Marriage With A Suspiciously Demure Husband

“You don’t have to do that anymore, boss. That’s the reason you gave us a salary! Even if you just sit down, the guild will be fine!”

“It’s fine to do it myself sometimes. When I first set up the guild, I did it all by myself.”

“That’s why you should be comfortable now! You have been the boss for a long time.”

Nigella kept nagging as I walked.

* * *

That evening, I left work with Noah, who came to pick me up as usual.

“You did a great job today, Hazel.”

“You, too, Noah.”

The carriage departed, and I rested against his shoulder as usual.

“Hazel, do you know what I heard today?”

“…What?”

“I heard that a guild’s owner killed a monster that appeared in the village.”

“….”

As expected, it reached his ears as well. I gently lifted my head and moved my body, which had clung to him, to the side.

“Who do you think it is, honey?”

Oh, that word came out again.

“Well, I don’t know. I-is there a new guild? Oh, there’s dust…!”

Saying that, I glanced at the dust that didn’t exist before patting the seat while trying to avoid him. Still, I failed and looked at Noah instead.

“Hazel.”

“Hmm, that’s…”

“Hazel Love.”

Ugh, when the word honey and my full name came out, if I didn’t tell him the truth, he would at least nag for an hour.

“No, the thing is, Noah… you need to listen to me. I was going to leave the job to someone else.”

“But?”

“B-but it’s a lot closer than I thought… The monster’s coming fast. I thought they’d be in big trouble if I didn’t go.”

“….”

“And when I actually saw it, it was quite weak so I attacked it in one go! It was nothing for you to worry about. Look, I didn’t get a scratch. It was really over in less than five minutes.”

Noah sighed as I appealed with my eyes sparkling.

“I’m sure you promised me you wouldn’t do anything dangerous.”

“Uh-huh…”

How could I forget?

At that time, I didn’t know Noah was Kairos, so I was surprised to see blood on his sleeves, and both of us made a promise in the heat of the moment. At that time, I was worried whether he was attacked by a monster or was involved in a fight. I didn’t even know what kind of person he actually was!

Anyway, that was it, and as Noah said, I broke my promise. I’d just have to fix it.

“If it looks dangerous, I’ll never ever come forward… so Noah, can you just let me go this once, huh? My beloved honey, husband, darling Noah, I was wrong.”

Noah, who didn’t give in easily, pulled my cheeks to both sides.

“I can’t carry you on my back every day just because I’m worried.”

“I won’t make you worried.”

“If this happens again…”

“Never!”

“You promised me, Hazel.”

“Hmm, yes!”

My cheeks nearly fell off due to me smiling so hard, but I was able to stop the nagging that would continue for over an hour. After that, Noah went out again and didn’t return until late at night.

When he was busy with work, he often went out in the evening and came back at night or dawn. Normally, I wouldn’t think much of it, but after knowing his true identity, I began to wonder if he was doing something dangerous.

Rather than worrying about him, I wanted to know what kind of terrifying thing he was doing!

“Sigh…”

In the end, I went back to my room and slept after doing the paperwork in the office until dawn. Even then, Noah was not here.

How fortunate…

I put my tired body on the bed and closed my eyes.

* * *

At dawn, Kairos, who entered the mansion with tiredness and irritation on his face, pulled his tie roughly.

From the moment he entered the mansion, the servants held their breath as if they were dead. He was evidently different when he was with Hazel. Seeing him like that, the servants just bowed and disappeared in case he caught sight of them and got angry.

“Your Excellency.”

The man, who appeared like a shadow from behind, said as he lowered his head and went on one knee.

“What’s wrong?”

“Everything’s ready. Are you going to leave tomorrow?”

“Yes, if Hazel doesn’t notice anything. Until then, there shouldn’t be a single mistake.”

“Yes, don’t worry. We have been preparing for a long time.”

“We can’t relax until the end.”

His subordinate replied as if he were relieved.

“You’ve had a hard time, Sir.”

At those words, Kairos’ red eyes slowly glanced at the man as he swallowed unconsciously due to the tension.

“Go.”

“Yes.”

The man, who appeared like a shadow, disappeared back into the darkness.

Step.

Kairos strode through the hallway without hesitation into the bedroom where Hazel slept. Soon after, when he opened the door and entered, Hazel could be seen sleeping peacefully on the bed with a very subtle bedside table lamp on. It was a sign that she was waiting for him.

As he put his gloves on the table and approached her, he gazed down at her sleeping face with an emotionless face.

“….”

He saw her delicate neck that could break easily, and her small hand that fell asleep holding a blanket. Everything about her seemed so delicate and weak.

Without hesitation, Kairos, who watched Hazel’s sleeping face, reached out his hand as if he was about to grab her slender neck.

* * *

Oh my God! My throat…!

I woke up with a fright. I had a dream where Noah strangled me, and because of that, I put my hand to my neck to check my neck.

‘Why does my dream happen to be like that?!’

Even though I was wide awake now… my precious neck!

As I was shaking because I felt like I was really strangled, I could soon feel a pair of arms tightly wrapped around my waist. I knew it was Noah’s arm without looking down. It seemed that he had come home at dawn.

Meanwhile, rather than loosening his arm as I tried to get away, he just tightened his hold.

“Hazel.”

Sure enough, I could hear his voice. It was lower and huskier than usual because he had just woken up.

“Oh, Noah, are you awake?”

I twisted my body to get up, but Noah hugged me more tightly.

“…Why aren’t you sleeping? Do you have another nightmare?”

