“Welcome back. Thank you for your hard work, Master Supervisor. You have been returning quite late these past few days. You can leave your coat with me.”
“You have worked hard, Master. I am here to assist you with your bath and change of clothes.”
“Lady Emilia, thank you for your service. The bathwater is ready.”
“Good work today, Hero. When should we begin preparing your dinner?”
Six months later.
Underground City, entrance to the Knossos Great Labyrinth, the Supervisor’s residence.
After finishing her work for the day, Emilia returned from the Supervisor’s Palace to her own quarters, where she was met with the daily routine of greetings from the maids.
In response, she smiled and nodded.
“Thank you for your hard work as well. I will have dinner at the same time as everyone else. As for the bath and changing… I can handle that myself.”
After saying that, she took her casual clothes from them.
After walking a few steps, she seemed to remember something and turned back to give instructions.
“By the way, do not worry about preparing meals for me for the next few days. I need to take a long trip.”
Leaving the stunned maids behind, Emilia turned and headed toward the large bathhouse attached to the residence.
Carrying her change of clothes, she walked all the way to the dressing room.
She took off her Supervisor’s uniform, folded it neatly, and placed it in the basket.
As a Hero who had experienced war, she really was not used to having people wait on her for small things like changing clothes.
Although the maids insisted on helping her every day, she did everything she could by herself.
For the things she could not do, there was always magic.
Once she undressed, the perfect figure Emilia had maintained was revealed.
Moreover, due to the Hero’s Blessing, her skin was fairer and more delicate than that of an average girl, despite having gone through a war.
她 loosened her silver hair and let it fall.
Walking barefoot into the steaming bath, she finally sat down and submerged her body in the hot water.
She let out a deep sigh, feeling the tension melt away.
Coming back from work to take a bath was a habit she had developed over the past few months.
It was not only her sole form of entertainment but also a way to momentarily forget about Faon and that night six months ago.
‘If only the bathwater were prepared by Faon…’
Emilia could not deny that no matter how much she wanted to let go, she simply could not.
She was constantly reminded that the person she loved was already married.
The reason she had taken the position of Supervisor was the same.
After the celebration ended and her plans were thrown into disarray, she had rushed to the Empire’s developing labyrinth to work, hoping to numb herself.
She had originally wanted to be on the front lines, joining an established adventurer organization to explore.
However, the Empire did not allow it. Besides, the title of “Silver-haired Hero” who had successfully defeated the Demon King was enough to attract a steady stream of talent to the project.
This meant her job was actually very easy; she mostly just approved documents or did promotional work.
The problem was… it didn’t numb her at all.
Such an easy job gave her even more free time to think about Faon.
Her feelings began to grow increasingly heavy and distorted.
They were so heavy that… she would occasionally hallucinate Faon’s gentle voice reminding her while she worked— “Captain, it is time to rest.”
She would even dream of scenes from the night after marrying Faon…
The scene of being told by Faon that he was going back to his hometown to get married would echo in her mind constantly.
She could often feel the suffocation of that day, recalling that sense of being torn apart and the strange way her own voice had been so calm, as if she were a different person.
She did not even remember how she got back to her tent, how she slept that night, or how she responded to Faon’s worried inquiries.
Perhaps no matter how much she tried to numb herself… the feelings in her heart would not fade in the slightest.
Her gradually deepening emotions sometimes caused Emilia’s thoughts to become twisted and strange.
At times, she had the thought that she could forcibly separate Faon from his wife and then take her place.
Back then, she felt that with her looks and figure, she could definitely make his heart and body belong entirely to her.
But… could she, Emilia, really do that? Would it really be allowed? Could she actually go through with it?
Her inner morality told her she could not.
That version of herself would be completely unworthy of the title of Hero, and absolutely unworthy of Faon.
Yet, those distorted feelings made it impossible to control her thoughts.
She could not help but wonder if the title of Hero was truly important.
Was being worthy of Faon truly important?
As long as… as long as he belonged to her, to the Hero Emilia, wouldn’t that be enough?
She wouldn’t have to think about his wife… she wouldn’t have to think about any wedding… she wouldn’t have to think about being a Hero, and certainly not about the so-called duties of a Captain.
Emilia submerged her entire body, including her head, under the water as her mind drifted toward these strange ideas.
‘This… might not necessarily be impossible, right?’
