How To Escape From A Devilish Husband (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 7

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“…How did you know that?”

“Because you’re wearing your outdoor attire.”

Ah.

Delphine looked down at her own dress—unlike her indoor wear, it was lavishly adorned and had a full, flowing skirt.

“…Yes. I dared to attempt ‘going out,’ after all.”

When she lifted her head again, her emerald eyes were burning fiercely.

“I didn’t know there still existed such an outdated rule requiring a wife to obtain her husband’s permission before going out.”

“Oh dear. Now that you mention it…”

He feigned sudden surprise, acting in an infuriatingly theatrical manner.

“I did instruct my subordinate to ‘guard’ you before leaving… I must have completely forgotten to inform you beforehand.”

A lie.

Delphine glared at his masked face—brazenly offering excuses—with eyes blazing.

He’d clearly ordered them to watch her so she couldn’t escape.

Soldiers who obeyed commands without question would never arbitrarily reinterpret their superior’s orders.

“I see. No wonder their attitude was so adamant—they behaved just like ‘dogs’ who listen to nothing except their master’s words.”

The moment Delphine sneered with contemptuous sarcasm, he smoothly countered without missing a beat.

“My apologies. Being soldiers, they must have come across as rather rough. I’ll instruct them to correct their behavior. It’s just that… I hadn’t anticipated you’d wish to go out so soon.”

His brow furrowed in apparent regret.

“After all, something like that happened only recently.”

He acted as though he’d entirely forgotten he himself had caused that regrettable incident.

His shameless composure left Delphine utterly speechless; she forgot to retort and instead clenched her fists tightly.

The man watched her with an inscrutable gaze for a moment before speaking again.

“I’m relieved you seem to have overcome it so quickly.”

Then, as if hesitating slightly, he added in a quiet voice,

“…I expected as much from someone as strong as you.”

Throughout the entire conversation, his expression had remained unnervingly gentle and elegant.

So much so it felt as though he wore a mask.

Yet, in that one instant when he spoke his final words, a genuinely human flicker briefly surfaced on his face.

It was a tender expression, as though recalling something long missed.

‘What was that?’

And Delphine hadn’t missed that fleeting look at all.

‘That tone—like he knows me well already?’

The more she probed him, the more clues surfaced—perhaps even hints about his true identity.

“I was just…”

Delphine began slowly, but couldn’t finish her sentence as she hastily gasped for breath.

His large hand, veins bulging, had abruptly untied his black necktie and tossed it onto the bed.

The very bed where she’d slept nestled in his arms all through last night.

Frozen in place, Delphine could only watch as he now calmly began unbuttoning his jacket, one button at a time.

Then, with a perfectly composed face and a tone brimming with sincere concern, he asked,

“My lady. Isn’t your outdoor attire uncomfortable? I could…”

“I just remembered—I forgot to finish the work I was doing in the study.”

Delphine quickly masked her surprise and spoke rapidly.

Though her bearing remained as haughty as ever, her hand yanking the doorknob betrayed desperate urgency.

“Then.”

And with the same haste as when she’d entered, she shut the door behind her and left the room.

Alone in the chamber, Pride quietly chuckled to himself, a low, amused sound.

But only briefly.

As if he’d never laughed at all, his smile vanished completely from his face.

The elegant and gentle air that had graced the face of this bewitching beauty evaporated along with his laughter.

What remained was a man as cold as ice and as cruel as a beast.

Trending

The graceful hands that had just unbuttoned his jacket one by one disappeared; instead, Pride roughly tore off his jacket.

In one swift motion, all the buttons gave way, and the jacket dropped heavily to the floor.

Beneath the thick military coat, a bloodstained shirt was revealed.

Without hesitation, Pride ripped off the shirt with rough, unrestrained force.

Strangely, despite the shirt’s pitiful, gore-soaked state, the bare body it uncovered bore not a single fresh wound.

Only a very old scar remained.

Without a second thought, Pride tossed both the jacket and blood-drenched shirt into the fireplace.

The garments instantly burst into flames amidst the roaring logs.

Staring at the fire with an emotionless gaze, he recalled the moment from just before.

Her terrified expression the instant she opened the door.

