This Emperor Is Running a Marriage Scam - Chapter 36

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 36

“The kid’s like a toothpick, I wonder if he can even stand properly.”

At that moment, laughter burst out among those watching.

And just as I said, Baron, who was waiting below, jerked his chin at the child standing on the ground.

“Don’t wander around, stay put over here.”

Kimarise, who was standing beside him, seated the hesitating child in the spot Baron had indicated with his chin.

I handed over the children one by one to the ajusshis. And the ajusshis helped them down safely by carrying them or holding their hands.

After all the children had disembarked in an orderly fashion, the ajusshis now went into the ship and came out carrying the kidnappers that Raven had tied up.

“Why are there so many bad guys.”

After taking a look around the ship, I finally relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.

I had barely managed to prevent the children from being sold.

I regretted being complacent, thinking the protagonists would handle it, and felt fortunate that I had acted now.

What would have happened to the children and Peter if I had continued to pretend not to know?

While Bloden and Nelloa’s part to play had diminished, there was still work left for them to do. The task of fundamentally rooting out the kidnapping.

So it should be fine to handle this much in advance.

Now I should get off the ship too. I had climbed onto the empty ladder and come down a few rungs when it happened.

Perhaps because I had relaxed, fatigue suddenly hit me. A sudden dizziness made my vision spin, and I missed my footing, causing my body to tilt precariously.

“Nuna!”

The moment I heard Baron’s urgent cry, I realized.

I’m going to fall into the sea like this. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself for the cold seawater to crash over my entire body.

Someone quickly caught me, and instead of seawater, I felt solid muscle against my cheek. My body swayed a few times before becoming still.

“Are you okay? Nuna?”

When I opened my tightly shut eyes, I saw the murmuring people and Baron. When I looked up, I met silver-gray eyes behind a half-mask.

Kimarise had caught me and brought me down to the ground.

Below the half-mask, I could see a straight nose and a thick, well-defined jawline. From his tightly pressed lips, a low voice eventually flowed out.

“Are you alright?”

The muscular arms and large hands wrapped around my back and shoulders were particularly warm.

‘Ah! Ahhh! I’m being held!’

I grabbed Baron’s outstretched hand and hastily escaped from his embrace.

“Ah, yes yes, I must have been tired and got dizzy for a moment… I almost fell into the water, but thank you for helping me!”

Standing upright, I brushed off my clothes and took a deep breath.

Now all that remained was to wrap up this situation well.

* * *

Bright moonlight streamed in through the wide-open window. Baron strained his eyes to stare at Hailey’s face illuminated by the moonlight.

Her facial features looked particularly beautiful. Her prettily closed eyelashes were long and full. Her gently closed lips were lovely.

And she had fallen into a deep sleep without even stirring.

‘Hah. There were many incidents today, but… Nuna has a strong stomach. Sleeping so well in this situation.’

Baron eventually let out a silent sigh and carefully got up.

The foul smell that he hadn’t noticed while in Hailey’s embrace began to reach him.

‘And this is only because we opened every door and window.’

Baron looked around.

The cottage, which had been almost completely empty without even decent furniture, was now packed with deeply sleeping children. Each was lying on or covered with old blankets.

Baron recalled everything from when he summoned Kimarise until they returned home with Hailey.

Baron had been giving instructions to Kimarise through their connection and was also sharing vision and senses.

So when Hailey almost fell from the ladder, Baron quickly tried to catch her but hesitated. He had enough strength to catch her, but there were limits with his body size.

The moment he judged it would be difficult to safely catch Hailey, Kimarise, reading his thoughts, moved swiftly.

When Kimarise caught Hailey, Baron was shocked by an unexpected sensation.

When hugging her as a young child, Hailey was just cozy and warm. But Hailey caught by a large male body felt completely different.

Why was her weight so light, why were her shoulders and body so small, why was the skin he touched so delicate.

Even the platinum hair swaying from the shock of nearly falling seemed like butterfly wings, making him feel cautious.

The blue eyes looking up at Kimarise were clear and deep. Though the pupils did shake when she quickly grasped the situation.

Even though it wasn’t direct contact, heat instantly rose to Baron’s face. As Baron’s heart beat wildly, heat also rose in Kimarise’s body, synchronized with him.

Hailey also seemed conscious of Kimarise and quickly escaped from his embrace, after which the cleanup began.

Ben and Susan repeatedly expressed their gratitude before taking Peter and returning home. The two had been moving around in a daze all day and were now too exhausted to do anything more.

After discussion among the remaining people, they decided to tie up all the kidnapping accomplices and lock them in the chicken coop.

The sailors at the port helped move them, and afterward Raven said he would handle the rest himself, expressed appropriate gratitude, and sent the people away.

These people would never come into Hailey’s sight again.

From surveillance to interrogation to punishment, Raven and Kimarise would handle it all.

The remaining problem was the thirty-two children.

It was already late at night. They had thought of having them stay at the inn until the situation was somewhat resolved. But the inn owner showed reluctance.

Not only were there not enough empty rooms, but the problem was that the children were orphans who hadn’t received proper care and were dirty from not washing for a long time.

As an alternative, they considered the warehouse used by merchants, but it happened to be packed full with trade goods and there was nowhere to borrow.

In the end, Hailey brought all the children home.

They decided to shelter them from the night dew first, then think about it tomorrow.

Hailey took out all the food they could eat immediately and gave it to the hungry children, also saying she would get them something more when dawn broke tomorrow.

The children, who shared the food at barely a tasting level, fell asleep quickly.

Having recalled up to this point, Baron narrowed his eyes and looked down at Hailey sleeping soundly.

Originally, Hailey was going to give up even this creaky bed and sleep on the floor. Baron had thrown a tantrum saying he absolutely couldn’t give up the bed he shared with her, which was how he protected it.

Moreover, from what Baron could see, it wasn’t that Hailey couldn’t smell the foul odor. She was just enduring it by opening all the doors and windows to let air flow through.

The more he thought about it, the more exasperated he became, his lips pouting out.

‘There’s a limit to being altruistic. How foolish.’

Baron, who let out a deep sigh, moved carefully. He was thinking of going outside to call the spirits and take some additional measures.

But then he heard a quietly lowered voice.

“…Hey.”

A boy who looked well over ten years old was gripping the bed sheet, blinking sleepy eyes while just poking his head out.

When their eyes met, the child craned his neck forward. His long black hair was tangled and looked messy.

“Kid, you’re trying to get off the bed, right?”

“…Huh?”

“I saw you fidgeting around, so if you’re getting down, hurry up and move. I want to sleep next to Nuna too.”

The other party was definitely a child. But the way he rolled his deep orange eyes and his manner of speaking wasn’t childlike and felt somewhat unpleasant.

And saying he wanted to sleep next to Hailey.

‘How dare he.’

As veins bulged on his forehead, Baron realized. If he left his spot, anyone would try to snuggle up next to Hailey.

Then there was only one thing for him to do.

He had to make sure they’d never dare try again.

Baron narrowed his eyes, emanated subtle killing intent, and whispered quietly.

“…Get lost.”

If he spoke this harshly, the child should have been scared and backed away whimpering. Since the other party was a child.

But the child just chuckled.

“She doesn’t even seem like your real sister, how petty.”

Baron was so dumbfounded he was at a loss for words, and the child lay back down in his original spot. But instead of going straight to sleep, he kept glancing at the bed.

The spot next to Hailey was Baron’s place.

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