I’m Going to Change My Husband With a Predatory Marriage - Chapter 23

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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 23

The moment the Audience Chamber doors closed behind me, a sigh of relief escaped before I could stop it.
“Phew….”
If my tension had loosened any further, I might have simply collapsed right there.
But I couldn’t afford to do that in a place where the Emperor’s eyes and ears were surely watching.
I did my best to maintain an upright and confident posture while waiting quietly for Arpard.
‘If I tried to walk to the Prince’s residence alone right now, I might very well collapse.’
A large and sturdy support (?) in the form of Arpard was essential to me.
Besides, I had to officially play the role of a lovesick couple.
It was better to stay close and move together.
Moreover, I had made a promise to Arpard with my own lips.

“I’ll wait quietly outside….”

Even I couldn’t break a promise I’d just made.
But such is the way of the world—things rarely go according to plan.
I couldn’t directly control every unexpected situation that arose.
For instance, when my ex-husband and former fiancé suddenly appeared out of nowhere….
“Hillia!”
Ludwig, who had always prided himself on looking sharp and elegant, appeared before me in a disheveled state.
“…Ludwig?”
Why did this man suddenly emerge here?
But his appearance was quite a sight. Seeing him like this for the first time.
His hair, which he always kept neatly combed and slicked back with oil, was now completely disheveled and caked with dust.
His clothes looked as though they’d been rolled through a dirt pit ten times over and torn to shreds.
‘Ah, he chased after the bait I scattered and realized it was a false lead, so he came back.’
Thinking about it that way, his quick return was actually impressive.
I’d scattered bait for about five groups, but it seemed he’d only checked one or two.
Surprisingly, he approached me with a somewhat relieved expression.
Calling my name once more.
“Hillia! I finally found you!”
As I hesitated for a moment on how to respond, he was already upon me.
And he quickly reached out to grab my wrist.
“You can relax now. Let’s go back, Hillia.”
In that instant.
The memories of him—the man who had betrayed and killed me three times—struck my mind like lightning.
The face of Ludwig who had mocked, despised, and looked down upon me.

“Your usefulness has come to an end, Hillia.”
“I never loved you, not even for a single moment.”
“Do you understand how repulsive you are now? Just die quietly.”

A sickening revulsion surged up my throat.
I brushed Ludwig’s hand away without hesitation.
Slap!
He seemed taken aback.
“Why are you doing this, Hillia?”
Without a word, I took two steps backward until my back pressed against the wall.
Ludwig appeared unable to properly comprehend the rejection and disgust I had shown.
“Ah, the shock must be overwhelming. Don’t worry now that I’m here.”
Nonsense.
Yet Ludwig’s droning continued.
“Don’t you see the state I’m in? Can’t you see how much I suffered searching for you? We need to return home now.”
An icy response forced its way through my throat, cold enough to freeze.
“I refuse.”
“…What?”
He seemed unable to accept my refusal. And the casual tone as well.
I drove the point home once more to him, who appeared not to understand.
“I have no intention of returning with you.”
Once I spoke those words, my chest felt slightly lighter.
Ludwig still wore an expression of incomprehension, as if he couldn’t fathom what he’d just heard.
Then I corrected his slip of the tongue.
“You mean the Delphin Mansion when you say ‘our home,’ don’t you?”
He had taken over my father’s chambers and lived there.
Evangeline used the finest guest room as her own.
The Delphin Mansion had become their newlywed home in all but name—not self-deprecation, but fact.
“You no longer deserve to stay at the Delphin. Pack your things and leave immediately.”
Ludwig’s face flushed red and purple as if he’d been subjected to verbal abuse.
But he quickly composed himself and attempted to soothe me with feigned affection.
“Hillia. The shock really has overwhelmed you. Where else would I go but our home?”
“Back to the Kielrn Manor, that cramped, shabby mouse hole.”
I laughed just as Ludwig had mocked me in my memories.
In that moment.
Ludwig seized my arm roughly and shouted.
“There are limits to my patience! Know when to stop!!”
In that moment.
The closed door to the Audience Chamber opened, and a tall man walked out slowly.
The man’s crimson eyes fixed upon Ludwig and me.
His pupils narrowed to inhuman slits, and a chilling, bone-freezing killing intent radiated from him.
I called out to him for help.
“Arpard!!”
As if answering my call, Arpard’s form vanished.
“…?”
No, it wasn’t that he disappeared—it was more accurate to say he moved with such blinding speed.
In an instant, he appeared directly before Ludwig and me.
And he seized the wrist of Ludwig, who had been gripping mine.
“What are you doing, Ludwig?”
“You’re the one to talk, Arpard!!!”
Ludwig gnashed his teeth, his voice dripping with hatred and inferiority.
“The Emperor will hold you accountable for kidnapping my wife. I’m taking Hillia with me!”
A sharp smile curved Arpard’s lips.
It was the kind of smile that looked like it could pierce and kill whoever beheld it.
“Your wife? Where exactly is your wife here?”
“You bastard! No matter what you’ve done, Hillia is my wife! The Emperor himself decreed it!”
In that moment.
Arpard’s grip on Ludwig’s wrist tightened with force.
Crack!
A sickening sound echoed—like human bones shattering.
Ludwig let out a pathetic scream.
“Aaaahhh!!!”
As Arpard yanked roughly, Ludwig’s grip on me fell away.
He hurled his cousin to the ground like garbage.
“Ugh!”
Ludwig tumbled pathetically across the floor, clutching at his wrist twisted at an unnatural angle.
A piercing scream tore through the air.
I covered my mouth with my hand.
Not from shock or fear—absolutely not.
‘I can’t let him see me smiling.’
Watching Ludwig writhe in such a pitiful state, my lips had involuntarily curled upward.
And Arpard seemed to have noticed.
His angry expression softened slightly.
He lifted me into his arms and whispered against my ear.
“Should I break another leg for you?”
“That’s enough. This is the Audience Chamber.”
I could have sworn I heard a tsk, but it must have been my imagination.
Clutching his broken wrist and rolling across the floor, Ludwig cursed.
“Your Majesty won’t overlook this! Who would tolerate such a barbaric madman…!”
Still holding me, Arpard sneered at Ludwig and answered.
“His Majesty has graciously granted us the Artanus Hall for our celebration a month from now.”
Technically, it was a month and six days, but the distinction hardly mattered.
“What?”
Even through his pain, Ludwig’s eyes widened in shock.
The Emperor—the only lifeline he clung to—had acknowledged us.
“That’s… that can’t be true! His Majesty would never…”
“It seems my wife has quite impressed His Majesty. That’s why he personally authorized the use of Artanus Hall.”
And with a touch of magnanimity, I added one more thing.
“If my wife permits it, I’ll have an invitation sent to you as well.”
“Arpard—!!”
Mocking Ludwig’s desperate struggle, Arpard swept past him while holding me close.
And near the end of the corridor, I encountered another familiar face.
Standing there was Evangeline, her blazing emerald eyes fixed intently forward.
She bit her lips as she asked.
“Brother, is what you just said true?”
She called both Ludwig and Arpard “brother.”
After all, as the Empress’s daughter, it was technically correct for her to address them both that way.
‘She’s practically my step-sister, after all.’
But the look in her eyes as she gazed at Arpard and me was anything but that of a sister looking at her brother and his wife.
In fact, it burned far more intensely than when she saw me together with Ludwig.
Pure jealousy.
‘What is this? I thought she and Ludwig were getting along just fine earlier.’
She asked again.
“His Majesty the Emperor has granted the Artanus Hall for your celebration?”
Her gloved hands trembled visibly.

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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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