If I Were Reborn, I Wouldn’t Marry You - Chapter 130

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 130
Caspian made a fuss, alternating his gaze between me and Leonhardt.
“I can’t see it.”
Even as I furrowed my brow and looked in the direction Caspian and Merlin were gazing, all I saw was empty sky.
Leonhardt seemed to be in the same predicament.
“This isn’t working.”
Caspian lamented with disappointment.
“I’m sorry for bringing it up carelessly.”
Merlin’s spirits visibly dampened, as if she believed she had raised false hopes only to disappoint us.
“It’s fine. You’ve already helped tremendously. We know the crime scene and the method now! We can search for evidence again.”
Our dear sister’s confidence had been shaken!
As I comforted Merlin while shooting a reproachful look at Caspian, he flinched and hastily offered an explanation.
“Well… it’s advanced Spirit magic, so I never intended to master it, but I do understand roughly how the incantation structure works. Based on the formula’s composition, I thought it might be visible to others, just as Merlin suggested.”
“…Then did I make some mistake?”
“No. Since it’s advanced Spirit magic, if there had been any error in the process, the result wouldn’t have manifested at all.”
The only two Spirit Contractors in the Empire had already begun analyzing the cause of failure in earnest discussion.
For the sake of the two who had become absorbed so quickly, Leonhardt and I listened in silence to their exchange.
Though technical terminology abounded and I couldn’t grasp every word precisely, they appeared so serious and grave that interrupting seemed inadvisable.
And only after a considerable span of time did their discussion finally conclude.
Merlin spoke with rare certainty in her tone.
“I think we’ve found a way to make it visible to people who aren’t Spirit Contractors, though it will be somewhat complicated.”
“How?”
Even if we could find other evidence, being able to recreate the crime scene would be the most compelling proof imaginable.
I asked carefully, suppressing my rising anticipation.
The detailed explanation came from Caspian.
“We’ll create an artifact inscribed with both the Spirit Mirror spell formula and conversion magic. In simple terms, when the Spirit Mirror is cast, the conversion magic will allow people without spiritual power to see it…”
Even to an outsider’s ear, it sounded like a plausible plan.
Leonhardt and I offered our approval.
Merlin and Caspian, who had been smiling with satisfaction, soon wore sheepish expressions.
“Since Spirit magic differs fundamentally from ordinary magic, the artifact creation process will be quite different, and we might fail.”
“As I said before, if we fail, we can just find other evidence. There’s no such thing as a perfect crime in this world.”
After reassuring Merlin, who had suddenly lost confidence, it was Caspian’s turn next.
“And beyond that, creating it will require many rare materials…”
Wait, am I being worried about for my finances right now?
“You don’t need to concern yourself with that.”
At my assurance, Caspian smiled faintly as if he’d expected as much and continued.
“Besides, we’ll need more people besides the two of us.”
“How many?”
This was a case where the Crown Prince of the Empire had murdered a Grand Duke of a foreign nation.
Until we could prove the crime irrefutably, we needed to maintain strict confidentiality.
When I asked with concern, Caspian counted on his fingers thoughtfully.
“First, we need someone well-versed in Rune Structuring, a Magical Engineer, and to properly establish the contract, someone skilled with mechanical devices.”
After hearing Caspian’s explanation, I felt my worries ease considerably.
“We already have exactly the right talents right around us, don’t we?”
Emilian, who had been instilled with etiquette and social grace by Leonhardt, encountered Lady Carrington during the homecoming celebration party while we were away, and fell in love with her almost instantly.
True to his persistent nature—having devoted over a decade solely to Magical Engineering—his ideal type had apparently remained consistent since childhood.
And well.
‘He pestered us relentlessly to attend the Academy in the Foreign Country, and once we finally let him go, this time he begged to transfer to the Imperial Academy where Lady Carrington studies.’
Fortunately, the Marquis and Marchioness Neuien supported Emilian’s choice, and after successfully transferring to the Imperial Academy, Emilian and Lady Carrington became campus sweethearts.
