If You Wish For A Married Couple’s Duties - Chapter 84

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The person that secretly distributed the Devil’s Nap in the ducal castle was currently here?

Dooha’s eyes couldn’t have gotten any bigger.

There were so many people visiting the castle during the carnival that it was difficult to properly identify them.

Additionally, today was the first day of the carnival.

While everyone was basking in the festivities, it was the best day for slave traders and felons to sneak in.

It meant that there might not be a chance to catch him unless it’s today.

If the countess didn’t show up, the man would notice the strange atmosphere and escape immediately.

“Madam, I’m sorry…”

“Go and come back quickly.”

Dooha pushed on the reluctant duke’s back.

Her unexpected response caused Leonhart’s eyes to widen slightly.

“Anyways, if I say I’ll follow you, you’ll dissuade me from doing so. So just hurry up and come back.”

Dooha laughed and held up the chicken skewer that she had yet to finish.

“If you return before I finish eating this, I’ll leave first.”

“I’ll leave a knight behind. Just in case, if anything happens…”

“I’m disappointed, Leonhart. You still don’t know my skills?”

“I know, but.”

Leonhart paused.

Hasn’t he become familiar with his wife’s skills in Tochern Castle?

Dooha was fully capable of beating up street drunkards or most gangsters, no, even most intermediate knights alone.

But he didn’t feel comfortable.

It was unrelated to the fact that Dooha was someone that possessed the power to protect herself.

…It was their first date, but he felt like he was being interrupted by that tough guy.

“D*mn it, why did he have to show up now?”

Leonhart mumbled a curse, but his body was already half turned.

“I’ll be right back. Stay right here.”

Eventually, he took the knight along with him and cut through the crowd in a certain direction.

Left alone, Dooha stood amongst the noisy crowd blankly and took bites out of her chicken skewer.

She also sensed the sign of a knight that the duke had left behind nearby.

‘Well, he should return back soon.’

If monsters didn’t band together and swarm him like they did in Tochern Castle, the duke would return quickly.

When Dooha stared blankly at the passers by on the street after a while has passed since he’d disappeared.

Pok.

As something small ran over, it bumped into her leg, and fell backwards.

“Are you okay?”

Dooha extended a hand to the small child that fell in front of her.

He looked about five or six years old, but his limbs were very thin and his outer appearance made him seem rather shabby.

“P—please help me!”

“What?”

“My older brother is very sick! Please help me!”

The kid grabbed Dooha’s hand, and tears streamed down his face the moment he got up.

“Your brother is sick? Where is he feeling unwell?”

“I don’t, I don’t know! He lost a lot of blood, and can’t move because he’d collapsed!”

Is there anyone that’s seriously injured?

Dooha looked around with a serious expression.

But the brother that the kid mentioned didn’t seem to be in the vicinity.

“Where’s your brother?”

“There, inside the alley!”

The kid pointed towards the alley, which seemed rather deserted even during this bustling festival.

“Please, please help me!”

Dooha pondered for a moment.

‘He said that he’d be right back, and to wait for him here.’

She didn’t want to leave for no reason and make the duke worry.

However, it was hard to refuse the request of a kid that was shedding large drops of tears right before her eyes.

After she confirmed the existence of the knight standing by a short distance from her, Dooha made a decision.

“Kid, where’s your brother?”

“This way! This way!”

Eventually, Dooha hurriedly left with the kid that was leading her by the hand.

‘Huh? Duchess?’

Meanwhile, the Esbaden family’s knight, which was keeping an eye on her, became bewildered.

The duke surely had told her to wait here, so where in the world was she going?

The knight followed behind Dooha belatedly.

Like that, the three people disappeared through a narrow alleyway that wasn’t in use.

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The alley that the kid guided them through wasn’t suitable for people to go through.

It was very narrow, damp, and reeked.

It was understandable why people didn’t go through it.

However, someone wounded was in a place like this.

Dooha’s eyes narrowed.

She pretended to be nonchalant as she tugged on the hand of the small kid that led her here.

“Kid, where’s your older brother?”

“What? Oh, t—that’s…”

The little boy stuttered, perhaps because he was flustered when she suddenly stopped.

“A—about that…”

“Madam! How can you suddenly disappear like that? The duke is worried…”

Just then, a knight that followed after Dooha from behind fell forward.

“Kyuagh!”

It was because someone hit him on the head with a mace.

The knight’s head was knocked onto the dirt floor and he lost consciousness.

“Well, it’s been quite a while.”

Dooha slowly raised her gaze from the fallen knight.

“Oh, I guess I’m the only one who’s glad. From how you look so angry.”

The nauseating voice, which seemed to have grease all over its vocal cords, felt vaguely familiar.

Wrinkles began to form on Dooha’s forehead.

“Could you have forgotten me in the meantime? How disappointing.”

