I’m Going to Change My Husband With a Predatory Marriage - Chapter 74

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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 74

At that moment, Evangeline asked in a somewhat eerie tone.
“Why do you have something like that…?”
Having dealt with Evangeline quite extensively, I could discern her true meaning.
Right now, Evangeline had barely managed to restrain herself from asking something far more cutting.
‘How does someone like you possess something so extraordinary?’
Evangeline’s pupils gleamed like burning coals.
The emotions blazing within them were unmistakably jealousy and malice.
Evangeline’s head moved as if controlled by an ancient wind-up mechanism.
Had I not steeled myself mentally beforehand, I might have been somewhat taken aback.
In none of my three previous regressions had I witnessed such an expression.
‘Though I suppose I have seen similar deranged emotions before.’
The words I heard just before my death in my previous life came flooding back.

“Ahahaha! Now I’m the real protagonist.”

Though she stood at the opposite pole from that moment, the essence was identical—all pretense stripped away, revealing raw, violent emotion.
What Evangeline was telling me now amounted to this:

‘Why do you act like the protagonist? That role belongs to me.’

In that moment, Evangeline’s eyes flickered with uncertainty.
“Why?”
A chill ran down my spine, prickling my skin.
Not from fear or dread—but from exhilaration surging through me.
‘I’ve backed Evangeline into a corner.’
I made myself appear even more composed and unhurried.
“Why would I possess this? It sounds almost as though you’re interrogating me.”
Evangeline’s expression transformed entirely.
As if she had donned a different mask.
“It’s just… I was so startled and frightened.”
Evangeline hung her head low.
Her shoulders trembled pitifully.
To anyone unaware of the truth, observing only her actions and tone now, she would appear the most pitiful victim of injustice.
Evangeline continued to display her remarkable talent.
Speaking with perfect clarity even as her voice wavered with tears.
“How could you! This was nothing but a trap set from the beginning, waiting for the sacrificial lamb to walk right in!”
I couldn’t fathom what she found so unjust, but I couldn’t help letting out a hollow laugh.
“Having the maid dress you in that gown, preparing that magical artifact in advance and recording everything…!”
Evangeline lifted her tear-stained eyes and looked directly at me, her voice rising.
“You orchestrated this entire conspiracy, anticipating it would unfold exactly this way from the start, didn’t you?”
I burst into laughter.
I simply could not contain it.
And I answered with complete confidence, nodding without hesitation.
“Yes, I suspected as much. And I prepared accordingly.”
Evangeline seemed somewhat taken aback. Clearly, she had anticipated I would deny and make excuses.
But seeing this as an opportunity, she pressed forward immediately.
“Exactly! You’re confessing! That you intended to slander me from the very beginning!”
I maintained my composure while infusing my words with a sorrow anyone could understand.
“Even as I prepared, I truly hoped I would never need to use any of this.”
“…Ah!”
Only then did Evangeline seem to realize her mistake.
Before she could say anything more, I struck first.
“But you came to the Banquet Hall at Artanus Hall wearing that dress. To mock me.”
“That’s not… that’s not what…!”
I turned my gaze toward Madame Fileren.
My demeanor remained a mixture of composure, sorrow, and bitterness.
“Madame Fileren, you recommended that dress to me, yet you testified that I intended to insult Evangeline Roux, the Viscountess.”
“No! I! I only did as Evangeline told me to…!”
“Silence!”
At last, their unity was beginning to fracture.
I felt like crunching popcorn. I wanted to sneer and hurl a cutting remark, but I held back for now.
Because I was putting into practice one of the finest lessons I had learned from Evangeline.
Playing the victim, precisely.
I turned my gaze away from the shameful display of the two of them.
And I spoke in a strained voice.
“Still, we were friends once, so I had hoped something like this would never happen… but it seems that was only what I thought.”
The Hall fell heavy with solemnity.

