I Married the Mad Duke Who Killed My Husband - Chapter 41
“Ah, how long are you going to be stingy with the ring? Let’s look at it together here.”
“I’m not being stingy about the ring. Work is meant to be done at a desk.”
After returning, having completely forgotten about the nightmare due to the ring dispute and meeting with Baron and Baroness Mayer, there was a report about Lorang that the knights had gathered. They were quite fast.
After dinner and a bath, I barged into Cassion’s room wearing pajamas as usual. I could see he had already started reviewing.
“No one’s watching, why are you being so rigid about it?”
“Asilia.”
I grabbed all the reports except for the one he was holding and jumped onto the bed.
“I even locked the door in case anything leaks out. Let’s just look at it on the bed.”
“……Asilia. You’re suggesting we lock ourselves in a bedroom, just the two of us, lying on a bed?”
“Exactly. Since it’s such a headache-inducing matter, let’s at least be comfortable.”
“Ha. You seem to think I’m as harmless as Lili.”
“How can you compare Lili to someone as rough as you? After that horrible voice imitation you did last time, don’t make such comparisons.”
Despite his protests, Cassion let out a resigned sigh before tidying his desk and making his way to the spacious bed.
However, unlike me, he maintained a stiff posture as if he were sitting in a chair rather than lying down.
Well, I was just running short of pillows anyway.
“Asilia!”
“Oh, come on, it’s not like they’ll wear out. Let me borrow them. I just took a bath, so my feet are clean.”
I buried my head in the pillow and lifted my feet onto Cassion’s lap. This position would be perfect if I could just hug Lili, but sadly, what I’m holding is reports, not Lili.
“Wow. He’s really handsome.”
After tossing around a few more times to find the perfect comfortable position, I flipped through the report. The front page had what looked like a portrait of Lorang from his younger days, and indeed, he had a face that could seduce an Empress.
“He looks like a halfwit who couldn’t swing a sword.”
“That’s exactly his charm point. A tearful blonde beauty with sorrowful eyes that make you want to protect him.”
“Why do you keep emphasizing the mole?”
“You don’t get it. It plays a huge role in his beauty.”
“……That little thing? Well, it might be useful as an identifying feature, but I can’t agree that it has anything to do with beauty.”
“Oh, come on. Give me that.”
I slightly raised my head and snatched the pen he was holding. However I’m not sure if I’ll get the position right without a mirror.
“How is it?”
“……”
I dotted a mole under my eye with the pen and made the most sorrowful expression I could. Cassion doesn’t respond. See? Wasn’t I right?
“Your Grace… please… give me the next page of the report…”
“Stop fooling around, Asil.”
I rubbed my face against the pillow, then turned to my side and begged with the saddest face in the world. Instead of handing over the paper, Cassion crumpled it and covered his face.
“I guess this is Her Majesty the Empress’s type. It’s certainly quite different from His Majesty the Emperor’s type.”
After teasing Cassion thoroughly, I tapped him with my foot and set aside the portrait for safekeeping. Cassion, who had been covering his face, must have been watching me from the corner of his eye because he suddenly turned his head.
“Why are you keeping that separately?”
“Well, we’ll need the portrait if we’re going to look for this person while traveling around.”
“……Ah. Give it here. I’ll keep it.”
“Well, if you insist? More importantly, when are you going to give me that?”
While handing over the portrait I had set aside, I pointed to the remaining severely crumpled piece of paper. Cassion hesitated for a moment before handing it over.
“Ah… oh… It seems the Empress is keeping a close watch.”
I could understand why this paper was kept separate. While the bound report contained information about Lorang’s time in the capital and imperial palace, this was a report about the attacks received while gathering information about Lorang.
“I hope no knights were injured?”
“If they could be injured by something like that, they wouldn’t be my knights. More importantly, such a sensitive reaction right at the start of the investigation gives more weight to what you said, Asilia.”
“Right? They wouldn’t monitor information leaks this tightly unless they were nervous.”
It had only been a day, not several days or months of asking about Lorang. Though the knights must have split up to investigate various places, it was just one day.
The fact that it was reported to the Empress in such a short time that someone was investigating Lorang’s background meant they were monitoring extremely thoroughly.
“No one would have suspected anything for 25 years, I didn’t expect them to be this alert. Maybe we should have investigated more discreetly.”
“……I’ll caution the knights about that.”
