My Husband Caught Me Having an Affair - Chapter 124

Mael swiftly stripped the soldier of his uniform and changed into it. He shoved the unconscious man into the bushes and finally pulled on a mask.

‘Alright, now then…’

Since arriving at this location, Mael had counted about forty men with his own eyes. Factoring in those stationed on the outskirts and inside the cabin, the total force could easily be fifty to sixty.

In order to carry out the ‘plan,’ it wasn’t necessary to eliminate all of them—but their numbers needed to be reduced as much as possible. Luckily, there was no moon tonight.

If he moved swiftly under the cover of darkness, it would be possible to silently take out the enemy one by one.

Of course, this wasn’t the kind of work Mael had been trained for. But that didn’t mean it was impossible.

Keeping his sword close at his side, Mael crouched low and began to move.

***

I sat silently in my chair.

Ines stayed close beside Jacques with a worried look. Though tightly bound, Jacques kept assuring her with quiet words that everything would be alright.

‘By now, Mael must be making his move.’

There were three key points to the plan I had devised this time.

First, would the kidnappers bring Ines along? I thought the odds were high. Jacques had made it clear he wouldn’t negotiate unless he could confirm that Ines was unharmed.

Second, would Marlon Girard show up in person? My prediction was no. Marlon had a deeply ingrained habit of concealing his presence from the shadows—something that held true even in the final act of the original story, when he was backed into a corner.

He always made sure to have an escape route planned to protect himself. That was his true nature—and no one ever truly changes their nature.

No one would have imagined I’d come here in person, so the kidnappers would surely try to confirm Marlon’s orders before taking any action.

Given that the meeting place was halfway up a mountain outside the capital, it would take at least an hour to exchange letters with Marlon. And that was enough time for Mael to do his work.

Third, would the kidnappers recognize Mael’s identity?

Of course, Mael’s disguise was perfect. He had taken off his usual uniform, worn a wig, and even applied a fake beard—so well that even someone who knew him would struggle to recognize him.

Had Jacques come alone to the rendezvous, they would’ve questioned why he arrived in a carriage.

But with the Duchess of Dumont as a passenger, it made perfect sense. A heavy, sturdy coach, a driver, and four horses—nothing unusual. In fact, all of these elements were crucial to the operation.

After hearing the plan from beginning to end, Mael had spoken with a grim expression.

“…Are you truly not going to tell the Duke?”

“No. Ethan would never approve of this plan. He would never let me put myself at risk under any circumstances.”

“I agree with him. Of course saving Jacques’s wife is important, but for the Duchess to be endangered because of that—it’s unacceptable.”

“I won’t be in danger. No one can touch the Duchess of Dumont without consequence. Marlon Girard isn’t foolish enough not to know that, and he’s not the type to take such a risk.”

At my words, Mael looked at me with conflicted eyes. “But nothing in this world is absolute. Even if the odds are slim, if something goes wrong, I still believe the Duchess should not be the one to go there in person.”

“Then do you have another way to save Ines safely? Let’s hear it. If you have a new plan, I’ll follow it.”

“……”

Mael didn’t answer.

“What you just said—that ‘nothing in this world is absolute’—sounds reasonable, but in truth, it’s a baseless claim. If you want to refute my plan, then point out a specific flaw in it and the danger that flaw might cause.”

Even then, Mael’s face still held unease.

“…Still, going ahead without the Duke’s permission…”

“Are you saying Ethan is your only master, and I’m not?”

At my sharp question, Mael looked startled. “No, Duchess. That’s not what I meant at all…”

“One more thing. Haven’t you acted on your own before, without informing Ethan?”

“……”

At my remark, Mael looked flustered. He immediately realized I was referring to the Marcel Bache incident.

Back then, I had vaguely hinted, ‘If you act now, you won’t need to report false information to Ethan,’ and Mael had followed through exactly as I’d implied.

“And what was the result? In the end, everything went just as I said it would. If you had ignored me back then, Ines surely wouldn’t have survived. Same goes for now.”

“……”

“Answer me, Sir Mael. Will you turn your back on a life you can save right now, all for the sake of some hollow sense of duty? Can you live with that choice for the rest of your life without regret?”

“……”

Mael’s gaze drifted toward Jacques, seated nearby. Jacques remained silent, his eyes filled with darkness.

I reached out and took Mael’s hands in both of mine. “Please, Sir Mael. Just this once, trust me and help me again. I promise, from now on I’ll never act behind Ethan’s back like this again. I swear.”

It wasn’t just a line to persuade him. I truly meant it.

I didn’t feel indifferent about hiding this plan from Ethan. On the contrary, knowing how deeply he cared about me made it even harder.

If there had been any other way to resolve this without involving myself directly, I would have chosen it. But this was the only plan I could come up with under the time constraint.

If all went well, I intended to confess everything to Ethan and apologize, promising never to do such a thing again. I’d tell him it was all my insistence, and that Jacques and Mael had simply followed orders.

“……”

After a long and intense struggle, Mael finally lowered his head.

“…Understood. I’ll do as you say, Duchess.”

And that’s how we ended up in this situation.

In the original story, Mael had been something of a cheat character when it came to combat. His strength as a knight was unmatched.

Though his swordsmanship was well known to some extent, the public greatly underestimated him. That was because Mael had never once used his full strength in training or mock battles.

Even Ethan didn’t know Mael’s true capabilities. Which meant, at this point in time, I was the only one who did.

The kidnappers had no idea that Mael was disguised as the coachman. And even if they had known, they’d never imagine he could take them all on alone.

‘Alright, time to get started.’

I looked at one of the soldiers guarding us and said, “Can you call your captain over here?”

“What for?” asked the soldier bluntly.

“I have something to discuss.”

“Then tell me.”

“I need to speak to your captain directly. If you really don’t want to… well, I can’t help it. But if he gets mad later, I won’t be responsible.”

“……”

The soldier stared at me silently for a moment, then left the cabin to fetch his captain.

“What do you want?”

“How long are we supposed to wait like this? Hasn’t the reply come yet?”

“I already told you, it’ll take some time.”

“But the sun set quite a while ago. If I don’t head back soon, he’ll get suspicious.”

“It’s not unusual for nobles to be out late at night, is it?” said the captain nonchalantly.

“That’s true, but… I didn’t say anything about attending a banquet today. If he finds out about this, you’ll be in more trouble than I will. Don’t you think?”

“……”

A clicking sound came from under the captain’s mask—he had clucked his tongue.

“Even if you say that, there’s nothing I can do. We wait for the reply, that’s all. So calm down and be patient.”

“…Alright,” I replied, sounding dejected on purpose.

Then I lifted my head and asked again, “But when exactly is that reply supposed to come? In thirty minutes? An hour?”

“How would I know?”

“Can’t you estimate based on distance? How did you even send the message? By horse? And where did you send it, anyway? To Duke Girard’s estate, right?”

At my barrage of questions, the captain frowned. “That’s none of your concern. What difference does it make in how far it is? Who knows how long it’ll take to confirm the informant’s identity?”

“That’s exactly why I said I can’t just wait around. Did you at least tell him that if this drags on too long, Ethan might notice something’s wrong?”

I furrowed my brows as I spoke.

“Look, I—”

Just as the captain started to raise his voice in irritation, a loud banging came from the cabin door.

“Boss! We’ve got a problem!”