The Returned Husband Refuses to Divorce - Chapter 34

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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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A low voice seeped into her ears.
The arm wrapped around her waist held her firmly in place.
Heat radiated from the body pressed against her back—a warmth so intense it seemed almost surprising, though the fabric of his clothes still carried a faint chill from the outside air, as if he’d only just come in from beyond.
There was a faint smell of iron too.
Perhaps from the Demonic Beast’s blood.
Woven through it was Zekard’s familiar, subtle scent.
‘Too close.’
Ines found herself breathing shallowly.
Zekard didn’t seem fully awake yet.
He buried his face deeper against the nape of her neck.
His soft lips brushed against her skin.
“…!”
Ines’s shoulders tensed.
Her heart hammered in her chest.
She couldn’t tell if it was the proximity, the sudden embrace, or something else entirely.
“Zekard.”
She called out softly, but he didn’t answer.
Instead, the arm around her waist tightened.
“Don’t go.”
This time, his voice came clearer.
A note of pleading in it.
Ines blinked.
‘Who is he speaking to?’
Half-asleep as he was, Zekard was likely seeing someone else in her place—not her at all.
In the past, she would have immediately thought of Elise in that moment.
But she’d already heard from him directly that it wasn’t her.
‘Then who?’
A strange curiosity kindled in her.
Slowly, Ines turned her head.
Zekard’s face came into view at close range.
His features were ordinarily sharp enough to make direct eye contact difficult, but now they were strangely defenseless.
The slight furrow between his brows was not the face of someone lost in pleasant dreams.
“Zekard.”
This time she called louder.
“Wake up.”
When he didn’t respond, Ines twisted her body slightly.
Zekard’s face naturally drew closer.
Their foreheads nearly touched.
“Wait—”
In that instant, his closed eyes slowly opened.
Blue eyes wavered, unfocused.
……
……
Their gazes met at close proximity.
For several seconds, Zekard showed no reaction.
Like someone still unable to distinguish dream from waking.
Then his eyes sharpened rapidly.
Recognition dawned—Ines held in his arms, his own arm encircling her waist.
The next moment, he released her at once.
“I’m sorry.”
Zekard pulled back almost reflexively.
“I seem to have made a mistake in my sleep.”
His voice was slightly lower than usual.
He didn’t reach for her again. Instead, maintaining a careful distance, he studied her expression.
“Did I frighten you?”
“A little…”
At her honest answer, Zekard’s face grew more rigid.
“I’m truly sorry.”
A second apology.
Seeing his manner, Ines felt her own tension ease.
Just moments before waking, Zekard had held me so tightly, yet the instant I opened my eyes, he wouldn’t let a single fingertip brush against me carelessly.
‘As I thought.’
The sensation I’d been noticing for days returned to me now.
He was deliberately keeping his distance.
Even just now, when he’d unconsciously overstepped, the moment he regained his senses he drew back at once.
“It’s all right. It wasn’t intentional anyway.”
“Still…….”
“Really, it’s fine.”
Ines hastily changed the subject, uncomfortable with the awkwardness.
“But you went out today, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“You look exhausted.”
“I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”
“Why?”
“It’s nothing you need to worry about.”
The way he drew that line made it clear he had no intention of saying more.
Ines reminded herself of why she’d come here in the first place, rather than press further.
“I know you’re tired, and it’s awkward to ask, but there’s something I wanted to request.”
“Please, speak freely.”
“I’d like to go to the Spring Festival.”
“……The Spring Festival, you say?”
“Yes.”
Zekard’s expression stiffened subtly.
He was pretending indifference, but Ines thought she was beginning to understand.
This man was distinctly averse to her leaving the castle.
‘I’m glad I thought of reasons ahead of time.’
Ines ventured her persuasion carefully.
“I’ve been learning about managing the Estate from Enrique lately.”
Zekard listened in silence.
“Looking through the Account Ledger, I’ve had so many questions. I’d like to see how people actually live.”
“…….”
“The prices of goods, what shops exist, what work people do.”
Ines explained methodically.
“It would be strange for a duchess to know nothing about her Estate, wouldn’t it?”
Of course that wasn’t everything—truth be told, her deeper reason was wanting to understand the world before becoming independent—but Ines didn’t say so.
