Translator: Nox

My Husband Was Clearly a Paladin

Chapter 18

Irene nodded at his words.

She had momentarily forgotten because of the purification, but she had originally intended to seek him out for a conversation anyway.

She needed to ask him to change the contract condition—requesting the dungeon reward once a week instead of once a month.

She had been agonizing over how to bring it up, but….

‘If I’ve pushed myself this hard for him, surely he’d be willing to grant a favor?’

She felt that after performing a purification so intense it left her utterly drained, she could afford to ask for a little more.

Besides, knowing him, he would surely agree if only out of a sense of guilt….

“That is not possible.”

But contrary to Irene’s expectations, his answer was firm.

To think he would reject her so flatly. Just as Irene was about to turn her head away in embarrassment—

“Once a week is not enough. I would like to request it at least once every three days.”

“Pardon?”

What was he talking about?

Wasn’t it her, not him, who was supposed to be making the request?

“Were you not speaking of the purifications?”

“No, not that…. The, the dungeon rewards…. I was wondering if you could change it to… once a week instead of once a month….”

She hadn’t intended for it to come across this way, but because her body was so weak, she ended up pleading while trembling piteously.

“Ah, you were referring to the rewards. I see. I shall do as you ask.”

He accepted her demand so instantly that the time she’d spent worrying felt meaningless.

‘If I knew he’d agree so easily, I would have said something sooner.’

She felt a strange sense of injustice.

‘Well, it’s a relief regardless. I’ll be able to enter the dungeons more frequently now.’

That meant more opportunities to obtain the artifact she was after.

The tension bled out of her at the thought that the problem she’d been brooding over was resolved. Simultaneously, a wave of drowsiness hit her with a force incomparable to before.

“Anyway… it’s a… promise….”

She had intended to see him out, but far from doing so, her eyes drifted shut.

“Of course. In exchange, it seems I will be receiving purifications more often.”

Irene nodded with great effort at Michael’s words.

If they were entering dungeons frequently, purifications would naturally be needed more often.

Since he had been affected by monsters in a different dungeon this time, it was unavoidable that he would require purification more frequently than in her past life.

“Under…stood.”

“It’s a promise.”

Through her blurring vision, she thought she saw Michael smiling.

She felt glad that he looked at ease.

‘Even though he only moved up one step from Rank 10 to Rank 9.’

It seemed the purification had worked properly, unlike in her previous life.

As Irene sank into sleep, his receding voice reached her ears.

“…I’ll try to hold back with just this for today.”

Without even having the chance to wonder what that meant, Irene’s consciousness was completely submerged in darkness.

---

Click.

Michael stepped out into the hallway, looked back into the room, and slowly closed the door.

The darkened corridor was devoid of any presence. Instead, the sounds of moans and excited breaths drifted from afar.

The pairs who had returned from clearing dungeons today were likely busy with their purifications.

This was the natural nighttime scenery of this Fortress.

And it was something that had never been permitted to him.

“…There’s no need to rush.”

Michael muttered to himself, looking at the door he had closed.

Today, Irene had purified him. From now on, that was her duty to perform.

It was enough for today simply to have let her know that.

---

“Sigh….”

Lying in bed, Irene let out a long sigh.

A moment ago, the bells announcing noon had echoed through the Fortress.

“I need to… get up….”

Struggling to pull herself up, she stretched her legs toward the side of the bed to stand. However—

Thud.

Her legs buckled, and she collapsed right back onto the bed.

She blinked as she ended up sprawled flat on her back.

“I have no strength….”

She didn’t have an ounce of energy in her body, as if she had performed intense manual labor all through the night.

Actually, she was better now than before.

When she first opened her eyes this morning, she literally couldn’t do anything except blink.

After squirming on the bed for a long while more, Irene finally managed to get up and head to the table.

Plop.

As she sank into the chair, she saw the table laden with food. It was the meal the maids had set out for her breakfast and lunch.

Even though she hadn’t made any special requests, the table was full of only things she liked.

It seemed they had figured out her preferences by observing the food she had left behind until now.

