The Strongest Man’s Fake Wife Wants to Live Chapter 41

Even I had focused on the crisis that had befallen the two of them while reading the book. I had never paid any attention to the names of the knights used as mere lackeys.

Besides, once those lackeys had served their purpose, they never appeared again after Owen was detained.

But I couldn’t exactly ask him to turn the entire knight order upside down when I didn’t even know who the culprit was.

‘There’s only one way. First, I have to keep Owen from going to the capital.’

Having made up her mind, Pesha abruptly raised her head.

“You’re attending this?”

“The Founding Day celebration is only a little over a month away, but there’s also preparation to be done, so I’m planning to leave by next week. That means I’ll be away from the territory for a while, so Rebecca can assist you…”

“Do you really have to go?”

At the sight of her anxiously shifting her eyes as she asked, Owen stopped speaking.

Pesha seized the opportunity and began trying to persuade him.

“C-can’t you just not go?”

“……”

“I don’t think you necessarily have to attend just because it’s an invitation… The capital isn’t exactly nearby, and it sounds exhausting. Couldn’t you ask for understanding by making up an excuse that you injured your leg or something? His Majesty would understand.”

Owen fell silent and stared intently at his wife, who was looking up at him anxiously, worrying her lips.

Then he casually asked,

“Why?”

“What?”

Of course, she had expected him to refuse first.

Then she planned to persuade him by saying she was afraid of monsters or that she needed his help with the business.

“Why did you say I shouldn’t go?”

But as she faced his lowered dark eyes and his sculpted features, deeply shadowed by the evening light, all the excuses she had prepared evaporated.

‘Is he angry?’

He was already absurdly handsome to begin with, but when he deliberately lowered his voice like that, her heart nearly stopped.

“Uh… well… because…”

Having an outrageously handsome man stare at her so openly was far more difficult than she had expected.

‘The woman who marries this man won’t have a heart left intact.’

The moment that thought crossed her mind, she realized a beat too late that the woman currently living with this man was none other than herself.

It was a political marriage, and she had been plotting to get divorced as quickly as possible and hand him over to Io, but regardless, she was currently this man’s legal wife.

The moment she became conscious of that fact, her face grew hot.

She felt as though heat was rising all over her body.

Desperate to get past the situation as quickly as possible, Pesha blurted out whatever came to mind without thinking.

“Of course… the, the ditch! The ditch construction for winter preparations isn’t finished yet. And the business is still in the process of getting established… Um… I need your help deciding which areas to plant the trees in. Uh, and…”

She hurriedly rattled off excuses as though trying to justify herself, when suddenly Owen’s brows furrowed sharply.

“That’s enough.”

Something about the atmosphere felt off.

“What? You mean you won’t go?”

“No. I’m sorry that you’ll have to handle the work alone, but despite being called an invitation, it is effectively a summons from His Majesty the Emperor. I have no right to refuse.”

“Oh…”

Come to think of it, that was how it had been in the original story too.

When his adjutant had complained about the Emperor suddenly ordering him to come and go as he pleased, Owen had simply dismissed the matter by saying, ‘It’ll be more troublesome if I don’t go.’

Pesha didn’t know why this man’s mood had suddenly soured, but in any case, he probably wasn’t going because he wanted to.

If he went to the capital, he would inevitably fall into the trap.

But if he refused the Emperor’s order, he would only give them an excuse to find fault with him.

What was she supposed to do about this?

She couldn’t go forward or backward, and no solution came to mind.

While Pesha remained silent, conflicted, Owen slipped the letter he had taken back into his coat.

If she simply let Owen leave like this, she would be helplessly watching him walk straight into a trap despite knowing the future.

I don’t know.

At this point, she had nothing left to lose.

“Th-then! Then take me with you!”

“…What?”

“We’re going together as husband and wife! We can go together as a married couple. You’re not just going to the capital to attend the military parade. You’ll probably be dragged to all sorts of parties and events, so how can you possibly think of going alone? Of course we have to go together!”

Owen couldn’t disobey the Emperor’s order, and if she had to eliminate the danger somehow, then she, who knew the future, had no choice but to follow him.

Having made that decision, Pesha stubbornly insisted that they absolutely had to go together.

Owen asked with a somewhat bewildered expression,

“But aren’t you busy with work?”

“I can put work off for a little while. Anyway, I’m going too, so just know that.”

Before he could say no, Pesha hurried past him and ran away.

It was unexpected, but it was the best move Pesha could make.

Now that things had come to this, every second counted if she wanted to prepare properly.

 

***

 

In order to prevent the unexpected incident that would occur during the Founding Day military parade, Pesha considered countless possibilities and prepared for them before they even departed.

During the week she had before their departure, she not only loitered around the knights’ quarters, keeping an eye out for any knights who looked suspicious, but also obtained the knights’ duty roster through Rebecca, intending to narrow down the list by checking the movements of anyone who seemed suspicious.

However, this led to several problems.

One of them was the knights’ whispers after noticing Pesha’s suspicious behavior.

“The lady keeps walking around our quarters for some reason.”

“Could she be inspecting the quarters now too?”

“Hey. Should I ask her why she’s doing that?”

“Forget it. She’ll probably get tired of it eventually.”

The worst part was that all she had gained from the knights’ curious gazes and whispered jokes, as though they had witnessed every strange thing imaginable, was absolutely nothing.

There wasn’t a single suspicious trace on the roster, and the duty schedule was flawless.

She checked their walks, their speech patterns, even their family relationships, but there was nothing particularly suspicious about any of them.

In the end, she snapped her little notebook shut.

“Haa…”

She was really going to meet the Emperor like this, without a plan or a single clue.

And that was exactly what happened.

Pesha had eventually made it all the way to the capital.

“Haaaa…”

Sitting in the carriage, Pesha lifted her eyes from her notebook and gazed at the scenery passing outside.

Owen found carriages uncomfortable and usually traveled on horseback, and this time was no different.

The carriage carrying Pesha passed through the main gate of the Imperial Palace and entered the grounds.

Unlike the rough, weathered stone gates of Namoi Castle, the main gate of the Imperial Palace was covered in gleaming white marble pillars and golden decorations.

The imperial emblem fluttered from the spires, while the Imperial Guards standing watch at the gate were so solemn that even their breathing seemed restrained.

Amid all this, Pesha was genuinely impressed.

“Wow… The Emperor…”

He gave Owen a place as run-down as Namoi Castle while living in a nice place himself…

In any case, there was no way to look at this favorably.

Although Pesha was originally a ducal lady born and raised in the capital, this was her first time properly looking around the Imperial Palace rather than merely passing through it.

Unable to keep her mouth shut, she looked around the interior of the palace.

“Whose money did they squeeze out to build all this…? I should’ve known when they taxed people so ridiculously heavily. Why did they cover that place with gold for no reason? It’s so tacky I can’t stand it.”