“No, I didn’t mean they should be scolded. We didn’t anticipate this either.”
“Even so, having our trail discovered in just one day is problematic. If the other party has noticed even slightly, it could mean counterattacks are coming, so we can’t take it lightly.”
“Hmm. Then do you think the Empress’s side knows we’ve started investigating?”
“No. They probably know someone has started investigating, but they likely don’t know exactly who yet. Look at the end of the report.”
Following where Cassion pointed, I looked at the end of the document, which stated that they had found and dealt with both the attackers and those who had been hiding to report.
“Then we should hurry and go on our honeymoon before this gets more exposed. We should organize the materials and narrow down the regions to visit, preferably leaving within this week.”
“This week….. Hmm. We’ll need to report to the Emperor before leaving the capital. The Empress will also learn that we’re going to other regions for our honeymoon.”
“Either way, it’s only a matter of time before the Empress finds out we’re investigating Lorang. It’s a question of who finds him first.”
We shouldn’t hide too carefully though. I’m not particularly good at deduction. I wonder if there’s anything in those reports that could help deduce where he might be.
“Let’s look into it more for now.”
“Alright. But before that….. wash off that mole. And move your feet.”
“Tch. How petty.”
Cassion finally removed my feet that had been shifting around and left the bed, returning with a handkerchief.
I pouted as I felt his rough touch vigorously wiping off the mole I had drawn. Did it not suit me? That can’t be. It must have bothered Cassion like it was graffiti on my face.
“…Lia. Asil.”
“Uh. Uhh….. Yes.”
Though I lost Cassion’s lap, the wide and soft bed and comfortable atmosphere were enough to lull my body to sleep after the morning’s nightmare-disturbed rest.
At some point, I felt Cassion gently shaking me and touching my mouth. Fortunately, it seemed I hadn’t drooled.
“I dozed off for a bit.”
“That wasn’t dozing, that was sleeping. You must be uncomfortable, go to your room and sleep properly.”
“But I haven’t finished looking at everything….. Let me look a bit more. We need to hurry if we want to go on our honeymoon soon.”
“Tomorrow is fine. How much could you absorb in your head right now anyway?”
As I tried to look at the crumpled report that had been crushed while I was sleeping, Cassion swiftly took it away.
Seeing him organizing the scattered papers, I thought he was going to call it a night too, but instead, he went back to sit at his desk. Didn’t he just say tomorrow would be fine? Yet he’s going to keep working?
“If you don’t sleep, I won’t either.”
“Stop being stubborn and look in the mirror. Your eyes are so red, you really look like a rabbit.”
“Did you know? Rabbits are crepuscular animals.”
“You’re talking nonsense from sleepiness.”
“No, I’m wide awa-yawn-ke.”
“……Asilia.”
“What?”
I brazenly continued even after letting out a huge yawn. Actually, Cassion is right. I feel like I could lie down again right now, and I can feel my sleepy mouth getting looser.
“If you want me to sleep, let’s sleep together?”
“If you want to sleep, we can each sleep in our own rooms. How did not working suddenly jump to sleeping together?”
“Because I’m too lazy to move.”
Seeing that Cassion wouldn’t leave his desk unless I moved, I used my last bit of energy to get off the bed.
“Oops.”
“……Asil! Be careful.”
“Hehe.”
Still drowsy, I stumbled as my feet got tangled trying to get down from the high bed.
I was trying to free Cassion from those cursed reports and his desk, but seeing me, he approached without needing to be pulled.
That reliability felt wonderful. Though Lili wasn’t here, I’m sure I won’t have nightmares if I’m with him. I smiled while frantically pulling at his sleeve which had carefully steadied me.
“Let’s sleep together.”
“……Haah……”
After successfully getting him back onto the bed by pulling his clothes almost to the point of tearing, I flopped down, and he finally spread out the scattered blanket with a sigh and covered me. I pulled it back halfway and patted the space beside me.
“Lie down, quickly.”
Watching my behavior, Cassion’s jawline tensed visibly as he clenched his teeth, then he lowered himself onto his back, lying perfectly straight and rigid. Isn’t that uncomfortable? I lay on my side facing Cassion and closed my eyes.
“See you tomorrow. Today was fun.”
“……Yes. Now please sleep.”
His resigned, powerless voice made me grin again, I think. Just as I was about to fall asleep, the feeling of floating on clouds felt really nice.