As he kept hugging me in his arms, I nodded while leaning my forehead against his chest and asked him back.

“Did you come home late?”

When I raised my head and asked, I could see Noah’s face, which seemed to be more awake than before.

“I’m sorry, I’ll come back a little earlier from now on.”

Saying so, he placed his lips on my forehead as a habit, even though he was half asleep.

“All right.”

“Sleep more. It’s still dawn. You didn’t forget we were supposed to go out together this morning, did you?”

Oh, my God. I remembered something scarier than the dream I had just had…

…I wished the weekend wouldn’t come so soon.

As if to soothe a child, he patted my back so kindly that I almost got fooled again. I raised my voice out of fear.

“You know, Noah.”

“Yes, wife?”

“Can we go next time?”

“Next time?”

“Um, yeah. Actually, I’m tired from work today, I think I’ll get better if I take another day off.”

“….”

Normally, he said he would do it in less than a second if I asked, but now Noah didn’t answer. He seemed to be thinking for a while. At first glance, it seemed like he was conflicted.

As expected, tomorrow was definitely the day of judgment.

Well, it was a good day for it. I thought it was perfect!

On the weekend before our first wedding anniversary, whether buried in the ground or hung somewhere, Kairos would be very thrilled to see my expression when I learned the truth. He must’ve wished he didn’t have to pretend to love me anymore, and he could finally take revenge.

It was a great day to get rid of me.

…I was sure it would happen, so I knew not to fall for it!

“Cough, cough…”

Noah reacted immediately.

“You can’t be too tired. Shall we take a good rest today and go tomorrow?”

…Tomorrow? I blinked and immediately went into despair. Argh! Why were there two days on the weekend? I wanted to pull my hair out of frustration. I should’ve said I want two days off!

As he hugged me again, he uttered.

“Then, we can sleep in.”

Nevertheless, my thoughts became more complicated. It was obvious that he’d be suspicious if I said that. I couldn’t do this. I needed to run around all day today or at least twist my ankle.

“Um, yes. Yes. I’ll take a good rest today and go tomorrow!”

“Yes.”

Let’s go to bed now first.

Hence, I closed my eyes in tears.

* * *

Unlike my complicated mind, I slept very well though Noah wasn’t there anymore when I woke up. Even though I tried to wake up, I felt drowsy so I fell asleep again, and when I woke up the second time, there was a delicious smell.

Seeing Noah approaching me, I closed my eyes again.

“Hazel, you have to get up. Are you tired?”

“Ugh, I’m tired.”

I got up and pretended to have just woken up.

“It’s not good to sleep on an empty stomach for too long. How about eating a little and sleep? I’ll be next to you all day.”

He gently swept my back and waist. I got used to Noah’s hands and tried not to fall asleep again. In the meantime, I became sad.

…Even though he was going to get rid of me anyway, why did he take care of my meals? Did he believe in some weird superstitions? Wouldn’t he be worried that it might be difficult to bury me on the ground because I gained weight?

Lying on my stomach, I hugged my pillow tightly and opened my eyes.

“What is it? It smells delicious.”

I must have smelled it somewhere, but it was not the scent of the usual food I ate. Where did I smell this? It was a familiar and nostalgic smell…

I glanced at it and saw a white soup in a bowl.

‘…What’s that?’

His expression brightened when he saw my curious expression. When I took his hand and sat down in the chair, I opened my eyes wide as I was being fed by Noah several times. While I was silent, with an expression of disbelief, he put the spoon in my hand.

This savory taste was clearly…!

As I scooped it up again, I could feel the savory taste. This was definitely… the taste of porridge I used to buy often in my past life!

It was pine nut porridge.

Why was this porridge here…?

About 90% of the food I eat here was cooked by Noah himself, and he usually only fed me what I liked. However, if I was sick or not in good condition, I became a picky eater and I argued with him a lot because of that.

After a few arguments, we made a compromise.

In the past, I usually had porridge when I was sick. So when I was not in a condition to cook, I told him recipes for the dishes that could be made here. So after that, when I felt sick, he would always make this kind of porridge.

It didn’t taste like this at first. But now, it tasted exactly as I had imagined. He must’ve practiced again.

Making a pine nut porridge must have been a lot of work. Here, I could make similar food at any time if I decided, but it was difficult to remake the taste if we hadn’t tried it yet. How did he do it? He had never even tried it himself!

The male lead was Jed Terry Elkium, not Noah Edith. He shouldn’t be too perfect.

…Still, Noah was Kairos.

When he made egg porridge last time, he practiced so hard to match the taste I wanted… though he did this not out of love?

No way…

Nonetheless, this person might’ve tried to bury me alive today. Because I said I was sick, this must be my last supper. Don’t be fooled.

He was a scary guy.

The spoon, which was moving as it emptied the bowl, lost its speed. As it had been in recent years, it took only a moment for excitement to turn to disappointment.

Seeing my actions, Noah’s shoulders sagged.

“Why, it’s not good? Should I try it again?”

Whether it was on purpose or not, he kept checking my reaction.

“No? It’s really good.”

“You have a gloomy expression.”

He quickly realized the change in my expression.

“It fits my taste. It’s so delicious.”

I looked up at Noah with my eyebrows scrunched and continued.

“Stupid idiot…”

“Huh?”

“You’re truly spineless like sea cucumber.”

Although I wanted to say bad things to him again, I was scared so I had to stop there.

“Why are you so upset?”

I timidly took out my anger as I watched Noah slowly burst into laughter.