* * *

My purpose at this banquet was simple.
‘I cannot afford to be underestimated. I must display my power and abilities to the fullest.’
Until now, the image people held of me was this:
‘Foolish Hillia. Stupid Hillia.’
‘An accessory attached to House Delphin.’
‘A dull woman who befriended her fiancé’s mistress.’
And even after the abduction marriage, I was not accepted as myself.
‘Arpard’s spoils of war.’
‘The woman Ludwig took away.’
‘A tool for the Crown Prince to solidify his position.’
At first, I was the puppet of Ludwig and Evangeline.
Next, I was Arpard’s trophy and instrument.
But I needed to imprint upon everyone that I was neither.
‘That I am simply myself.’
Not manipulated or used by anyone.
I wanted to cry out to the world boldly and loudly.
I suddenly realize this was something I had desperately wished for during all three previous regressions.
My chest felt refreshingly open and unburdened.
This very situation was the realization of the goal I had so desperately desired.
No one would dare regard me as anyone’s tool.
‘Rather, they will fear me.’
It was necessary if I were to reign over High Society as the Crown Princess going forward.
As proof, not only the Western Nobles but even the Central Nobility were beginning to regard me with eyes tinged with fear.
They seemed to think that if they made an enemy of me, they might end up like Evangeline or Madame Fileren.
It was exactly as I had hoped.
Authority and dignity, fear. Reverence.
I was certain they would look upon me with such eyes now.
‘But it would be a shame to only take this much, wouldn’t it?’
Evangeline had a particular talent.
‘She made everyone around her out to be the perpetrator while playing the victim herself.’
And it was typically my role to be cast as the villain and receive the blame.

“How could you treat our dear Evangeline so cruelly? It’s terrible!”
“No, it’s all my fault… *sob*, I’m so sorry! It’s because I made mistakes. Hillia has done nothing wrong.”
“Evangeline is so kind, it worries me. There are truly wicked people out there trying to exploit her.”

On the surface, Evangeline always remained an innocent and pure victim.
Her admirers punished the perpetrators without her needing to say a word.
If I had simply displayed my abilities and warnings before withdrawing, Evangeline would likely have tried to capitalize on her specialty.
‘She would have criticized my coldness while pretending not to, seeking sympathy.’
That’s why I, who had always been firm and strong, showed a hint of fragile sorrow and bitterness before stepping back.
The more dignified and commanding I had been….
The more pronounced these small wounds I revealed would appear.
For reasons I couldn’t quite explain, most people felt closer to someone through such vulnerability and became more supportive.
So, just like now.
The nobles who had been looking at me with awe and fear moments ago now began to gaze at me with eyes full of sympathy.
It worked perfectly. How fortunate.
Sympathetic and positive sentiment toward me began to build gradually.
“That’s right. Your Highness gave Madame Fileren one last chance earlier, didn’t you?”
“You wanted to believe in her as a friend.”
“You’re so merciful.”
They were perceptively collecting the seeds I had sown.
“How pitiful….”
“You must have suffered so much. You were essentially fighting against all of High Society.”
When one Western noblewoman said this, the Central nobles were taken aback.
“Fighting against us! That can’t be right!”
“Exactly. Just hearing that makes it sound like we followed Evangeline and Madame Fileren in ostracizing Her Highness the Crown Princess.”
‘…But you did, didn’t you.’
However, the bat-like Central nobles insisted they had done no such thing.
Some of them approached me, trying to act friendly and make excuses.
“Your Highness, our hearts were never like that, I assure you!”
“That’s right! Please don’t misunderstand!”
I had anticipated this, but it was still revolting to witness.
Without thinking, I stepped back, and something soft touched the back of my head.
What was that?
When I looked up, my gaze met Arpard’s crimson eyes.
!
Arpard’s eyes curved into a smile, and he swung his long arm with a whoosh.
Following Arpard’s grand and elegant movement, the crimson cloak billowed like a painting come to life.
And in the next moment, his lips pressed against the corner of my eyes as he pulled me into a deep embrace.
The sensation of his warm, moist tongue against my skin sent every hair on my body standing on end.
I wasn’t the only one startled.
After all, surrounding us were the Central and Western Nobles, as well as The Emperor and Evangeline.
Every single one of them froze in shock at this sudden display of affection.
The only one moving freely was a single person who showed no surprise whatsoever.
Arpard himself.
A low voice brushed gently against my earlobe.
It was rough yet tender.
“Don’t cry. Hillia.”
“Cry? …Me?”
It was absurd. Nonsensical.
Even when I touched my own face, it felt so dry and… wait? What? Why is it so wet?
When my gaze met Arpard’s crimson eyes, gleaming with amusement, right before my face.
I finally understood.
‘This bastard licked my eyes wet! I wasn’t even crying!’
But Arpard went even further.
“As you know, I am quite possessive. You are my wife, whom I abducted the moment I laid eyes on you. I wish to monopolize not only your smile, but every tear you shed.”
He held me protectively while glaring at the nobles as he spoke.
No, this was a declaration.
“So if tears appear in your eyes because of anyone but me, I cannot guarantee what I might do.”
That anyone who dared touch me would have to face the mad Crown Prince himself.

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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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