Surviving As A Cannon Fodder

CHAPTER 61

"You really need to put a lock on this door dear husband" I yelled at Edward, after having successfully chased out Herbie.

I leaned on the closed door and let out a deep sigh. I had to be on pins and needles around him to avoid being caught during his routine cleaning.

Now that he has gotten used to me being around, he is being chattier than usual.

I had woken up after a very long sleep just about an hour ago, but I felt like I was already drained off of every bit of energy.

My heart almost burst out through my mouth when Herbie reached out to open the side table cabinet.

It contained the traces of my wild night and not to mention the knife with a big eye attached to it. It would have been game over if that were to be discovered.

"It's going to be a tough day" I muttered covering my face with my hands.

I stormed towards the sleeping Edward and started pounding him with a pillow to relieve my stress.

"It's all because of you... you stupid, useless, arrogant male lead. You're all talk but can't even handle a little snake... Ughhh"

"Huff.... huff" I stopped for a moment and observed Edward. His hair was messed up from taking on the pillow beating.

"I can't believe I'm hurting a sick man" I said to myself and gave Edward one last blow on the head.

"For all the things I've been through because of you, you could at least be a punching bag for relieving my pent-up rage. You idiotic handsome piece of human existence"

I dropped the pillow and turned away from Edward.

"Gaahh... I can't even curse you properly by looking at your face!" I felt as if I was a fire-breathing dragon writhing in anger.

After chasing out Herbie I had carefully erased all the lingering traces of the previous night. I put the assassin's knife in Edward's safe and the dagger in the book it came in.

Edwards safe was currently overflowing with heaps of unarranged documents, empty wine bottles, and pieces of what used to be a dress.

If Edward were ever to find me after seeing the state of this safe, rather than the assassins it would be him who would be after my life.

It took me half an hour to hide everything and when I finally stepped out of the bedroom I was surrounded by an army of maids who ushered me to the bath. They were assembled in front of the door like soldiers on a march.

Feeling a bit lethargic I let myself be 'taken' by them.

At first, I freaked out a bit when I saw my reflection in the bathroom mirror. My eyes went round and my mouth fell open on its own after seeing such a view.

The mirror reflected a hideous monster with a pale face and unkempt hair. I looked like I had rolled on the side road, wrestled with a bear, and survived to tell the tale.

No wonder why Nathanial backed away after taking a look at my face.

After a thorough grooming process, I was led to the massage parlor. I followed them without any complaints and laid down on the massage table.

I could feel all the tension on my shoulders fade away even if it were only a little. Then followed the usual marination with liquids from shiny containers.

'This is why you gotta leave the work to the professionals!'

I chose a full-sleeved dress after putting a lot of thought into it and didn't wear any accessories other than the necklace I always wore. My hair was braided and dropped over my shoulder.

Now the mirror reflected a pitiful noble lady who had a tough time adjusting to her surroundings. I didn't put on any makeup to add to the effect.

On my way back from the dressing room, I made a small detour to the library to pick up a book on mana outbursts and curses. When I was wiping the berry juice off of Edward I noticed that his heart was beating faster than usual.

It was already beating as fast as a racehorse and now it was fast like a race car driven by a madman.

It was obviously not a good sign because a fast-beating heart is one of the first symptoms of mana outbursts. 

And someone with loads of mana like Edward is no different from a ticking time bomb that could set off at any minute.

With his level, he could probably level an entire village if it goes out of control.

The good thing is that I don't recall reading anything about Edward having a mana outbreak. It was a different male lead. Though I don't recollect his name, I think he was the archmage.

Then again I don't remember sh*t, so I could be totally wrong.

After a quick visit to the library, I was led to the terrace where Nathaniel was waiting for me with freshly brewed camellia tea, which was only produced in the Ashford territories, and an assortment of sweets.

He pulled out the chair with polite gestures as he smiled and waited for me to sit down.

'I have a feeling that I'm not going to like what's coming my way'

I hesitated a bit before taking the seat and looked at Nathaniel with suspicion in my eyes.

Disregarding my stare Nathaniel continued to pour tea in my cup and backed off after arranging a few sweets on the plate.

I took a sip of the tea and inhaled the scent. I could feel the nostalgia set in just from the fragrance.

I still remember the first time I had it at a tea party and how my reaction led to a one-hour lecture from my mom.

I stifled a laugh from reminiscing the pleasant memories.

"About yesterday..." Nathaniel fixed his eyes on me before revealing,

"We were able to apprehend the intruder"

"Pfft!!" 

 Startled, I spit out the tea on hearing his words.

"He is currently being detained and will be transported to another location for interrogation"

*cough* *cough*

'Stop it you lunatic! Can't you see me about to die from choking!'

"Here you go madam" 

He extended a handkerchief toward me. I took it and wiped my lips while avoiding his gaze.

"All his weapons were seized. So...."

"!"

I unconsciously flinched at that sentence.

'Did the assassin say anything about me?'

But members of the Third Eye would rather die than reveal their intentions when caught.

'Did they do some magic and extract information from him? Isn't that kind of magic illegal in Orion?'

I tried not to act suspicious but was spectacularly failing at it.  My brain, on the other hand, was spiraling with questions to the point that it started to hurt.

"So you can be at ease. Such an incident will never happen again" He finished his speech and flashed his usual creepy smile.

"Really? That's good... I was really... really scared at night. Good work Nathanial" I secretly heaved a sigh.

From what I could gather from Nathanial's words, it seemed like the assassin was either dead or in a state where he was unable to speak.

"The knights have been instructed to keep you safe at all times. Even if it were a little uncomfortable, I request you to allow them to guard" He bowed.

'The security has been tightened more than it already was. So don't even think of escaping from here' was what he was low-key implying. 

I internally facepalmed.

'F*ck my life'