Chapter 127

How to Tame My Beastly Husband — Chapter 127. Night Out

Appearing soundlessly behind Ben, Railin struck him with his fist, knocking him unconscious. It was a clean strike. For such an exquisitely beautiful man, he had surprising physicality. And that was all Annette got to say to Ben, who she hadn’t seen in so long.

Shaking out his hand, Railin smiled, innocent as a flower.

“Thanks to your conscientious performance, we caught our rat easily,” he praised her, admiring her inscrutable face. “And it seems you have some talent for peddling stimulants, besides.”

This was not praise that Annette appreciated. Should she be happy that he had given her the opportunity to discover this skill?

Her eyes went thoughtfully to Ben March, sprawled at her feet. Well, it was good they had caught him, but that was just the beginning. She sighed.

“Well done, Railin,” she said. “Now, help me move him.”

* * *

Having spent the night interrogating Ben, Annette went home.

The morning sun was dazzling as it rose over the mountains, and she felt curiously refreshed. Now she knew everything. It was true that the more one learned, the more fascinating life became.

In theory, Annette had spent the night at Celestine’s residence. Though Raphael did not seem pleased at this strange friendship, there was nothing he could do about it. A husband could not choose his wife’s companions. It gave her the perfect alibi, when she returned home.

“Darling, I’m home.”

“At last, you’re here.”

She found Raphael waiting the moment she entered the mansion. It was strange that he should be awake this hour at all, never mind loitering around the foyer. Why was he up so early? Had he not slept well last night, either?”

It made her suspicious. There was an unusual liveliness in his face, his dark blue eyes shining brightly. He was as eager as a faithful hound, who had been waiting for his master’s return. But the Raphael she knew would never do that.

“Did you enjoy it? What did you do?” He asked with exaggerated disinterest, avoiding her eyes, and Annette smiled awkwardly. She could hardly confess that she had kidnapped his uncle for questioning when he thought she had been at a ladies’ sleepover.

“We talked about a lot of things,” she said, turning away discreetly to hide the fact that she had been up late torturing a man. “There was talk about how Celestine and I met at the palace, our first impressions of each other, and some of the people we both know.”

“I see.”

Raphael avoided society and didn’t interact much with other people, but he thought maybe he should be a little more like her. After a brief, polite conversation, there was a somewhat awkward silence.

“……”

Raphael fumbled for a way to break it, agonizing, when she looked up at him through her long lashes, and asked a question that seemed very random to him.

“Raphael. What do you think of His Majesty?”

“Why are you asking that, all the sudden?”

“Well, I saw last night how close Celestine is to her family, and it made me think of you. And King Selgratis is your father, so…I’d like to know what you think of him. But if you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to.”

Having been rejected by him so many times, Annette’s attitude was already resigned. She did not expect him to answer as she looked at him in silence.

A dissatisfied frown furrowed his beautiful brows.

Raphael was not accustomed to this sort of conversation, where he had to articulate his feelings. Before, he would have dismissed it coldly, saying that it was not her problem. But he couldn’t do that now. He had recognized that foreign, dangerous feeling that had been lodged in his chest, and it was all Claire’s stupid fault.

He had only just begun to love.