Don’T Get Caught By Your Husband! [EN]: Chapter 23

#23. A Fluttering Heart

“My Lady!”

“……”

“My Lady! Are you alright?”

Cindy waved her hand, palm wide open, up and down in front of Belladonna, who had a dazed expression.

Yet, Belladonna only blinked slowly, unable to fully regain her senses.

“My Lady! What’s wrong? What on earth are you thinking about?”

Cindy put her hands on her hips and tilted her head.

She had been like this ever since returning from her outing with the Lord.

Even when they rode back, when she was escorted to her room and given a warm bath, when her hair was dried, and when dinner was prepared for her in her room.

“……”

“My Lady, shall I leave you now? Call me anytime if you need anything, okay?”

Belladonna nodded with a still unfocused face.

Cindy kept looking back at her, then closed the door and went out into the hallway.

Left alone, Belladonna finally seemed to snap out of it, thrashing and burying her face in the bed.

Ugh……!

She couldn’t believe it.

Belladonna lifted her face slightly and carefully traced her red lips with her fingers.

The constantly excited breaths and his impatient, even ardent, lips…….

Naturally, her thoughts drifted back to earlier, and Belladonna blushed again, starting to squirm.

‘No way! I ended up kissing him!’

It was entirely because of the atmosphere.

The distance between them, so close. The hot heat emanating from his body, contrasting with the cold air. The gaze that looked down with deep desire…….

All of that…….

‘……I don’t know! I don’t know!’

Belladonna hugged a pillow and let out a silent scream.

Moreover, soon it would be night, and Escalio would surely come into her room as usual.

To have to sleep with him in this state?

She would surely spend the night wide awake.

Click.

As if cutting off her imagination, the sound of the doorknob turning was heard.

Belladonna quickly stopped what she was doing and sat up, pretending to be calm.

The one who opened the door and entered was Escalio, exuding a fresh feeling as if he had just taken a shower.

“……”

He paused for a moment as he entered the room and made eye contact with her.

They stared at each other in silence with somewhat subdued expressions.

O- awkward……!

Soon, Escalio, who had dimmed the lights, approached the bed with his unique playful and sly smile.

“I thought you’d be passed out, but you seem more okay than I expected?”

He carefully lifted the blanket and came to Belladonna’s side.

He tossed his large body around, took a comfortable position, and brought Belladonna into his arms.

Same expression as usual, same tone as usual, same posture as usual.

Belladonna blinked in his arms, feeling a strange sense of confusion.

“You might catch a cold from being in a cold place for too long. Don’t forget that I said you’d be banned from going out if that happens, okay?”

What? But you were the one who took me to the lake!

Belladonna looked up at him with a look of protest.

He chuckled softly and gently stroked the back of her head.

“Get some sleep quickly so you don’t get sick. Volf is determined to teach you even more things starting tomorrow. He seems dissatisfied that I took his wife without saying anything.”

“……”

“I have to go out early tomorrow morning. There are so many merchants hoping to trade through the Griblata harbor. I’ve decided to meet them.”

Escalio, who habitually told her about his tasks for the next day, was truly no different from usual.

It seemed that she was the only one who was overly concerned and confused by the kiss from earlier.

And that fact was enough to make Belladonna feel bad.

‘Since he’s the world’s greatest womanizer, is that kind of kiss nothing to him?’

But it was my first real kiss…….

Belladonna pouted, feeling wronged.

Escalio, having finished speaking, seemed to have fallen asleep without any worries.

The chest moving up and down rhythmically came into view.

‘I guess I was the only one who cared, how absurd…….’

Belladonna let out a small sigh and closed her eyes.

The feeling that didn’t easily subside was very confusing and dizzying.

At that moment, she heard a familiar and rhythmic sound in her ear.

Thump, thump, thump.

The sound was so faint at first that it was barely noticeable, but once she recognized it, it sounded so loud that it rang strongly in her ears.

‘This sound is……?’

Belladonna raised her head and looked at him.

He had his eyes closed as if he were calm, but his ears were flushed red to the point that she could recognize it even in the dark.

“……”

Belladonna unknowingly raised the corners of her lips.

Even if he wasn’t as concerned as she was, she felt satisfied that he was at least somewhat affected by the kiss with her.

She smiled and burrowed deeper into his arms.

She felt Escalio flinch. The rhythmic thumping of his heartbeat settled even louder in her ear.

* * *

The next morning, Belladonna, who had woken up alone in the wide bed, slowly got up.

As he had told her yesterday, Escalio had gotten up early in the morning to meet with the merchants hoping to trade with Griblata.

