I’m Going to Change My Husband With a Predatory Marriage - Chapter 57

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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 57

Martine, the Duchess of Axion, was the mother of the Former Empress Roxellin, making her Arpard’s grandmother.
Which meant she was my grandmother-in-law.
Greeting her was a natural courtesy, but the fact that this meeting was arranged in such secrecy naturally meant there was another reason behind it.
‘We needed to make contact in secret.’
This meeting absolutely could not reach the Empress or Evangeline’s ears.
Isephin had never received understanding from her parents and grandfather regarding her work as a designer.
The Dowager Duchess of Axion was no different in this regard.
They all believed that a noble of her station should never engage in the lowly work of cutting fabric with her own hands.
However, unlike Countess Solenu and the young count and countess, the Dowager Duchess was somewhat more lenient toward Isephin.
Perhaps because she had lost her husband early and then her daughter as well, she doted on Isephin all the more.
‘Yet it was curious that she remained distant from her own grandson, Arpard.’
And Arpard seemed to harbor no particular resentment about this fact.
When I told him I planned to approach the Dowager Duchess through Countess Solenu.
He neither objected nor seemed uncomfortable—he simply smiled and spoke.

“I’ll be rooting for you. It won’t be easy.”

He hadn’t really offered any advice.
‘That’s just how Arpard always is.’
In any case, approaching the Dowager Duchess through Countess Solenu proved uncomplicated.
It was only natural that the countess made regular visits to pay her respects to the Dowager Duchess.
I asked Countess Solenu to relay a message, and upon hearing it, the Dowager Duchess made the journey to the Capital City in secret.
‘Yes, from this point forward, everything depends on what I do.’
The door closed, and one of the attendants spoke with severity.
“This is the Dowager Duchess of Axion. Show proper respect.”
On the surface, her words were not incorrect.
After all, the Dowager Duchess of Axion was an elder of the Imperial Family, and in private matters, she was my mother-in-law.
But there was something that took precedence over any circumstance.
I smiled brightly and shook my head.
I did not bow, nor did I kneel. I could not afford to.
“That was the case when I was a princess of Delphin. Now, as the wife of Prince Arpard and the Crown Princess, the only woman before whom I must show deference is Her Majesty the Empress.”
This was an undeniable fact.
The Crown Princess held the second position in the order of precedence among women in the Imperial Family.
Even if there were imperial daughters, the Crown Princess took precedence.
Therefore, the wife of the Duke of Axion, brother of the late Emperor, could not possibly outrank me in the order of precedence.
What I was saying was this:
‘It is you, Dowager Duchess, who must kneel first.’
The elderly woman seated at the head of the table furrowed her brow.
A voice laden with authority rang out.
“You summon this old woman from afar, and then expect me to bow in greeting?”
A dismissive clicking of the tongue followed.
“You lack all humility, not even officially recognized as the Crown Prince’s betrothed.”
I smiled gently and shook my head.
“That’s not something you should be saying.”
“…What?”
“Because you are not the Dowager Duchess of Axion.”
The brow of the elderly woman seated in the center twitched.
I ignored her and approached the attendants standing behind her.
More precisely, I approached the gaunt-faced elderly woman standing rigidly at the innermost position.
Upon closer inspection, her face bore a faint resemblance to Arpard’s.
I spoke with a radiant smile.
“It is an honor to meet you for the first time, Dowager Duchess of Axion.”
The elderly woman’s steely blue eyes trembled with astonishment and delight.

* * *

Of course, the reason I recognized the Dowager Duchess was simple.
‘I had seen her face in my past life.’
It was merely a fleeting glimpse, but she was the sort of person who left an indelible impression.
‘Moreover… the place where I met her was at Arpard’s funeral.’
The Dowager Duchess shed not a single tear even at the funeral of her only remaining blood relative.
However, while everyone marveled at her arrival, she committed something extraordinary.

Crack—!

She slapped the Emperor across the face.
Naturally, those around them were shocked and outraged, but the Emperor remained unmoved.
As though accepting a deserved punishment.
Without even confirming the coffin of her grandson, the Dowager Duchess left behind only cold words and departed.

“In the end, Walter, you protected nothing.”