The man gave a despicable smile with the mace on his shoulder.

His other sleeve was fluttering helplessly like an empty bag.

“…What are you here?”

Dooha glared at the man that looked quite different from before.

“Paul.”

The man holding the mace was Paul, the manager of the stables, who was kicked out after his arm was cut off by the duke.

[T/N: I forgot who Paul was, so I had to re-read. FYI, he appeared in ch9-10.]

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“Oh, I’m so honoured by the fact that the Duchess of Esbaden remembered my name.”

Paul snickered at Dooha, who was still holding the little kid’s hand.

“You were so callous when you framed me, but you’re quite generous to a young slave, aren’t you.”

“…Where’s this kid’s brother?”

He frowned when faced with Dooha’s question.

“Madam, did you actually believe those words? True, there isn’t anyone better at performing than those young slaves.”

Paul chuckled as he watched the kid quiver like a leaf at the sight of him.

“That kid doesn’t have a brother.”

He scratched his jaw and continued like he had recalled something.

“Oh, if it’s a sick older sister, he does have one. He was very enthusiastic when he was told that his sister’s medicine would be paid for if he lured Madam here. Even though he knew what would happen to Madam.”

At Paul’s words, the little boy shrank like he felt a pang of conscience.

Just as Paul had mentioned, it seems like the kid volunteered for this job even though he knew what would happen to Dooha.

“Don’t you find it rather lamentable? That Madam is only worth ten copper coins.”

Dooha turned towards Paul, who was trying to insult her.

“I was worried that you’d live from hand to mouth after your arm was cut off.”

She gave an extremely calm smile.

“As expected, instead of your arm, your tongue should have been cut off. From how you’re alive and kicking like this.”

Instantly, Paul’s face turned expressionless.

Then, the anger and murderous intent towards the Duchess became increasingly evident.

“You’re still so stubborn, you barbarian lass. Do you know how much I’d anticipated the moment that we’ll meet again?”

Paull lowered the arm that was holding the mace slowly.

The head of the mace, which was the size of a human head, was bloodstained.

“You, a lass that grew up with the treatment of a princess, wouldn’t be able to guess the kind of life that I had to lead after being expelled out of here.”

There wasn’t a place that needed an old man that had lost an arm and was directly expelled by the duke.

After almost starving to death while begging on the streets, Paul visited Nate again like he was grasping at straws.

He was about to starve to death anyways, so it was the same whether he died under the hands of the angered Nate.

However, contrary to his expectations, Nate bestowed upon him a final act of compassion

He didn’t just find a new owner for Paul, he’d even empowered Paul so much that he was entrusted with a very important task.

“Unlike your husband, who’s devoid of blood and tears, my master would show mercy to his subordinates.”

Thanks to that, he enjoyed luxury that was incomparable to his time spent managing the stables.

“There really isn’t a day that’s as festival-like as today.”

Paul’s mouth curled into an insidious smile.

“It’s because I can finally crush your head with my own two hands.”

It was sheer luck that he discovered the duchess on the streets.

He’d thought that he was mistaken when he spotted her, standing at the side of the road by herself and biting on a chicken skewer, while he was heading towards the appointment venue.

There’s no way a woman that’s the duchess in name would be walking around the streets without an escort.

However, he couldn’t help but feel elated the moment he ascertained that the eyes that were slightly exposed under the hood were golden in colour.

“I’ll personally educate you. The pain of bones being broken and flesh being torn.”

It has already reached a situation where any ordinary woman would scream and cry for help.

However, Dooha was no ordinary woman.

She was currently planning on how she should leave this place after getting rid of the opponent before her eyes.

“You’d better refrain from trying to escape. I’ve already made sufficient preparations for you.”

As Paul raised the mace skyward, men with spears and knives began to appear behind him one after another.

‘Behind too.’

Dooha balled her hand into a fist as she felt numerous presences behind her.

‘Around 15 people in total. I’m fully capable of escaping by myself. But…’

She stole a glance at the little boy that was standing next to her with a frightened face.

Judging from the atmosphere, it seems like Paul only intended to exploit this child, and they weren’t on the same side.

‘This kid will also get involved if we fight.’

The alley was so narrow that it was difficult for two adults to pass through side by side.

It was obvious how the kid would end up like if a fight took place here.

“I can hear the sound of your brain moving all the way here. I told you to give up on the thought of escaping.”

Paull took a step closer to her with the mace in hand.

He seemed to enjoy the feeling of becoming a predator that played with its prey before killing it.

“Captain!”

Just then, a subordinate at the back approached while calling for him.

“W—we’re in trouble. Apparently, the duke and the knights burst into the inn that we’re staying in.”

“What?”

“You have to hurry up and flee! The duchy’s knights are searching through the luggage of outsiders, and searching all the inns in this area.”

At the words of his subordinate, Paul’s eyes widened to the point of tearing apart.

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