I’m Going to Change My Husband With a Predatory Marriage - Chapter 21

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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 21

A question everyone anticipated yet no one dared ask directly.
Even Arpard had never posed this question to his father.
But Hillia asked the Emperor outright.
Whether he truly intended to set aside his own son and make Ludwig the next Emperor.
The Emperor furrowed his brow and turned the question back on her.
“What makes you think I would do such a thing?”
“Everyone knows it. After all, Your Majesty was the one who arranged my marriage to the Grand Duke in the first place.”
The Emperor didn’t so much as twitch an eyebrow, even conducting this conversation with his son standing right before him.
Hillia, standing beside Arpard, showed no intimidation whatsoever in the Emperor’s presence.
“You would never have given House of Delphin to him unless it was to raise him as a counterweight to the Crown Prince.”
“…Could it be that the Duchess dislikes surrendering House of Delphin to him, and that’s why you’ve orchestrated all this?”
Hillia blinked her wide eyes and muttered something harsh under her breath.
‘Of course I hate it! Honestly, I’ve wanted to punch the Emperor in the jaw just for arranging that marriage!’
But her lips curved into a smile as she spoke differently.
“How could I make such an important decision based on mere personal feelings?”
“Then?”
Hillia, who had been standing quietly beside Arpard, stepped forward.
Before the Emperor’s throne.
And with utmost courtesy, she knelt and raised her head.
“Your Majesty, how well do you truly know your nephew?”
“Are you now saying I lack the eye to judge people?”
Hillia smiled without answering. Yet this silence was itself an affirmation.
‘I’ve actually heard such words before.’
Directed at me, no less.

“In many ways, my son surpasses me. His eye for people, for instance. Had it not been for his madness…”

*Pfft!*
I heard Arpard struggling to suppress his laughter beside me.
Though he lowered his voice, his stifled giggles scattered across the Audience Chamber floor like shards of broken glass.
Unswayed by Arpard, I finished my statement with composure.
“I have rarely seen Your Majesty up close, so I have little to say about other matters. However, regarding Ludwig, I can confidently say otherwise.”
It was a disrespectful remark.
Yet The Emperor crossed his legs and rested his chin in his hand.
His expression showed growing interest.
“It sounds as though you know Ludwig well, Lady Delphin?”
“I spent three years close to him as his betrothed.”
In truth, the Delphin Mansion had been half a newlywed home for Ludwig and Evangeline.
‘Only I remained ignorant of it.’
“So you’re saying the Ludwig you know is not fit to be Emperor?”
“Yes. He is narrow-minded, plagued by inferiority, lacks the ability to match his ambitions, yet his pride knows no bounds.”
Arpard burst into laughter again beside me.
“Ahahaha! How cutting! Your words truly don’t match your appearance, do they?”
He seemed thoroughly amused.
The Emperor furrowed his brow, agreeing with his son on at least one point.
“Indeed, Lady Delphin, your tongue is far sharper than your beauty would suggest.”
‘Thanks to whom I’ve suffered so much.’
That response, I deliberately swallowed.
Objectively speaking, The Emperor bore considerable responsibility for her suffering as well.
I added an anecdote I knew to my argument.
“Though my knowledge is limited, there was once a problem with the internal affairs of House of Delphin’s territory.”
Currently, Ludwig still oversaw the internal affairs of the Delphin domain.
“An administrator embezzled funds and failed to properly maintain the dikes and reservoirs. Yet Ludwig rehired that same administrator the following year.”
“Why?”
“The candidate to replace him opposed raising taxes the next year, as it had been a poor harvest. Meanwhile, the embezzling administrator, having been compromised, agreed to the tax increase.”
…
“Though it is a small matter, how one handles small matters reveals how one would handle great ones.”
I met The Emperor’s gaze directly with unwavering eyes as I concluded.
“If such a person becomes Emperor and decides the fate of the entire Empire, surely you understand the consequences, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor did not answer immediately, instead stroking the whiskers on his chin with his fingertips.
After a brief silence, his response affirmed my words.
“Your observation is certainly correct.”
“Then…”
“Yet my judgment remains unchanged.”
“You mean to say that one who decides public matters for private gain is suited to be Emperor?”
The Emperor tapped the armrest and replied in a voice as cold as ice.
“Better than one who slaughters people indiscriminately in madness.”
“…!”
At this response—cold and cruel beyond measure—Arpard’s smile vanished.
His vertically elongated irises narrowed, and his killing intent deepened.
“Your Highness!”
Even at Hillia’s reproachful call, Arpard did not stop.
The Emperor did not yield either.
The thick killing intent of the father and son, both bearing dragon blood, clashed within the Audience Chamber.
For an ordinary person, merely standing in this space would be enough to feel as though their throat were being strangled.
But Hillia simply rose to her feet and seized Arpard’s wrist, pulling him back.
“Your Highness! Stop this at once!”
Seeing this, a flicker of surprise crossed the Emperor’s expression.
‘What is this? Moving so naturally amid the killing intent of two members of the Imperial Family? She doesn’t appear to be someone trained to that degree.’
This was only possible because Hillia had experienced actual death three times over.
But neither the Emperor nor the Crown Prince could know this fact.
After Hillia earnestly dissuaded him, Arpard reluctantly withdrew his killing intent, and control of the situation shifted back to the Emperor and Hillia.
Arpard stepped back.
He wanted to see how she would navigate this situation.
“Indeed, Your Majesty’s concern must stem from worry over the Crown Prince’s madness.”
“It does.”
A fact everyone knew but had never been publicly discussed was now spoken aloud by the Emperor for the first time, becoming concrete.
Arpard frowned in displeasure, yet deliberately refrained from pointing out the injustice.
Because he himself could not be certain that he would not go mad.
Hillia smiled and spoke with casual ease.
“Then Your Majesty no longer has reason to worry about the Crown Prince. The matter of his madness has been resolved.”
“…What?!”

