Sickly? Husband’s Contractual Wife

Chapter 13

At my words, Amoide looked upset again.

“I promised mother that I would make you healthy again. So, trust me and just leave it to me.”

“Leave it to you?” He looked at me in disbelief.

“Yes, because you’re my husband.”

“Your voice is a bit too…” He stopped talking, and his blue eyes glanced around.

Then, the servants, maids, and gardeners, who were looking at us, turned their heads toward the other directions in an instant. Some even hid behind trees. It didn’t take much time for us to notice that there were far more people in the garden than usual. I watched the strange sight without missing it a second.

“Are we done now?” He looked very uncomfortable since he was dragged out for a walk all of a sudden.

“No.” I deliberately chose only the crowded trails to walk with Amoide.

Though he had an awkward expression on his face and acted unnaturally, this much should be enough for me to achieve my purpose of displaying our special relationship to everyone.

“From now on, you have to take a walk with me regularly. At the appointed time.”

“What?” He looked astonished at my nonchalant reply. “Not just this once?”

“Yes, that’s what I told mother. From now on, I will take care of everything related to my husband. I will definitely make you healthy again.” I wondered if it was all right to shout this loud, but there was no reason why I couldn’t.

“At whose will?” He laughed as if he heard something absurd.

“At your wife’s will.”

At that moment, his cold eyes glared at me. I could feel chills run up and down my spine. I was suddenly reminded of a saying that some people can kill someone with just their eyes. It seemed that I provoked him too much. He was already on edge due to this sudden walk. ‘At times like this, it’s best just to run away…’

“Where are you going?”

“Where am I going…? I’m not going anywhere…” I guess I unconsciously took a step back.

Looking at me creeping away, he just stepped backward slightly. I immediately turned around and tried to run away. Everything was done by instinct.

It was that moment…

Eoooooow…

From somewhere, I heard the cry of an animal, which was full of resentment. The sudden cry broke the tension in the air at once. Amoide’s eyes, which were glaring at me, started scanning the area. I also searched for the source of the cry.

“Th-that! Foot! Your foot!” Finally finding the source of the sound, I pointed at his foot and screamed.

“My foot?” Amoide looked down at his foot that I pointed at.

“Tail! That tail!”

A furry tail of an animal wriggled under Amoide’s feet.

Eooowww…

Perhaps it understood my words, the animal’s cry sounded even more pitiful.

“Noir!” I immediately dashed toward Amoide and grabbed his foot. “What are you doing? Raise your foot now! Your foot!”

He looked at the tail he stepped on and raised his foot. “What’s this thing?”

“What do you mean by this thing? It’s a cat.” I raised my voice when I saw him asking with a somewhat foolish face. “Noir, are you okay?”

“No…ir? That’s this thing’s name?”

“It’s not a thing!”

“What’s with this animal? Are you raising it?”

“It’s called a cat, not an animal. You don’t even know cats?” Once again, I raised my voice at him and squatted down to examine the cat’s tail, which was mercilessly stepped by Amoide.

Meow! Meeooww!

When I tried to examine the part of the tail that was stepped by Amoide, it suddenly let out a loud cry and extended its claws. The claws scratched my hand. “Ouch!”

Looking at the cat retracting its claws, Amoide flinched.

‘What the…are you afraid of cats?’ Fortunately, I found no abnormality with the cat’s tail after being stepped on. I thought it might’ve broke, but luckily it didn’t.

“…Isn’t dirty?”

I laughed as I heard the murmur behind me. Even without seeing it, I could guess what kind of face he would make while looking at me. I turned around in a squatting position and looked back at him. I tried to look as hateful as I could and said, “Duke, are you showing off that you grew up sheltered?”

He instantly frowned at my words.

‘Why are you making that kind of expression? Why are you using your beautiful face that way?’ Looking at his intimidating expression, I shrank away and took a step back.

He glanced at me for a moment and soon took a long breath as he swept his hair back. “If you touch a wild animal carelessly, you can get sick.”

“Get sick? Oh…” I did get some black ash on my hand, but it could be cleaned easily just by washing my hand. “Where did this ash come from?”

The cat must’ve collected the black ash while rolling around with its black fur, like a lump of dust.

When I tried to wipe its face with my sleeve, it rebelled loudly. “Stay still.” I held onto Noir’s struggling body.

