The Returned Husband Refuses to Divorce - Chapter 4

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

“What—what do you mean? He’s already arrived?”
Selena hurried over to the attendant as well, her composure crumbling.
The reason for their bewilderment was simple enough.
The Duke wasn’t expected to arrive for another week.
Selena had been preparing the banquet with that timeline in mind.
Because of this, the banquet hall remained a disarray of ongoing preparations—chaotic and cluttered.
“All the Order of Knights have assembled at the main gate. His Grace the Duke inquired as to where you were, madam, and said he would come directly here himself.”
“That’s impossible! It can’t be!”
Selena cried out, her face drained of color in sheer alarm.
“The letter announcing his return only arrived days ago. Even with the greatest effort, there’s no way he could have made the journey in that time!”
Her objection was sound.
He was a full week ahead of schedule.
Duke Zekard Evanhardt and his Order of Knights had been engaged in battle at Terminus, the front lines.
That distant garrison required a month of hard riding on horseback just to reach from these northern lands.
“You wouldn’t dare report falsehoods, would you? If you have, you’ll answer for it!”
But before the attendant could speak again, the distant sound of marching footsteps echoed through the corridor.
Thud. Thud.
The growing thunder of boots made everyone swallow hard.
‘Could it truly be… that man has come?’
Ines, too, had reasoned that the Duke’s early return made no sense.
And yet these footsteps defied any rational explanation.
Bang.
At last the doors swung open.
Ines found herself holding her breath.
Beyond the threshold, a company of men appeared.
All of them were tall and broad-shouldered, their bearing unmistakably that of knights.
Commanding every eye in the room, they strode in with an aura of absolute authority.
At their head, in the center where all gazes naturally converged, stood a single figure who commanded attention.
“…In heaven’s name, it’s really him.”
Someone breathed the words barely audibly.
Ines’s eyes widened.
There he was.
Zekard Evanhardt.
Her husband, master of these vast lands.
The hall fell silent.
Everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed upon him alone.
‘He’s truly come home.’
The man resumed his stride after a pause.
While those around him remained frozen in confusion, Zekard surveyed the room with leisure.
Before long, his gaze fixed upon a single point.
Ines thought she felt their eyes meet.
‘…Surely I’m mistaken?’
As though under a spell, Ines found herself returning his gaze.
Her husband, seen after so long an absence, was devastatingly beautiful.
He had always drawn eyes as a handsome man, but time had transformed him entirely.
There was a maturity to his features now, a lean and sculpted frame, a towering height, and a face striking in its elegant sharpness.
Five years ago, Zekard had possessed the air of a youth; now he bore the magnetic allure of a fully realized man.
And yet…
‘…something feels different.’
She couldn’t quite articulate it, but he was undeniably changed from what she remembered.
It was more than mere passage of time.
There was something perilous about him now, a dangerous edge that—
In that moment, Zekard’s blue eyes swept slowly over Ines, from the crown of her head to her toes.
His gaze was thick and lingering, as though savoring every detail.
Ines flinched violently, seized by the illusion of being prey beneath a predator’s gaze.
“My goodness, Zekard! You’ve finally come!”
It was then that a voice pierced the silence.
“How your mother’s heart rejoices! To see you returned safely!”
Selena rushed toward him, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief, tears streaming down her face.
“I was preparing a grand banquet to welcome you home. Come now, you must be exhausted from your travels.”
Her obsequiousness bordered on the servile, resembling less a mother’s warmth toward a beloved son and more a courtier’s flattery toward a tyrant.
“First, you ought to shake off your travel fatigue, shouldn’t you? Go inside and rest. As for the banquet tonight……we’ll have to wrap that up quickly. Wait a few days. I’ll prepare something absolutely magnificent for you.”
Selena spoke with an artificial smile, then caught the butler’s eye and signaled her instructions—clear the banquet hall at once.
In the same breath, she flicked her gaze toward Ines. This time the message was unmistakable: leave now.
‘…All right, let’s go.’
Ines had no reason to obey Selena’s command, yet she yielded and began to move away.
It was impossible to speak with her husband now anyway.
She couldn’t openly discuss divorce or a contract marriage here.
But before she’d taken more than a few steps, a hand caught her.
Her wrist.
Startled, Ines spun around.
Zekard had drawn close without her noticing, and now he was looking at her.
“…Ines.”
The low timbre of his voice sent a chill through her.
His gaze was relentless and blind to everything else—as if no one else existed in this space but her.
For a moment, seized by the irrational fear that she might be devoured, Ines flinched.
She found herself unable to move even a single step.
How long that moment stretched, she couldn’t say.
“My goodness, Zekard!”
Coming to her senses belatedly, Selena inserted herself between them.
“Can’t you see she’s flustered? One mustn’t handle a lady so roughly.”
At that, Zekard glanced at his stepmother, then slowly released the grip on Ines’s wrist.
Yet his gaze immediately returned to Ines and remained fixed there.
“Of course there’s much we should discuss, but…we’re in front of others, aren’t we? And you’ve only just returned after five years—surely there are more pressing matters first.”
Selena spoke to Zekard in a soothing, coaxing tone, and once more gestured to Ines to take her leave.
This time, Ines didn’t miss the opportunity.
‘He’s come home now, so there’ll be plenty of chances to talk. I’ll be patient.’
In truth, she was simply overwhelmed by her husband’s presence, but she rationalized it away and quickened her pace.
She couldn’t bear to meet his eyes any longer.
Behind her retreating back, a gaze burning with intense heat followed her out.
* * *
‘What was that just now.’
Ines gazed absently at her wrist, tracing it with her fingers.
She could still feel the warmth of his hand on her skin.
Her heart was pounding.
The suddenness of his action had startled her, but truthfully it hadn’t hurt.
If anything, he had handled her with such care, as though she might shatter.
Oddly so.
‘…Perhaps it was just strange to see him again after so long.’
Ines shook her head, trying to dismiss the confusion from her mind.
The truth was, she barely knew him. Five years ago she’d seen his face only a handful of times.
So whether Zekard’s actions just now were unusual for him or simply his nature, she had no way of knowing.
Therefore, there was no need to read too much into it.
‘More importantly, what now…’
Judging by Selena’s behavior just now, it seemed it wouldn’t be easy to seize an opportunity to meet with Zekard.
That had been overt obstruction.
She was likely worried that if Ines grew close to Zekard and won recognition as his true duchess, her own influence would diminish.
From Ines’s perspective—she who desired divorce—such concerns seemed utterly meaningless, but Selena would take them seriously.
‘She might even have the servants watch me starting tomorrow.’
Of course, such petty schemes would mean nothing if Zekard moved against them.
But the problem was she couldn’t be certain whether he would seek her out first.
‘If that’s the case, now is my only chance.’
After all, it’s the desperate one who must always move first.
Ines left her room at once.
* * *
The sun hung low, staining the sky a deep crimson.
Ines stepped outside wearing only a shawl.
‘The sun will set soon.’
Her impatience quickened her pace of its own accord.
Though they were married, Ines preferred not to meet Zekard in the dark if she could help it.
I couldn’t afford to fuel pointless misunderstandings.
At present, ugly rumors about Ines were circulating throughout the Evanhardt Territory.
‘Selena must have started them.’
The specifics were that Ines behaved tyrannically—that she obsessed over her husband and tormented the beautiful women of the north.
All of it was pure nonsense, but the real problem was that these rumors had almost certainly reached Zekard’s ears by now.
‘……If that’s the case, he might be laboring under a misapprehension about me.’
That was rather awkward.
Because Zekard now had a lover—a saint.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————