Just as that thought flashed through her mind, a scene of herself wearing a snow-white wedding dress and walking hand-in-hand with Faon appeared in her head.
Those strange thoughts vanished instantly.
‘What on earth am I thinking?’
No, she couldn’t think about it anymore.
Some things shouldn’t even be imagined. In reality, he was a man with a wife.
That was an unchangeable fact.
If she thought like that, wouldn’t the former Hero turn into a common harlot who threw herself at a married man?
Furthermore, to cope with these thoughts, she was not entirely unprepared.
Emilia shook her head underwater to push those thoughts away for a moment.
Suddenly, she stood up. Stepping onto the wet floor, she walked to the dressing room, dried herself with a towel, and used a simple Wind Magic spell to dry her hair.
Afterward, she changed into casual clothes and went to her bedroom.
The artificial sky of the Underground City, simulated by magic, had already grown dim, which improved Emilia’s mood slightly.
An exquisite dinner had been placed on the table in her room.
Emilia chose not to eat it.
Part of the reason was that she had no training scheduled for tonight.
She lay down casually on the soft bed.
Subconsciously, Emilia looked at the photo placed on the bedside cabinet.
It was a group photo showing Faon and his wife, Evalyn, both beaming with happy smiles.
One could tell just by looking at the photo that Miss Evalyn was a perfect, virtuous wife.
The photo was constructed from mana and a Moonstone, making it extremely precious.
This alone proved how much Faon cherished it.
The photo had been mailed a week before Faon’s wedding, accompanied by a formal invitation from the Empire, a letter, and a Moonstone carved with magic runes.
It was a gift from Faon.
The letter said that once the Moonstone was activated, it could be used for emergency contact, and could even assemble the Silver Hero Team in an instant.
Faon and Veya had researched it together.
Now, it lay in a drawer along with the two invitations and Faon’s letter, untouched.
‘Even if I used it, I could contact Faon directly…’
At that thought, a surge of complicated emotions flooded her heart.
Emilia had not attended Faon’s wedding, even though she could have applied for leave.
What would have been the point?
Asking her to offer blessings for the wedding of the man she loved was something she could not do.
Especially since his wife had nothing to do with her, and at that time, she was not prepared.
It wasn’t until the continuous suppression of her emotions began to affect her that Emilia felt she was wrong.
Her situation was such that if she went, she would be miserable for a year, but by not going, she would be miserable for a lifetime.
Yet now, she couldn’t even bring herself to throw away a single photo.
Therefore, no matter what, Emilia felt she had to go see Faon.
She would frame it as “visiting a teammate.”
Perhaps if they met, those disgusting thoughts would be instantly dispelled, and she would finally be able to let go.
Just by seeing him, things might get much better.
Thinking this, she opened the drawer and took out the exquisite Moonstone, injecting a bit of mana into it.
Immediately, the runes upon it seemed to come to life, breathing and glowing as the mana flowed.
This was the result of Emilia’s slow experimentation and the preparations she had made.
A rune meant for emergency contact was essentially a Positioning Technique.
She could use her mana to modify it little by little so that not only would no one notice, but she could also use the Moonstone to reverse-locate others.
‘This is only because I’m afraid of not being able to find Faon,’ she thought to herself.
Furthermore, Emilia’s preparations went far beyond that.
She had already coordinated with her superiors.
She had set aside enough time for a long trip and had already packed her luggage, only informing the maids today.
She could depart tomorrow.
These were all the preparations she had made.
Emilia looked at the Moonstone.
Even she did not notice that her expression was somewhat excited.
At the same time, she failed to realize how strange her current behavior and preparations actually were.
At this moment, her thought was that she was merely going to visit a teammate.
Yes, just a visit, and perhaps she would also pay her respects to Miss Evalyn while she was at it.
This was something she must do as the Captain.
Nothing more.
As for why she didn’t contact him beforehand, it was only because she was afraid he would misunderstand, since she hadn’t attended the wedding.
It definitely wasn’t because she was afraid she might accidentally overstay her welcome and refuse to leave.
After all, he was a man with a wife.
Those twisted, disgusting thoughts in the bath… she would probably keep them hidden in the deepest part of her heart forever.
Yes.
Forever.
Maybe.
***
On the other side, in Crevia Town.
Faon had just finished his mana tuning work at a neighbor’s house.
