Chapter 6

“Were you hungry? I’m sorry this is all I could bring.”

I placed the tray with bread and soup on the small table.

My husband looked a bit surprised, glancing between me and the food.

Right. How bewildered he must be.

This must be his first time having such a meager meal.

None of the family members know how to cook, so it was daunting to think about how we’d survive from now on.

‘If Alec loses his muscles, it’ll be a disaster…’

His healthy body is all we have left now.

“…I’m sorry. But it’s a relief we even have this meal. I wasn’t in the right mind to bring food. I didn’t even get to thank the head maid.”

I pulled out a chair.

“Come and sit down.”

“…Thank you.”

Finally, my husband approached. He seemed a bit awkward.

I took out a bottle of milk and a cup from my dress pocket.

Pouring…

Gulp.

As I poured milk into the cup, he swallowed hard, seemingly tense.

His Adam’s apple moved prominently up and down, which seemed strangely sexy despite his condition. But the awkwardness between us was noticeable and it bothered me.

We weren’t overly affectionate, but it hadn’t felt this distant before.

Was he feeling guilty?

“Drink up, Alec. Please don’t mention the milk to Eloise or Mother.”

“What? …Oh, yes. Thank you.”

My husband started drinking the milk I handed him.

Seeing him drink made me feel somewhat relieved.

Phew…

I sighed silently and took a bite of the bread, but it didn’t taste like anything.

I glanced at my husband.

He was nibbling on the warmed bread, looking like he couldn’t tell if he was eating bread or paper.

‘Seeing him eat fills me up…’

As we ate, an odd tension filled the air, making it feel suffocating.

Sure enough, my husband suddenly choked.

“Cough, cough!”

“….”

I sighed inwardly and quietly got up to pat his back.

“Was the bread too rough? I guess you wouldn’t be used to this…”

“No, no. It’s not that… it’s delicious.”

…Delicious?

It sounded like a lie, but I decided to let it go.

After all, he was the type of person who prioritized others’ feelings over his own.

Even if the food were more tasteless and bland, he’d still say it was good for my sake.

Fortunately, he soon calmed down, and I returned to my seat.

“No matter how delicious it is, eat slowly.”

“…Yes.”

We resumed our quiet meal.

This would take care of breakfast and lunch, but what about dinner?

I never thought I’d worry about food again.

I even recalled the days at the orphanage when I had to eat with caution.

“You don’t look well.”

I looked up at the sudden deep voice.

When our eyes met, his gaze flickered again.

Unconsciously, I must have had a shadow over my face.

“Why would I? My husband said he wanted a divorce and then tried to die.”

“….”

This time, his face fell.

His pupils seemed to quake as he lowered his head slightly, brushing his mouth.

“…I’m sorry.”

Though it felt a bit awkward, he looked genuinely apologetic.

His neat demeanor made me feel puzzled.

There was something strangely unfamiliar and polite about him.

The awkward speech pattern that used to frustrate me was now mature and calm.

‘Gasp! His way of speaking has changed!’

I was so shocked that I couldn’t even scream, just covering my mouth.

How did I not notice earlier?

Since waking up, he hadn’t stuttered once.

It was so natural that I hadn’t sensed any awkwardness.

Could this sudden change be because he had come back from the brink of death?

I asked, curious.

“Alec, you seem different all of a sudden.”

“What?”

“Your way of speaking has changed a lot. Could you speak again?”

I looked at him incredulously, waiting for him to speak, but Alec seemed even more flustered than I was.

Suddenly, he started stuttering like a malfunctioning machine.

“Uh, that…”

“…”

Isn’t it?

Well, it’s been like that since he first started talking, so it’s not something that can be easily fixed.

“No, I guess not. I had my doubts. Please, continue eating.”

Did I hear wrong?

I tilted my head in confusion and dipped my spoon back into the soup.

I could feel my husband swallow dryly again.

He seemed more distant than usual, perhaps because he couldn’t bear to look me in the face after regaining consciousness.

* * *

‘…Ha, this is driving me crazy.’

Meanwhile, Alec hid his troubled mind and ran his lips over his lips a couple of times.

Opposite him, his wife took a spoonful of soup with an expression that showed she had little appetite.

She seemed to suspect him for a moment but didn’t seem to think that he wasn’t her husband.

How could he tell her that he wasn’t her husband in this situation?

Just in case, he looked for the status window.

But the system didn’t appear.

It seemed clear that the woman in front of him was not an NPC in the game.

‘It’s absurd to suddenly become someone else.’

Moreover, the owner of the body he had possessed had a mother, a younger sister, and a wife.

Having never even dated, let alone married, due to saving the world, the sudden appearance of a wife was overwhelming.

‘My Dear…?’

How startled he had been when he first heard that word.

It was a term that was too warm and affectionate to suddenly enter his life.

‘Why is this world my final reward?’

He had never wanted a family.

Sometimes he felt lonely, but fundamentally, he was more comfortable being alone.

Alec and Louise were not people he knew. They didn’t seem to have any connection to him.

Was the ‘reward’ he was supposed to receive something like ‘the thrilling everyday life of an ordinary husband!’ or ‘the doting dad who returned home♡’?

He had always maintained his composure no matter what unfolded before him, but he couldn’t deny feeling bewildered now.

He roughly understood his current situation through the family’s conversations.

“I was trying to endure losing the grand mansion and the title of Duchess.”

“But you tried to end your life. Do you know how I feel right now?”

“You said you’d be the perfect husband and love me, but in the three years we’ve been married, you’ve never said that. And you planned to die after saying that?”

“…”

So, was it because he lost his title and the family collapsed that he decided to abandon his wife and family and die?

He didn’t know what kind of person the original Alec was, but anyway, that Alec was now him.

‘Why of all people…?’

The rewards the system had given him so far were always related to him or useful in some way.

Alec believed there must be a reason he became the ruined Duke Alec this time as well.

Just as he was wondering if he had to find that reason from now on.

Louise, who had been silent, opened her mouth.

* * *

“…It seems we can’t stay in this inn for long.”

After eating for a while, I brought up a matter that would be useless to hide.

It was a realistic talk about how we had no money or house.

“…It looks like the innkeeper is wary of His Majesty the Emperor. Well, we can’t let others suffer because of us.”

“…”

“Between us, who knows what outrageous thing that tyrant might do next.”

I glanced at my husband.

He was silent.

Well, what could he say about us being about to be kicked out onto the streets?

I didn’t expect anything from him anyway.

Just as he seemed to have finished his meal, he put down his spoon.

“…I see.”

He was a bit calmer than before.

“I think I roughly understand the situation.”

Then, in an unusually mature manner, he continued.

“With a mother, sister, and wife, we can’t keep staying in inns.”

Saying that, he neatly stacked his empty dishes.

“…?”

My eyes widened a bit at his sudden tidying.

His eyes had changed, too, becoming sharp like the most finely honed blade.

Could Alec make such an expression?