My Husband Caught Me Having an Affair - Chapter 126

Hearing those words from the Duchess was more motivating than ever before.

In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the success or failure of this mission largely depended on Mael.

The Duchess had demonstrated precise judgment in every incident so far. So Mael believed she would be right this time as well.

He could do it. No—he had to do it. To save an innocent life, and to live up to the Duchess’s expectations.

Now that the enemy leader had been captured, the mission had crossed the halfway point.

Jacques was finally freed from his restraints. He picked up one of the weapons the soldiers had dropped. He fastened a longsword to his belt and loaded a bolt into a crossbow. Then he looked at Mael and nodded as if to say he was ready.

“Take the lead.”

Mael said to Julien.

“And what if I don’t? Gonna kill me? If you do that, there’s no way you’ll all get out of here safely—kuh!”

Julien, who had been sneering, let out a groan. Mael had twisted Julien’s already broken arm even harder.

“Of course I won’t kill you. But I can make you feel pain just as bad.”

“Screw you. You call that a threat—gah!”

A searing pain shot through Julien’s restrained arm. It felt like the joint had been dislocated—but no. It had been broken.

“Aagh! You son of a—!”

“You’d better do what I say. There are still plenty of unbroken bones in your body.”

“……”

Julien clenched his teeth with a grinding sound. Seeing the will to resist disappear from his body, Mael turned to Jacques.

“Open the door.”

Following Mael’s command, Jacques opened the cabin door.

“Duchess, stay close behind me. Mrs. Alide behind her. Jacques, you take the rear.”

“Yes.”

Mael pushed Julien forward. With his arm broken, even that alone caused him considerable pain. Julien cursed quietly and began to stagger forward.

As Mael emerged from the cabin with Julien in front, one of the soldiers outside yelped in shock.

“Boss!”

At his shout, the other soldiers quickly gathered. In an instant, dozens of crossbows were aimed at Mael.

“Tell them to lower their weapons and stand down,” said Mael into Julien’s ear.

“……”

When Julien gave no reply, Mael twisted his broken arm without hesitation.

“Krah!”

“B-Boss!”

At Julien’s scream, the soldiers stirred in panic.

“Hurry. Or I’ll break your wrist next.”

“Damn it, fine! Everyone fall back! Drop your weapons!”

At his command, the soldiers lowered their crossbows and stepped back.

“They listen well. You must’ve trained them thoroughly,” Jacques muttered.

He continued, “Tell your snipers too—not to try anything stupid. We might not be able to dodge arrows, but I can slit your throat before they let one fly.”

At Mael’s words, Julien raised his voice again. “That goes for the hidden ones too! Don’t even think about it! Do not shoot! I mean it!”

At that moment, Camille stepped forward and whispered something in Mael’s ear.

Mael nodded at her, then turned to Julien.

“Alright. Now call the one in charge of the messenger hawks.”

“…What for?”

“Just do it.”

At Mael’s low voice, Julien clenched his jaw.

“Alex!”

“Y-Yes!”

The suddenly named Alex hurried over.

“There should be men stationed at the base of the mountain. Send them a message. A carriage will be coming down soon—tell them not to stop it. Let it pass.”

“……”

Alex glanced at Julien with a bewildered expression. Julien hesitated briefly, but then felt the pressure in Mael’s grip on his broken arm intensify.

Julien said urgently, “Do as he says.”

“Y-yes, sir.”

“Once the letter is written, show it to me. You’ll tie it and send it in front of me,” Mael said, looking at Alex.

Alex did exactly as instructed. After confirming that the hawk had flown off into the night sky, Camille once again whispered a few words into Mael’s ear.

Mael gave Julien a shove and said, “Now walk to where the horses are tied. Slowly.”

Julien clenched his teeth and began to move. Mael told him to go slowly, but each time Julien hesitated or slowed down, Mael twisted his arm without mercy. The searing pain that followed needed no mention.

Soon, the group arrived where the kidnappers had tied their horses. Jacques untied all of them and whipped them off in every direction.

Including the message hawk they’d just sent, it was all incredibly thorough.

‘Damn it… completely outplayed.’

Julien swallowed a groan through his stiff expression. The most shocking part was that the one giving all the orders appeared to be the Duchess.

She had acted like a naive and clueless woman—but it was all a ruse to lower Julien’s guard.

A devastating mistake. He should’ve been more suspicious the moment Jacques had said, ‘Only the Duchess knows the identity of the informant.’ Instead, he’d underestimated her, relying on gossip.

Once the horses were sent off, Mael dragged Julien over to the waiting carriage.

“Duchess, please board the carriage with Ines first. I’ll take the driver’s seat.”

At Jacques’s words, Camille nodded.

“Ines. Get in.”

“Ah, yes.”

Ines climbed in, followed by Camille. Jacques took the reins from the driver’s seat and looked at Mael.

“We’re ready. Shall we depart, Captain?”

“Go ahead first. I’ll stay behind.”

Jacques raised an eyebrow at Mael’s unexpected reply. “What? That wasn’t the plan.”

The original plan Camille had laid out was to take Julien as a hostage in the carriage and escape together.

“If we all board the carriage, we’ll lose any leverage over the others here. I need to make sure they don’t get any funny ideas—show them that I can kill their boss at any time.”

“But still—”

Just then, the carriage door opened again, and Camille leaned out.

“Captain. Get in the carriage.”

“…Duchess.”

“Please. You know as well as I do—we don’t have time.”

“If I leave too, there’ll be no one to control the variables that might arise. I need to stay behind to ensure they don’t try anything until the carriage clears the mountain.”

“What variables? We released all the horses to prevent pursuit, and the hawk just left—it’ll take time for it to return.”

“If they chase after us immediately, they might still catch a horse or two. And we can’t know exactly when the hawk will return.”

“Which is why we need to leave now! Get in—this isn’t the time to argue!”

Camille raised her voice, frustrated. But Mael stood firm.

“Please don’t worry. I can escape on my own without issue. You know my skills well, Duchess.”

“Captain!”

Mael turned back to Camille with a gentle smile. “This isn’t about sacrifice. It’s the opposite. If something were to happen to you, the Duke would never forgive me.”

As Camille faltered, Mael turned to Jacques.

“……”

“Go now.”

“……”

Jacques hesitated, visibly torn.

Camille said sternly, “Jacques! Don’t listen to him!”

“Go. If we wait too long, things will truly get dangerous. Think of your wife.”

“……”

Mael’s words made Jacques’s eyes tremble. He bit his lip hard.

“…Don’t die. Promise me.”

“Of course.”

“Hyah!”

Jacques snapped the reins, and the horses started forward.

“No! Jacques, stop!”

Camille shouted, but the carriage quickly picked up speed and pulled away. Even as it grew distant, Camille held onto the open door, eyes fixed on Mael.

Julien gave a short laugh. “How noble of you. The loyal knight of the century.”

“Shut it.”

“Now I get it. You’re Mael Cantona, Captain of the Dumont Knights, right? With skills like yours—and that kind of trust from the Duchess—who else could you be? But too bad. Today, the Duke of Dumont’s about to lose his prized knight—ugh!”

Crunch. A sharp crack as Julien’s arm fractured further.

While Julien groaned and spat curses through tears, Mael turned toward the gathered subordinates and raised his voice.

“Any suspicious move—and this man dies on the spot. And he won’t be the only one to bleed. That much I guarantee.”

“……”

The subordinates froze awkwardly, stuck between fear and indecision.

Mael stood silently, his gaze fixed firmly on them.