If I Were Reborn, I Wouldn’t Marry You - Chapter 65

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 65

‘Such stubbornness.’

I quickly changed into clothes I brought from home in the temporary barracks assigned to Roderick, mentally criticizing Leonhardt.

Of course, I had completely erased from memory the fact that I had stubbornly refused when Father and Leonhardt told me to go home.

After changing into white clothes symbolizing purity and coming out, Leonhardt, who had finished changing first, was waiting for me.

Father had called for a priest, and indeed he had escaped from his clearly sickly appearance, though his complexion was still pale.

“Right now, the only color on your face is your lips and eyes.”

Though I spoke harshly, the prepared clothes suited him well.

The feeling that he might fade away gave him a mysterious aura.

‘The plan will work perfectly.’

The plan we had devised from the beginning placed great emphasis on visual effects.

“It’s not that bad.”

Perhaps feeling better, Leonhardt sheepishly retorted.

“It is that bad.”

Thinking there was nothing good to gain from prolonging the argument, Leonhardt showed me a dignified smile and gently changed the subject as I grumbled.

“But aren’t you going to wish me luck?”

Though Leonhardt was annoying, his pleading tone softened my heart, and I cheered him on in a tone like reading from a book.

“Good luck.”

“Yeah.”

Leonhardt smiled brightly even at my half-hearted encouragement, then strode over and hugged me.

Then he whispered in a somewhat tired voice.

“I wish I could grow up quickly…”

Knowing well Leonhardt’s struggles since his regression, I patted his back comfortingly.

“You would have been much better off not regressing.”

The words I had been keeping to myself slipped out, worried that saying such things might feel like deception to Leonhardt.

‘You’ve lost so much.’

However, Leonhardt’s response was different from what I expected.

“I like the regression itself, I just want to become an adult quickly.”

“Why?”

My question meant ‘Why is it good when you’re going through hardships you’ve already experienced once?’ but Leonhardt seemed to understand it differently.

As asking why he wanted to become an adult.

Leonhardt answered like making a confession, with inexplicable guilt on his face.

“Because right now, I’m… weak.”

The kidnapping must have been quite a shock.

As an experienced person, it was time to give him some advice.

“There you go again! The ones at fault are Prince and Viscount Perington. If you’re going to blame someone, blame them, not yourself.”

“You’re right. They’re the ones who should pay the price.”

Leonhardt’s eyes turned cold for a moment.

As we entered the square in front of the Grand Cathedral where the prayer meeting would be held, people’s gazes focused on Leonhardt.

Until now, Leonhardt had only shown his face to a small number of people who had connections with House of Duke Roderick, so this was his first time participating in such a large-scale event.

When I glanced at him worriedly, knowing he disliked people’s attention, he instead gave me a relaxed smile as if telling me not to worry.

Though still young, Leonhardt already possessed perfect beauty.

Breathless gasps of admiration flowed from people enchanted by his beautiful smile.

This was an excellent start.

‘Leon will do well, right?’

The moment that announced the awakening of divine blood in the first round had many regrettable aspects.

Nine-year-old Leonhardt was a prickly and sensitive child to strangers other than the people of House of Duke Roderick.

As a result, when the awakening of divine blood became known and public curiosity and favor were focused on him, he simply let that period slip by.

‘And the price for that had to be paid quite heavily in the future.’

Leonhardt had lived without external contact, merely moving his hiding place from the Separate Palace to the Ducal Palace.

When he came out into the world to seriously enter the succession struggle, the public opinion he confirmed was generally negative toward Leonhardt.

‘It was largely because he didn’t respond much even knowing the Prince was cleverly ruining his reputation.’

For Leonhardt, who had generally achieved only success and victory against the Prince, this reputation was the biggest obstacle.

‘Once an image solidifies, it doesn’t disappear easily, so he suffered quite a bit even after becoming Emperor.’

Therefore, the success of this plan depended entirely on how much we could erase the image of the cursed prince embedded in the public’s mind.