He looked at the neighbor standing at the door to see him off and gave a polite smile.
“Miss Night Lei, Night Night is fine now. She should wake up before dinner. She just needs some rest and recovery from now on.”
“Mr. Faon, you really are as reliable as ever. I truly don’t know how to thank you.”
Hearing Faon’s polite answer, a smile appeared on Night Lei’s face.
The long, slender black tail unique to a Semi-succubus swayed behind her as if waving hello.
“It is just my job. You do not need to insist on thanking me, Miss Night Lei. I have received the appropriate compensation. Besides, you have been very kind to us since we moved here. If anything… I should be the one thanking you,” Faon said seriously, shaking his head.
“Hehe… you’re too modest, Mr. Faon. If it weren’t for you, perhaps no one would help monsters like us.”
Night Lei shook her head to herself, and then that mysterious smile returned to her face.
“Enough of that. By the way, it’s getting late. You and your wife haven’t eaten yet, have you? Why don’t you come to our house for dinner? Consider it my way of repaying you. Besides, I think Night Night would like to thank you in person.”
Unnoticeably, the distance between Night Lei and Faon closed slightly.
Being a Semi-succubus, her appearance was extremely alluring.
A pair of black goat horns grew from her beautiful purple hair, yet they didn’t look strange at all; instead, they added a touch of demonic charm.
Even in simple clothes, her explosive figure was perfectly accentuated.
Mature, mysterious, and seductive—these three words were embodied perfectly in her.
Consequently, her current actions were incredibly tempting.
However, Faon didn’t seem to notice.
He merely smiled and nodded.
“Alright. I will go back and ask my wife.”
“Then my sister and I will be waiting for your arrival. See you tonight.”
Night Lei showed no other reaction.
“Yes, see you tonight, provided my wife agrees.”
Leaving those words behind, Faon walked toward the home he shared with his wife.
Since they were neighbors, even in this frontier town with very few residents, the walk was not very long.
Soon, he reached their new home—a house typical of the countryside.
He knocked on the door, and the gentle voice of his wife, Evalyn, immediately came from inside.
“I’m coming! Who is it?”
Faon smiled. “It’s me. I’m back.”
As his voice fell, the door opened, and a beautiful woman with a gentle aura appeared.
That was his perfect wife, Evalyn.
Before he could speak, she immediately opened her arms and pulled the taller Faon into her embrace.
“Husband, you’re back so late today. The work must have been very tiring, right? For now, please rely on your wife as much as you want.”
Her voice was slightly shy, and her face was buried in Faon’s chest, as if she didn’t want him to see her blushing.
“Even though Sister Evalyn is so shy, you’re still insisting on calling me ‘husband’?”
The gentle scent so close to him made Faon relax gradually.
He couldn’t help but tease her.
“Sister Evalyn” was his habitual way of addressing the wife who had taken care of him since childhood.
However, the age difference between them was not large, and they could essentially be considered childhood friends.
“We are already a married couple. Calling you ‘husband’ is my right!” Evalyn seemed very satisfied with her own words and nodded to herself.
“Alright, alright. But… I also like it when Sister Evalyn calls me ‘husband.’ I can never hear it enough.”
“Of course. A husband would naturally like hearing his wife call him that.”
Facing his lively wife, Faon wore a gentle smile.
This was pretty much their daily routine since moving here.
Perhaps because their longing and love had been suppressed for too long during the war, the two of them, married for nearly six months, would still linger at the door like a couple in the honeymoon phase.
After they had their fill of affection, Evalyn stood on her tiptoes and gave Faon a kiss.
“No more joking. Let’s go inside first. Dinner is already ready. You came back later than usual today, so you must be really tired. You can take a bath first; the water is ready. And I’m not tired at all because I can use simple magic. I can only do these small things, after all.”
Then, she paused and whispered, “Of course… if you want to do other things, that’s fine too.”
“Hmm? What are these ‘other things’ my dear wife is talking about?” The corners of Faon’s mouth curled up slightly.
“Of course… of course it’s… oh, stop teasing your wife!” Evalyn’s face turned slightly red at first, and then she pouted in dissatisfaction.
“Alright, alright. I’ll stop teasing you. But… these aren’t small things. If Sister Evalyn weren’t home preparing all this for me, I wouldn’t even have the motivation to work.”
Faon spoke gently.
