My Secretly Hot Husband

Chapter 2

Letitia Goes to the North

The Flame was the top adventurers’ guild in the empire, and its cacophonous, smoke-filled office currently held two out-of-place visitors. One was a nobleman in fancy attire by the name of Count Grey, and the other was Letitia, a skinny redheaded girl brought along by the count.

While the guild master busily read the documents they had given him, Letitia was unable to take her eyes off the painting on the wall—a detailed depiction of people being burned at the stake.

That will be my fate if my secret gets out. Letitia couldn’t shake off that thought. I’ll jab the executioner’s eyes and escape if I’m in that situation.

She had no intention of going out without a fight. Letitia had diligently practiced her eye-poking technique in preparation, and she was likely one of the top three twelve-year-olds in the empire when it came to that skill.

The redhead was still preoccupied with such thoughts when the guild master finally lifted his head. Following his surprise at the sight of the young girl staring at the provocative artwork, he shuffled the documents and got straight to the point. “So this child is...?”

“My niece. She’s the only daughter of my late brother,” Lord Grey jumped in to reply.

“I see.”

There was a reason the guild master had asked despite already knowing the answer. Dull red hair, pale skin, and pupils cast in a dark green shadow. A faded black dress worn on a frame far too slight to belong to a twelve-year-old—the girl did not resemble the foppish count in the slightest. It would be more believable if they were master and servant.

As if discerning the guild master’s thoughts, Lord Grey hastily added, “My niece is still mourning her parents. As I wrote in the documents, my brother and his wife were killed by devils in the north ten years ago. They accidentally stepped foot in Pandemonia—the land of the devils—while on a business trip.”

“And that’s why you’re looking for their belongings, right?”

“Exactly,” Lord Grey replied. “The deed to the mine that our entire family fortune was invested into is buried in those lands.”

“But doesn’t that belong solely to your brother and not your family?” asked the guild master.

“It still remains that my niece, whom I am the guardian of, is its rightful inheritor. I’m sure that the deed is among the loot that your adventurers have recently returned with.”

“Hmm...” The guild master looked skeptical as he offered the list of items to the count. Lord Grey carefully surveyed the document but to no success, yet again. Nothing remotely similar to the deed was on the list. The guild master advised him, “I think you should abandon any expectations. It’s unlikely for a piece of paper to have survived in that wasteland. Not that you’d know that, of course.”

“I’ve been there too,” Lord Grey replied.

For the first time in the conversation, the guild master seemed shocked. “A nobleman like you? How in the world did you manage to come back in one piece? I’m genuinely curious.”

The count shot him a look of irritation instead of replying. He grabbed Letitia from where she had been idly standing and dragged her out. As soon as they were alone, he shouted, “Another fruitless visit! Your parents can’t even send you any help from up in heaven? You’ll be on the hook for everything if we don’t find that deed!”

Letitia sighed.

“What are you sighing for?” the count continued. “You sound like an old woman! Sometimes I can’t believe you’re not over fifty.”

Letitia gave a start upon hearing that. “O-of course I’m not. I’m barely twelve,” she quickly replied, then fell silent. Her heart hammered wildly in her chest.

* * *

He hasn’t caught on, has he? Letitia furtively studied her uncle’s face once they were in the carriage. Lord Alistair Grey was not a wise man by any means. However, at times he was astonishingly observant. His earlier remark had inadvertently hit too close to home.

Letitia wasn’t fifty, but she was also much older than twelve. It so happened that Letitia remembered her past life, that was her secret. She had been five when her mischievous cousins—Lord Grey’s daughters—had tripped her in the bath, which caused her to hit her head and unlock her past life memories.

Flashback after flashback suddenly darted through her head as she felt the shock of her world turning upside down. They were memories of another life in another world, utterly unremarkable as it had been.

Born to a poor family, she had spent a long time studying, then died while still searching for a job. A fire had broken out in the tiny room she rented.

I feel bad for my past self. Letitia’s past life only brought her sorrow when she thought of it. She had been reborn after such a hard life, only to lose her parents when she was a baby. Though her uncle’s family was quick to take and summarily misappropriate her support funds, the same warm welcome was not extended to her. Such thoughts put her in an even gloomier mood.

However, this was not the time to be emotional. She had to keep her head straight. In this world, people who knew the future or about their past lives were assumed to be witches. Letitia’s life would be at stake if anyone discovered her secret.

