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nChapter 77

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nWhy are you acting good all of a sudden? You seem very sincere, but I’m doubtful whether I’m dreaming this.

nOf course, if he really had been sincere since the first day, he would have sent me home the very next moment.….

n“Not a word of everything I said to you at the time was true…….”

n“Well, it’s okay, I’m not mistaken anyway, I didn’t misunderstand, so you don’t have to worry about it.….”

n“It’s not like that! No, it’s not that way, I’m sorry.”

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n“…what?”

nIt was natural that I doubted my ears for a moment.

nDid this arrogant protagonist just voluntarily apologize? I need to hear this again.

nMy husband, who had been still like a statue, stretched out his arms very slowly without warning and hugged me, and the hiccups that had stopped were about to pop out again.

nAs my face was buried in his rock-like shoulder, confusion poured in.

n“If I hadn’t been so confused from the beginning, you wouldn’t have been like this, but in the end…”

nThere was a complex note in his voice while his arms held me tight.

nA voice low enough to be close to whispers. Almost a moan.

nI was just dazed. My mind felt completely blank.

nWhat was he talking about?

nAt this point, I had to give a proper answer.

nHowever, unlike my mind, my mouth had its own plan.

n“I didn’t do that.”

n“I know.”

n“It’s not really me.”

n“I know.”

nSomething that was tightly clumped in the corner of my chest cracked and burst.

nWaves of unknown passion seemed to have engulfed any reason left in me.

n“I didn’t do it, I didn’t do anything. Why is everyone doing this to me…!?”

nHis arms clasped tightly against my struggling body.

nI sobbed and pounded the shoulders of the man who locked my body.

nI didn’t realize the craziness in what I was doing. In the meantime, Izek held me still and silently.

nIf he was like everyone else, everything would be much easier. If he was like all those cursed people.

nIf he hadn’t looked at me like that every night, if he hadn’t looked at me like a real princess in his arms, I wouldn’t have had the stupid fear of losing him.

nI thought it wouldn’t matter if he was BlueBeard as long as I could live.

nWhy do you keep doing this to me?

nWhy do you keep making me want to be greedy?

nWith all that I was doing, I finally decided I couldn’t stand it anymore, but he grabbed my hand, which was hitting me.

nOf course, it was not because he was hurt.

nIt was my hand that smacked his metal armour that was feeling pain.

n“Ruby, stop. Stop it. You’re going to break your hands.”

n“Ugh, I don’t want to……!”

n“Okay, then you should slap me in the face.”

nHow would I dare do that?

nThe common sense that had left my mind at a ridiculous rate, came back a little.

nWhile I was sobbing and trying to come to my senses, Izek sighed and held my tingling hand, murmuring, “For once, I should have planted some frost mushrooms in advance.”

n“…Why all of a sudden?”

n“Then you could have thrown it at me, instead of doing this.”

nSilence fell.

nI glanced at him, lost for words, and now he put his hand under my armpit and lifted me up lightly.

nAh, he was definitely no joke…

nWhat in the world did I just do to this guy?

n“Hey, Iz…?”

n“Mmm.”

n“Are you okay? I hit you too hard…”

n“You hit me like a nine-year-old kid, but it’s bearable. I’m afraid I wouldn’t get bruised with that.”

nMy husband kept caressing my hand with one hand and kissed it.

nShort and simple moves.

nWatching him blankly, one side of my chest was in unbearable pain.

nAt the same time, I wondered why I was doing this.

nAfter all, I was the only one who was hurt after hitting him.

nIt was a relief he wasn’t hurt, but why did it feel like I was slowly getting angry?

nI should have slapped him when he told me to slap him earlier!

nI was a fool to just blow up a chance I had never gotten before!

n“…brother?”

nWhen I came back into the mansion, I ran into Ellenia on my way. Not only Ellenia but also my father-in-law.

nMy heart began to pound again as she was just leaving the study, standing side by side with him.

nWhat were they talking about? Did they talk about me?

nEllenia’s face, which had always been expressionless, was filled with indescribable agitation.

nConsidering that I was brought back by my husband in tears, it was understandable.

nMy father also tried not to hide his appalled look.

nIn a rush of shame, I stopped closing my eyes and buried my face in my husband’s shoulder.

n“What have you done?”

n“What the hell did you do to Ruby, Brother?”

