My Secretly Hot Husband

Chapter 1

Prologue

“I heard that Monster Lord will be attending the ball.”

“What? Is that true?”

Such rumors were seldom wrong. Only one person in the empire was known by others as the “Monster Lord,” and that was the lord of the devil-infested Halstead Castle in the north. Despite rarely socializing, he’d agreed to attend the upcoming ball—though only to gather necessary information for hunting devils.

“I heard he’s hiding a hideous face behind his mask.”

“No wonder the devils are afraid of him!”

Lord Halstead’s monstrous appearance had already become a topic of great interest. Some people, however, were more interested in his wife.

“Poor thing! What a shame that she was arranged to marry that monster in her cousin’s place, and when she was so young at that! It’s awful even if they’re only married on paper.”

“I hear the young lady is quite talented. Apparently, she has the devils in the north under her thumb and has amassed quite the fortune. Plus, she’s a great beauty.”

“She’s too good for the likes of a monster like him!”

“Hear, hear!”

“Why don’t you try seducing her? I bet it won’t be difficult. She’s been kept in a remote castle with only that ghastly monster to look at! Can you imagine how dashing noblemen such as ourselves must seem to her?”

The noblemen from high society carried on conversing excitedly. A few men were planning to do more than gossip. In fact, some fully did intend to seduce her.

Count Baldein was one of those men. He’d enjoyed a privileged life thanks to his remarkably good looks, and thus he was very confident in them. On the day of the ball, Count Baldein met a servant and exchanged some money for a request.

“Arrange a chance encounter with her.”

This servant excelled at arranging such things. In fact, he could orchestrate an “accidental” encounter with the late emperor’s spirit as long as one had the coin. Count Baldein was able to meet the rumored lady as if by chance in the center of a classic rose garden.

“Oh! Good evening.”

He had perfect manners, a sophisticated style of speech, and a charming deportment, all of which worked in his favor to captivate any woman who conversed with him. But strangely enough, none of his charms seemed to work on this redheaded damsel. She gave him a once-over with her green eyes, then immediately turned away.

All his attempts to make conversation were met with half-hearted replies. It seemed she wasn’t impressed with Count Baldein’s highly praised looks. Eventually, he lost his composure and began to yell, “Why are you constantly looking elsewhere? Hmm? Just why?”

The lady let out a little sigh. Quite resolutely, she informed him, “I’m sorry, but you’re just so ugly.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“It’s true. Your face is too irregular. You look like a fish straight out of the deep sea.”

Count Baldein was struck speechless.

“My apologies. It appears that years of looking at my husband have made my standards too high.” Then she turned on her heel. “Please excuse me. I feel anxious when separated from my husband for too long.”

The lady quickly walked away so she could avoid anyone stopping her, leaving the handsome gentleman with radiant blond hair to gape in her wake.

Lord Halstead’s wife, Letitia, returned to the ballroom in a hurry. Her husband was among the crowd and was striking even when standing still—his handsomeness provided relief to her eyes after having looked at someone so ugly. Other people surrounded him as if they, too, wanted to feast their eyes on something pleasant. She could hear them talking from every direction.

Pleased, Letitia muttered, “Everyone’s in a tizzy over my husband!”

An elderly servant who had been passing by replied, “Indeed. It’s quite the commotion.”

“I’d expect no less. Nobody here could rival him.”

“I agree. There’s no one quite like your husband when it comes to outward appearance.”

“Oh, dear. What if everyone falls in love with him?” she asked.

“A worrywart, are you?”

“But look over there! People really are sidling up to him!”

“They’re seeing if they’re brave enough to stand in his presence.”

Letitia fell silent. The servant’s words knocked some sense back into her. She remembered that her husband, Erden, appeared to be nothing but a monster to others. It had briefly slipped her mind because she was excited about being somewhere new.

I have to go save him! Letitia rushed to her husband. Erden, who had been the center of everyone’s attention, turned his eyes to her. While others would likely see an impassive mask, Letitia was familiar enough with him that she could easily sense his feelings even with his face covered.

He appeared to welcome her presence as if she were his savior. “Dearest, you have returned! Have you gathered all the information we require?”

“Of course.”

Letitia gracefully held out a gloved hand, and Erden grasped it lightly. He escorted her out of the ballroom with impeccable manners. After exiting the building full of people brimming with unsatisfied curiosity, they climbed into their carriage.

* * *

“Erden, I had no idea they’d be so interested in us,” Letitia said. “You must have had a very uncomfortable time.”

“Oh.” Erden shrugged from where he was sitting opposite her in the carriage. “I wasn’t expecting we’d be the focus of their attention either. It must have been mortifying to show up with a hideous husband.”

Letitia was momentarily struck speechless. She looked at him with fresh eyes. Back in the ballroom, she had noticed several women discreetly dragging their eyes over Erden’s body, the look in their gazes implied they were imagining scenarios in which that body didn’t come with a grotesque face.