“Then Husband doesn’t have to go to work. Your wife had some savings before we got married, so you don’t have to work so hard. Like I said at the beginning, you can try to rely on me~”
Faon shook his head but didn’t answer her directly.
Instead, he changed the subject.
“By the way, Miss Night Lei, the neighbor who has looked after us quite a bit, invited us for dinner. But since Sister Evalyn has already prepared dinner, we won’t go.”
Evalyn didn’t mind Faon’s silence.
After all, she knew what kind of person her husband was.
He had his own persistence, and she only needed to support him silently from behind.
This included the move they had made.
Faced with this question, she thought about it seriously. “We should go, shouldn’t we? Miss Night Lei usually looks after us, and she even visits me while you’re out working. Besides, I haven’t officially greeted her sister yet.”
“Then what about the dinner you made?” Faon asked, sounding a bit confused.
“Don’t we have that ‘Magic Refrigerator’ you made? We can eat it tomorrow morning.”
Evalyn pulled Faon into the house.
“Husband, go take a bath first. I’ll take the opportunity to change my clothes.”
Looking at the hot water and the change of clothes prepared in the simple bathroom, a sense of happiness washed over Faon.
During his adventuring days, not bathing for several days was the norm.
Moreover, in this era and in a town like this, preparing steaming bathwater was no simple task.
“Alright.” Facing his wife’s thoughtfulness, he had no intention of letting it go to waste.
After sending Faon into the bathroom, Evalyn put the dinner into the little gadget Faon had researched.
Then, she went to their bedroom.
There were wardrobes and mirrors… all of which Faon had prepared for her; they were practically symbols of nobility.
However, before choosing her clothes, she felt a sudden urge.
She first found a small wooden box from a hidden compartment in the wardrobe.
When she opened it… the inside was packed with drawings of Faon and magic-infused photos.
In the drawings and photos, Faon’s expressions and actions were all different, but without exception… only Faon appeared in these “works.”
This was a small hobby of Evalyn… the perfect wife.
She enjoyed collecting different images of her husband, Faon.
In fact, she had been doing this since before the Imperial War began.
During the war, her excessive longing for Faon had gradually intensified this hobby.
At first, Evalyn merely created things based on the letters Faon sent, making it feel as if he were by her side.
After Faon returned and proposed to her, this behavior seemed to be triggered even further.
She bought a Magic Camera to take photos, even though the price was exorbitant.
Since then, she had been obsessively following and secretly photographing him, gazing at the pictures.
By now, her behavior had gradually become pathological… Evalyn seemed increasingly unsatisfied with Faon’s normal expressions, moods, or actions.
For instance, she had never been able to capture a certain extreme expression he made at night.
Because her body was very weak, she was completely unable to satisfy Faon…
Even though he would smile and say she was already very impressive, she knew… he wasn’t satisfied at all.
‘If I let another woman…’
Evalyn suddenly snapped out of it.
‘What on earth am I thinking? How could I have such a thought?’
She quickly shoved the box back in.
Faon didn’t know about this little hobby, and she could never let him find out.
If Faon knew his wife was such a… pervert, what would happen?
Evalyn chose to stop thinking about those things.
She simply picked out some clothes and went to the mirror to see which set would be appropriate.
But at that moment, her mind suddenly registered something strange in the mirror… something that didn’t belong in the bedroom.
“What is that?” Evalyn narrowed her eyes, trying hard to see what it was.
Just then, a beautiful but cold and emotionless voice sounded in her mind.
**[Host Evalyn’s resolve confirmed]**
**[Acquiring Evalyn’s information…]**
**[Acquiring relationships of husband Faon and Evalyn…]**
**[Information Crystal Ball generated]**
**[Commission System generated]**
**[Reward Shop generated]**
**[Guild Reception generated]**
**[Welcome to the Matchmaker’s Adventurer Guild, Matchmaker]**
The series of voices left Evalyn somewhat dazed, completely unsure of the situation.
Her first instinct was that someone was using a mental magic attack on her.
But just as she was about to do something, Evalyn found herself in a place that looked like an adventurer’s guild reception desk.
Directly in front of her, behind the counter, stood a woman in a maid outfit with a blank expression.
“Hello. Welcome to the Matchmaker’s Guild. I am the Guild Receptionist and also your adventure assistant. I will assist you in being a qualified Matchmaker for your husband.”