MHITE - Chapter 2

 

My Husband is Too Earnest

Translator: Aucchan

Proofreader: Chonnie

Chapter 2 

I don’t really want to be involved in such a troublesome marriage. However, my parents, especially my father, are very enthusiastic about this. They would say that there was no better candidate for my husband than Alberto. Our union would give my family a lot of good benefits. 

To put it simply, it was money. 

As the lady of his family’s house, my budget as the legal wife would be an incredibly large sum. I would be set for life. In the case that I died before my husband, the dowry my parents had given would be returned to them since we were inferior in terms of wealth. Marrying into an advantageous situation like this was an opportunity that would never come again.

It also gives Alberto another reason to be against marrying me. 

No matter how much his parents lectured him, his feelings towards Lady Liselotte were unshakable. It was human nature to do what they were being advised against.

Like a hormonal teenage boy, he sneaks around his parents (and his fiancee) in order to meet with Lady Liselotte in order to continuously reaffirm his undying love.

But he shouldn’t have done that.

Because he’s finally pushed his fed-up parents over the line. They’ve given him an ultimatum.

He must marry me, or he will never see his beloved Liselotte again.

It seems as though Liselotte’s parents have understood that their romance will endanger their daughter’s future, thus they have come to a truce with Alberto’s parents, their long-time enemies.

Alberto tried to go against them. He really did. But there was no denying that parents were a formidable enemy, so there was nothing else he could do except give up and marry me.

And so we made superficial pledges to promise a future where we would become husband and wife. Now I’m in an engagement meant to last beyond the grave, with a man who I knew nothing about and knew nothing about me.

So, would this lifelong union go well? The answer was obviously no.

I could tell exactly what he was thinking from the moment I began to live with him; his thoughts appearing on his face as clear as day. ‘Even if I’m with another woman now, it would be good to just get a glimpse of her.’ He was constantly in this pathetic mind space. 

Even right now.

“Haa.” He breathes out a sigh every chance he gets; staring into the void with a yearning expression on his face.

Everyone can tell that his heart, mind, and soul have all vanished to a place where he can imagine Lady Liselotte by his side.

“Alberto-sama? Concerning the afternoon visits…”

“Yeah. I’ll leave that to you.”

“Then about the new servants…”

“Yeah. I’ll leave that to you.”

Enough! I was so drained by his nonsense that I didn’t even have the energy to say that out loud. His attitude was… impressive in a not-so-flattering way, to say the least.

“Then I shall handle it the way I want.”

I didn’t want to bother getting angry at such a hopeless person. It was better to just have a walk in the garden. 

As I left, I coldly glanced at my fiancee’s foolish face. I felt pity for the servants who were flustered at the thought of dealing with him.

Although the garden was filled with beautiful roses and lilacs, it couldn’t distract me from my thinning patience. If the man had enough free time to think so devotionally about the woman he loves, then he has the time to spend on improving the lives of his citizens who suffer from bad harvest. I think his time would become much more precious if he did that. 

My sensibilities may be a little different from a normal wife’s.

Instead of bargaining with love, I find it a better use of my time and effort to accumulate wealth and spend it meaningfully, or perhaps support a young politician that dreams of a better future, or establish a charity to help less fortunate children.

That’s why I was undeniably fed-up with Alberto who could only ungracefully love a particular woman never endingly.

His eyes probably filled themselves up with despair when he learned that his deep love with his childhood friend would never come to be.

To an extent, he was pitiful, but if he goes on like this forever it would really trouble me.

At least if he were a poet or novelist, he would be able to exploit his sadness and create an outstanding work of art with it. 

But he is the son of the previous lord of this manor and is now the master of this mansion. 

The life of the people in his fief, the prosperity of it; all of these depend on his decisions. He has an incredibly important responsibility that he must bear because of his position. 

For him to lose himself for love, if I were the villagers or the servants, I would have grabbed him by his collar and slapped him on his cheek while telling him to get a hold of himself. 

