Dear Contract Husband, I Didn't Know You Were Like This? - Chapter 53
The snake’s whispers of enticements finally ceased.
“I did it.”
In even less time than she had promised Tristan, Maya had awakened.
What kind of expression would Tristan have?
Would he start with praise, or would he scold her first for overexerting her body so much?
“…Ah, it really hurts.”
Maya steadied her blurry consciousness. Her body, which had endured with mental fortitude for the awakening, was now screaming in protest.
But collapsing here was not an option.
‘I’ll have to walk.’
The problem was that the rope connected to Maya’s body had snapped.
“That’s unfortunate.”
She had been so focused on the battle that she hadn’t even noticed the rope breaking.
It was one problem after another.
‘Would knowing have changed anything?’
Creak.
A strange noise came from behind.
Turning her head, Maya saw the wyvern stealthily approaching from this side again.
“Weren’t you supposed to have fled?”
The wyvern paused, then came to stand next to Maya, the rope that had been around its neck still in its mouth.
“Are you telling me to ride on your back?”
The wyvern tilted its head, not understanding her words.
Instead, it offered its back to her.
It seems it had been watching Maya’s fight all along, not fleeing as she had thought.
“Why, have you come to recognize me as your master already?”
It must be because she had defeated the white snake.
She felt a recognition of her own strength.
“Well, not bad.”
Maya smirked and patted the wyvern’s head. There was no longer any need to worry about falling off.
It wouldn’t drop its master.
But she couldn’t go alone.
“…We need to take the white snake’s corpse as well, will that be okay?”
Such large monsters were useful in many ways.
Therefore, it had to be taken.
The wyvern flinched but then nodded.
“If it’s too heavy, you can just drag it along.”
Showing how it would drag the body on the ground made the wyvern nod eagerly.
Maya climbed onto the wyvern, connected by the rope to the white snake, and left the forest.
The symbol of Pendragon, the white dragon, was perfectly wrapped around her wrist.
And then…
“Maya!”
She hadn’t expected to encounter Kendrick.
***
As soon as Tristan saw Maya, he brought one finger to his lips, gesturing as if to say she should not say anything.
Maya, not understanding why, kept her mouth shut.
“My goodness, Maya, are you hurt?”
Kendrick immediately made a fuss upon seeing her.
“This Pendragon can’t get hurt now, doesn’t he know? What a thoughtless punk.”
White Dragon muttered beside her, the sword’s words audible only to Maya.
Tristan suddenly approached with a respectful tone.
“I’ve been waiting for you, Lady Maya. But where is Lord Tristan?”
…But Tristan was right in front of her?
Maya frowned for a second, but then realized that Tristan was in his younger form right now.
‘He must be making excuses because he can’t talk about the curse to Kendrick.’
Although she wasn’t usually quick-witted, she felt proud to have understood Tristan’s signals.
However, figuring out the situation and coming up with an excuse were two different things.
Maya broke out in a cold sweat as she thought hard.
She finally managed an excuse.
“Um, he went to look around the area.”
Normally, Kendrick wouldn’t have let it slide with just a scoff, but he was too astonished by the fact that Maya had actually returned alive from the battle.
“…Did you really win?”
Kendrick’s first concern was for Maya, so he checked her arms and legs.
Her fever had cooled down from the chill of the surroundings, so her body was only somewhat warm and not to the extent that he would notice anything was wrong.
Moreover, Maya was leaning against the wyvern and not moving at all, so he couldn’t even imagine that her bones might be broken.
And the Kendrick that Maya knew was not someone accustomed to hiding things or lying, so he believed what he saw.
Kendrick’s gaze naturally turned to the white snake, reassured that Maya was unharmed.
“Yeah, I awakened.”
“Awakened? The power of Pendragon?”
Kendrick’s mouth fell open. He wasn’t usually one to be surprised in front of Maya, but this time he couldn’t help it.
“Congratulations, Maya.”
After coming down to the north, Maya seemed unlike the person he had known.
Maya had succeeded. She had shown the pride of Pendragon and proved her own strength.
‘But I didn’t believe in her.’
Kendrick recalled his earlier argument with Tristan—or rather, the boy he knew as Arthur—and his face turned red.
That a boy who Maya had met less than a week ago had believed in her, and he had not, was embarrassingly shameful.
