I’m Going to Change My Husband With a Predatory Marriage - Chapter 54

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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 54

Before Arpard or the Empress could react, I spoke first.
“I’m so delighted by this warm welcome, Your Majesty the Empress!”
In the same moment, I grasped the hand she extended.
Thanks to that, I could see the shock written across the Empress’s face up close.
“…?!”
‘Arpard’s hand belongs to me!’
If I let the Empress take it from me now, what would become of my dignity?
At the very least, something like this should only happen after I’m officially recognized as the Crown Prince’s betrothed.
If I lose it to the Empress before the banquet even begins, I’ll have already lost.
So I insisted stubbornly just now.
The Empress had extended her hand to force Arpard to escort her….
‘But I interpreted it as her welcoming her future daughter-in-law!’
Her true intention didn’t matter.
What mattered was that I reinterpreted the Empress’s move positively and insisted first.
‘After all, you can’t spit on a smiling face.’
Besides, since I’d given her the benefit of a generous interpretation, if she openly contradicted me now, only the Empress would look foolish.
She was in a position where she needed to maintain her dignity in front of her subordinates.
‘In fact, entering before us and demanding Arpard’s escort goes against precedent in many ways.’
Just then, Arpard, who had been suppressing his laughter beside me, offered his support a beat late.
“I’m even more grateful that you welcome my betrothed so warmly, Your Majesty the Empress.”
“….”
I could almost hear the grinding of the Empress’s teeth.
But she couldn’t pull her hand away from mine here.
‘If she did, she’d be admitting she was trying to cause a rift between Arpard and me.’
Reluctantly, a declaration of surrender came.
“Fine. Since we’ll be seeing each other more often, I suppose it can’t be helped.”
Roughly translating to ‘your time as the Crown Prince’s betrothed won’t last long.’
Compared to my expectations, it was quite mild.
I responded cheerfully.
“I look forward to your continued guidance, Your Majesty the Empress! Since we’ll be seeing each other often from now on.”
‘Right. None of that. I’ll keep annoying you from here on out.’
That’s what my answer amounted to.
The Empress’s brow furrowed slightly.
But she wasn’t given the chance to say anything harsher to either Arpard or me.
A servant’s voice rang out loudly.
“The representative of the great Arctanus, the sovereign of the realm, has arrived.”
The Emperor’s entrance.
The door opened, and the Emperor appeared—what Arpard would look like if aged twenty years and left to grow a beard.
‘Of course, Arpard is still more handsome.’
And I didn’t miss the opportunity.
“I’m so delighted to see you again, Father!”
Father.
At this shocking word, the Banquet Hall—filled with four members of the Imperial Family and dozens of servants—fell silent.
A daughter-in-law calling her father-in-law “Father” wasn’t impossible.
It wasn’t improper either. I was simply being affectionate.
Especially in a gathering like this, with only family present.
But it was certainly rare.
Given Arpard’s personality, I doubt he’d ever called the Emperor “Father” even when he first learned to speak.
‘Could I be the first person to call the Emperor “Father”?’
Regardless, that wasn’t what mattered now.
After appealing to the Emperor’s affection with “Father,”
I naturally handed over the hand I’d been holding to protect Arpard from the Empress’s grasp.
‘The Prince’s escort should be the Prince! So the Empress’s escort should be the Emperor!’
Whether the Empress was flustered or simply didn’t mind the Emperor’s escort, she didn’t refuse.
As a result, the Emperor naturally ended up escorting the Empress.
‘Perfect. That was seamless!’
With that, I stepped backward toward Arpard.
He immediately grasped my hand.
I glanced around before winking at Arpard.
‘How was that? I did well, didn’t I?’
Arpard lets out a soft laugh.
At least it wasn’t a rejection.
The Empress, who moments ago had seemed ready to make things difficult for Arpard and me, had become perfectly docile.
Well, of course.
‘The Emperor didn’t even appear at the wedding anniversary celebration a few days ago. She probably hasn’t received his escort in ages.’
And I could see it clearly.
The Emperor stared straight ahead with a rigid expression, but the Empress was different.
Ever since the Emperor entered, she hadn’t taken her eyes off her husband.
‘Just as I thought….’
And then, as I’d anticipated, it happened.
With a soft sound, the Emperor naturally released the Empress’s hand, which she’d reluctantly taken.
“…!”
For a moment, despair and devastation flickered across the Empress’s face. Humiliation followed.
She quickly composed herself as if nothing had happened, but Arpard and I, following right behind, saw it all.
This couple had built a relationship of long, unrequited longing and cold indifference.
Arpard whispered a familiar taunt into my ear.
“The hysteria of an unloved woman is quite ugly.”
Hmm. He’s my husband, but he really does have a terrible temperament.
Still, I had no desire to say anything to Arpard here.
Empress Isabel was Evangeline’s first patron and her greatest backing.
And she was also the one who had brutally killed me countless times for her daughter’s sake.
‘Perhaps her obsession with making her daughter Empress stemmed from this very reason.’
Watching the Emperor’s behavior, I could understand why Isabel clung so desperately to her position as Empress.
‘She likely believes she isn’t being treated as a proper Empress.’
Yes, that was possible.
And resenting her husband because of it was… understandable.
‘But I don’t have to understand the harm that comes to me because of it, do I?’
And needless to say, I already knew all of this.
‘Because I saw it in my previous life.’

