The Husband I Thought Was Dead Has Returned - Chapter 3

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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 003
My entire body ached from having collapsed into sleep while cradling a fussy child all through the night. The Nanny was nowhere to be found.
As I blearily opened my eyes, Ttolmang stretched his tiny hands toward me, patting my lips and cheeks with his palms while giggling with delight.
“You like that, don’t you?”
This little Ttolmang would grow into Hayden, the male lead of my favorite romance novel. It was absurd.
After sleeping enough, he pushed himself up from the bed and toddled forward while clinging to my body, then tumbled head over heels.
“Ugh, I’m sore all over.”
After stretching and pulling myself up, I scooped Ttolmang into my arms.
“Ooh ooh, Mama! Food!”
“You want to eat?”
“Food! Food!”
Where on earth was the Nanny, and why hadn’t she come by this hour?
“Kyaaaah… ugh.”
I nearly screamed, but caught myself when I glanced at Ttolmang and clamped my mouth shut.
Have I lost my mind? Did I really sleep here? And the sun is already up? Everyone will know I’m here!
The Nanny didn’t fail to come—she must have already left this morning, right? Wait, but then why didn’t she wake me?
I pressed my head in confusion.
Ttolmang, oblivious to my turmoil, simply squirmed with excitement.
“Food! Food! Food!”
Right, I need to feed him. With two bottom teeth and two top teeth showing, he’d be eating soft foods. I wondered what kinds of baby food existed in this world.
No matter how confused I was, I had to feed the child.
Holding Ttolmang in my arms, I descended from the bed.
What excuse could I make? That my body rolled away and ended up here? That I woke up in this place? That I truly had no idea?
I bit my lip hard. But what was my fault in all this? I’d only comforted the child when he was crying his heart out!
Suddenly, courage surged within me.
I stepped out of the bedroom with Ttolmang in my arms, his saliva smearing across my cheek as he called for “Mama.” After spending just one night together, the baby male lead was treating me like his favorite stuffed toy.
It was at that moment, as I took my first step forward.
A woman appeared at the end of the Corridor. She stood with her arms crossed, her eyes gleaming as she glared at me.
“Good morning, Duchess.”
The elaborate dress was too fancy for a nanny, the heavy makeup too bold for a nanny, and those long nails—far too impractical for a nanny.
So she wasn’t the Nanny after all.
“Who are you?”
“Are you asking me who I am? Can’t you tell just by looking? I’m the Nanny who takes care of young master Hayden! My name is Diane!”
“Ah.”
So this is how nannies dressed in this world. It reminded me of my sister-in-law, who used to make a fuss even when I merely dabbed on some BB cream.
Nails had to be short, makeup was forbidden, and clothes couldn’t have a single ornament.
Had my sister-in-law been excessive, clinging to Mother and crying that the young lady would kill her nephew if she didn’t follow those rules?
I couldn’t understand—how was she supposed to change the baby’s diapers with those nails?
“What is it?”
“I’m absolutely appalled! I’m telling you that the Duchess has stolen the duties that should be mine! Because of that, I received reproach from the Duke that I shouldn’t have had to endure!”
I exhaled sharply.
After possessing this body, I had sworn never to endure such treatment again.
I had suffered oppression at home and worked myself to death at my job—I had every right not to tolerate it anymore.
Besides, if I was now the Duchess and that woman was the Nanny, then I was her superior.
I studied the Nanny carefully, watching as she breathed heavily through her nose, her gaze fixed on me with barely concealed hostility.
In the original story, after Roana fled with the money, there were those who slowly gnawed away at the Bereidan Duchy and laid thorns in Cherez’s path.
Later, Cherez would sweep them all away at once. And it was the female protagonist who helped expose their corruption.
The Nanny reached out to intercept Cherez, but she twisted her body sharply, evading the grasp.
“Go fetch some baby food. The child is hungry.”
“I’ll handle it myself, so please give the young master to me and go see the Duke! He’s been waiting since earlier!”
The Duke?
Cherez?
The moment I heard that name, the courage that had surged within me crumbled instantly. I swallowed hard.
“You’re right. I should meet the Duke.”
“Then go ahead. And please hand over the young master at once. It’s well past his breakfast time!”
The Nanny spoke sharply and forcibly took Cherez from my arms.
As the Nanny stomped away, Cherez reached out toward me.
“Mama, mama!”
Cherez’s voice echoed through the Corridor.
So achingly tender.

* * *
Cherez organized his thoughts, deciding which words to speak first.
He gazed quietly at Roana, who appeared only moments after waking at nine in the morning.
She smiled awkwardly, her cheeks still bearing deep pillow marks.
It was unmistakably the face of someone who had just woken from sleep.
“Good morning, Duke.”
“Indeed.”
As Cherez rose, I felt Roana’s body stiffen and flinch.
Before he could even speak, Roana opened her mouth first.
“First, I’m truly sorry for breaking my promise, Duke. I didn’t mean to, but the baby was crying so desperately in the Corridor at dawn that I could barely sleep, and no one came to check on him—not for quite a long time. I couldn’t just stand by and watch a child suffer like that from a humanitarian perspective.”
“….”
“So I only tried to soothe the baby, but I never expected it would come to this. While comforting him, I fell asleep too… But the baby kept fussing throughout the night—is that normal? And the Nanny never came to check even once? I really think that’s wrong.”
“So your conclusion is.”
“All of this happened because the Nanny abandoned her post….”
Roana, who had been speaking without pause until now, laughed.
And in a small voice different from before, she whispered.
“Please show some leniency just this once.”
Cherez let out a hollow laugh. All the thoughts he had been organizing in his mind seemed to evaporate.
Looking at that innocent face, his resolve crumbled as well. Cherez drained the tension from his body and rose from his desk.
In truth, Cherez had already heard everything he wanted to hear from her—what possessed her to approach Hayden, why she’d broken her promise.
He’d received his answers before he could even ask the questions.
Cherez settled onto the sofa and gestured across to the opposite seat.
“Sit and tell me properly.”
“Yes.”
Roana carefully lowered herself onto the sofa.
“There’s something else I want to know. How did you get Hayden to sleep? According to the Nanny, he’s particularly fussy. She says he doesn’t sleep properly—once he starts crying at dawn, there’s no end to it. How did you manage to soothe him?”
“From what I understand, babies at this age often behave that way. Sometimes it’s from growing, sometimes from teething. Isn’t there only one way to calm a baby? They can’t speak, after all. You have to soothe them until they settle. Think how exhausting it must be for them to grow.”
“You hold him until he stops crying?”
Roana nodded at his question. His expression had grown quite serious.
“Yes. It’s only temporary anyway. Once this phase passes, things will improve. And Hayden is so gentle once you’ve soothed him. He’s sensitive to body temperature, but once he falls into a deep sleep, he doesn’t wake easily. He’s a very good baby.”
Cherez turned her words over in his mind.
They contradicted everything the Nanny had told him—that no child was as fussy as Hayden, that raising him was difficult.
She’d insisted babies must be raised firmly, that some crying should be left unattended. She’d boasted that he should entrust everything to her, that only she could care for Hayden properly.
He’d hired her with ten years of experience working as a Nanny in the Capital, and paid her a substantial salary.
Yet why did Roana, whom he’d seen for barely a day, seem far more trustworthy?
Was it because she’d appeared without shame in nothing but pajamas and a robe, her face plain and unmade-up?
Or was it simply that her words about Hayden being a good child pleased him to hear?
Or perhaps it was that the Nanny’s attitude had been subtly grating on him all along.

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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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