I’m Going to Change My Husband With a Predatory Marriage - Chapter 13

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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 13

A dangerously suggestive remark had just slipped from the lips of a truly treacherous man, and I found myself stammering as I retreated a step.
I stumbled backward, my words catching in my throat.
“Why are you speaking like that?”
“Because it’s the truth?”
My escape route was cut off.
The excessively plush mattress caught against my hips and thighs, stopping me short.
I tumbled backward onto the bed without ceremony.
“Eek!”
Arpard’s laughter rang out like crystal shattering against stone—a sound of pure amusement at my clumsiness.
‘Infuriating man. Why does even his mocking laughter have to be so captivating and commanding?’
And the price of my momentary carelessness was steep.
Arpard strode toward the bed and leaned over me!
“Yelp!”
Wait, I need to correct myself.
His face had come so suddenly close that I’d misread the situation.
He wasn’t actually leaning over me as I lay on the bed—he was simply standing at the bedside, gazing down at me.
As if observing something utterly fascinating.
His crimson, delicate irises narrowed into reptilian slits, giving his gaze an otherworldly quality.
I could tell all too well that he found me intriguing, amusing, and deeply suspicious.
The dangerous man uttered another treacherous remark.
“Is this a clumsy attempt at seduction, or are you trying to catch me off guard?”
“Seduction? What a dreadful thing to say!”
I sprang up like a roly-poly toy, popping back to my feet.
But the sudden movement sent a wave of dizziness crashing over me.
‘Curse this diet!’
Four days of horseback riding on a body weakened by restrictive eating for the wedding had left me in terrible condition.
As I began to collapse, Arpard’s firm arm wrapped around my waist, steadying me.
Thanks to him, I managed to avoid the misfortune of headbutting his handsome forehead with mine.
‘But now we’re in an even more dangerous position.’
I was wearing nothing but a thin chemise.
Arpard wore only a crimson robe.
And the room was oddly filled with a sickeningly sweet fragrance….
Behind us lay a bed strewn with rose petals.
When Arpard whispered low, his voice—thick with intent—brushed against my ear.
“You understand, don’t you? What it means to consummate a marriage.”
“…!”
His words were far too dangerous, far too treacherous!
Blood rushed through my entire body. My heart pounded all the way to my fingertips.
My vision blurred white, and my whole body began to burn with heat.
I barely regained my senses and cried out.
“I understand! Let’s finalize the terms of our commission and contract properly!”
Clench.
I thrust my clenched fist before Arpard and shouted desperately.
“How disappointing. My mood is completely ruined.”
Fortunately, Arpard shed that strange, dangerous atmosphere from moments before.
But the words he muttered meaningfully seemed rather odd.
“You’ll have to repay me with interest later.”
‘What nonsense is he spouting…!’
Thanks to that, I managed to escape Arpard’s dangerous embrace.
And instead of that bizarre bed scattered with rose petals, Arpard and I could now sit facing each other across a clean table.
It had been quite an ordeal.

