Sickly? Husband's Contractual Wife

Episode 25

A hand suddenly appeared from in between my breasts.

The writhing snake dangled from the air, its coil wrapped around his arm.

“Ah, yuck!”

I yelled, feeling my throat closing up again.

The snake was larger than I had anticipated, and its tail was curled securely around his arm.

The sheer magnitude of it scared me to death.

I was concerned about his well-being.

The snake’s hold on Amoide’s arm strengthened, as if in a rage.

“What should I do?”

I was afraid the snake may strike, and he might get bitten.

The clenched fist and the tongue that flickers open to reveal long teeth.

Not quite dead yet, anyhow.

“It’s risky! Dangerous…”

I was so terrified that I had to scream. My mouth was about to open when he smacked the snake’s head to the floor.

The snake’s head hit the jutting rock and was crushed.

“…”

Incredulous at the bizarre sight before me, I froze.

In a flash, the crisis was over.

“…What?”

He looked directly at me, as if to ask me why I was gazing.

The broken snake head in his palm made it so I couldn’t approach him without becoming cautious.

“Are you… okay?”

Stupidly, I asked.

‘What the heck did I see?’

I paid close attention as he casually dispatched the snake with a single motion.

He executed it with the ease and swiftness of snapping a twig.

It was hard to realize that he had been the same weak, feverish bedridden guy so recently.

But then again, he nearly broke my hand before, too.

I got really lucky.

Fear coursed through me as I tightly gripped the bandaged hand.

“I almost lost this hand.”

I took a quick glance at the snake’s head before returning my gaze to my hand.

Amoide’s forehead began to show signs of aging after several more repetitions of this technique.

He appeared to read my mind and anticipate my next move.

“Does your hand hurt?”

“I’m fine… really.”

I forced words out of my mouth that otherwise wouldn’t have been spoken.

And I was sorry about it.

‘There’s just no way that it’s okay!’

If only I had stated, “It hurts!” I may have used that as an explanation in the future.

But I couldn’t complain as he stared intently at my hand.

“I apologize if I startled you.”

“I’m fine.”

My reply, once again, sounded prepared and forced.

Yet in truth, I did feel fine.

I didn’t dare complain about the discomfort after witnessing someone catch a snake with their bare hands.

He brushed his hair back harshly, and the golden strands flew in all directions, sparkling in the sunshine.

“Damn it.”

After that, I thought I heard some cursing.

But at the moment, those weren’t the most important things to me.

“Are you…?”

“What?”

Again he frowned and inquired.

“What the heck do you mean?”

Did he genuinely fail to grasp my inquiry?

“Are you feeling okay?”

After all, he had captured a reptile.

“What’s this?”

When I saw the dead snake he had lifted, I screamed softly.

“Watch out! It could bite!”

“It’s already dead.”

Thump.

He hurled the reptile over the grassy expanse.

Just like brushing off a twig that blocks his path. Nonchalantly.

The snake appeared to move through the air extremely slowly to me. The sound and the rustling told me the snake had fallen.

“I’ll tell them to clean it up. Don’t approach it at all cost.”

“What if it comes back to life?”

“Don’t stress. I smashed its head in so hard.”

“Oh, right.”

I felt obligated to answer him immediately.

“Absolutely fantastic. You’re amazing in a serious way. Wow, that’s incredible.”

A thumbs up from me!

“It’s nothing.”

He mentioned it in a casual tone. He wasn’t exaggerating when he said he wasn’t surprised by his own success.

If that wasn’t incredible, I don’t know what is.

It wasn’t a small snake, however; it was monstrous. Plus, its teeth were rather long. I was there. That’s not a joke, I actually witnessed it!

“Are you… not bitten anywhere?”

At my inquiry, a peculiar smile spread across his face, but I was too startled to register it.

“Let me see…”

Before he spoke, he turned his snake-catching hand over and examined each finger closely.

“There could be a hole there.”

“A hole?”

To my surprise, I ran over to him.

“Let me see, we need to call Raymond right away…”

I took hold of his hand and looked at it intently.

I looked for a hole that the teeth may have made multiple times, but I never found one.

His hand jerked, or more accurately, his entire body did.

