I Had No Complaints About This Marriage - Chapter 43

This, too, was a skill honed from dealing with trash all her life.

Trash men always vanished the moment she showed weakness, too lazy to bother with an ailing woman. Some had even snapped at her for coughing near them, terrified of catching something.

‘Men like these are the first to panic over their own precious skins.’

Back-alley thugs wouldn’t be any different. With that in mind, Esina cranked up the theatrics.

“If you want, I’ll give you everything I—cough!—have, but—cough!—!”

“S**t, that’s vile!”

The men recoiled as she spluttered more red liquid. Esina felt a twisted pride as she grabbed one by the collar while they scrambled back.

‘They should be scared enough to back off now.’

Just as Esina began to retreat—

“You damn b***h!”

“Tch!”

The next instant, the man she’d grabbed shoved her away with far more force than expected. Esina felt her body hurtling toward the ground.

“Ah…!”

She braced for the impact—but instead of her skull cracking against pavement, the back of her head collided with something solid. Then, a rough grip seized her chin, forcing it upward. Dazed, Esina swallowed back an involuntary hiccup as she turned.

“……”

Though his face was shadowed beneath a sleek, high-end hood, she recognized him the moment their eyes met.

“Her—”

Before she could finish speaking, thick, burning fingers pressed against her lips, smearing the red liquid at the corner of her mouth. Herman’s black eyes blazed as they traced the crimson stain on his fingertips.

“This is, well…—”

“The hell is this?! Filth. Get lost before I—Ack!”

THUD!

The next moment, one-sided violence began.

It was because Herman, who had immediately drawn a swordstick from his waist, started striking the men down.

“D-damn it!”

The burly, seemingly strong men moved swiftly but couldn’t even put up proper resistance against Herman, who was knocking them down one after another. Stunned by the unexpected scene, Esina also froze in place, wide-eyed.

“Uh…….”

For a while, Esina stared blankly at the indiscriminate brawl, only snapping back to her senses by the time the men with broken arms and legs were crawling on the ground.

“Ugh, ugh…….”

So, right when it seemed like at least one of them might actually die—

“Herman!”

She urgently called out and turned her head frantically, searching for someone to stop him, but by then, the alley was enveloped in silence, not a single soul in sight.

‘What the…?’

The street vendors who had been selling strange items just moments ago and the passersby in the alley had all vanished without a trace. It was downright eerie.

The battered thugs, barely alive, writhed as if making their last desperate struggles.

“What the hell, this bastard!”

“You protecting some sick b***h, you damn freak?!”

Some of the thugs even provoked Herman like that, but it was futile. Seeing the pools of blood and scattered teeth on the ground, Esina unconsciously furrowed her brow. And then—

“Aagh!”

“P-please, spare me!”

Only when she saw Herman draw the blade from his swordstick and press it against the men’s throats did she—

“…Wait a second!”

Finally step in to stop him. It wasn’t that she particularly valued the thugs’ lives.

‘Even so, killing someone means going to prison!’

Esina didn’t want Herman to end up in jail. She hated the thought of losing the finest diamond she’d chosen in such a way.

“Hold back, Herman!”

Truthfully, the most she could do was hug him from behind to restrain him.

The moment she clung to Herman with her eyes tightly shut, her heart pounded uncontrollably. Seeing Herman, who usually hid his violence, suddenly unleash it made her think—

‘Maybe I’ll get hit too.’

The memory of the trash who had once hurt her flickered vaguely through her mind…

“…….”

Herman’s chest heaved heavily as he felt Esina’s arms.

“Herman?”

And the moment she called his name again, he exhaled slowly, grabbed her wrist, and began walking.

“…Ah.”

Suddenly, a small whimper escaped her lips at the grip on her wrist, and the strength clamping down on it loosened slightly. Herman only stopped after passing through several more eerily quiet alleys.

Esina, unable to hide her flustered expression at the whole situation, fidgeted before slowly meeting his gaze. Her heart pounded uncontrollably in the strange tension.

“…….”

“…Why.”