I’m Going to Change My Husband With a Predatory Marriage - Chapter 107

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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 107

I had no qualms about intruding on Hillia’s tea party.
‘What can anyone do when a husband visits his wife?’
My heart raced with urgency.
I wanted to see Hillia with my own eyes as soon as possible and wash away the remnants of the horrifying vision I had witnessed.
The image of Hillia looking at me with eyes stained by terror and despair.
The phantom of myself threatening her.
‘Wait, now that I think about it, wasn’t that Knight standing beside Hillia even in that vision?’
He appeared to have suffered grave wounds while protecting her.
Truly, he was a man who knew neither when to intrude nor when to withdraw.
Or perhaps I had unconsciously woven him into the vision because he irritated me so deeply.
Either way, it was infuriating.
The moment I approached the crystal pergola in the eastern garden.
My eyes could see nothing but Hillia.
The sunlight that should have illuminated the entire garden seemed to gather only upon her, shimmering brilliantly.
She was breathtakingly beautiful, but I could not afford to lose myself in that beauty.
Count Beltane, who had even intruded upon my vision and displeased me, stood at her side, which grated on my nerves.
Though I had never seen his face before, the red-haired youth possessed the most commanding presence of any knight I had encountered.
‘He must be Muzen, the Young Count.’
But these two men, whom I would normally have regarded as thorns in my side, paled before a greater concern.
Something was wrong with Hillia’s state.
Though she strove to conceal it, her complexion was deathly pale.
The way she gently bit her delicate lips and clutched her skirt were habits born of swallowing fear.
Such a reaction could not emerge unless someone was threatening her.
‘Which one is it?’
My gaze swept sharply across the surroundings.
A man drawing near to the pergola.
An elegant and refined man with sleek black hair cascading over a white vestment.
He was the culprit.
The judgment came in an instant, and my steps were already moving toward Hillia before that thought completed itself.
“How remarkable—an Archbishop who claims his title yet becomes lost within the Imperial Palace. It seems the Temple neglects the education of its priests.”
I ignored those greeting me as though they did not exist, and reached Hillia’s side in a single stride.
When I naturally took her hand to escort her, I let out a low click of my tongue.
‘Her hand is cold. And there’s cold sweat…’
It was rare to see Hillia so agitated or unraveling.
Even when two members of the imperial family bearing dragon’s blood engaged in contests of will, she moved without concern—such was her boldness.
The only comparable moments were when she had collapsed and fallen ill, or perhaps when she had encountered the Archmage.
The Hillia I had rushed to meet then was subtly different from her usual composed and daring self. Though she had feigned indifference, the unmistakable shadow of fear lingered in her eyes.
And now, Hillia’s reaction upon seeing that man surpassed even what she had shown when meeting the Archmage.
Perhaps her response had been similar immediately after encountering the Archmage as well.
It felt as though she had swallowed burning coals whole.
But stabilizing Hillia’s state took priority over the Archbishop.
The matter of watchful eyes around them was irrelevant. I could not bear to see Hillia anxious and afraid.
Arpard whispered while feigning a kiss upon Hillia’s cheek.
“You need only nod your head to answer. Do you need my help, Hillia?”
“…!”

* * *

“Repent of your sins.”
“Drawing in a man! You say I seduced you! I have done no such thing! Why do you speak falsehoods? Archbishop!”
“I am no longer an Archbishop. I am a Cardinal now. Address me properly. Still refusing to acknowledge your sins—it seems your repentance is insufficient.”
“You were never trying to help me from the start. You were on Evangeline’s side all along…!”
“Of course. There is no one who would extend a helping hand to someone like you.”

He confined me in the darkness below for an entire month, claiming he would make me repent.
Food was provided only enough to keep me from starving to death.
I saw light only once every three days, when the Disciplinary Priest came to strike my back with a thorned whip.

“Save me, please save me!”

But I did not die. Whenever my condition became critical enough to threaten my life, he would use his divine power to keep me barely alive.
After months of agonizing torment, I finally signed the statements and documents he presented without resistance.
A confession admitting to crimes I had never committed.
As atonement toward him, I returned my titles and lands to the Imperial Palace, and dedicated all my personal wealth to the Temple.
In exchange, the Archbishop made a promise.

“Do not worry. I will spare you from the pyre. You will be able to live quietly and pass peacefully.”
“…Thank you.”

At that time, I had already lost all hope and desire to live.
Once the Archbishop obtained what he wanted, he cast me away to a small monastery in the provinces.
There, I was watched constantly and forced to do all manner of menial work.
But it was far better than being locked in darkness, whipped with thorny scourges, and subjected to every form of torture.
And about a year later, I was assassinated in the Temple, made to look like suicide.
The moment I saw Archbishop Pio, the horrific memories from my second life overwhelmed me.
I had been confident I hadn’t shown it.
But I truly wasn’t alright at all….
“You can just nod or gesture. Do you need my help, Hillia?”
When Arpard’s low voice resonated through my ears, I felt it acutely.
So instead of just nodding or giving a glance, I nestled against Arpard’s chest and whispered.
“I do. Very much.”

* * *

Arpard held Hillia close and glared at the Archbishop as he spoke.
“You said you lost your way? I’ll provide you with a guide. Now be on your way.”
Arpard gestured to Count Beltane.
His intention was to pair the disliked man with an annoying one and dispose of them both.
Count Beltane, being the second to quickly notice Hillia’s condition, obediently followed the order.
“I shall show you the way, Archbishop. Please follow me.”
At that, Archbishop Pio waved his hand with a good-natured smile spread across his face.
“There’s no need. There’s no reason for an Imperial Knight to serve as my guide. The Divine will surely light my path.”
He smiled faintly and stepped forward.
“I suspect the Divine’s guidance brought me here. What an honor—a noble bearing a fragment of the Goddess.”
Everyone held their breath at the subtle tension between the Archbishop and the Prince.
A somewhat tactless noblewoman murmured.
“Now that I think about it, didn’t the Archbishop just say that Her Highness the Crown Princess possesses a sacred relic?”
The Archbishop didn’t miss this.
“Indeed. That beautiful ring appears to be it. Would you grant me the honor of examining it more closely?”
Fundamentally, verifying the authenticity of sacred relics is standard practice, regardless of denomination, and is done by a Priest.
Considering that, the Archbishop’s words held merit. But Arpard cut him off with knife-like decisiveness.
“No.”
“…Pardon?”
“This object I gave to my wife as a wedding ring is the ‘Star of Statillia.'”
Gasps and exclamations erupted from those around them.
Statillia was the Goddess of Spring, the Queen of all Seasons, and her blessing was contained within this sacred jewel.
For a brief moment, a clear gleam of greed flashed across the Archbishop’s eyes.
“I personally obtained and verified this item. Why would you insist on confirming its authenticity at the Temple? Are you suggesting I gave my wife a forgery?”
“That could never be the case, Your Highness. I merely acted out of curiosity and goodwill.”
“The Imperial Palace never requested this, yet you stepped forward on your own… isn’t that excessive interest?”
Thanks to Arpard’s intervention, I quickly regained my composure.
And soon I realized his point was valid.
‘Now that I think about it, among the assets the Archbishop seized from me in the second cycle, Agrippina’s Tears were included.’
A divine relic inherited from my maternal family.
At the time, I had only assumed the Archbishop took it from me and presented it to Evangeline.
But now I wondered if that might not be the case.
‘What if, from the beginning, he was after the divine relic I possessed?’
It felt as though a puzzle I hadn’t been able to solve before my regression was finally clicking into place.
The traces of fear that had lingered like mist in my violet eyes completely vanished.
They began to gleam with renewed light.

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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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