I’m Going to Change My Husband With a Predatory Marriage - Chapter 36

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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 36

Arpard smiled coldly, pressing the sword’s hilt into Hillia’s hand as he asked.
“What shall we do, my lady?”
The word “my lady” sounded strangely peculiar to my ears.
As if mocking me, it sent a chill down my spine.
I was just as shocked as the servants.
‘Cut out his tongue? Even serious cases of insulting the Imperial Family haven’t been handled that way in over a hundred years!’
If I did that now, it would create serious problems.
Especially since I haven’t even been officially recognized as the Crown Prince’s consort yet.
Me, cutting out a subordinate’s tongue for insulting the Imperial Family?
It was obvious that questions about my qualifications would arise.
Evangeline would probably seize this opportunity to argue passionately.
‘We cannot allow such a cruel woman to become the Crown Prince’s consort, lacking even basic mercy!’
The Empress and Evangeline’s faction would nod enthusiastically in agreement.
I couldn’t afford such a misstep before the banquet at Artanus Hall, where the Emperor’s approval hung in the balance.
Yet I also couldn’t afford to show mercy to this man now.
Especially not when Arpard was openly advocating for harsh punishment.
Everyone was already watching my reaction carefully.
They were all curious to see what conclusion I would reach.
If I were the soft-hearted Miss Hillia they knew, I could never impose such a cruel punishment as cutting out a tongue.
The Delphin servants had no concept of needing to gauge my mood or curry my favor.
That’s why their eyes and expressions all conveyed the same message.
‘There’s no way that soft-hearted Hillia could do something so cruel.’
If I refused Arpard’s suggestion now, it was obvious what they would all think.
‘Ah, so she really is the soft-hearted Hillia after all!’
These were people already accustomed to looking down on me.
They would slip their leashes in an instant.
The fear I had instilled in them just now was only momentary. The contempt and carelessness accumulated over the past years would rear their heads again.
Arpard had deliberately used the extreme expression “cut out his tongue” to narrow my options.
‘One, actually have his tongue cut out and invite fear and resentment.’
‘Two, refuse and be looked down upon again.’
He was testing which of these two I would choose.
‘Did some ghost who failed every test in life possess him? Or is it carved into the blood of the Imperial Family?’
Either way, I was in a difficult position.
And I had reached my conclusion.

* * *

“….”
A chilling silence permeated the Delphin Mansion.
Hillia’s judgment was sound.
Not only Arpard, but most of the household staff were reassessing her based on her decision.
‘Depending on how I answer, I’ll either be crushed by fear or dismissed once more.’
In truth, if Arpard himself were given such a choice, the conclusion would already be determined.
‘I’d cut out his tongue, and then I’d cut the throat of whoever dared present me with such options.’
It was only natural. He had no intention of sparing anyone who attempted to manipulate him.
From that perspective, allowing Hillia to live was genuinely exceptional treatment from Arpard.
‘Considering that, this test is only fitting.’
Arpard thought with shameless confidence.
Yet he felt his interest surge to the very tips of his hair.
What conclusion would this remarkable and peculiar woman reach?
Would she disappoint him, or would she surprise him?
Then, breaking the brief silence that had settled, her rosy lips moved.
“Gerald.”
Her violet eyes fixed upon Arpard with an unwavering gaze.
“Yes, Master.”
Arpard spoke the absurd word once more, his tone slightly elevated with anticipation.
Well, it wasn’t entirely absurd, if he was being honest.
It was a word that should never exist for Prince Arpard.
But for the Mercenary King Gerald, it was different.
‘An employer is indeed a master.’
Hillia issued her command without mercy, befitting his role as her ‘master.’
“Drag this man along with you. This location isn’t suitable for bloodshed.”
“…Yes.”
Ludwig’s servant shrieked in horror.
“Aaah! Stop! You mustn’t! I am the Grand Duke’s man! If you punish me…!”
Gerald seized the servant’s tongue, preventing him from uttering any further pig-like squeals.
Then he dragged the servant into the adjacent room as Hillia guided them.
Only the servant and Gerald were permitted to enter the room by Hillia.
Gerald waited for Hillia’s command, his eyes now showing slightly diminished interest.
‘Is she going to order me to cut out his tongue while trembling?’
He had presented two choices and told him to pick one, but now that Hillia had actually chosen one of them, his excitement had faded.
He suddenly understood something.
‘It seems I had quite high expectations.’
One who only moved within the choices given by others was unworthy of being his equal partner.
I hadn’t intended to judge everything by this single incident, but it was clear that Hillia had failed to meet one crucial standard.
Yet something felt off.
Hillia hadn’t ordered Gerald to cut out the servant’s tongue.
She’d given a different command instead.
“Leave that chair here.”
“…What?”
Completely unprepared for such an order, Arpard momentarily dropped his act as the Mercenary King and responded reflexively.
Hillia’s lips curved into a sharp, cutting smile as she spoke.
“My, it seems the Mercenary King Gerald doesn’t even know how to address his employer properly?”
Her open mockery made Arpard furrow his brow.
It had been his mistake, plain and simple.
He apologized without hesitation and personally performed the task a servant would normally handle.
“My apologies.”
He placed the chair exactly where Hillia had commanded.
Then he began watching to see what she intended to do.
The servant looked utterly bewildered.
Meanwhile, Hillia climbed onto the chair and retrieved one of the decorative objects adorning the wall.
This was the Guest Waiting Room.
The walls displayed numerous items symbolizing the history and prestige of the Delphin Mansion.
Some were intimidating—shields, swords, and axes.
Others appeared to be nothing more than beautiful ornaments.
What Hillia removed and set down on the floor with a sharp *thunk* appeared to be purely decorative.
A crystal sculpture carved in the shape of a bird.
She gripped it with a confident smile, then issued another command to Arpard.
“Subdue him and make him stick out his tongue.”
The servant immediately panicked and tried to flee.
“Ahhhhh! Save me! Your Grace!!!”
Gerald seized the moment, sweeping his leg to send the servant crashing to the ground.
As the servant fell, his face slammed into the table.
“Gaaahhh!!!”
Blood streamed down as he rolled across the floor, clutching his nose and shrieking in agony.
The screams were so loud that anyone outside would surely mistake it for a tongue being severed.
Gerald dragged the bleeding, writhing servant by the nape of his neck and hurled him onto the floor.
Making a sound like a burst frog, he drove his blade through the back of the servant’s hand, pinning him down.
*Thunk!*
“Aaaahhhhh!!!”
A chilling scream pierced the air.
Gerald glanced up at Hillia.
But contrary to what one would expect from a noblewoman of her station, she didn’t even bat an eyelash.
‘She really is strange,’ he thought.
Any ordinary lady would have fainted or at least flinched at such a sight.
But this woman showed no disturbance whatsoever.
Even as he made such an assessment, he remained faithful to his employer’s commands as a mercenary.
He seized the servant’s jaw and forced it upward, then grasped the tongue with his fingers.
And he asked.
“Shall I cut it?”
Hillia shook her head.
“….”
Behind the mask, Arpard’s crimson eyes gleamed with even greater disappointment than before.
‘She refuses, then?’
Yet this was the same woman who hadn’t batted an eye at the violence he inflicted. There was something inconsistent about her.
At that moment, as if mocking Arpard’s hasty judgment, Hillia moved.
She drew an ornament from the wall and pressed it against the servant’s tongue, murmuring several incantation words.
Then the crystal bird fragment in Hillia’s hand began to glow—a crimson red, like blood.
The servant shrieked in terror, thrashing violently.
“Gaaahhhhh!!!”

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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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