Don’T Get Caught By Your Husband! [EN]: Chapter 76

In his mind, he recalled the words Belladona had desperately uttered.

Since she had gone to such lengths to say she would return, he was thinking of waiting here like a well-behaved hunting dog and watching for her return.

If she really returns to Griblatta after the birthday celebration, then…

‘…What do I want to do with her?’

“By the way, Miss Scarlet is late.”

Volf, who was standing in front of the desk and diligently receiving the documents Escalion had prepared, said.

Escalion, shaken from his thoughts by his voice, raised his head.

At the same time, someone knocked on the door of the office.

“She’s never been one to be quiet.”

Escalion chuckled and muttered.

Volf quickly turned and smiled at the person standing outside the office door.

“Welcome, Miss Scarlet!”

“Hello, Volf. Hi, Escalion.”

Scarlet, casually greeting them, stepped into the office without hesitation.

Volf excused himself to give the siblings some private time.

“Then, please talk comfortably. I’ll have the maids bring some refreshments.”

“Thank you, Volf!”

Scarlet replied, plopping down in the chair across from Escalion.

After looking around the spacious office for a moment, she suddenly said,

“When is the Madam coming back? Why is time moving so slowly? Isn’t it strange that there are still four days left until the birthday celebration?”

“I agree.”

Escalion said, tapping the desk regularly with his fingers.

It was a clear display of his displeasure.

Scarlet leaned forward and asked him.

“Why don’t you just send me to Astanya? I want to see the Saintess using her divine power in person.”

Divine power… Escalion frowned at the thought of Belladona using her divine power.

She could only use divine power by consuming her life force.

The thought of how many people she would heal at the birthday celebration and how much of her life she would waste made his heart feel like it was burning black.

“It’s not a good ability.”

“It’s an amazing ability! Don’t you know how lucky it is to be able to heal sick people right away?”

“That’s not luck. It’s a huge misfortune.”

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you suddenly being mean?”

Scarlet looked at Escalion with a puzzled expression and then blurted out,

“By the way, the maids say the priests from Astanya are so handsome? Did you get a good look?”

“Who looks like what?”

Distracted by her useless chatter, Escalion, who had been thinking about Belladona, raised his golden eyes.

Scarlet shrugged and said,

“The priests from Astanya are handsome.”

“I didn’t get a good look.”

“The maids say the priests from Astanya are completely different from the men in Griblatta? They don’t do rough sports like the men here and are holed up in the chapel praying all day, so they’re pale, thin, and give off a pure feeling.”

“I don’t care. Can you leave?”

“It’s like a male version of our beautiful and innocent Madam.”

Despite Escalion’s nagging, Scarlet didn’t stop talking.

“I told you that the Madam and Escalion look very different, right? I haven’t seen the priests from Astanya in person, but maybe the Madam is more compatible with the priests from Astanya in terms of appearance.”

At Scarlet’s words, Escalion closed his mouth.

Bella and the priests of Astanya?

“The maids say that one of the tallest priests from Astanya was especially fond of the Madam, and it was a beautiful sight.”

“…”

On the day Belladona left for Astanya, he had stayed cooped up in his office, afraid that he would want to grab her and forcibly stop her from getting on the carriage leaving this place.

But if those male priests had been sticking close to her that day, helping her with everything, he began to regret not doing something.

Scarlet said with an exaggerated expression,

“Oh, what if the Madam really doesn’t come back? Because there are so many handsome men in Astanya? I want to go too!”

Escalion stared at her silently.

“Why are you saying that in front of me?”

“To make you squirm.”

Scarlet giggled. Escalion continued to stare at her, then shook his head with a look of annoyance.

“Bella must be mistaken. We’ll never be close.”

“You cherish her so much, so why did you send her to Astanya alone?”

At Scarlet’s question, Escalion couldn’t answer easily.

He hadn’t told anyone other than Volf that he was considering divorcing her.

“I have things to do in Griblatta.”

“She must be disappointed that you couldn’t even take that much time off for her.”

“She’s already as disappointed in me as she can be.”

As he said self-deprecatingly, Scarlet looked at him as if surprised.

“Are you stupid? Why do you keep disappointing someone you like?”

“I know.”

Escalion leaned back in his chair.

He looked up at the high ceiling and sighed.

“Why did I do that?”

* * *

“Who are you?”

Belladona turned her head and met the man’s eyes, startled.

The person who turned to look at her was not Escalion, but a completely different man.

He didn’t even resemble him…! Belladona was flustered and grabbed him, blinking her wide eyes.

“Is there something you wanted to say to me?”

The man asked again.

Belladona was startled and let go of his hand, bowing her head deeply under her robe and shaking her head.

“No. G-go ahead…”

The man tilted his head, then went on his way. Belladona drooped her shoulders with a disappointed expression.

“…”

I thought it was Escalion, but was I seeing things…?

She stood still on the street for a while, then slowly turned around.

Since she didn’t have much time, she would have to walk diligently to the Papal Palace.

* * *

“Saintess!”

Rosie, who was standing at the crossroads in front of the Papal Palace, spotted Belladona and shouted loudly as she ran over.

She seemed very anxious waiting for Belladona, who hadn’t arrived even after the appointed time.

Belladona ran towards her with an apologetic expression.

‘I got lost…!’

When returning from the Gaia Hotel to the Papal Palace, she thought she could come quickly because she knew the way, but strangely, she kept getting confused and ended up going around in circles.

“Why are you so late! I was worried…! Let’s go back quickly!”

Belladona nodded to Rosie, who was urging her, and grabbed her hand, running towards the Papal Palace.

“Saintess! You’re finally here! Oh, thank goodness. Half a day has passed, and you hadn’t returned, so we thought something had happened.”

The knights, who were anxiously guarding the entrance, sighed in relief when they found them.

Belladona gave an awkward smile, feeling sorry for making so many people worry.

I’m sorry for making everyone worry because I was later than I thought…

Just as she was thinking it was fortunate that she had returned not too late, the knight who seemed to be the most senior stepped forward and said,

“Saintess! The Pope has been looking for you since earlier. We made up an excuse that you had only gone out for a short time, but you should go see him.”

The, the Pope?

Belladona widened her eyes and looked back at Rosie.

Rosie, who was standing next to her, also looked surprised.

“Huh? You didn’t have any special schedule today, Saintess? There shouldn’t be any urgent reason for him to look for you…”

“We don’t know the reason either. Anyway, please go see him quickly!”

The knights said, clearing the way for them, who were standing there blankly.

Belladona nodded to Rosie and the knights, indicating that she understood, and hurried away.

She quickened her pace along the shortcut to the building where the Pope’s office was located and quickly climbed the stairs.

What does he want with me? Today wasn’t a day for worship, nor was it a day for the confessional to be open.

He told me to rest well for the birthday celebration for the time being…

She went to the front of the office and carefully knocked on the door. The Pope’s voice came from inside.

“Come in.”

She felt that his voice was low and heavy, which was unusual, but she slowly pushed the door open.

Is he angry? Why…?

Just as she was about to step inside without thinking, something blunt flew and hit her face head-on.

“…!!”

Belladona couldn’t even scream and clutched her face, collapsing on the spot.

What, what was that? What happened…? Her vision was black, and perhaps because she was so surprised, she didn’t feel anything in the area she had been hit.

She just blinked dazedly and trembled with both hands covering her face.

Before she could even realize what had just happened, someone grabbed her hair hard and pulled her up.