His obligation is to have a lady by his side that can help him manage the territory and bring prosperity to his people. Those are the conditions to consider carefully. Appearance and personality are merely an afterthought. 

“You can say those things because you’ve never fallen in love before.”

“Something like that, I can satisfy later on.” My mouth curled up into a sneer at Franz’s words. He was one of the few people who truly knew all about me. He’s been worried about me ever since my marriage with Alberto, so he goes all the way to visit me and see how I’m doing.

Franz is a nouveau riche. As the third son, his extremely capable elder brothers run the family business while he goes out to play all he wants. His personality is simply wild and free. He thinks that noble customs and traditions are far too old-fashioned so he goes against them quite a bit. As is the pattern of every younger generation. 

But even someone like him thinks that my way of thinking seems to be quite peculiar. 

“Are you really thinking of allowing your husband to have a lover?”

Franz looked at my face absolutely dumbfounded. 

“Yes. As long as he acts reasonably, I will allow it.”

“You are… really similar to your father.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

My father had many shortcomings when it came to his family, but as the lord of our territory, he is nothing other than perfect. His achievements in that regard made me look up to him. 

I knew that he has lovers on the side, but as long as he knew where to draw the line, I didn’t care about it. Maybe it’s because my mother has her own affairs as well. 

Despite the infidelity, both of them trust in and support one another.

I’m really fine if Alberto doesn’t want to love me. If he doesn’t want to have kids, then we can find other options. 

However, he doesn’t think about his duties and responsibilities as a lord and husband at all. He just keeps moping around pathetically and crawling around in the same place.

“I dislike that he is unable to take the initiative to build a foundation of trust with me. If you are unable to adjust to the realities of your circumstances, can you even call yourself an adult? I’m really in the mood to say that and slap some sense into him.”

“Well, Alberto and Lady Liselotte were childhood friends. If so, they’re probably each other’s first love.”

Okay. And then? So what? Is one’s first love really all that special?

If that was the case, then all the people in the world would keep on feeling miserable and lamenting over past lovers. Really, this situation was such a troublesome thing. 

In the grand scheme of things, his troubles were but a drop on a lake’s surface. 

“I’d rather have been born as a man.”

If I was male, I would have inherited father’s position without contention from other people. Plus, then I wouldn’t have to marry such a useless husband. 

“I would have taken over the territory and received my family’s inheritance.”

“Nah. It’s just those people who have a problem. Even if you were a man. If they don’t like you, then they would still cause trouble for you.” Franz winked at that. 

“That’s true, but it would still be somewhat better. Right?”

“True. It’s sad that it can’t be denied once and for all.”

Even if he only conceded on that matter, I still think he’s better than other men in this world. 

“I really think this world would benefit if there were more people like you.”

“If there were more people like me in this world, then no one would work, and the world wouldn’t go on.” 

“That’s also true. Maybe it’s better now, after all.”

Franz seriously nodded in approval of my theory. Eventually, we couldn’t endure it anymore and burst out laughing. Thankfully, after bouts of laughter, I’ve finally resolved myself.

“Anyway, I will try my best. Thanks, Franz.”

“You’re welcome.”

He suddenly became serious as he turned to look at me.

“I’m really glad that you are a woman.”

“Thanks for that.”

“I really do think so.”

Maybe he thought that I thanked him carelessly because I thought he was joking. Franz repeated his words again. When I saw his eyes brimming with passion, I found it out of character for him.

“I truly do think that I want to be your friend forever.”

When you fell out of love, it would be incredibly difficult to reconcile. But it would be easier to do that with friends. I hope to maintain that precious thing between me and Franz. 

“Really. Only you would say something so outrageous to a beautiful boy that you captured.” 

He acknowledged it with the smile I liked on him–one full of scheming. A mischievous smile. 

“Well, anyway, don’t bully your husband too much.”

“I’ll do my best.”

However, I would be withdrawing those words soon. If you choose to continue reading my story, I would say that the majority of you would understand my reasons as to why.

After all, my husband-to-be, Alberto, is too earnest. 

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