How unlucky I am. Letitia sighed as she looked out of the window. She could imagine what the rest of her evening would be like. Once she was back in her uncle’s attic, she’d have to change her clothes while battling the cold. Then she’d be summoned to the study, where she’d have to listen to her uncle’s scolding. She might even go without dinner because the kitchen staff would “forget.”

It’d be yet another evening full of small misfortunes. Or so she thought in that moment.

When the carriage finally pulled up to the count’s manor Letitia rushed inside to escape any nagging. However, she could feel something was off. The hall was in disarray as if a battle had taken place. The countess, who was usually the picture of perfection, was splayed out on the floor. Next to her, Letitia’s two cousins sobbed uncontrollably.

The count was taken aback. “What is it? What’s the matter?”

“Husband! Explain this!” The countess hurled a letter encased in a black envelope at him, which the count started to read. His face immediately turned deathly pale.

Curious, Letitia glanced at the letter from over his shoulder. The missive had arrived from a fiefdom in the north. Halstead Castle, it was called. She wondered if the letter had anything to do with her dead parents, but that wasn’t the case.

The contents of the letter instead pertained to her uncle. Nearly a decade ago, her uncle Alistair had made a promise to the previous lord of Halstead Castle, the Dark Gentleman, who had saved him in the land of the devils. In return, her uncle had agreed to let the lord’s son marry one of his daughters.

Letitia’s eyes widened. He agreed to marry my cousins off to a monster?

With a wail, her aunt exclaimed, “This came from nowhere! I distinctly remember you saying you escaped from the north on your own.”

“I... Well... You can’t fault me for accepting help in a desperate situation! Are you saying I should have died?”

“That would have been preferable to this! Do you even know what kind of person the Dark Gentleman was? He couldn’t possibly be normal if he’s managed to survive in the land of the devils! They say the lords of Halstead have been monsters in every generation! Ask anyone who’s ever been to the north! My God! How could you offer my precious daughters to a monster like that?”

“Oh, for crying out loud! I can just break the agreement! I’ll find a way out! There’s no problem money can’t fix!” said the count, who had the audacity to yell.

They had solved every other problem that way, but that was not going to work this time. A reply came from the temple.

The Halsteads and Greys are already bound by blood. If the vow made ten years ago isn’t honored, death will be sure to follow.

The priests had even refused a large donation and sent the count and countess away. Merely researching how to break the agreement had caused the doves of the temple to retch blood and die. The Greys were seized with terror.

“What do we do now?”

Their eyes frantically flitted about in panic until they came to rest in one place. There stood the family’s black sheep.

Surely they’re not thinking...? Letitia was frozen with fear. Her aunt, uncle, and cousins all had the same thought in mind. They may not have said it out loud, but she could read it in their eyes. Her family wanted to give Letitia away to the monster.

This is preposterous! Her uncle was the one who had promised to give away his daughters, not her father. It occurred to her that she needed to find a way to escape from this horrible fate. And so, that very night, Letitia slipped away from the attic with a few of her belongings. Unfortunately, she was intercepted before she could even get to the front door. Her aunt and uncle were standing in the darkness as if they had anticipated that very move.

Letitia said in a trembling voice, “I’m barely twelve.”

Her aunt replied icily, “You should know this since you’re a noble. Age doesn’t factor into a marriage of convenience. Even newborn babies are brought into families as a bride or groom. Their family will handle things.”

“But the north is where my parents died. It’s the one place I don’t want to go. Plus, you want me to be the bride of a terrifying monster—”

“Shut up!” her aunt said, cutting her off. “We’ll do anything for our daughters. You should do well to remember that and go north without any complaints. If you can’t be a suitable replacement for your cousins...” The countess made a show of taking out a small key, which Letitia recognized to be the one for the family cemetery, “...then your parents will go to hell.”

Letitia was horrified. Her face turned ashen as she looked beseechingly to her uncle, but he feigned ignorance, taking refuge from where he stood behind his wife and leaving the task of threatening his young niece to his spouse.

This was even more despicable. Desecrating the dead was a sinful act. However, Letitia wouldn’t put it past them. They seemed likely to destroy her parents’ graves.

No. I can’t let that happen... Letitia helplessly sank to the floor.