Had they also realized she wouldn’t be able to eat quickly?

Irene fell into thought as she sipped on cold soup, which was easy to eat slowly.

‘Is this what purification was like?’

She knew from hearsay that it felt different for everyone depending on their purification power, but last night’s purification was almost like….

“Haa.”

Irene let out a deep breath and wiped her face with one hand.

Before she knew it, her face had turned red all the way to the tips of her ears. There was no way she couldn’t know what she had felt yesterday.

‘It felt… almost like spending the night together.’

The only contact she’d had with Michael was one hand.

Yet every time he gripped her, a moan escaped her lips, and when his fingers slipped between hers, she felt as if her brain were melting.

Recalling last night’s purification, Irene fell into a dilemma.

Does everyone else experience this? Or is there something wrong with me?

Then, she suddenly remembered what he had said before she fell asleep.

‘He said he’d be receiving purifications more frequently.’

As long as that wound on his chest remained, the demonic energy would likely remain in his body as well.

Furthermore, because of the request she made yesterday, he would enter at least one more dungeon….

‘Don’t tell me I have to do that every single time?’

The moment that thought crossed her mind, Irene shuddered involuntarily.

The entire time they were touching had been an agonizing ordeal.

She would have preferred it if it were simply painful, but it was beyond embarrassing to show such a reaction.

‘If Michael ever found out about this….’

Irene’s face turned scarlet to her ears. Just thinking about him noticing her body’s reaction made her die of shame.

‘I hate that.’

In this life, she was finally maintaining a decent relationship with him.

If she showed such a side of herself during every purification, that look of contempt would surely return to his eyes.

‘I must endure it.’

Irene resolved that she would never show a disheveled appearance in front of him.

---

After eating and lying down for a few more hours, her strength slowly returned.

She considered staying in bed, but eventually changed her clothes and headed out.

‘I need to check a few things.’

The place Irene headed to was the Fortress’s Archive.

Not only records of past dungeons and monsters, but also information on newly appearing dungeons was all organized here.

As Irene entered, the staff bowed slightly to greet her.

‘They wouldn’t even look at me in my past life.’

In her previous life, Irene had visited and greeted them every single day. Yet she could count on one hand the number of times they had returned the greeting.

Moreover, even though any purifier was free to browse the materials, they would often refuse her, saying she couldn’t see the specific records she asked for.

‘So even these small things have changed.’

Unlike her past life, she hadn’t begged Michael to be her pair this time. Furthermore, the clothes Irene was currently wearing were very luxurious, thanks to the support of Tyrenia.

‘The clothes probably have a bigger influence.’

Money was absolute within the Fortress, as strong purifiers were destined to earn a lot of it.

Regardless, it was a good thing.

Without a hint of annoyance, the staff brought all the records Irene requested.

They even kindly suggested that if she needed any parts copied, they would do it quickly for her, so she should ask anytime.

But Irene declined with a smile.

‘That all costs money, too.’

That was why she used to do the transcriptions herself before.

Though it seemed the Tyrenia Kingdom would cover any costs incurred from requesting transcriptions now.

But she didn’t want to create unnecessary debts like that. Besides, she needed to personally verify if the records matched her memories.

Irene looked through the list of dungeons that appeared during this period and all the reward items obtained from them.

“It’s not here.”

She had checked just in case, but the Ring of Invisibility had not appeared in any dungeon reported up to today.

‘Well, the Fortress would have been in an uproar if it had appeared.’

Irene fell into thought, resting her chin on her hand.

Excluding Dungeon 181, other dungeons had almost no changes.

‘But why only that one?’

If it had appeared in another dungeon, she would have just accepted it, but the ring had simply vanished.

‘It’s truly strange.’

If she only had that, she could have left the Fortress immediately.

But no matter how much she lamented, the ring wasn’t going to suddenly pop up and say, “Here I am!”

After wiping her face with both hands, Irene reached for another record.

‘There was one more thing that changed.’

And that was Michael.

‘That wound on his chest—how did it happen?’