What’s Wrong With My Marriage? I Was Bought as a Wife, Yet My Husband Is Madly in Love With Me! - Chapter 41

Luce whispered Klaus’s name like a prayer.

However, the man standing before her didn’t seem to care in the least.

(…Klaus.)

Luce squeezed her hands together tightly. It was then—

“…Did you say Klaus? No, it couldn’t be. Hey, you tell me your name isn’t Luce, by any chance?”

The roughest-looking man, who had been leaning against the wall, asked with furrowed brows. His face wasn’t familiar to Luce, so she was certain she didn’t know him. But considering Klaus’s past, she didn’t ignore him and answered honestly.

“My name is indeed Luce.”

“Eek?! Wh-what?! No way! Surely you aren’t the second daughter of the Orlov family!?”

“…Yes, I am.”

Had her bad reputation spread even to the residents of these back alleys? No—looking at the man, Luce couldn’t understand why he was trembling so violently.

(The moment he heard my name, he started shaking like a leaf?! Was there ever a rumor about me that could cause this?!)

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” the man muttered, clutching his head. His companions, bewildered by his unusual behavior, called out to ask what was wrong. They then turned their gazes toward Luce, wondering who on earth she was. Luce wanted to know the answer to that herself.

“You idiot!!” the rough-looking man shouted, lunging at the man who had been standing across from Luce as if to strike him. “Why didn’t you check who you were kidnapping before you did it!!??”

“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden!?”

“What’s gotten into me?! ‘Don’t lay a finger on Luce Orlov!’ That was the absolute rule! God, I moved out of the Capital because I was terrified of him, so why, why is this happening here…!?”

“H-hey, who is ‘him’?”

“The Mad Dog of the Slums! He’s a terrifyingly violent monster with a grudge so deep he’ll chase you to the ends of the earth and beat you half to death if you hurt his friends. He doesn’t feel a shred of guilt for hurting people. This woman is the only one that insane dog ever took a liking to!!”

The rough man pointed at Luce and screamed, nearly in tears.

(I… I don’t think I’ve ever been friends with such a scary person, though.)

“When I saw that Mad Dog buy flowers with his day-labor wages to give to her instead of beating and robbing people… I thought it was a miracle from God. But every guy who tried to mess with this woman ended up beaten to a pulp and floating naked in the river!”

In Luce’s entire life, she had only received flowers once.

“Floating in the river is the lucky outcome! What happened to my old partners… it’s too terrifying to even remember.”

“Hey, hey, aren’t you exaggerating a bit?”

“You fool! I’m out of here. If he comes here, we’re already—”

As if to cut off the man’s trembling voice, a series of violent, splintering crashes—noises clearly beyond the norm erupted from behind the door. Along with them came screams and the sound of heavy blunt impacts.

Hearing this, the rough man turned even paler. He dropped to his knees before Luce and begged for forgiveness, clinging to her.

“Hieeeeee! I—I don’t want to die yet! Please, tell him this was all a mistake!!”

“A-a mistake?”

“That it was an unfortunate misunderstanding… No, that won’t work. There’s no way he’ll forgive that. Wh-wh-what should I do!?”

As the rough man wailed while rubbing his forehead against the floor, the door to the room Luce was in finally burst open. Simultaneously, the body of a man who had likely been standing outside came flying into the room.

“…………!”

Everyone in the room froze, holding their breath.

Beyond the open door, a raised boot was visible. As the foot was slowly lowered, a face familiar to Luce appeared along with the sound of footsteps.

“What exactly do you intend to do with my wife?”

“Klaus!”

“Ah, Luce! I’m so glad you’re safe. Could you wait outside for a moment? I just need to clean up this filth.”

Klaus offered the same meltingly sweet smile he only ever showed to Luce. In one hand, he was dragging the shop clerk she had seen at the old woman’s shop earlier beaten bloody and unconscious.

“Come here, Luce.”

The men in the room were paralyzed by the sheer intensity of the scene. Deciding it was best to flee while she could, Luce ran toward Klaus.

On her way, she saw the rough man who had been pleading with her; he was staring at her through teary eyes, desperately wishing the whole situation hadn’t happened.

When she reached Klaus, he told her to wait outside the door and escorted her out. Outside the room stood Nora. She had accompanied them on this trip to look after Luce’s needs. She was supposed to have gone to the hotel ahead of them to prepare the room and handle chores.

“Madam, are you injured!?”

“I’m fine.”

“Please, come this way. Let us wait for the Master.”

From behind the closed door came the sounds of thuds, screams, and things breaking.

It was easy to imagine what was happening inside.

Luce was stunned, but more than anything, she felt a wave of relief at the fact that Klaus had come to save her.