After blinking for a moment, Belladonna reached out and opened the drawer of the bedside table.

And from within, she took out the envelope containing the letter from Astanya.

“……”

The letter sent by the Pope.

Belladonna opened the envelope with a slightly nervous feeling and took out the letter.

[To Bella.

I wonder if you are doing well in Griblata. This old father’s premature worries only increase day by day.

I also wonder if you are keeping the promise you made to this father before you got married. Serve your husband and live constantly respecting him.

By the time this letter arrives, a month will have passed since you got married and left Astanya.

I miss you a lot today.

Please reply when you have time. Dreaming of the day we will see each other someday.

Pope Pronance Briel.]

The Pope’s seal was stamped at the very bottom of the letter.

She read the contents of the letter again from beginning to end and let out a hollow laugh.

She couldn’t possibly not know what those things that caught her eye meant, among the sentences that had been disguised as a letter from an ordinary and sincere father to his beloved daughter.

‘He must be telling me not to forget the divorce in three months.’

Belladonna let out a small sigh and leaned the back of her head against the headboard of the bed.

The Pope was always thinking of calling her back to his side.

Now that she was far away from Astanya, he was constantly reviving that intention by sending letters like this.

The light and pleasant feeling she had until she opened her eyes in the morning now felt like she was trapped in a stuffy and narrow box.

Belladonna silently looked down at the spot where Escalio had been lying all night.

“……”

Now, a little over two months remained of her married life with him.

And that fact was gradually squeezing Belladonna’s heart.

‘Where does this unknown anxiety come from?’

At first, she thought it was just a feeling of not wanting to return to the Pope’s side.

The feeling of not wanting to maintain silence again, to be stuck in the confessional and become a trash can for people’s emotions.

The feeling of not wanting to be in a situation where she had to force a beautiful smile, even though she didn’t understand what was going on.

But now…….

She didn’t have the courage to face Escalio’s disappointed eyes.

‘He said he doesn’t forgive those who betray him.’

Could he forgive a wife who tried to stab him in the back in cahoots [conspiring] with the Pope?

Belladonna slowly shook her head.

Probably not.

Belladonna, with a distorted expression, bit her lower lip.

She put strength into the hand holding the letter and crumpled it up.

She felt that her heart was being crumpled up even more terribly than the terribly crumpled letter.

* * *

“……Therefore, this is a list of the materials that need repair this year.”

Volf held out a thick report.

Belladonna gave an awkward smile and accepted it.

“The windows in the reception room are not old, but I think it would be better to replace them all considering the increasing number of guests. The rest were written based on the opinions of the staff.”

The windows in the reception room, the handrails on the stairs leading to the 4th floor, the chandelier in the empty room on the 3rd floor, and even the old stove in the kitchen…….

It seemed that there were more places to repair than she had thought.

Belladonna carefully examined the list and began to recall if there were any places that she thought needed repair.

Seeing that there are many places to fix here and there, it seems that the castle is older than I thought…….

“Ah, and the lumber you confirmed last time has been paid for through the carpenter we have been trading with. The lumber will be delivered slowly over two months.”

Belladonna nodded.

Volf unfolded the lumber-related ledger he had shown her before once again.

“I have attached the receipts at the bottom here. After reading them, please sign around here if there are no problems.”

Belladonna picked up a pen without thinking.

She was about to sign where Volf was pointing and turn her eyes to another ledger, but something on the top of the same page caught her eye.

‘……What is it? Something seems different?’

“If you’re done, please give it to…….”

Volf reached out, but Belladonna subtly pulled the ledger she was holding back.

She wanted to check one more time.

Volf nodded without much suspicion and turned around to rummage through other documents.

Belladonna began to carefully examine the ledger that Volf had unfolded.

Belladonna, narrowing her eyes and reading the numbers in the ledger, was able to figure out what had changed without much difficulty.

“……”

It’s gone.

The place where a certain amount of lumber was written to be sent to Scarlett Leyton’s address had been erased cleanly, as if nothing had ever been there from the beginning.

What is it? Why did that woman’s address disappear?

Belladonna frowned without realizing it and looked down at the ledger Volf was holding.

“My Lady? What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with the ledger?”

Volf on the other side asked back with a puzzled face.

Belladonna quickly relaxed her frowned face and shook her head with a smile that was no different from usual.

While signing where Volf was pointing, she pondered.

‘There’s no way he would have stopped sending lumber overnight……. Did Escalio realize that I knew about that woman’s existence?’

Therefore, did he order Volf to erase all records related to Scarlett?

Belladonna frowned.

Perhaps, Hazel had told him everything that had happened at the time.