“Do you know this cat?”

“This cat lives in this mansion. Didn’t you know?”

Our conversation continued as I struggled to hold onto Noir. Amoide was standing behind me, so I couldn’t see his expression.

“I didn’t know.” He answered in a dry voice. “I didn’t know that there was such a dirty, big cat here.”

I felt like crying when I heard his words. “It’s because its fur is black, but if you look closely, its face is adorable.” I turned around and held Noir’s head in both hands to show it to him.

Meeeoowww… The cat hit my hands with its hind paws as it tried to pull out his head.

“Did you just call it Noir?”

“Yes, it’s a perfect name, right?”

[ T/N: Noir means black in French. ]

“It’s too grand.”

“At first, I called it ‘Gultugi,’ but I changed it later because I thought it was a bit too much.”

[ T/N: Gultugi means chimney ]

“Well, its fur does look like it fell off from a chimney.”

Noir was a black cat with amber eyes. Its black fur accentuated its eye color more. I met Noir around the time when I suddenly remembered the memories from my past life.

At that time, I was sitting in the garden like a crazy woman. Then, a black cat approached me and lay down next to me as it looked up with its amber eyes. Of course, it didn’t do anything special. But even it being there was comforting. And its belly fat… touching the fur on its belly was an effective solace for me.

“Does it have no owner?” He was still looking at the cat with an unfavorable look.

‘You have no humanity.’ I clicked my tongue inwardly. “We’re just taking care of it together.” ‘What’s the big deal about feeding a cat when you are capable enough to live in such a big mansion?’

“I see.”

“Do you hate cats?”

“Well, there’s no reason to like it.”

It was an immediate answer.

“Yes, yes, I suppose so.” I nodded half heartedly and reached out my hand to the cat. “Let me bathe you today. Your fur is getting darker. Oh my god, you’ve got more fat on your belly!” I exclaimed as I held its belly. It felt heavier than last time.

“Ouch.” As soon as I tried to lift the cat, I felt a sharp pain.

Meoowww… Despite its heavy body, the cat jumped swiftly and landed smoothly on the ground. Then, like an arrow, it quickly disappeared into the bushes.

“Do you forget that your hand is injured?” He rushed to me as he stared at the scratches on my hand.

I was so surprised at his action and stepped backward unknowingly. “Wh-what’s wrong?”

“Are you an idiot?”

“What?” I asked back in a fit of rage. ‘Why are you calling me an idiot all of sudden?’ It made an idiot- no, I mean, it made a person become offended when being called that.

“…!”

He suddenly grabbed my hand, lifted it up, and looked at it closely. “How can you forget that your hand is injured?”

‘Huh? The reason behind his anger is a bit weird.’

“You forget that you’re injured, and you get angry easily.”

“…” It was my hand that got injured, not his. ‘Why are you getting angry when it’s someone else that is injured?’ I was lost in thought, but suddenly, I made eye contact with him. His eyes were still staring at me, though they were softer than before. Although he looked at me like that…

“Wipe your hands.” He took out his handkerchief and tossed it to me. However, before I managed to catch it, he took it back.

‘Why are you taking it back?’ It was a truly mysterious act.

As I was about to feel sad, he began to wipe off the ash on my bandaged hand using that handkerchief. I just watched him blankly. Perhaps worried about exerting too much force, his touch was especially gentle and careful.

As soon as I saw the ash was completely wiped off, I shamelessly held out my other hand. “This, too.” I quickly added before he said anything. “I can’t wipe it using my other hand properly because it hurts.”

“….” He groaned for a moment and wiped my other hand carefully.

“Thank you.” When I thanked him with a smile, he let go of my hand and swept his hair back roughly.

“Let’s go inside now.” Amoide said as he roughly shoved the black handkerchief into his pocket.

“We haven’t finished our walk yet.” I replied nonchalantly.

“Not finished yet…?” He looked at me blankly.

“It has been a while since I came out, so I want to get more sun. And I still have somewhere to go…” I looked over his shoulder. “Let’s go over there.” I said as I pulled his arm.

As he tried to shake off my hand, he realized that I held his hand with my bandaged hand, so he stopped rebelling and just followed me quietly.

‘Wow, this trick is so effective.’

────────────────────────────────────────────────