WFMW 08

Chapter 08

She’s Really a Strange Womam

‘So he’s probably a knight too.’

He was far too well-built to be just a butler.

‘That means unless Cedar comes to see me himself, I won’t be running into him. I really can just be comfortable here as if it’s my own house.’

The situation became perfectly clear in my head. I smiled brightly.

“Then just pretend I don’t exist. I’ll do fine on my own.”

“Pardon?”

“You probably need to go back to the order right now. Go on. Quickly.”

“Uh…?”

Hyle looked at me with a bewildered expression, but I kept smiling and nudged him toward the door.

Even though his wife—who he thought would never open her eyes again—had awoken, nothing much had changed in Cedar’s life.

‘She’s really a strange woman.’

Thinking of Nellie, who had a knack for saying the most unexpected things, Cedar twisted his lips into a faint smile. The knights, seeing his expression, whispered among themselves.

‘Why’s the captain in that mood today?’

‘No clue. What’s with him?’

‘Today’s the day to keep your head down or die.’

Everyone sensed it without needing to say it aloud, and quietly slipped away, reading Cedar’s mood.

Time flew by and it became a scorching afternoon. Because outdoor training sessions were long, the time between 2 and 4 p.m., when the sun was at its hottest, was a break.

Cedar rinsed off the dust and sweat from the afternoon drills with cold water and stepped out.

And there was Hyle, standing at the door waiting for him, holding out a towel. Cedar glared at him.

“Why are you here?”

Nellie didn’t know, but Cedar had ordered Hyle to spend the whole day at the mansion attending to her.

Hyle, already nervous that he’d disobeyed the order, immediately squealed out his excuse like a scream.

“I wasn’t slacking off! Madam told me to leave!”

The knights coming out from washing alongside Cedar turned their heads at Hyle’s booming voice.

“Madam?”

“—Oh.”

Hyle’s face went pale, realizing he’d done something to irritate Cedar, even if he didn’t know exactly what.

Cedar grabbed Hyle by the scruff of his neck with a hardened expression.

“You. Come here.”

Cedar, water still dripping from his bare upper body, dragged Hyle down the corridor. The sight drew everyone’s eyes. Most of them had the same thought.

‘He’s dead.’

‘Dead.’

‘Whatever it is, he’s done for.’

Even Hyle himself thought so.

‘Today’s the last day of my life. But why is he suddenly so angry? Is it because I came to the order instead of looking after Madam? She’s the one who told me to go!’

It was unfair, but he couldn’t protest. In the Changryong Order, Cedar Grenite’s word was law.

But Cedar still needed a subordinate to secretly take care of his wife, and thanks to that, Hyle’s life was about to be extended—at least for a while.

Cedar shoved Hyle into his office and shot him a cold glare, uttering just one sentence:

“You idiot.”

“I-I’m sorry. I’m really sorry!”

Not even knowing what he’d done wrong, Hyle bowed and apologized repeatedly, sneaking glances at Cedar’s expression.

But instead of immediately taking his anger out on him, Cedar folded his arms and stared off into space.

‘Huh? He’s not going to blow up at me?’

More precisely, he seemed distracted by something else entirely.

‘Is it Madam he’s worried about?’

Then why drag me into the office? If he was worried, wouldn’t he urgently ask me all about her?

‘He’s not the type to hesitate over his words because his mind is elsewhere.’

It was odd, but considering Nellie had woken up, it wasn’t incomprehensible.

Love can change people, after all.

Hyle swallowed hard and decided to take a gamble.

“…Madam seemed lonely eating alone. She left me a note saying you must have been too busy to eat and she had no appetite either, so she only ate half.”

Twitch—

Cedar’s broad shoulders flinched. Catching the movement, Hyle’s eyes gleamed.

‘Well, well.’

Encouraged, he chattered on.

“She must be confused, having suddenly come to her senses, but even so, she’s considerate of your subordinates. She seems like a truly kind-hearted lady.”

After a long pause, Cedar, his brow furrowed, asked abruptly:

“What did she do after that?”

“She kept moving around on the second floor.”

“Lunch?”

“She said she’d take care of it herself. She also said you don’t need to worry about her from now on.”

“…”

For some reason, Cedar looked displeased at her saying she’d “take care of herself.” Hyle tilted his head.

“You said you didn’t want Madam’s existence made public… she must be misunderstanding that, right?”

“It’s not a misunderstanding.”

