s assertion was quite clear. And it was something I had often told him when he was anxious. There were times when the child couldn’t bear even a brief moment of my absence. Was that what they called attachment? That seemed to be how it was expressed…
In truth, it had been an incredibly difficult period when he wouldn’t even let me go to the bathroom.
Since then, Hayden had come to understand what family meant in his own way, and we had been chanting that we were one.
“But I can’t be separated from Roana either?”
Cherez let his words drift out in a languid voice. His decadent eyes gleamed with playfulness. There was a peculiar vitality about him as he continued the exchange.
The way he waited for Hayden’s reaction reminded me of a lion crouched low in the grassland, stalking its prey.
He was enjoying this.
He deserved to get a taste of his own medicine.
I shook my head slightly.
“Roana is! Mine, mine!!”
Hayden’s lips formed a triangle shape as tears welled up in his eyes.
“Hayden? Big brothers don’t cry. Weren’t you supposed to be a big brother?”
For Hayden, who had recently been admiring Toby, this was a matter of considerable pride. There was no better incentive for a child who wanted to become a big brother.
Hayden’s eyes widened. The tears that had gathered spilled down, but he cried out like a strong man.
“Hayden doesn’t cry! Hayden is a big brother!”
I saw Cherez cover his mouth with his hand.
“You should go home! Go to your home and sleep with your family!”
“I have nowhere to return to.”
At Cherez’s reply, Hayden’s eyes widened.
“You don’t have a home??”
“That’s right.”
Cherez answered smoothly. Then I saw Hayden’s shoulders rise high.
“I see. You don’t have a home.”
Hayden nodded with a serious expression. Then he turned to look at me. His lips had formed a triangle shape again. Why, again.
“Oh, you poor thing!!!”
Hayden burst into tears and threw himself into my arms.
I watched as Cherez laughed silently, and I couldn’t help but chuckle as well. Then I gently patted Hayden’s back.
“Are you sad because the mister doesn’t have a home?”
“Yes… if he doesn’t have a home, he can’t eat… he can’t drink milk… he has to sleep in the cold…”
“I see. So that’s why I feel sorry for you, sir.”
“Don’t.”
“Then is it okay if you sleep here?”
Hayden rolled his round eyes.
“W-well then, sir, should we have you sleep by the sea instead?”
“Would you like that?”
“Mm… it’s pitiful. A person without a home is pitiful, and without a bed too.”
Hayden, who had instantly transformed the master of the house into a homeless man, spoke with utmost seriousness.
“Let’s have you sleep by the sea. Hayden will give up his spot.”
I could see Cherez’s shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

* * *
Three days later.
Cherez’s remark about having no home had clearly struck a chord in Hayden’s heart.
Hayden approached Cherez with a determined expression.
“Sir, you come too!”
Hayden tugged at Cherez’s pants as he spoke.
“Where?”
“Fishing! Go fishing with my friends! I’ll teach you how Hayden catches fish!”
“Can I really go?”
At Cherez’s question brimming with amusement, Hayden declared solemnly.
“Hayden permits it.”
Cherez stared at Hayden with an expression of utter bewilderment. Hayden shrugged his shoulders with a triumphant look, then turned to me.
“Elder Brother, did I do well?”
“You’re the best, Hayden. As expected of my little brother—you have such a generous heart and you’re so cool. The absolute best.”
Hayden’s shoulders soared to the heavens. Cherez gazed at me, and I gave him a small wave.
“Have a good time, Cherez. It would be even better if you brought back some fish.”
Cherez shook his head slightly and set off fishing with Hayden. I was curious about what the two of them might discuss, but watching Hayden ride on his shoulders, I found myself smiling. It seemed as though the sharp, bloodthirsty aura from the battlefield that Cherez carried was softening in the face of the child’s innocent candor.
I watched their retreating figures for quite some time.

* * *
Ryukan returned not long after Cherez had been led by Hayden to the Fishing Spot.
Ryukan glanced at Dorpin and spoke.
“This is already my nth trip, and I still can’t get used to it. Right?”
Dorpin glanced at Ryukan, then turned his gaze forward again.
Ryukan laughed awkwardly. Though they had been traveling together for several months now, Dorpin’s demeanor remained unchanged. He never answered a single word of Ryukan’s remarks.
‘Regardless, how dismissive of people.’
As they arrived at the Front Yard of the Villa, Sena came running out. She must have seen Ryukan approaching from the Field where she had been working. Sena embraced Ryukan with soil-covered hands.
“You came back alive. Nothing happened, did you? You weren’t attacked?”
“Nothing happened at all.”
Ryukan glanced at Dorpin.
“Nothing could possibly happen.”
Sena, having not witnessed it herself, still didn’t trust Dorpin’s abilities. But Ryukan knew there was no one as trustworthy as Dorpin.
While Sena and Ryukan exchanged brief words, I saw Roana entering the Villa. The household staff were also swarming toward her.
Ryukan left Sena and approached Roana.
“There were no items this week, madam.”
Roana’s eyes narrowed slightly. Over the past several months, I had purchased every piece of merchandise that appeared on the market. Though I had missed a few, I had successfully acquired thirteen votes so far. There were fifty-three nobles in the Southern Region eligible to attend the Council. Thirteen votes were woefully insufficient.
“What a pity. It seems scarce lately. I did anticipate there would be limits.”
Roana exhaled a wistful sigh.
“But madam. The atmosphere in the Market has changed completely.”
“Hmm?”
“Assassins are everywhere.”
Roana’s eyes twitched subtly.
“Assassins?”
“Yes, there are people I’ve never seen before moving about. They weren’t merchants. But according to rumors… they’re searching for the Duke who has vanished. Yet wasn’t there a rumor that the Duke had died? In such circumstances, who would have seen the Duke? No one but me.”
Ryukan lowered his voice and continued.
“Moreover, there’s supposedly an enormous bounty on the Duke’s head. Not just assassins, but wandering mercenaries are keeping their eyes wide open.”
It was something I had anticipated from the moment Cherez returned.
“So.”
Roana laughed coldly. Her eyes had turned chillingly distant. Ryukan flinched.
“Were you tempted by that money?”
“Not at all!”
Ryukan trembled as he spoke. As if he would ever betray me.
“Why would I betray you!”
Ryukan widened his eyes and expressed his grievance.
“No matter how much of a swindler I am, I know where to stretch my legs! I know where to rest my backside! I do.”
Ryukan laughed obsequiously as he spoke.
“I’ve resolved to remain loyal to you going forward.”
Ryukan was undoubtedly a swindler extraordinarily sensitive to the currents of the times.

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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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