I’m Going to Change My Husband With a Predatory Marriage - Chapter 45

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 45

Arpard nodded with a chillingly innocent expression.
“Of course, isn’t it obvious? I am the only husband who has made our marriage a reality.”
Well, that wasn’t exactly wrong, but…
It was true, after all.
But why did he have to say it in such a strange way?
‘It’s like a wife insisting to her philandering husband that she’s still his legitimate spouse…’
I shook my head to dispel the absurd and unsettling thought.
‘Ugh! Get that ridiculous imagination out of here!’
In the meantime, Count Beltane approached, limping on his crutches.
Arpard still refused to let me go.
I engaged him in a silent battle of wills.
‘Let go!’
‘No.’
‘Why is he like this, seriously!’
While this exchange continued, Count Beltane did what he intended to do.
Shing—
He drew his sword and planted it before me. Then he knelt.
“Count Beltane?!”
I was so startled that even Arpard released me.
And for good reason—this was the ‘Knight’s Oath’.
It meant a knight was pledging to dedicate his sword to another, no matter the circumstances.
It wasn’t accepted as absolutely binding as it once was, but its weight was never light.
For a noblewoman to receive such an oath from a knight was itself an honor.
‘In fact, during the three previous cycles of regression, many knights swore their oaths to Evangeline.’
And this is the first time I’ve received one from Count Beltane in this life.
Admittedly, Count Beltane did swear an informal oath right after I regressed.
But this is the first time he’s sworn formally, before so many witnesses.
For some reason, I felt very strange.
Count Beltane had never once betrayed me and died helping me.
But receiving such a public oath from him was a first.
Count Beltane spoke the words of the oath with an expression of utmost gravity.
“The sword and life of Knight Laenus Beltane shall be devoted solely to you, my lady, for all my days.”
He continued in a somber voice.
“This is the only thing I can offer, having failed to protect you.”
And Count Beltane looked directly at Arpard, who stood beside me.
Without the slightest wavering.
Arpard furrowed his brow and spoke.
“You’ve got the title wrong. Not ‘Miss’—it’s the Crown Princess.”
Arpard bore down on Count Beltane with an oppressive gaze.
And surprisingly, Count Beltane met it without flinching.
Crackle!
The two men’s eyes clashed in the air as if sparks were flying between them.
Arpard spoke with a mocking smile.
“In a situation as honorable and important as a knight’s oath, failing to use the proper title could be seen as an insult to my consort.”
“….”
Count Beltane’s brow, usually unmoved, twitched slightly.
He looked at me, not Arpard, as he spoke.
“A humble blade follows its master’s command without question.”
Ugh. Those words carried tremendous weight.
And knowing his strict, principled nature, he would honor every word he spoke.
Just as he had in my past life.

“I will protect you, Miss. To the very end.”

Something warm surged in my chest. I couldn’t help but be moved.
Back then, he had given everything—his life, his entire existence.
He did so without ever swearing a knight’s oath.
‘So what will he do now that he’s sworn one?’
He would do even more. Truly, anything at all.
If I claimed right now that this marriage was an unwilling abduction and ordered him to kill Arpard, he would obey without hesitation.
…Wait?
‘…Come to think of it, doesn’t Count Beltane believe I was actually abducted?’
Anny had spent the past few days by my side, observing the situation and atmosphere.
So she spoke to me with relief.

“You don’t know how much he worried and wept when he heard you’d been kidnapped. I’m relieved that His Highness the Crown Prince seems sincere and genuinely cares for you, though.”
“And truthfully… His Highness the Crown Prince is indeed better than the Grand Duke Ludwig. At least there are no other women….”

Unlike Anny, Count Beltane was unaware of what had transpired at the Prince’s Palace.
Moreover, Count Beltane had witnessed the abduction firsthand and even fought with Arpard to prevent it.
‘Thanks to that, the abduction looked all the more convincing.’
But the consequences of what I had orchestrated were now bearing down upon me.
Count Beltane was currently tormented by guilt, believing he had failed to protect me.
On top of that, I had even rescued him from the suffering he endured while imprisoned in Delphin.
In Count Beltane’s eyes, I appeared to be nothing more than a pitiful, innocent young lady held captive by a scoundrel.
‘Wait… surely he isn’t planning to escape with me away from Arpard by any means necessary, is he?’
If that happened, Count Beltane would be ruined, and so would I!

* * *

And Hillia’s anxious premonition proved somewhat accurate.
In fact, Knight Laenus Beltane harbored similar thoughts and resolve.
He still remembered ‘that moment’ like a nightmare.
The moment he had failed to protect Hillia from Arpard’s grasp.

“Please, release her, Your Highness! Ahhhhh!”

Hillia’s anguished cry had been like a knife tearing through his chest.
And the white horse disappearing into the distance, slipping from his hands, with Arpard’s white cloak fluttering coldly behind.
The whispers that had circulated among those around him immediately after the abduction took place.

“It’s surely already too late, hasn’t it? How much time has passed?”
“There must have been incidents more than once.”
“Even if she returns now, the bride’s honor…”

The words had been terribly insulting.
It was all the more vicious that they came from the mouths of Delphin’s hired hands and knights.
Even with his injuries, Beltane did not let those hired hands and knights who dared speak insults about a noble lady go unpunished.

“How dare you speak such filth. Draw your swords!”

And the other knights, who had no confidence in defeating Beltane despite his wounds, gathered in numbers and inflicted violence upon him.
It was an act that abandoned all honor as a knight.
They presented Beltane to Ludwig as the culprit who had failed to protect Hillia.

“Is it true that you failed to protect Hillia, and that’s why things have come to this?”
“A knight who failed to protect his lady has no excuse to offer.”

Because it was the truth.
After that, Count Beltane had been imprisoned as the target of Ludwig’s rage.
And it was Hillia who saved him from such a fate.
How could I not revere her?
I was prepared to offer not only the knight’s oath, but far more besides.
My only regret was my insufficient skill and the inconvenience of a body not yet fully recovered.
He gazed up at Hillia in silence, his passion and resolve crystallizing within him.
And with his eyes and will, he poured all his strength into conveying to Hillia:
‘I am ready! Please, just tell me! Let me save you!’

* * *

Cold sweat trickled down my spine.
Meeting Count Beltane’s unwavering gaze—as though it might snap rather than bend—I realized:
‘Oh no, I’m done for.’
That expression brimming with righteous fury.
And lips full of will and resolve.
I had known Count Beltane for quite some time and endured much hardship together, so I could tell.
‘Right now, he genuinely believes I’ve been abducted and need to be rescued!’
This ‘knight’s oath’ was his way of expressing his determination to save me by any means necessary.
A saying from my past life came to mind.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
My only knight’s sincere trust and loyalty toward me was now becoming a threat to me.
‘This can’t happen!’
And then it got worse.
I heard Arpard murmuring softly beside me.
“He sounds just like a knight vowing to rescue a princess captured by a dragon.”
Arpard’s beautiful eyes curved like a crescent moon.
The crimson hue of his irises deepened noticeably, and his vertical pupils narrowed further.
On the surface, it was a gorgeous, luxurious smile.
But now that I had come to know Arpard quite well, I could tell.
‘This man is truly furious!’
The air grew taut with tension sharp enough to tear.
I finally parted my parched lips.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————