* * *

It was from the second cycle, when the Emperor—who had abdicated and become nearly a husk of a man—came to find me at a remote Temple.
After making a desperate confession to me, the Emperor fell into a coma the very next day.
A week later, he passed away.
Before the Emperor died, a woman came to visit him.
It was Empress Isabel herself.
She was Evangeline’s mother, who stood on the eve of her coronation ceremony as Empress, and held the pinnacle of power as the Empress Dowager.
I was caring for the fallen Emperor, and through that, I inadvertently overheard their conversation.
Isabel, looking far older and more exhausted than now, gazed down at her husband in name only.
Dressed in a black gown like mourning clothes, with a long black veil draped down.
Had I not known the Empress’s face beforehand, I would not have recognized her.
She sat beside the comatose Emperor’s bed and poured out words filled with resentment.

“In the end… you never looked at me, not even for a single moment. I could never be your wife.”

Her dark eyes, stained with resentment and despair, shed tears that looked like blood.

“But even so, I am your Empress. And my daughter will become a true Empress. No one can deny that.”

Standing outside the door, I had to hold even my breath.
If she knew I had overheard, she would surely kill me.
Though I was assassinated not long after anyway.

“I won’t let you be buried beside Roxellin as you wish. After all, you killed her only son with your own hands—you have no face to show her, do you?”

She whispered softly into her husband’s ear as his breath was about to cease.

“If you had ever looked at me even once, I wouldn’t have done this.”

Yet her trembling hand could not bring itself to touch the Emperor’s.

“If you had treated me with even the bare minimum respect as a wife… I wouldn’t have killed Arpard as well.”

She had spoken those words clearly.
Arpard ‘as well’.
It meant the Empress was connected to the death of another person the Emperor had lost.
At that moment, I didn’t understand what those words meant.
But now, I could guess.
‘The death of Former Empress Roxellin, Arpard’s biological mother, was no accident either.’
And I could be certain of this.
If the Emperor ever learned this truth, he would never leave the Empress alone.
His love for the Former Empress had been far too deep.
‘But… there’s no evidence.’
If I could only find evidence, this could become my strongest card against the Empress.
Though there was no evidence, I had a solid suspicion.
‘Empress Roxellin died of madness. And Arpard did the same all three times.’
It was hidden because many in the Imperial Court had died of madness, but this was unnatural.
Unintentionally, in my third loop, I learned in great detail about the madness that occurs in dragon bloodlines and the methods to control it.
So I could make an educated guess.
‘I understand how that woman killed Former Empress Roxellin and Arpard.’
Knowing the method, finding evidence of how the Empress used it wouldn’t be difficult.
Preparations for that were already underway.
I followed behind them with a hidden heart, smiling brightly.

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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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