Even back then, when I didn’t know the full circumstances, I could discern this one thing.
The Emperor’s expression at that moment was truly that of a man who had lost everything.
The broken Emperor I had witnessed in my second playthrough must have completely collapsed from that point onward.
In any case, Arpard is alive now, and the Emperor has not crumbled.
The Grand Duchess will not strike the Emperor’s cheek.
Not yet.
As I settled into the chair prepared across from the Grand Duchess, I steadied my resolve.
In the meantime, the Grand Duchess, whose identity had been exposed to me, laughed as if amused and returned to her place.
An elderly noblewoman seated on the central sofa rose with utmost courtesy to seat the Grand Duchess.
Then another maid standing nearby draped a gray silk shawl embroidered with silver thread around her shoulders.
That alone transformed the Grand Duchess’s appearance entirely.
Just moments before, she had looked truly like a maid, but now, no matter how shabby her clothes were, she commanded such presence that she could never be mistaken for a servant.
The Grand Duchess crossed her legs and asked.
Her manner of looking down on others with such authority was remarkably similar to her grandson’s.
“How did you know?”
I answered honestly, though only in part.
“Well, you resemble Arpard quite closely.”
“Is that so? I don’t believe our appearances are particularly alike. Rather, Arpard takes far too much after his father.”
Displeasure saturated her voice.
Clearly, the Grand Duchess was displeased that Arpard resembled his father rather than her or her daughter.
I laughed and shook my head.
“No, I assure you, the resemblance is far greater than I expected—quite easy to spot. Especially your eyes are similar, and several of your mannerisms were remarkably alike.”
My words seemed not to displease her.
The Grand Duchess let out a soft laugh.
But soon her smile vanished without a trace.
“Yes. Whether Arpard told you, or Isephin defied my orders and revealed my appearance beforehand….”
“I would never do such a thing, Grandmother!”
Isephin protested in surprise.
At that, the Grand Duchess furrowed her brow.
“Do not interrupt me.”
“…My apologies.”
Isephin retreated with an apologetic expression.
I discovered yet another similarity between Arpard and the Grand Duchess.
‘A tyrant of High Society. The tyrant of the western social circles.’
Indeed, anyone capable of splitting the Empire’s High Society in half against the Empress could hardly possess an ordinary temperament.
“Regardless of the truth, let us say your eye for detail is simply keen.”
“Because it genuinely is.”
I laughed brazenly.
The Grand Duchess’s chuckle grew louder.
“However, child. There is still one great misunderstanding you harbor.”
The nuance of that term “girl” was subtle.
It wasn’t an acknowledgment of me as a granddaughter-in-law, but rather a deliberate diminishment, as if addressing some insignificant child.
“You’re not actually under the delusion that you’ve become the Crown Prince’s consort, are you?”
“It’s not a delusion. I am already the Crown Prince’s consort. I married Prince Arpard, after all.”
“When I heard that Arpard had committed a bride abduction, I thought, ‘So it’s finally happened.'”
It seemed everyone’s reaction was much the same.
“I thought he’d completely lost his mind.”
Now I truly understood—for Arpard, abducting me as his bride must have been quite a momentous decision.
‘Well, I’m a little sorry… actually, no! After all, I’m going to save him and make him Emperor, so what does it matter!’
“But you soon realized that wasn’t the case, didn’t you?”
“That’s right. He doesn’t seem to be raving mad from some affliction.”
“You must be relieved then.”
The Grand Duchess furrowed her brow.
“No. Quite the opposite—I’m deeply disappointed.”
And she spat out her words as if chewing them.
“For him to be in his right mind and yet pick up a woman who’s been clinging to someone like Ludwig, that fool, for over three years.”
“….”
“If he were mad, I could at least pity him. But he’s not.”
She clicked her tongue—far more cutting than that maidservant who’d pretended to be the Grand Duchess earlier.
This was rather harsher language than I’d anticipated.
The expression was excessive, as if deliberately designed to provoke my anger.
I wasn’t angry, but I couldn’t help being taken aback.
Of course, I wasn’t foolish enough to let my psychological disturbance show.
“And now this girl he brought back doesn’t even know her place, spouting nonsense about how I should show respect to the Crown Prince’s consort… it’s infuriating.”
Her steel-blue eyes were observing me intently.
She was analyzing my reaction.
“If you had any sense at all, you’d disappear on your own before making any more claims about being the Crown Prince’s consort. That would actually be more helpful to Arpard.”
She pressed her brow and waved her hand dismissively.
“I didn’t need to come all this way to see this. I’m disappointed. Remove this from my sight at once.”
At that, Isephin panicked and interjected, forgetting even what she’d just heard moments before.
“D-Dowager Duchess of Axion? Even so, treating her this way is….”
“Can’t you keep your mouth shut?”
She acted as though her head ached, yet the Grand Duchess continued observing my reaction.
The conclusion came quickly.
I smiled brightly, nodded readily, and gave my command.
“It seems our guest is leaving. See her out.”
Even Anny, who had been wearing a resentful expression at the Grand Duchess’s harsh words, opened her eyes wide as saucers.
“Y-Your Highness?”
“What did you just…?”
And that wasn’t all.
Isephin and the Grand Duchess’s attendants gasped in shock.
I reassured Isephin.
“Don’t worry, Countess Solenu. Even if this attempt fails, I’ll keep the promise I made to you before. We’ll see each other again at the Prince’s Palace.”
“Y-yes?”
I smiled and gave Isephin an order.
“So go back with peace of mind, and escort the Grand Duchess.”
When I turned my head, the Grand Duchess’s expression was twisted in a way I’d never seen before.
“You’re telling me to leave?”
“Yes. This is Arpard’s residence in Anga, so the guest should be the one to depart.”
If a guest dislikes the house, the guest must leave—it makes no sense to tell the master of the house to go.
When she heard my composed response, a gentle smile appeared on the Grand Duchess’s face for the first time, despite what should have been a flush of anger.
“You have quite the nerve, child.”
…Blood was truly a curious thing.
How similar my maternal grandmother and I were, despite never having seen each other’s faces.
Or perhaps arrogantly testing others was simply a trait inherent to the Imperial Family.
The Grand Duchess let out a small exclamation of admiration.
“Now I understand why Arpard chose you.”
I replied, still wearing a faint smile.
“Safe travels on your journey home. I won’t see you out.”
“What?”
The Grand Duchess’s expression cracked with bewilderment.
I laughed without the slightest hesitation.
‘Testing is not something only you do.’
The Grand Duchess seemed not to have realized that.

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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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