His lips twitched slightly as he continued watching the crackling fire.

“…You’ve grown sensitive to the smell of blood. Next time, I should change clothes before coming back.”

He then picked up the loungewear neatly laid out on the bed and draped it over himself.

A short while later,

when he stepped out again through the closed chamber door, the elegant nobleman’s mask had once more settled firmly onto his face.

[This is the timeline separator]

“You must be busy.”

Delphine cut a tiny sliver from the duck steak on the plate before her and spoke.

“There was no need to make such an effort to return home just in time for dinner.”

“My lady, what are you saying?”

Pride gracefully sipped his deep-red wine and answered smoothly.

“Now that I’ve entered into a sacred engagement, shouldn’t I devote myself faithfully to my household? His Majesty will surely understand.”

While he focused on slicing his duck steak, Delphine secretly rolled her eyes in frustration.

‘How uncharacteristically sensible of him.’

It wasn’t wrong, strictly speaking.

But certainly not something a man should say—especially not the man who’d slain her father and then married his daughter.

For a moment, only the faint clinking of cutlery echoed through the dining room.

Even that sound was barely audible.

Delphine paid no attention to the minuscule piece of duck on her plate and instead covertly observed the man.

His perfectly straight posture, the way he held his knife, the precise angle and manner in which he tilted his wine glass—

his table manners were flawlessly impeccable from start to finish.

Helplessly, the image of the slave boy who’d once lived in this mansion surfaced in Delphine’s mind.

Ioan had been an exceptionally beautiful boy.

Though born lowly and always dressed in worn, ill-fitting clothes, even that couldn’t diminish his grace.

‘If a prince truly existed, wouldn’t he look just like this?’

Back then, Delphine had been just a little girl, still lost in fairy-tale dreams.

She’d once gazed at his spotless white face and shimmering blond hair and thought exactly that.

Once upon a time.

“Try this. You’ve only ever eaten black bread, right? It’s delici…”

One day, she’d secretly offered him a piece of white bread she’d stolen.

At the time, she’d been even more sheltered than other girls her age.

Her overprotective father had kept her isolated from the outside world until her debutante presentation.

So of course, she hadn’t been able to control her expression when she saw the boy eagerly grab the bread from her and devour it with his dirt-streaked hands.

And the look on his face the moment he noticed her barely concealed shock and faint disgust…

“My lady?”

The sudden low baritone jolted Delphine back to the present.

Before her sat the man who retained every feature of that once-beautiful boy.

Dressed in an elegant silk lounging shirt, holding a wine glass with refined grace.

“Is the food not to your liking?”

Afraid her thoughts might be revealed, Delphine quickly flashed a reassuring smile.

ads

In response, the man also curved his lips upward and mirrored her smile.

As she placed the tiny sliver of duck into her mouth, Delphine asked casually,

“Have you ever been to District Three, Lord Pride?”

The Astraks Empire consisted of District One—home to the imperial family and central nobility,

District Two—the commercial district,

and District Three—the factory district, where laborers and commoners lived intermingled.

It was precisely in District Three that Ioan had been sold by his own mother.

‘I wonder how he’ll answer.’

Delphine studied the man with subtle curiosity.

Most nobles had never set foot in District Three.

Delphine herself had only heard rumors of its soot-filled air and polluted streams, never having ventured near the place in person.

“Of course. I’ve been there quite often, even recently.”

But an unexpected answer came instead.

Delphine stared at him in mild surprise at his immediate, unguarded admission.

He gave a soft chuckle.

“My dear, shouldn’t a wife at least know what her husband does for a living?”

In that instant, her resolve to stay calm vanished, and something surged hotly within her.

Whose fault was that, really?

Hadn’t he appeared in her life as suddenly as if dropped from the sky?

‘…Or had he?’

Yet her anger quickly gave way to confusion.

Reasonably speaking, people didn’t just fall from the sky.

So was it true, as everyone claimed—that she alone had been unaware of his existence?

That a brilliant hero had suddenly emerged in the empire a year ago?

Delphine still couldn’t be certain whether her mind had been unsettled by the incident three days prior.

Lips trembling wordlessly for a moment, she finally spoke, her voice heavy with hesitation.

“It’s just…”

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