Until we joined Mother and my brothers who had arrived first and sat in the seats prepared in the front row, Leonhardt won people’s favor much more excellently than expected.

“Excuse me, are you a prince by any chance?”

“Something like that.”

He showed kindness even to a child who thought Leonhardt was a prince from a fairy tale and approached him with sparkling eyes, even shaking off his mother’s hand.

“I greet Your Highness the Prince.”

“Nice to meet you.”

He greeted each person who lingered around trying to make an impression.

I walked slightly behind to draw attention to Leonhardt while monitoring the situation.

‘I thought he’d be nervous given his personality, but he’s doing well? People’s reactions are much more favorable than expected… Well, at this point, the curse of red eyes wasn’t widely known.’

The curse of red eyes itself wasn’t very famous to begin with.

‘Because it was a distorted prophecy.’

The rumors began spreading in earnest after a severe drought occurred in the South.

‘So right after I met Leonhardt?’

Viscount Perington drew great criticism when tens of thousands died of starvation from drought damage, as he hoarded food to make money.

‘Worried the backlash might reach him too, the Prince came up with Leonhardt as a scapegoat to take the stones instead.’

Rumors began circulating that the great drought in the South and all sorts of unfortunate events were because of the cursed prince with red eyes.

‘Such things will be impossible this time.’

I thought while looking at the Prince, who was leisurely enjoying the crowd’s attention but completely lost his composure when we appeared.

‘Because we will achieve a more perfect victory.’

Even if the Prince was in a more advantageous position for now, I planned to steadily undermine his foundation and bring him to his knees.

‘Leon is impatient because of the regression timing, but I think differently.’

The second kidnapping had solidified my thought that we had let the Prince off too easily in the first round.

Even now, the Prince’s surroundings, which would normally be crowded with people trying to make an impression on the future Emperor, were empty.

Only the followers’ families stayed nearby while everyone else had flocked to Leonhardt.

I smiled very brightly at the Prince.

When the Prince’s expression crumpled as he tried his best to suppress his anger since we were in public, I felt refreshed.

Perhaps because we spent a long time entering, the prayer meeting began soon after we sat down.

Majestic hymns echoed and the High Priest appeared with the fox Divine Beast.

Though it was time to be quiet, uncontainable exclamations flowed from here and there, making the atmosphere noisy.

“Isn’t that the Divine Beast?”

“That auspicious white fur… I think it’s right.”

People were moved seeing the Divine Beast that only stayed in the forest deep within the Grand Cathedral.

“To see the Divine Beast directly, I’m glad I attended today’s prayer meeting.”

A noblewoman who seemed particularly devout spoke in a moist voice.

“What brought the Divine Beast to this year’s prayer meeting?”

A Young Lady attending with her parents asked in a curious voice.

I exchanged glances with Leonhardt and grinned.

‘Well, it’s for this purpose.’

The Divine Beast, which had been gracefully ascending to the altar with the High Priest, suddenly looked around and then ran toward us.

Though we had only met once before, the Divine Beast was very favorable toward Leonhardt.

As befitting a Divine Beast that supposedly looked down on humans, Leonhardt with divine blood was treated as an exception.

The fox Divine Beast running toward Leonhardt upon receiving the signal looked very excited.

However, the problem was the fox Divine Beast’s size.

With slight exaggeration, it was as big as a house.

“Kyaaaah!”

Even though it was a Divine Beast, people cried out in surprise as a fox nearly 3 meters tall came running toward them.

The Priests shouted that the Divine Beast wouldn’t harm people, so they should be at ease.

The intelligent Divine Beast slowed its running pace when it saw people were startled, then walked slowly and stopped precisely a few steps in front of Leonhardt.

Then it made a whining sound as if trying to speak.

“Hello?”

When Leonhardt slowly stood up and approached the Divine Beast, it lowered its tail and crouched down, prostrating itself on the ground.

It was a perfect posture of submission.

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