Their respective majors were Magical Engineering and Rune Structuring.
Both were trustworthy people, and they would gladly help us once we explained the situation.
That left only someone skilled with mechanical devices.
“Caspian, assembling mechanical devices is your hobby, isn’t it?”
The Caspian from the first timeline and the Caspian from the second timeline had undergone such dramatic changes that they might as well be entirely different people.
The one remaining hobby that connected this Caspian to his first-timeline self was the meticulous disassembly and assembly of intricate mechanical devices.
“You may not be a true expert, but you’re certainly capable enough to provide substantial assistance in artifact creation, aren’t you?”
“Of course I can manage that much. So everything’s settled then?”
Caspian laughed brightly, as if he’d never been concerned in the first place.
And as expected, Emilian and Lady Carrington received our proposal with great enthusiasm.
“Well then, we’re counting on you all.”
Two years had passed since the four of us began work on the artifact, and now we were on the verge of its completion.
In just two more months, I would finally be able to end this long and bitter entanglement with Prince once and for all.

* * *
Breaking ties with such a stubborn adversary proved far more difficult than anticipated.
Prince was hardly the type to sit idle.
I had deliberately provoked him, so naturally I expected some form of retaliation.
I was confident I could handle whatever he threw my way.
Yet Prince turned out to be far more ingeniously unhinged than I had calculated.
I first noticed his scheming when I kept encountering him at social gatherings—oddly, far too often.
After our relationship had truly fractured, invitations stopped extending to both of us simultaneously, unless it was a state-level affair we couldn’t avoid.
Yet somehow, I continued to cross paths with Prince at social events.
The first few times I attributed it to bad luck, but as the pattern repeated, I realized it was neither coincidence nor a thoughtless host’s oversight.
‘And worse—he kept acting as though we were close.’
Whenever I approached out of courtesy to greet him, he’d seize upon my words to keep me tethered to his side, weaving together fragments of our childhood meetings and my connection to Lester, performing the role of an intimate acquaintance.
Of course, given how long we’d spent at odds, everyone found his behavior bewildering.
Yet to someone unfamiliar with the situation, it might have appeared that we’d been close as children, drifted apart due to some misunderstanding, and were now attempting reconciliation as time healed the rift.
Something felt deeply wrong.
‘I still can’t pinpoint exactly what, but he’s definitely plotting something.’
To avoid any situation where I might encounter Prince, I remained confined to the house under the pretense of a minor illness.
Yet his counterattack had already begun.
“Oh, Young Lady! Please, you must see this!”
Anna, who had taken personal leave for a vacation, suddenly burst in with urgent haste.
“Anna, such recklessness—what on earth—!”
I happened to be taking tea with my Nanny, who maintained strict standards of propriety.
Anna flinched upon seeing the Nanny, but only for a moment.
“But this is truly a grave matter!”
Anna proclaimed breathlessly, thrusting several yellow journals toward me with a darkened expression.
“Please, look at these.”
The yellow journals Anna had brought all featured similar front-page articles.
In the sensationalized language characteristic of such tabloids, they claimed they couldn’t reveal exact names for the newspaper’s safety, yet invoked the public’s right to know, warning that revealing these individuals would plunge the Empire into shock—a lengthy, overwrought preamble filled with initials.
Stripping away the deliberately inflammatory and exaggerated language, the core claim was that a certain lady was playing intermediary between noble brothers, weighing her options between them.
“But why would they—?”
Yellow journals excelled at inflating minor incidents into sensational reports.
They’d report that an engaged couple had a minor spat as evidence of an imminent broken engagement.
Therefore, this too was likely exaggerated or distorted.
‘Yet the specifics about vacillating between brothers are remarkably detailed.’
The claim that revealing these identities would shock the Empire was probably the exaggeration.
‘Perhaps it’s merely local gossip?’
Just as I was about to flip to the next page with indifference, Anna cried out in exasperation.
“It’s about the Young Lady, the Prince, and the Crown Prince!”
“What?”
I was so taken aback that I simply dropped the yellow journals I’d been holding.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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