“I’ve heard that festivals draw far larger crowds than usual. It seemed like a good opportunity to see things for myself.”
Zekard said nothing for a long moment, simply gazing at Ines’s face.
Yet surprisingly, his consent came quickly.
“Very well.”
“Really?”
“If you wish to go, madam.”
Zekard added with finality:
“However, I shall accompany you.”
His tone left no room for negotiation.
“A place where crowds gather requires protection.”
“Couldn’t you send someone instead……?”
“I shall go myself.”
“…….”
“Is that unacceptable?”
Ines studied him for a moment, then finally nodded.
“Very well.”
His expression visibly eased.
‘……This wasn’t the direction I expected.’
Zekard smoothly turned the conversation.
“As it happens, this is fortunate. I was about to have someone fetch you—a jeweler is arriving today.”
An ominous feeling stirred in her.
“……A jeweler?”
“Yes. Before the festival, we can have you fitted with the necessary ornaments.”
“No.”
Ines replied at once.
“That’s not necessary.”
“But you haven’t even looked at it yet.”
“I don’t need to.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to see it first and then make a decision?”
“Zekard.”
“Yes.”
“It’s really not necessary.”
Zekard fell silent for a moment.
Then he smiled very softly.
“Just look at it. It’s something you truly need to see.”
…….
* * *
Ines didn’t return to her room immediately after leaving the office.
Her mind was still somewhat tangled.
The sensation of Zekard pulling her into his arms while half-asleep kept resurfacing.
‘It was just a mistake.’
Even as she told herself that, the back of her neck felt oddly tingly.
Ines quickened her pace, trying to shake off the idle thoughts.
“……Which is why I keep waking up.”
As she passed near the Training Ground, she caught a low voice.
Ines’s footsteps stopped.
A few knights had gathered some distance away.
“Even with medicine, it’s the same.”
“I threw up again yesterday.”
“Go see the medical officer.”
“Already did. He says there’s nothing wrong with me physically, so what’s going on.”
It sounded like ordinary small talk, but something about the atmosphere felt wrong.
One knight rubbed his eyes with a worn expression.
Another man stood perfectly still, yet flinched at every small sound.
The moment Ines witnessed this, her expression hardened.
…….
It wasn’t unfamiliar to her.
She had seen similar people at the Temple before.
Knights who had returned after prolonged battles with Demonic Beasts.
People who couldn’t sleep, who reacted too sharply to trivial sounds, who sometimes claimed to see things that weren’t there.
Of course, not all of it was due to Demonic Energy.
War leaves wounds upon a person.
The guilt of surviving while comrades fell.
And the longer one was exposed to Demonic Energy, the harder such wounds were to heal.
Demonic Energy gnawed at spirit and flesh alike, deepening wounds that had already taken root.
‘Those people too…….’
In Ines’s gaze, she could see traces of Demonic Energy scattered across the knights’ bodies.
‘As I thought.’
At that level, symptoms like insomnia or headaches made perfect sense.
But…….
‘Even if I offered to help, they wouldn’t accept.’
The Evanhardt Knights still didn’t trust Ines.
Moreover, to treat them, she would ultimately have to reveal to some degree that she possessed Holy Power.
Who would believe that?
They’d hear that a woman who had been a candidate for sainthood but failed due to insufficient Holy Power was offering treatment, and they’d likely laugh at the very suggestion.
Ines exhaled quietly.
But then, as she observed the knights again, something shifted in her eyes.
‘……Wait.’
Something was wrong.
At first, they were too far away to see clearly, but as she focused, the Demonic Energy lingering on them was far more concentrated than she’d expected.
‘Why is there so much still remaining?’
These were knights who had returned from Terminus.
Then they must have undergone the Purification Ritual at the Temple before returning to the Northern Region.
For a subjugation unit exposed to such high concentrations of Demonic Energy, receiving purification at the Temple was the most basic protocol.
Yet…….
‘It hasn’t been long since the Purification Ritual. Why would…….’
Ines’s brow furrowed gradually.
That was when it happened.
“My lady!”
A cheerful voice rang out, and the knights fell silent in unison.
Ines turned her head as well.
A woman was approaching at a brisk pace.
Her hair tied back neatly, her frame compact but muscular.
And a bright smile that seemed to win anyone over at first sight.
The sole female knight of the Evanhardt Knights.
Joy Walker.

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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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