Dear Contract Husband, I Didn't Know You Were Like This? - Chapter 101
Kendrick was startled by the unexpected situation. Though monster corpses decay over time, he had never seen one vanish so abruptly.
“What’s happening?”
Kendrick used magic to try to hold the dust together, creating a small whirlwind to gather it. The dust started to concentrate but soon scattered again, as if something was actively thwarting him.
‘If it wasn’t done by someone more powerful than me, then there’s no way to neutralize a spell I’ve already cast.’
Sensing no presence around him, Kendrick scanned his surroundings again.
Flutter.
A blue butterfly, coming from somewhere, landed on Kendrick.
[Ah, poor wolf and white serpent, reduced to corpses.]
A voice Kendrick didn’t recognize whispered into his ear, making him flinch and turn his head. But the silence around him was chillingly still.
“Who are you?”
The butterfly, now on the back of his head, continued speaking.
[Just as they were sacrificed for that person, a few more sacrifices before they go wouldn’t hurt…]
Realizing the voice was coming from directly behind him, Kendrick quickly turned his head.
[To prepare for the future, I must also deliver ‘that’.]
The butterfly deftly evaded Kendrick’s grasp and began emitting a blue mist.
[Consider this your final dance before you die.]
The butterfly laughed softly, its voice filled with malice.
[Blame your frail mind. I am vulnerable only to physical force, you know.]
Sometimes, those who seem the strongest on the outside are the weakest.
At the signal of the butterfly’s murmured words, Kendrick’s eyes began to close, the magic energy that had been gathering at his fingertips fading away before it could even shine.
* * *
After a long bath, Maya changed into her nightclothes. Her bed carried a fresh, fragrant scent, as if the sheets had just been laundered.
Lying down, Maya waited for Tristan to return, fully prepared to give her all tonight to help lift his curse.
“No ulterior motives,” she whispered to herself, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
Her contact with Tristan was solely to help with his curse and for her own mental clarity—nothing more, nothing less.
‘But…’
She kept replaying his words and actions from earlier in her mind.
Now that she was alone, emotions she had barely managed to suppress in the heat of the moment resurfaced. It was his kindness, a gentleness that she never got used to.
‘Oh, just go to sleep.’
Maya exhaled deeply and closed her eyes, hoping to sleep. But despite her efforts, her eyes remained wide open. The empty space next to her didn’t help either.
It seemed she had grown accustomed to sleeping beside Tristan.
‘This isn’t right.’
Knowing she would leave someday, she knew she shouldn’t feel this way, but she couldn’t change it. Her mind and body were at odds. It frustrated her even more because she wasn’t normally like this.
“Get a grip…”
Maya sighed, burying her face into her pillow.
Creak.
She heard the door open and shot up in bed.
“Still awake, even this late?”
Tristan, freshly bathed, approached and sat beside her with an apologetic expression. The conversation with Doshen had taken longer than expected, and his extra efforts to bathe before lying beside her had naturally delayed him.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“Worried you’d have nightmares?”
Even though she had slain many monsters, today’s wolf was something else altogether. She had truly been on the brink of death.
“No. Because you weren’t here.”
He was surprised by her unexpected answer.
“Because I wasn’t here?”
Maya fell silent before explaining.
“We barely had any chance to make contact today.”
Tristan hid his disappointment, though her reasoning for their closeness sounded oddly romantic.
“I know we’re in contact while we sleep too, but I thought it would be best to maintain regular contact each day.”
Perhaps wanting to avoid any misunderstanding, Maya quickly continued.
“Of course.”
Tristan agreed before she could say more. Whatever reason she offered didn’t matter to him—simply knowing she had waited to hold him was enough to make him happy.
Tristan watched her quietly, feeling his weariness fade just from looking at her.
With her face still slightly flushed from the warm bath, Maya reached out toward him, seated on the edge of the bed.
“Shall we start by holding hands?”
If there were a physical embodiment of loveliness, surely it would be Maya.