He put his palm over his lips to stifle the laughing that was escaping.

Something didn’t seem right at that point.

‘You’re laughing while I’m scared?’

I was taken aback and challenged him for a time.

His happy expression emerged as I released his hand. Once again, I had a fleeting moment of concern about my heart.

So that he might have this kind of chuckle.

But my awe for him didn’t last long since the grin quickly faded from his face.

‘Does he like to see me like this?’

I reluctantly retreated from him as the chilly darkness returned to his face and we both dropped one other’s hands.

“But why a snake like this…”

He answered my question before I could even ask if he was any good at capturing snakes.

“When going camping, killing nearby snakes is a prerequisite.”

His tone was light, but his message was brutal.

After witnessing him smash the snake’s skull, I found myself with an unusual feeling of compassion towards reptiles.

“Ah, yes.”

A knight, indeed. The thought that had briefly escaped my head returned to me.

The leader of the heroic Sun Knights, who fought evil and emerged victorious. Someone who served as an example to others.

Now, though…

The mansion had become his prison. The vastness of the home was no match for the vastness of the battlefields he once walked.

Suddenly, I had a difficult time swallowing. I could tell he was feeling trapped in this space even before he said a word.

In times of conflict, he would don his armor and brave the harsh terrain of the battlefield, while in times of peace he would don the uniform of the Sun Knights and stand guard over the imperial capital.

It was understandable that being imprisoned in a mansion would alter his personality.

“…”

Was I just in a sour mood? Part of my heart became cold all of a sudden.

‘Huh…?’

The atmosphere was quite eerie.

“What is this?”

Was I really that concerned about him?

So much so that it makes my heart feel icy?

My heart felt like it had been ripped out of my chest.

Flutter.

Something was flitting about in my field of vision. The frill on the garment fooled me into thinking it was a butterfly at first.

‘Huh?’

I couldn’t understand why a frill was flailing in front of me. It was a carbon copy of the one sewn onto the chest of my garment…

“Your dress looks like it was ruined.”

He mumbled something disinterestedly.

My outfit? I didn’t realize Noir had done that.

“Aaaaah!”

By mistake, I ducked my head and shouted, my hands covering my face.

My clothing was ripped at the breast area, and the fabric was flapping about.

My undergarments were likewise in very good shape.

Between the sagging layers, my central chest was exposed.

“Gasp.”

My heart sank as I frantically stitched together my ripped garment, but it was simply a bandage.

It was inevitable that the frail cloth would rip when her reached in to capture the snake earlier.

With a heavy heart, I clutched my clothing.

No matter how tightly I fastened the dress, it still revealed my undergarments and skin.

“What should I do?”

As he watched me fidget in front of him, there was a remarkable lack of anxiety in his eyes. Not a trace of shame could be seen.

As though he had seen a woman’s chest more than twice… or rather, more than once.

Like witnessing a pair of lizard mates, there was no expression on his face.

“At least pretend to be embarrassed by this.”

Since he didn’t appear embarrassed by it, I had to take the hit.

He reached for the collar of his own shirt, but not out of shame or awkwardness.

I just looked at him blankly.

Thump.

“…”

Click, click

Time seemed to freeze as I stared at the scene in front of me, oblivious to the mystery of the sound.

Buttons on his shirt were being ripped out from under his palm.

Stupidly, I was unable to close my mouth. Neither did I break eye contact.

His torso was strikingly evident in the sunshine through the holes in his ripped thin white silk shirt.

His entire figure, from arms to chest to stomach to legs, was toned and strong.

“Uh…”

If it had thinned out while he was sick, imagine how it looked when he was at his peak.

“Stop worrying about it.”

I looked down at the floor, my head spinning.

I was standing there staring at the ground where buttons had been dropped like beans when I felt a thin, warm hand on my shoulder.

My eyes widened as he slung a shirt over my shoulder and he said, “…”

“At the very least, I ought to be able to conceal you.”

His shirt was roomy and I was able to wrap it around my upper body many times. The garment almost reached my knees in length.

Someone might have fooled me into thinking it was a bed sheet wrapped around me instead of a shirt.

I didn’t know where to look as I watched him button the shirt up close to my nose, so I simply blinked.

It was all too close for comfort.