Villainous Husband

Chapter 71

"I heard that Actilus' horses would run and fight together when its master was in trouble?"

I replied, squinting at Eden's horse, which was slowly making its way back towards us after having fled in fear earlier.

"That's a story about warhorses. Who would be crazy enough to put me on a ferocious warhorse?"

Fortunately, the arm guards did their job well, and Eden's injuries weren't severe. I couldn't deny that I never imagined running into a band of bandits... I was truly frustrated with my own foolish naivety.

As a makeshift measure, I tightly wrapped clean cloth over his wounds and changed his clothes. Though it pained me to waste water, I tore off some hay and started a fire to boil water and clean the wounds. After roughly tending to Eden's injuries, I searched through the lifeless bodies of the bandits, hoping to find some alcohol or something to disinfect the wounds and keep us warm.

While I was engrossed in rummaging through the corpses, Eden suddenly opened his mouth again.

"How did you know that before."

"Just a hunch."

"Ho."

"Maybe being there seems to have sharpened my instincts. Ha, here it is, a bottle of alcohol."

I was confident it was alcohol. Bandits who roam around in this season, looking for targets to plunder while freezing outside, would undoubtedly prefer alcohol over water. As I shook it, the sound of liquid rattling inside was quite light.

Even though the quantity was quite disappointing, I poured it all into Eden's wounds.

"Ugh."

It was strangely refreshing to see his composed face contorted into a grimace. While he rolled down his sleeves, Eden opened his mouth.

"We'll need to be more careful from now on."

Listening to him, I pulled the arrow out of the bandit's eyes. I didn't want to waste the arrow by leaving it behind.

"Before someone else tries to rob us again, we should quickly head to the Temple."

I looked down at the corpses.

'...Would these people also appear in my nightmares?'

As I entertained that thought, I blinked my eyes slowly.

"...Dream."

Eden raised an eyebrow without replying as I mumbled absentmindedly.

"Come to think of it, I haven't had any nightmares lately."

________________

After a long period without having children following the birth of their first son, the Duke and Duchess of Nerma were finally blessed with the news of the Duchess's pregnancy, bringing them much joy in their thirties.

Duchess Nerma was particularly delighted that she could focus solely on prenatal care during this crucial early stage of pregnancy.

It was fortunate that the Empress had chosen Countess Tocino's residence as her place of convalescence. She thought the Empress had distanced herself from the head handmaiden and sought to establish an independent faction, though her visit to Countess Tocino's residence was a sign of strengthening ties with them.

Needless to say, she was relieved.

Additionally, her husband's good terms with the Emperor had brought only favorable outcomes recently.

Enjoying these leisurely moments while gently caressing her still-small belly, Duchess Nerma was interrupted by one of the maids who approached in haste, wearing a serious expression.