The Wicked Wife's Dark History Keeps Coming Back To Haunt Her - Chapter 145

“There are a lot of eyes on us. You wanted to act like a loving couple in public, but you’re suggesting we get separate rooms at the hotel?”

“Ah…”

People’s eyes.

Nina looked around.

But aside from the staff, since it was still daylight, there really wasn’t anyone else around.

‘Well, staff are people too, I suppose.’

And now that she thought about it, they’d have to write down their names at check-in.

If they wrote ‘Duke Bayern’ and reserved two rooms, anyone would find it odd.

She thought about using another name instead, but there was no harm in being cautious, so Nina accepted Ash’s reasoning and went up to their room.

‘And it’s not like this is our first time sleeping beside each other. What could possibly happen…?’

She recalled the way he’d suddenly pulled her into his arms earlier, but shook her head to banish the thought.

“It’s still a while before bedtime. Should we go out for a bit before coming back?”

“Go… out, you say?”

Go out.

He clearly hadn’t expected her to suggest going out, and his eyes widened slightly.

“It’s still broad daylight. What are we supposed to do in here until night? Let’s go walk around the city. Or should I go by myself?”

She was planning to look around anyway, so she didn’t mind going alone.

When Nina stared at him with wide eyes, Ash straightened his clothes and nodded.

As she said, it was far too bright to just stay in the room.

Braumhill County was a neighboring territory to the Bayern Duchy, but they didn’t have many chances to visit.

Even when they did, it was only to attend parties at the count’s manor. There was rarely an opportunity to see the city itself.

Ash glanced at Nina’s face as she walked down the tree-lined avenue in the breeze.

In both hands, she held skewers of chicken hearts bought from a street vendor.

The sight of his wife nibbling on skewered pieces of chicken heart and vegetables as she walked was a novel one.

She was dressed like a noblewoman, but her actions were those of a local out for a stroll.

“Do you want one?”

“I’m fine.”

“It’s tastier than it looks. Are you sure you don’t want to try?”

“It’s alright. Unless there’s something special, I prefer to eat at the set time.”

“It really is good, but if you don’t want any, oh well.”

Nina stopped offering and finished off the skewer neatly.

Ash walked alongside her beneath the trees, when the question he hadn’t heard the answer to earlier came to mind.

What did his wife think about children?

“…What do you think it would be like to have a child?”

“What?”

“There was that rumor about you being pregnant.”

“Hmm…”

Her clear, sky-blue eyes suddenly darkened as if a cloud had passed over them.

The shadow cast by the subject of pregnancy.

As he watched her eyes, he waited anxiously for her red lips to open.

After a moment.

“I think it would be a lot of pressure.”

“……”

A heavy feeling settled in his chest.

What had he even been hoping for?

Just that single word, pressure, made his mood sink as if rain had started to fall.

“In a world where it’s hard enough to support yourself… Well, actually, if you have enough money, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have one or two.”

So, since they had money, one or two children would be fine…

“But where could I find a man who’d just give me a child and nothing else, no strings attached?”

Ash, who had just been picturing a child that looked like Nina, stopped dead in his tracks at her shocking remark.

Neatly, just give you a child… What?

“Oh, was that too ahead of its time? Just pretend you didn’t hear that.”

Nina smiled sweetly as if to play it off.

But how was he supposed to pretend he hadn’t heard, when he clearly had?

He’d known since two years ago that his wife was anything but ordinary, but today she felt more incomprehensible than ever.

‘A man who’d just give her a child… neatly…?’

Did that mean she didn’t care who the father was, as long as she had a child?

A faint furrow appeared between his brows, and he felt a vague, inexplicable sense of anxiety start to gnaw at him.

“Oh, the sun’s starting to set. Let’s head back to the hotel.”

“…Alright.”

• Author
• Recent Posts

tangerine

Latest posts by tangerine (see all)