My Husband Has Changed (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 9
At that sudden exposure, Adel let out a short scream and covered her eyes with both hands. But the vivid image had already burned itself into her mind.
His broad, well-defined chest, narrow waist, and smoothly muscled forearms glowed under the fireplace’s orange light. The sheen on each taut muscle flowed softly downward.
He looked as solid as freshly forged steel. She never imagined a man’s bare body could appear so elegant.
Staring at that dazzling sight, she only grew more painfully aware of her own inadequacies—her patched clothes, shadowed eyes, pale complexion, and petite frame unlike the tall women of the North.
‘To call this stunted thing a daughter, a woman? They certainly grafted her well.’
The memory from years ago pierced Adel’s chest like a sharp blade. She barely managed to exhale the breath she’d been holding.
“There doesn’t seem to be any more serious wounds left.”
Adel forced her gaze away from his chest as she spoke. Her voice trembled terribly, though he didn’t seem to notice. It wasn’t even clear whether he truly understood her words in the first place.
Adel rose from her seat, holding the tray. Valentin hastily grabbed the hem of her skirt, his usually sharp eyes now clouded with anxiety.
“Ahh… uh…”
If he could speak, he would’ve demanded where she was going. Adel gently soothed him.
“I’ll just toss this out—the water’s gone cold—and come right back.”
“Ahn, don’t…”
“You don’t want me to go?”
Valentin stared at her, lips tightly shut. He gave neither a nod nor a shake of his head. Only his grip on her skirt grew tighter, straining the seams to the point of tearing, his tendons bulging on the back of his hand. Adel suddenly recalled how that same hand had crushed a pewter goblet into ruin.
“Now, just a moment.”
Alarmed, Adel set the tray down.
“If you truly don’t want me to go, I won’t—but please, let go of this. It’s one of my very few dresses…”
She added in a small voice, her tone sinking weakly from shame, “It’d be disastrous if it ripped.”
Valentin stared fixedly at her face, then obediently loosened his grip.
‘Phew.’
Adel felt slightly relieved. The Valentin from before would’ve snapped at her for making a fuss over something trivial—after all, her husband had always seemed eager to despise whatever she did.
There was even that time he’d sent back the banner she’d stayed up nights embroidering with Ansgar’s seal, torn to shreds.
“Adel.”
Valentin, keenly sensing her sinking mood, quietly called her name. Adel looked at her husband’s face with a strange unfamiliarity.
It still felt awkward that someone who couldn’t properly speak anything else could pronounce her name so clearly. It left her with a strange, bitter unease.
As if she, without any right, had somehow become something to him. As if she mattered in someone’s life.
Adel smiled faintly.
“It feels a little strange—and embarrassing—when you call me by that pet name.”
“…”
“Your memories still haven’t returned, have they?”
Valentin simply looked at her without responding.
Adel hesitated, then stepped closer to him. Carefully, she brushed back his tousled black hair. She remembered seeing Valentin for the first time at their wedding ceremony—stealing glances at his handsome face through her thick veil, heart pounding.
Though southerners mocked him as a barbarian, both women and men alike blushed helplessly at his striking looks.
If one looked past the deep-rooted disdain for Bitzleben, they’d see his noble birth as imperial blood—and eventually, they’d genuinely bow their heads.
Though she knew her father had dragged him into a tremendous fraud, Adel had once dared to hope. That foolish, groundless dream shattered the moment she entered the bridal chamber…
‘From his perspective, his anger was only natural.’
She’d heard he’d handed over several years’ worth of Ansgar’s entire budget. Not enough—he’d even sold off his family’s heirlooms to help. After all, Reichenau’s healers always fetched the highest prices in the marriage market.
The Grand Duke of Ansgar had made only one mistake: failing to specify his daughter’s name in the contract with Count Reichenau.
‘Then again, who would’ve expected that? Even the maids working in Reichenau rarely knew of my existence. Father deliberately used that to deceive His Grace.’
The more she calculated how much Reichenau had profited from her marriage, the more the Grand Duke’s noble name became a subject of ridicule. To the people of Ansgar, she must’ve seemed a despicable ‘southern wench.’
Until just yesterday…
‘Everyone seems to suspect something between His Grace and me, but I know better. He simply recalled my name by chance. There’s no deeper meaning—he’s lost all memory, so he clings to whatever flicker returns.’
It felt as though someone had stabbed her heart sharply. She couldn’t believe her own thought had turned into a blade against herself. Adel bit her lip hard.