* * *

Arpard sat before the table in an extremely casual posture.
His elegant fingers, supporting his sharp chin, fidgeted ceaselessly.
At his indifferent attitude, a woman as delicate as a fluffy cherry blossom burst with anger.
“…Please focus!”
“You want me to focus on that tedious explanation? Do you have any idea how expensive my attention is?”
“If you keep acting like that, I’ll write up the contract however I please!”
That’s right. Hillia was currently drafting a long-overdue .
Then it was not Crown Prince Arpard, but Gerald, the Mercenary King, who emerged.
“A commission drafted based solely on one party’s unilateral opinion can be nullified at the discretion of the mercenary side as well, madam.”
“Ugh!”
The statement was far too reasonable, so Hillia clenched her fist that was about to lunge forward.
‘How infuriating! How irritating!’
Ludwig, her ex-husband and former fiancé, couldn’t even begin to compare in terms of being troublesome.
‘Then again, that’s exactly why I managed to catch this man.’
Only a madman like Arpard could have dissolved the marriage.
Hillia took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure.
‘This won’t do. If I keep backing down, only I lose. The other party is a madman. I shouldn’t take a madman seriously.’
She forced strength into her weakening hand and moved her pen.
“So… now that we’ve held the wedding, Your Highness has fulfilled the most important part of my commission.”
“The most important part? Not everything?”
Hillia shook her head.
“At the very least, you must maintain our married status for as long as I need it. This is a critically important clause.”
Scratch, scratch!
Hillia underlined the clause in the contract twice.
Because this is absolutely essential!
“You speak as though maintaining the marriage will be difficult?”
“Of course. Ludwig won’t simply sit idle, after all.”
“True enough. Your marriage to me was merely groundwork—my late father’s scheme to make that whelp Ludwig into my rival.”
Arpard crossed his legs in the opposite direction.
With his bare legs nearly exposed, Hillia had no idea where to direct her gaze.
‘Surely he’s not… wearing nothing beneath that robe!’
Fearing the answer might actually be yes, she couldn’t bring herself to ask.
She deliberately fixed her eyes on the paper and read aloud with exaggerated precision.
“Furthermore, as advance payment, the client has already settled the debt with Agrippina’s tears….”
Arpard chuckled softly at Hillia’s obvious struggle.
He leaned in close and deliberately exhaled warm breath against her ear as he corrected her.
“To be precise, it should read that payment was made with Agrippina’s tears and information related thereto.”
“H-hyah! Y-yes, that’s r-right!”
Hillia’s hair and complexion had become indistinguishable from one another.
The way she covered her ears—which had flushed the same cherry blossom pink as her face—and stammered was quite endearing.
‘Hmm. Her ears are sensitive.’
Had she known he was thinking such things, she would have made an even greater fuss.
Now entirely flushed pink, Hillia threw herself into the contract with renewed fervor.
Then Arpard raised an objection with a mischievous expression.
About the very first line at the top of the contract.
“By the way, this is strange. Why are you listed as Party A and I as Party B?”

-Hereafter, the client Hillia Delphin shall be referred to as Party A, and the mercenary Gerald (Arpard Istrid) shall be referred to as Party B.

Surprisingly, this world’s language had words equivalent to the Korean concept of “principal and agent” in a contract.
Hilia had written it exactly as such in the commission document.
And now Prince Arpard, cast in the role of “agent,” was lodging a protest.
Hilia’s eyes narrowed into triangles.
“Isn’t it common sense that the client is always the principal?”
“This is hardly an ordinary commission, is it? You seem to keep forgetting who I am.”
“I haven’t forgotten. Prince Arpard, Your Highness!”
She chattered on.
“And if you’re going to nitpick over such basics, shouldn’t you have paid attention from the moment I started drafting the document?”
With one hand on her hip and the other extended with her index finger pointing right at his nose, she cut quite an imposing figure.
Arpard burst out laughing.
“Fine. Let’s just overlook this one.”
“It’s not you who’s overlooking it—it’s me!”
Even as she said this, Hilia diligently continued writing out the clauses of the commission.
It was a triumph achieved while navigating around Arpard’s interference—he who was both the “agent” in this contract and its sole obstructor.
But when she reached the final clause, Arpard’s eyebrows shot up.
“‘If after the agent ascends to the throne as Emperor, either the principal or the agent requests a divorce, the divorce is immediately granted’? What is this? You’re saying either one of us can divorce the other whenever we want?”
Hilia’s eyes widened.
“Exactly. By that point, the job should be finished anyway, so a divorce wouldn’t matter.”
“If I become Emperor, wouldn’t you already be the Empress by then? You’re saying you’d grant me a divorce?”
Arpard asked as if he couldn’t comprehend it.
At that, Hilia brightened and nodded eagerly.
“That’s exactly it! This is the ultimate proof of my purity!”
“Your… purity?”
For the first time, Arpard’s voice wavered.
Not so much a tremor as a bitter aftertaste—like biting into an apple and finding half a worm still inside.
“Yes! This proves I’m not taking this commission because I want the Empress’s position or power!”
Hilia was utterly passionate.
Like a salesperson explaining the most crucial selling point of their product.
But the buyer’s reaction was hardly positive.
“Why would you need to prove that?”
“…Pardon?”
In fact, it was decidedly negative.
Hilia was taken aback.
‘What? Why is he suddenly like this? What’s wrong with him?’
This clause had been included purely as a gesture of goodwill on Hilia’s part.
‘You already have a lover or will soon anyway!’
That was it.
Hilia had sharp memories of the rumors that had circulated about Arpard before her regression.

“They say the Crown Prince went mad because he lost his lover.”
“He lost the person he loved and completely lost his mind, or so I’ve heard?”

And so on.
So if some tragic beloved were to appear, I would simply vanish of my own accord.
Moreover, I wouldn’t even covet the position of Empress and would gracefully step aside—so why was he acting like this?!

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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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