Unlike the other men of high society, Erden’s physique wasn’t the product of engaging in sports. His body had been chiseled through tumbling on battlefields and participating in bloody combat from boyhood. Thus, he must have seemed like a novelty to the noblewomen.

He had a distinct air about him as it was. Not a single devil was able to strike fear into him, and he submitted to no one. He was confident to the point of arrogance, as he never forgot that he was the lord of a castle. The only times that confidence would falter was when other people would mock Letitia and hurt her feelings for having an atrocious husband. Only then would he seem to be at a loss as to what to do—this was one of those times.

Oh, dear. Letitia would feel a lump in her throat each time it happened. She clenched at her dress, not knowing how to proceed. The words she wanted to say to him were forced back down her throat. She pinched her thigh and clamped down on the urge—she couldn’t say them.

Having barely managed to swallow them down, she took in her surroundings. They were, of course, the only people around, being that they were in a moving carriage.

“Um, how about you take off that cumbersome mask and relax now that we’re alone?” she asked.

“Oh,” Erden said, lifting his head at her words. “You don’t mind?”

His tone was respectful and cautious. In the beginning, Erden had vehemently refused to show Letitia his face. However, after a series of events leading to a shocking encounter, he had more or less given up. He’d sometimes gather the courage to take his mask off if Letitia managed to persuade him. It was more comfortable with it off, after all.

Sensing that he was tempted, Letitia enthusiastically said, “Of course, I don’t mind! I don’t mind at all! I’ve gotten used to your face!” It was a lie. She doubted she could get used to his face even in a hundred years. How could she possibly get used to a face like that?

“All right, then.”

As Erden touched the magical mechanism that held his mask in place, Letitia braced herself. She also prepared her eyes to take in the dazzling sight that would greet her. However...

“I’ve changed my mind. I can’t do something so cruel to you when you’ve spent yet another day working for the good of our castle. I don’t want to tire you even more by making you look at my hideous face.” Erden lowered his hand.

Gah. Letitia slumped her shoulders. t would have actually relieved her fatigue and delighted her eyes. Why can’t I tell him?! Letitia bit her handkerchief in frustration.

It was true—the man everyone assumed to be a dreadful monster was actually devastatingly handsome. However, he thought he was horribly ugly because of a family curse. Erden kept his face hidden out of consideration for others. Even Letitia hadn’t seen it until long after their wedding.

She flushed as she recalled that shocking moment. She could imagine flower petals fluttering outside of the dreary window.

“Letitia,” Erden called with a sweet voice. “I’m forever grateful to you. You’re kind to me, and you pretend not to be horrified and disgusted by my monstrous face.”

“It’s not a big deal. Think nothing of it.”

“Our territory has improved by leaps and bounds since you’ve arrived. Plus, the devils cower in front of you. You’re phenomenal. I know you’re much too good for the likes of me. That’s why we must get divorced quickly!”

What? He wants to get divorced? Letitia, who had been listening with a dreamy look on her face, was startled out of her reverie. Erden had once again brought up the subject, which she had ignored while they’d been busy hunting devils. Her heart lurched—she had to use every trick in the book to stop her face from turning ashen.

Erden remarked, “A horrifying husband. A gloomy old castle. Annoying devils. I’ll help you escape it all by divorcing you soon. There’s a bit of a snag, though. I lost the divorce papers, the ones which I drew up under the advice of a lawyer so that they’d be entirely favorable to you. It seems I dropped them somewhere while slaying demonic monsters.”

“You did? Oh, dear!” Letitia felt guilty. The papers had been on the floor, and in front of the fireplace, at that. The wind had carried them right into the flames and Letitia had watched it all happen without lifting a finger.

“I’m sorry. I’ll meet with the lawyer again soon and draw up new papers.”

“There’s no rush.”

Those new papers would disappear into thin air anyway. She had no intention of getting divorced. There was no way she’d be able to land another husband as amazing as her own. Her ears turned red as she stared at the man sitting in front of her.

Needing a distraction, Letitia took out her pouch. In it was a flower that she had plucked from the garden. She picked the petals off discreetly to play a prediction game.

We’ll be happy together, we won’t be happy together, we’ll be happy together, we won’t be happy together... We’ll be happy together!

As always, the flower predicted a happy ending. She had never gotten a bad result, mostly because many flowers had an odd number of petals. All she needed to do was avoid the unlucky even-petaled flowers, like cosmos and forsythia.

Flowers make magical predictions. Letitia stared out the window, looking like the picture of happiness. She felt like she and Erden had been destined to be entwined from an early age—it had been that way since the beginning.

After losing her parents to the devils in the north, she had been raised by her abusive aunt and uncle. Then she was forced to go to the very region where her parents had died. Letitia had been twelve then.

She could vividly remember the day it all started.