* * *

The Emperor started in shock, involuntarily lifting himself from the throne before settling back down.
Even Arpard seemed taken aback, and I could feel him staring at me with a rigid expression.
Ignoring this, I continued with a gentle smile.
“Because I’m now by Prince Arpard’s side.”
“….”
The Emperor, struggling for words for a moment, could only ask.
“You’re saying that your presence by Arpard’s side has resolved his madness?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
With such an innocent expression and gentle voice, I spoke words that were far too shocking.
The Emperor let out a hollow laugh as if he found it absurd.
“What nonsense is this? I myself have never heard of a human being able to resolve the madness that descends from dragon bloodline.”
Arpard remained frozen like a pillar of salt, staring intently at me.
I ignored his intense gaze for a moment, focusing only on the Emperor.
After all, the one I needed to convince right now was the Emperor.
“I’m not sure if Your Majesty will believe such words, but… the night before the wedding, I had a dream.”
I clasped both hands together over my chest and lifted my head again.
Moments before, I had looked directly at the Emperor, but now it was different.
I looked higher. There was only one thing above the Emperor’s throne.
‘The statue of the dragon Arctanus.’
A work of art crafted from gold and ivory, with red diamonds embedded in its eyes.
It was a symbol proclaiming with all its might that this empire’s very beginning was the dragon.
I gazed upon it reverently and made my declaration.
“It was because Arctanus himself appeared in my dream and spoke to me.”
“…!”
“He bestowed his blessing upon me, saying that as long as I am by his side, no descendant of the dragon shall suffer from madness.”

* * *

The blessing of the dragon Arctanus.
I had claimed to receive it before the Emperor.
‘A justification of this caliber should be sufficient for our marriage to be recognized.’
This marriage was taking place by destroying the one the Emperor himself had decided upon.
To support this, naturally, an authority greater than that was needed.
There were only two forms of authority stronger than the Emperor.
‘God or dragon.’
Especially since the Istrid Empire was a nation that took pride in being descended from the golden dragon Arctanus.
Moreover, Arctanus had made a proclamation.

─The prosperity of the Artanua Plains will endure as long as my descendants and those of Istrid sit upon the throne.

The Artanua Plains, the granary situated at the heart of the continent, possessed abundance enough to sustain the entire realm.
Thus, whether one searched the Empire alone or the entire continent, no one could challenge me if I had Arctanus as my backing!
But then, could this truly be real?
That Arctanus appeared in my dream and bestowed a blessing upon me?
‘Of course it’s complete nonsense!’

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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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