My Husband Caught Me Having an Affair - Chapter 81

‘Of course.’

I sighed while staring intently at Ethan.

It was just my misunderstanding after all. Though I hadn’t given it much meaning, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, to be honest.

‘Well, I think it’s understandable to misunderstand. If you say something like that with that kind of expression…’

If I had to determine guilt or innocence, it was 200% guilty.

I felt a pang of regret over the restless night I’d spent feeling uneasy.

“But why did you ask that?” Ethan asked, tilting his head with genuine curiosity.

“It’s nothing. Anyway, I’ll consider this matter resolved for now,” I said, shaking my head.

“I’ve arranged to meet Nicola next week at the ball being held at the estate of Viscount Galabru. I’ll try to decline him as politely as possible then. Although, he’s not the type to give up easily, so it might take repeating a few times for him to give up.”

Hearing that, Ethan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“You’ve arranged to meet him? You made an appointment with him?”

“Yes? Yes. As I mentioned yesterday, the original plan was to pretend to fall for his seduction. Nicolas mentioned that the Viscount’s estate has an indoor garden of considerable size. At night, the only light comes from the moon shining through the glass ceiling, making it a good place to avoid prying eyes while maintaining a romantic atmosphere.”

“…A secret rendezvous in such a place?” Ethan asked, his expression suddenly serious.

“Yes. I told Nicolas that my husband has been keeping a close eye on me after the incident with Baron Bernard. He said he knew a place where we wouldn’t get caught and suggested we meet there.”

Ethan looked at me silently.

I unconsciously shrugged my shoulders under his gaze.

“As I said, I was only pretending to fall for him. That was the plan, anyway. Now, I don’t plan on meeting him like this anymore. I’ll just tell him I’m not interested and leave right away.”

“What did I say yesterday? I told you not to do anything that could put you in danger. What if he tries to stop you by force when you’re leaving? In a place where there’s no one to help you if you scream, what do you think he might do to you?”

“……”

I frowned reflexively at Ethan’s words.

“He wouldn’t do anything. Nothing will happen.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Well…”

I trailed off, unable to find the right words.

There was no way I could say, “Nicolas isn’t the type of person to do that,” in this situation.

Nicolas, influenced by his late mother’s teachings, had a sense of gentlemanly conduct. Even though he seduced and deceived countless women while working as Girard’s informant in the original story, he never once acted boorishly toward them.

But Ethan couldn’t possibly know that, and I couldn’t explain why I knew such a thing either.

“You’ve always had a reckless streak. Like when you first discovered Marcel Bache and chased after him. Knowing he was a dangerous killer, why would you do such a thing?”

“…That was in broad daylight, on a busy street. There was no real danger. I kept a safe distance while following him and only tracked which building he entered before leaving.”

“Even then, there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t notice you. The same applies here. You need to be more aware of your position and act with caution.”

Ethan spoke with such seriousness that his face almost seemed stiff.

I gazed at him quietly.

“Is that why?”

“What?”

“Why you’re so worried about me. You want me to be aware of my position as the Duchess of Dumont and avoid dangerous behavior. Is that what you mean?”

“Well, isn’t that obvious?” Ethan replied hesitantly.

‘As expected.’

I suddenly felt a strange sense of understanding.

For some reason, I felt lighter, as though a weight had been lifted off my chest. I wouldn’t fall into unnecessary misunderstandings anymore.

“Then what would you have me do?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Don’t go to the meeting.”

I frowned.

“And if I don’t go? Just stand him up?”

“What’s wrong with that? It’s a pretty clear way of signaling your rejection, isn’t it?”

“Well, maybe. But he’s not going to give up just because of that. He’ll try to approach me again at the next ball. Then what?”

“I’ll go with you.”

“…What?”

“To the ball. If I’m there, he won’t dare to approach you,” Ethan said nonchalantly.

“What are you saying… Are you planning to accompany me to every ball I attend?” I asked in disbelief.

“Why not?”

“But… You’re not the type to attend balls unless you absolutely have to. Why go that far…?”

“There you go again. Until now, I’ve only avoided events that weren’t necessary. But if it’s necessary, I’ll go.”

Ethan shrugged and continued, “In the past, maybe not. But nowadays, you only attend one or two balls a month. That’s manageable for me.”

“……”

Ethan spoke so casually that I felt a moment of cognitive dissonance.

It wasn’t about how often I attended balls.

The fact that he wanted to accompany me out of concern defied my understanding of the Ethan I knew.

Then again, this wasn’t the first time. There had been other instances, like when he suggested bringing Olivier to the ducal estate.

Now that I thought I had finally sorted things out, I was once again left perplexed.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Ethan asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“It’s nothing,” I said, shaking my head with a small sigh.

‘If this is how it’s going to be, you should’ve just acted like this from the start.’

If he had paid this much attention to Camille, the events of the original story would never have happened. Then I wouldn’t have needed to rack my brains trying to navigate these situations to survive.

In the end, I decided to follow Ethan’s suggestion regarding Nicolas.

I would not attend the upcoming ball at Viscount Galabru’s estate, and after that, I would ensure Nicolas had no further opportunities to approach me, forcing him to give up naturally.

Of course, I didn’t believe that this level of action would make Nicolas give up.

Even so, I chose to follow Ethan’s suggestion because he promised not to take any action against Nicolas in return.

‘The most important thing is to buy time. At least until Arthur finds Gabriel Blanchard.’

Once Gabriel was found and convinced to cooperate, there would be a way to bring Nicolas over to the Dumont side.

‘But who knows how long it will take to find Gabriel, and there’s no guarantee Nicolas will stay quiet in the meantime. So what I need to do is…’

***

Two weeks later, on a Wednesday.

As usual, I was volunteering at the Yena Church Orphanage.

While taking a short break, Simon approached me. He was a quiet and well-behaved nine-year-old boy with messy red hair.

“What’s the matter, Simon?”

“Well, um, this…”

Simon hesitated, holding out a small folded note with one hand.

“What’s this?”

“I was asked to give this to you…”

Simon fidgeted as he spoke.

Suspecting who it might be from, I didn’t bother asking him who gave it to him. Instead, I simply took the note.

“Thank you.”

I gently patted Simon’s head with a smile. He blinked shyly before turning and running off.

As he ran, I noticed a large lollipop in the hand he’d been hiding behind his back. It was likely a reward for delivering the note.

I unfolded the note and read it.

[I’ll be waiting in the back row of the chapel. —A.B.]

A.B. It was undoubtedly the initials of Alberto Bucci.

‘As expected.’

It was clear that simply refusing to meet him and cutting off contact at balls wouldn’t make Nicolas give up.

It wouldn’t have been hard to find out that I had been volunteering at the orphanage regularly.

Apart from meeting at balls, this was practically the only opportunity he had to approach me.

I had anticipated this day would come sooner or later.

Of course, I was prepared for how to respond.

***

Nicolas sat in the back row of the Yena chapel, waiting for Camille.

Since it wasn’t a service time, the chapel was solemnly quiet, with no one else present. Nicolas sat with his head bowed, pretending to pray over an open Bible.

Soon, he heard footsteps approaching. But the sound was too small and light to belong to Camille.

Turning around, he saw the same child he had asked to deliver the note to Camille.

The child handed him a letter.

“This is from the Duchess.”