The Husband I Thought Was Dead Has Returned - Chapter 13

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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 013
My little Ttolmang hadn’t fallen asleep easily yesterday either. Waking every two hours was the least of it—the way he cried each time I set him down was unbearable.
I truly wanted to pierce my ears with an awl. Ttolmang had sublimated his pain into rage and tears, evolving into a demon of the highest order, and was systematically draining my sanity.
The moment morning arrived, Ttolmang transformed into a docile cherub, giggling with delight.
“Mama! Nana, mama! Nana-nana! Papa-nana!”
He wanted banana and milk. So that’s all he wants when he sees my face? Just look at these dark circles descending to my jaw.
Hayden, who had been crawling across the rug with labored grunts, made his way toward me. He flashed that radiant smile and reached out his hand to me.
“Sigh. Yes, yes, you’re adorable, absolutely adorable.”
No matter how exhausted I am, that luminous smile inevitably crumbles my resolve. But it was a demon’s smile.
“Ahhhhh!”
Hayden had seized a strand of my hair that had fallen beside me and yanked himself upright with surprising force. My soul trembled in sync with his determined grip on both sides of my head and his wobbling body.
“This is not acceptable….”
When I pried Hayden’s hand from my head, five strands of hair came away in that tiny palm.
No wonder it hurt. Our eyes met.
“Mama-mama!! Nana-nana-nana!”
…Yes, let’s go eat.
I carried Hayden outside. Yureain, whose gaze met mine, flinched and stepped back.
“Duchess, what’s the matter…?”
“I haven’t slept all night. Hayden is teething. I was trying to feed him some porridge and get him to rest….”
“I’m afraid you’ll collapse before he does, Duchess.”
Yureain spoke to me with deep concern etched across her face.
“Why don’t you rest your eyes for a moment? I’ll watch him. I’ll have the porridge you instructed me to prepare yesterday made right away.”
It was nothing short of salvation.
“Really? The kind made with plenty of beef brisket for easy digestion? Nearly salt-free, very low sodium?”
“Of course, Duchess.”
I could trust Yureain with this. As I handed Hayden over, the baby flailed his arms toward me. You stay right there now.
Leaving Yureain to her pitying gaze, I returned to my chamber and collapsed in glorious defeat.
The soft embrace of my bed enveloped my body, weary from the relentless demands of motherhood.
Ah, this is paradise.
Let no one disturb me.
Please.

* * *
Chloe’s expression grew uncomprehending as she watched Hayden with Yureain.
“Why is Yureain looking after the baby? Isn’t that the Duchess’s responsibility? I thought you promised to care for Hayden.”
“Ah, yes. But I heard that the young master was up all night yesterday dealing with teething and couldn’t sleep. I sent the Duchess to rest for a while.”
Yureain answered matter-of-factly. In truth, she was simply marveling at how remarkable Roana was—having cared for Hayden through the entire night without assistance from the other maids. Thus, she remained completely oblivious to the subtle displeasure woven through Chloe’s words.
“She… postponed her duties?”
Chloe murmured softly to herself, tilting her head. Her smile stiffened ever so slightly.
‘This won’t do. If the daughter of Hejest has become the Duchess of Bereidan, she cannot afford such lapses. What kind of household is Bereidan? What kind of man is my Cherez?’
Someone from that wretched Hejest family must at least be flawless. She must never burden Cherez in the slightest, and she must be worthy of Bereidan in every way. Chloe’s lips tightened slightly.
‘This is disrespecting Cherez.’
The image of Roana cornering Diane in the greenhouse the previous day surfaced in her mind.
Cherez was a man bearing many wounds. He had lost his parents in childhood. Then he was saddled with his nephew. Taking on such a heavy burden so suddenly would have been difficult enough, yet Cherez had to become the head of a vast estate.
That was why Chloe had hoped Cherez would marry someone truly wonderful. A woman with a gentle heart, capable of embracing his wounds, and possessing beautiful grace.
Someone like herself.
But Roana seemed far removed from the person she envisioned.
Diane had made mistakes, but did she need to be so fierce about it?
She could have understood with a gentler approach. Moreover, Countess Yotlrey had looked wronged, yet Roana hadn’t listened to a single word the Countess said.
Roana was savage, selfish, and wicked. Truly, she was from Hejest.
Having swiftly formed this judgment of Roana, Chloe rubbed her eyes with a sorrowful expression. Why was fate so cruel to Cherez?
I must comfort and console him more. It seemed I would need to look after his household. As his one and only true friend.

* * *
“What are you doing, Cherez?”
“Oh, Chloe.”
Borgus glanced at Chloe before organizing the confidential documents. It was because Chloe had opened the door without knocking.
Cherez sighed and spoke to Chloe.
“You can’t open the door without permission. We’re not children anymore, Chloe.”
“Oh, my mistake. Sorry, sorry. I’ll be more careful from now on. I suppose I got careless coming back to the Bereidan Household after so long. My apologies, Sir Borgus.”
“Not at all.”
Even as Chloe apologized, she stepped into the study. No permission had been granted yet. The action felt entirely natural.
Since childhood, she had grown up alongside Cherez and frequented the Duke’s study, which made it all the more so.
The study had changed nothing even as its master changed. That fact made Chloe’s heart soar.
Cherez said they had all grown up and needed to maintain distance, but whenever she confirmed these unchanging things, it felt as though nothing between them had changed at all.
Cherez was still the Cherez of childhood, and Chloe was still the Chloe of those early days.
“Have you been well all this time?”
Chloe, casually perched on the sofa, spoke in a voice like singing.
Cherez finally covered the documents and fixed his gaze upon Chloe.
“Yes. As you can see.”
“I’ve been bored the entire time I was away at my maternal family home. Sigh, and my grandmother—her nagging is relentless. She keeps saying I need to marry soon. Cherez, does it make sense for me to marry just any man?”
“That’s for you to decide.”
Cherez answered curtly.
The Maleight Family and the Bereidan Duchy had maintained ties for generations. Cherez and Chloe were of similar age, and the Maleight Family served as a vassal house overseeing the Duchy’s commercial ventures.
I understood that playful marriage proposals had occasionally circulated among the adults, but no one took them seriously.
To Cherez, Chloe was merely a childhood friend—nothing more.
That was precisely why Cherez tolerated her persistent behavior now, out of respect for the Maleight Family’s long-standing friendship. He held hope that Chloe would eventually come to her senses.
Apart from his conviction that Chloe would never betray Bereidan, the truth remained that she was exhausting to be around.
“What do you mean, Cherez? Are you saying I could marry just anyone? That’s cruel. You’ve become so indifferent to me.”
Cherez fixed Chloe with a cold stare.
She had required the attention of every adult since childhood, and it seemed that deplorable habit persisted. Of course, it was not Cherez’s concern to address it.
“But listen, Cherez. The Duchess seems rather strange.”
Chloe pouted and wound her hair around her fingers, twirling it idly.
The Duchess? Roana?
Both Cherez and Borgus lifted their heads to regard Chloe. Delighted that Borgus too had taken interest in her words, she continued.
Until that moment, both Borgus and Cherez had believed that Chloe, despite her nature, was still a noblewoman of proper breeding. Moreover, they had heard she had received additional education under her Maternal Grandmother’s tutelage. They had hoped she might actually offer something worthwhile to discuss.
“She caused such a commotion at the Ladies’ Gathering recently—utterly lacking in refinement. Countess Yotlrey couldn’t even hold her head up in the Social Circle afterward. I felt so sorry for her, it was truly distressing.”
That hope was entirely misplaced.

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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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