The Husband I Thought Was Dead Has Returned - Chapter 107

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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 107
We’d clearly had an enjoyable fishing outing, yet dinner had turned into complete chaos. Hayden refused to eat with Cherez, stubbornly digging in his heels.
Hayden’s mood shifted abruptly as evening fell.
“No! I don’t want to eat with mister!”
Hayden crawled under the dining table, tears streaming down his face.
Mila reached out from the opposite side of the table, but Hayden dodged her hand and squeezed between the chair legs to escape.
Cherez sat frozen at the table, bewilderment etched across his features. His hand, still clutching his utensil, hung suspended in the air, his eyes trembling slightly.
I stood before the table, hands planted on my hips.
“Hayden, come out. You need to eat. You shouldn’t behave disrespectfully toward your uncle.”
“No! Only with Roana! Waaaaaah!”
Hayden threw himself flat on the floor, kicking his legs wildly. In the end, it was Cherez who raised his hands in surrender, setting down his utensils.
“…I’ll eat later.”
I stopped him as he tried to rise from his seat.
“Please sit. I’ll take care of him.”
I lifted Hayden up from the floor into my arms.
Come on, come on! My baby is Hayden! I can do this!
Hoisting Hayden, who’d already surpassed seventeen kilograms, was genuinely straining on my back. A sack of rice seemed lighter by comparison.
Though Hayden thrashed about, he soon sniffled and nestled against me, burying his face in my shoulder.
“Why don’t we eat together?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“No! I mean, no, don’t!”
He’d gone fishing with me this morning, after all. I sighed and carried Hayden toward my room.
Yureain had prepared a separate meal for us. It seemed Hayden and I needed some time alone together.
I set Hayden down on the sofa in my room. Despite his pouting lips, he began eating. He must have been hungry after all that running around.
I listened to Hayden’s cheerful chatter as we finished our meal, then gave him a quick wash and changed him into his pajamas.
Hayden bounced onto the bed, hugging his beloved pillow and rolling around. I slipped in beside him and spoke softly.
“Hayden.”
“…”
“You didn’t want to eat with your uncle?”
“…”
When he didn’t answer, I turned my head to see Hayden had pulled the blanket up to his nose. Only his round eyes peeked over the edge, fixed on me.
“And I told you—he’s your uncle, not mister. Uncle Cherez. Your uncle who loves you more than anyone else. Don’t you remember?”
“I remember.”
“Then why did you call him mister?”
Hayden pulled the blanket higher, half-covering his eyes. He blinked several times in that position.
“Don’t like uncle.”
“Why don’t you like him?”
“…”
I didn’t press him, waiting patiently for Hayden to answer. Raising a child requires patience, after all.
Hayden’s lips trembled as he spoke.
“Uncle… go away.”
My heart sank.
“…What?”
“Uncle go away. Don’t come back. Uncle left. Don’t come.”
A small voice drifted from beneath the blanket. Hayden yanked the covers back.
I stared at the child in stunned silence before Hayden continued.
“Hayden waited. Hayden waited for uncle, but uncle didn’t come. Uncle went away.”
Hearing those words, my chest felt as though it were being wrung dry. Hayden remembered the day Cherez left. The child understood far more than I had realized. My throat tightened.
“…Hayden, do you remember?”
“Hayden knows. Hayden saw.”
This small child had felt the anguish of losing someone beloved. I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them.
“Hayden feels hurt. Hayden’s heart not good. Hayden sad.”
We had overlooked the fact that the child possessed emotions.
“Uncle don’t come back.”
My heart pierced with longing.
“Uncle… hate.”
The word “hate” wasn’t truly hate at all. Within it lay unmistakable affection—a tenderness only Hayden possessed, unnoticed by anyone else.
“Would you like Uncle to stay?”
“Uncle… stay?”
“…If that’s what Hayden wants. If Hayden asks Uncle not to go, I will never leave. Uncle Cherez loves Hayden more than anyone. Loves you most in the whole world.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
We had failed to keep pace with Hayden’s delicate emotions.
I gently pulled the blanket down, revealing a pouty face glistening with tears. I pulled Hayden into a tight embrace. My precious little boy. What am I to do with this adorable child?
“Uncle stay, good.”
“I promise I won’t let you go. I swear it.”
“Promise?”
“Yes, really. Have I ever lied to you?”
“No.”
“Right, I never lie to Hayden. So should Uncle come to bed with us?”
“No can’t.”
Hayden spoke with absolute certainty. Why not? Because he was upset about the departure.
“Only Roana and Hayden sleep. Only Roana and Hayden sleep together. Uncle can’t.”
He was jealous. I smiled awkwardly and patted his back.
It seemed Cherez would only be able to enter the room after Hayden fell asleep. I stroked the child’s hair.
The child was growing. And with each passing day, he would feel and express more and more. It would be my role to notice and embrace all of it.
“Alright. Let’s sleep together.”
“Yes!”
Hayden nodded. I kissed his small face, already heavy with drowsiness.

* * *
While Hayden slept sprawled across the bed like a starfish, Cherez entered the room and sighed at the sight of him.
“…I’ve said it before. Hayden is more difficult than fighting the Demon Lord.”
“All children are like that.”
We spoke in hushed tones while keeping watch over Hayden. Fortunately, he didn’t seem about to wake.
“I think Hayden remembers when Cherez left. And it seems to make him anxious, perhaps even hurt. And yes, he’s jealous too.”
“Jealous?”
“Until now, only I and Hayden have been able to sleep in this bedroom.”
“Ah.”
Cherez chuckled and swept his hair back. He tapped Hayden’s plump cheek.
“Mmm.”
The moment Hayden stirred, both Cherez and I clamped our mouths shut. When I glared at Cherez, he raised both hands and shrugged.
“…Whoever wakes him is responsible for putting him back to sleep.”
At my quiet words, Cherez nodded solemnly.
“I promised Hayden that Uncle would never leave again.”
“…I suppose so.”
“I hope you keep that promise.”
For my sake too. Cherez nodded gravely.
“There’s something I need to tell you. The assassins have begun moving. They seem to be searching for you, and it appears our location has been compromised.”
I revealed everything to him—the deal with Ryukan and the Black Market.
“I think it’s best we return as quickly as possible.”
“We might be able to gather evidence from the assassins. It seems we should return directly to the Lord’s Castle. But you say there’s a trap set here? You thought that far ahead?”
“With Hayden here, I felt I had to do something.”
“Roana, you….”
Cherez laughed helplessly. Just as he was about to speak again.
“Roana….”
Hayden’s eyes flew open and he turned toward me. Cherez quickly crouched down and hid under the bed. I laughed awkwardly and hastily lay down, patting Hayden’s back.
“I’m here. I’m right here.”
“Mmm.”
Hayden burrowed back into my arms. As the child drifted off to sleep again, Cherez and I couldn’t exchange another word.
Our night faded away like that. With whispered conversations hidden from the child and subtle glances shared in secret.
We were sharing more with each passing day.

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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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