n……The subject of the question was a little strange.

nAt a glance, Izek had a very sad look on his face, but he still strode past and responded without any hesitation.

n“I’m married.”

n“What…?”

nThe answer was equally strange.

nWell, this family was just that strange.

nBy the way, Ellenia should have known by now that I had hit the maid.

nI didn’t regret it, but it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

nThere was no turning back now.

n“Come here.”

nWhat a romantic scene it was to sit on the balcony facing the moonlight.

nThe green torch burning in the fireplace looked as if it would summon a fearsome werewolf at any moment.

nAnd across from me was a monster who was no match for werewolves.

nThe scent of warm frothy cocoa was sweet.

nWhile I carefully grabbed a teaspoon and picked out the marshmallows that were floating, Izek sat in front of me, untied his gauntlets and cuffs, and threw them off roughly. Was it okay to just throw it away like that?

n“What’s in your glass?”

n“It’s just molasses alcohol.”

nI see. Rather than savouring the alcohol, I stared at the prominent throat gulping down molasses like drinking some soft drink, and asked out of the blue.

n“Can I try it too?”

nIzek paused and looked at me, but soon he handed it to me without a word of what he had in mind.

nI didn’t know what this sudden impulse was.

nHowever, it was probably because I remembered the image of Freya I faced at the temple that day.

nAnd what Izek said then.

nHe said that she was always trying to steal his drink.….

nHa, what? You’re not interested in childish emotional play?

nAnyway, I immediately regretted drinking that glass of thick honey-colored liquid.

nUgh, as expected, I don’t do well with alcohol.

nBesides, why was this so strong? He was a tough guy to drink such a thing so well.

n“I don’t think it suits your taste.”

n“I’m just savoring it for a moment. I’m a good drinker too.”

n“…….”

n“…….”

nI stopped gulping this down in the awkward silence.

nI had only had a couple of sips and I was already feeling sick.

nIt was because I had an empty stomach.….

n“It’ll be fine if you just put a bit into this.”

nFor some reason, my husband, who murmured quietly instead of making a fuss, took the glass back and dropped a few drops in my cocoa cup.

nOh, this wasn’t bad either.

nI didn’t mean to drink in the first place.

n“Tell Letler if you have a favourite drink. He’ll get it ready.”

n“I didn’t really want to drink.”

n“Then what?”

n“I’m just curious about what you’re drinking.What did you do today?”

n“Well, I didn’t do anything but catch a few gnomes. It’s boring these days, so if frost wolves come in again at times like this, the paladins will all run out of excitement.”

nThat’s understandable. You caught a few gnomes, didn’t you?

nWhen I took a sip of the sweetened cocoa, warmth spread throughout my body.

nPhew, I think I’ll go to buy some molasses now.

nThere were no words exchanged for a moment. We both drank from our glasses without saying a word.

nAs I drank cocoa, I glanced across the street, and Izek lowered his eyes with an unknown look, unknown whether he was tired or lost in thought.

nWhat should I think?

n“What else do you want to know?”

n“What?”

n“You’ve been staring ahead for a while.”

n“It’s just…… well, everyone’s talking a lot. Are you also attending this gladiatorial match?”

n“Why, you don’t want me to?”

n“No, no, I just heard it was very dangerous…….”

nI shook my head in a hurry because I thought I might look worried about the game’s outcome.

nIzek sent me a bit of a strange look, but he spoke up, “But the ones that come out are a bit different from the kind of friends you have.”

nI was aware of that.

nIt was a type of monster that I’d never seen before, unlike the ones I met in the frost forest.

nI remember reading the scenes where Ogres and Trolls ran wild in the preliminary round, mental attacks and even the undead were mobilized.

nEven so, of course, the top of the list would have been the frost dragon.

nIt was fortunate that he was hiding his tracks.

n“That’s why I’m even more worried. Of course, you’ve already become the winner once…….”

n“I don’t know what it means to you, though.”

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n“What?”

nWith a rather indifferent gesture, Izek put down the glass and pushed the white chocolate plate toward me.

nYou want me to stop talking nonsense and eat?

nYou want me to eat this and get to the point?

n“You can tell what’s going on just by looking at the frost wolf’s eyes. If I can’t stop you from sitting in the audience, I’d better get it over with as soon as possible.”

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