“Actually… there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you since you woke.”
He, who had been lazily closing his eyes under her pleasant touch, slowly lifted his eyelids. His crimson eyes, gleaming in the firelight, fixed steadily on Adel—direct, unwavering, offering neither reply nor reaction.
“I was curious why you remembered my name first—why not Hermann or Sir Oscar… They were both in the room, after all.”
“…”
“But I know that by the time your memories return enough for you to answer that, you won’t stay with me like this anymore. Because… even if it wasn’t by choice, I’m the one who deceived you.”
“…”
“For now, I’ll do as you wish. If you need me, I’ll stay by your side.”
Still pretending to smooth his hair, Adel gently stroked Valentin’s forehead. After pressing her lips tightly together, she forced out the words.
“In return… I’d like permission to enter the library in the west tower. I know only Ansgar’s direct bloodline may access it…”
She quickly added, “I only want to borrow books on herbalism.”
Healing arts could only be practiced by the rare few born with innate power, but herbalism was different. Anyone could learn it with study, even without innate talent. The problem was the need for incredibly thick reference tomes—and books, as always, were terribly expensive.
In Reichenau, she’d picked up bits by observation, but here it was hopeless. She didn’t even have access to the general library. Her only option was to gather herbs herself, dry them, and taste them one by one—and even that was reaching its limits lately.
“I do have two old books now, but they’re very outdated.”
Only Falkenheim’s ‘Ivory Tower’ offered formal herbalism instruction. Though less prestigious than healers, herbalists trained there were still valuable.
The illustrated guides they compiled over lifetimes could match two months’ income of an average domain. And reportedly, several such volumes lay neglected in the west tower’s library.
‘If what Oscar told me is truly accurate.’
Adel added uncertainly, fidgeting with their clasped hands.
“If I learn herbalism, I could help the domain. I’ll work hard… to repay the kindness Ansgar has shown me. If I can someday run even a small healing clinic, this marriage won’t have been a total loss for Your Grace…”
“…”
“I know I can’t go to Falkenheim right away, but… I hope you’ll allow me to leave someday. I’ll work hard at anything that might help you and Ansgar from now on…”
Valentin’s breathtakingly beautiful face suddenly twisted in anguish. Oblivious to his expression as she looked away, Adel innocently added,
“It’d be nice if you understood everything I said. The healer claims you’ve forgotten language itself, but somehow… I feel you understand every word. So please, if you do, nod your head. If not, just… shake it like this.”
“Ah, Nia…”
“Your Grace—what did you just say?”
His reddened eyes were desperate. He clutched her skirt and waist tightly, crumpling the fabric in his grasp.
“No, no.”
Still held fast, Adel tumbled onto the bed. He straddled her, casting his shadow over her. Grabbing her wrists and pinning her thighs between his knees to keep her from escaping, he pressed his forehead against hers. His arched back bent like a frail twig.
“No, ah… Adelheid…”
He called her name again, desperately.
She couldn’t understand why he was acting this way all of a sudden. Faced with this overwhelming, one-sided affection, she froze stiffly—until, catching his anxious eyes, she suddenly understood.
“No, ah…”
This had been a plea from the start. Don’t leave me.
[This is the timeline separator]Dawn.
She’d just dozed off after calming the restless Valentin when Adel woke with a start to a hand covering her mouth. The familiar voice whispering in her ear as she struggled reassured her.
“Shh. It’s me, Miss.”
Adel sighed in relief. The midnight intruder turned out to be Greta. Adel slowly blinked away the last traces of sleep. Once Adel had calmed, Greta carefully removed her hand from Adel’s mouth.
Greta hunched her shoulders, eyeing the sleeping Valentin beside Adel with caution as she whispered,
“I came to tell you something.”
Valentin slept soundly, arms firmly wrapped around Adel’s waist, unmoving except for his faint breathing.
“Now?”
Greta glanced nervously at Valentin, then gestured and signaled toward the door. Normally, Adel would’ve asked her to wait until morning, but Greta’s face, barely visible in the moonlight, looked unusually pale.
Adel fretted inwardly. She’d repeatedly promised Valentin she wouldn’t leave, but perhaps just outside the door would be acceptable.
“Just a moment.”
Carefully, Adel pried Valentin’s tightly clutching hand from her waist. It was odd that someone so sensitive and guarded hadn’t awakened, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.
The moment they quietly slipped out of the bedroom, Greta seized Adel’s hand tightly.
“I’ve found a way for you to escape.”
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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