“What? You’re really going to keep the fact that she woke up a secret? Why?”

“And what would you do with that information?”

Cedar’s eyes were completely devoid of warmth, brimming only with annoyance. Hyle’s face twisted strangely.

‘Wait, he’s seriously keeping it secret?’

The marriage between a great mage in a coma and the nation’s strongest swordmaster had been a massive public sensation.

Cedar’s inheritance from the Grenite family was already immense, so no one paid much mind to Nellie’s fortune.

Everyone only gossiped about when this romantic love had blossomed.

But the rumors weren’t all good.

Just as Nellie herself had asked if he liked “sleeping women,” there were also unsavory whispers about Cedar circulating quietly.

‘If he announced Madam woke up, all the bad rumors would vanish.’

But Cedar was choosing to hide it.

‘Why on earth?’

Hyle wracked his brain but the only reason he could come up with was this:

“Madam is certainly a beauty, but… is she the kind of beauty worth guarding like this? I mean, I…”

“What?”

Cedar’s glare turned deadly, and Hyle immediately shut up.

He had no desire to get beaten for mouthing off. Bowing his head, he stuck to his point.

“Anyway, Madam wanted me to leave the mansion, so I did. It wasn’t my decision.”

“She said that? That she prefers to be alone?”

“Well, even if she hadn’t, wouldn’t it be uncomfortable for her to be alone in a mansion with a strange man she’s never met before?”

“Hm.”

Cedar’s brow furrowed deeper. There was only one reason he had kept no servants at his house.

‘If I bring people in, Mother will recruit them somehow and use them to watch my every move. I hate that.’

Cedar loathed being spied on.

So he left home and kept no staff at the mansion. When he needed someone, he used Hyle.

‘But maybe for her, it’s a hard situation to adjust to.’

Thinking about it, Hyle had a point.

Hyle might be an easy tool for him to use, but for Nellie, he probably wasn’t a particularly comfortable presence either.

Thinking Cedar’s worries were just the usual newlywed woes, Hyle smiled and offered cheeky advice.

“So you should come home early too.”

“Nonsense.”

“What? You’re dismissing my heartfelt advice?”

Hyle had been about to protest when Cedar shot him a savage glare, making him shrink back again. Cedar warned him sternly:

“Anything about my wife stays secret. Keep your mouth shut before I shut it for you myself.”

“Yes! Yes!”

Having thoroughly frightened Hyle, Cedar returned to his duties with the knights.

Soon there would be a monster-slaying expedition, so he had to train the knights even harder.

But strangely, while drilling the knights as usual, Nellie’s face kept popping into his head.

Skin so pale it was almost white, bright lemon-gold hair left unkempt, a small body he could easily lift with one arm.

He’d seen her face countless times before, but now there was something added to his memory.

Those sparkling, jewel-like green eyes.

‘Damn.’

If he’d known she’d keep popping into his head like this, he wouldn’t have gone to see her, no matter the excuse.

Now her face felt unnecessarily familiar.

Her image kept bubbling up in his mind like soap bubbles, until at last Cedar went home earlier than usual.

And when he saw Nellie, the first thing out of his mouth was:

“…What on earth are you wearing?”

As expected, this woman always went beyond anything he could imagine.

The food storage room was nowhere to be found, though I’d found the kitchen.

But even in the kitchen, there was no food to be seen. Only the bare minimum of tableware was out.

As if expecting me to wander out looking for something to eat, water and a cup had been set out on the dining table.

‘So I’m supposed to just drink water?’

I’d have to ask about the pantry tomorrow for sure.

I wasn’t someone who particularly enjoyed eating, but ever since I collapsed during research at the academy, I always kept emergency food nearby.

[If you collapse again like that, I’ll just move into your room. Clearly you can’t take care of yourself.]

That was all thanks to Grisha.

‘I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to repay Grisha for that.’

Thinking of Grisha made my face involuntarily fall. My Grisha, who was like a younger brother to me.

‘He must be worried about me. Maybe he’s doing nothing, just waiting for my message.’

If the roles were reversed and Grisha were in this situation, I’d probably be the same way.

I shook my head briskly to clear away thoughts of him.

‘Grisha knows I’ll be waking up soon. He’ll definitely reach out first, so there’s no need to be impatient.’

It would be more dangerous to clumsily head to Baron Periway’s estate just to fetch the communicator Grisha had given me.