I’m Going to Change My Husband With a Predatory Marriage - Chapter 76

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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 76

Chapter 9. The Master of the Platinum Key

Empress Isabel had no intention of attending the banquet at Artanus Hall.
The same applied to the ball hosted by Countess Quinivel within the Empress’s Palace.
Her daughter smiled sweetly and whispered.

“There’s no need for you to step in personally, Mother. It’s better if I handle it on my end.”

The Empress agreed with this assessment.
And she merely offered her support to her daughter.
Until a few days ago, when Evangeline had spoken of “the madness of the imperial family,” she had always been a dutiful and capable daughter who met her expectations.
There was nothing she had affirmed that failed to come to pass.
Until today.
This trust was solid, and I believed it would remain so.
Until the Empress herself witnessed “that phenomenon” in the middle of the banquet.

“Your Majesty the Empress! Come and see! In the sky right now…!”
“What is this sudden commotion?”

The form of a dragon blotting out the sun.
The shadow of a dragon cast upon the earth.
Any citizen of the Empire, upon witnessing that form, could only recall a single word.

‘Artanus!’

Whether that form was truly a dragon.
Even if it truly was a dragon, whether it was Artanus didn’t really matter.
What mattered was that the majority of the empire’s people would accept it as such.
Of all times, this phenomenon occurred on the day Hillia held a banquet at Artanus Hall, right in the midst of the festivities.
Could this possibly be coincidence?
‘But no one could have predicted this phenomenon. Yet that woman predicted it?’
Even the continent’s greatest scholar belonging to the Imperial Palace or the Court Mage could not have predicted it.
‘Even the Archmage said nothing.’
The Archmage was superior to the Court Mage belonging to the imperial family—in fact, the greatest mage on the continent.
The Empress had some connection with him.
‘If the Archmage had anticipated this phenomenon, he would have informed me.’
I didn’t know the method, but it seemed Hillia was the only person who had succeeded in predicting this phenomenon.
Everyone with eyes witnessed it. Moreover, the timing was far too convenient.
Such rumors were bound to spread.

‘Dragon Artanus revealed himself to acknowledge the new Empress.’

If rumors didn’t arise naturally, Arpard would surely create and spread them himself.
If he truly had predicted this phenomenon, he might have already spread the rumors beforehand.
‘Did that woman orchestrate all of this?’
No. Perhaps it was Arpard instead.
Until now, the basic public opinion about Hillia had been exactly that.
A trophy that, once obtained, would grant one the Delphin Duchy.
A pitiful woman merely used by the men of the imperial family.
But was that truly all there was?
The Empress suddenly recalled Hillia’s gaze from the last banquet.
Her eyes, shining brightly with a deep violet hue, were impossible to gauge in their depths.
Either way, I had no choice but to admit it.
‘I underestimated her far too much.’
Hillia’s abilities.
Or perhaps Arpard’s feelings toward her.
…It could be both.
That was why I took action myself. Discarding all my predictions and plans entirely.
While hurrying to finish my preparations and make my way here, messengers came rushing with news of the disturbance at Artanus Hall.

“The Duchess of Axion and the western nobility have filled Artanus Hall!”
“Lady Quinifel’s ballroom has emptied!”
“His Imperial Majesty has arrived at Artanus Hall!”

The final news arrived when Empress Isabel approached Artanus Hall.
The Empress bit her lip without anyone noticing.
She had already tested the Emperor before.

“What will you do? You’ve personally ordered Artanus Hall prepared, yet you won’t attend?”
“One must prove their own abilities. I cannot spoon-feed everything, can I?”

To anyone listening, the Emperor’s answer made clear he had no intention of attending the gathering.
It meant he would decide whether to acknowledge Hillia based on the outcome.
But reality was different.
‘Did he… deceive me?’
Though she tried not to show it, Empress Isabel was drowning in humiliation.
Upon entering Artanus Hall, the Empress realized her suspicions were correct.
That very thing she had desperately hoped was wrong.
In the center of the semicircular ceiling of Artanus Hall, there was an opening.
Through it, no rainwater seeped—only sunlight and moonlight filtered through.
It was midday now. A woman gleamed brilliantly, bathed in the streaming sunlight.
Beside her stood two men.
Arpard, holding Hillia in his embrace.
And a man who resembled Arpard perfectly. The Emperor, Emperor Walter Istrid.
Her husband.
The Emperor gazed at Hillia with a tender and warm expression he had not shown since Former Empress Roxellin’s death.
One painfully bitter truth struck her to the bone.
‘He never gave me such a look.’
She dared not hope for the passion and devotion he had shown Roxellin.
But surely, as his wife, she deserved at least a glance of tenderness and affection?
Yet the Emperor had never given her such a look, not once until this very moment.
While he bestowed it upon that girl who had been here barely over a month.
Quietly, Isabel released the tension in her hands gripping her dress.
But she could not prevent her long nails from piercing her own skin.

* * *

The Empress entered the hall, walking slowly across its expanse.
The crowd that filled the hall like clouds parted with each of her steps, creating a path before her.
As she approached, the Empress took in every nobleman standing nearby, committing them to memory.
Her gaze was intense and piercing, as if to say: I will remember you.
The western nobles remained unmoved, but the courtiers who had come from the Empress’s palace to Artanus Hall trembled with fear.
When the Empress reached my side, she spoke with only the corners of her mouth curving upward.
“What a grand celebration this is.”
Her tone dripped with mockery.
Her eyes, burning with the desire to tear something apart, fixed themselves on the tiara adorning my head.
The “Moon and Stars Tiara” of Princess Istrid.
The very piece she had never once worn, even at her hastily arranged wedding and the abbreviated banquet that followed.
Before that, the Grand Duchess had intervened to ensure she never even possessed it.
I had deliberately chosen to wear it, of course.
Arpard still held me close in his embrace, but I made no attempt to break free from it.
Instead, I pressed myself more firmly against him and responded with cheerful innocence.
From the last banquet, I had noticed that this would make the Empress dislike me even more.
“Thank you.”
I gave my thanks, but offered no bow.
At this, the Empress tilted her head and questioned me.
“It seems you have forgotten something.”
“What could I have possibly forgotten?”
The Empress looked down at me with an oppressive expression, spoiling for a confrontation.
“As I pointed out before, it appears the late Duke failed to educate his daughter properly.”
“…!”
There it was—the attack on my upbringing.
‘Like mother, like daughter, indeed.’
Naturally, being compared to Evangeline was the greatest insult to me.
Still smiling, I turned her own words back on her.
“My father did his utmost, just as Your Majesty the Empress educated Evangeline Roux, the Viscountess.”
“…!”
I had delivered my counterattack with a smile on my face.
‘Our family’s upbringing is far superior to you and your daughter’s mess.’
I saw the Empress’s lips stiffen ever so slightly.
She could not have failed to read the atmosphere in the hall as she entered.
The way people gathered in the banquet hall reflected the power structure at play.
There was no one around Evangeline.
She was truly a wallflower.
Evangeline was always the one who stood at the center of attention.
Even I had never seen her in such a state before.
There was no need to wonder what the Empress, her mother, must be feeling at the sight of her.
‘How utterly… infuriating this must be for her.’
The fact itself was deeply satisfying to me.
Between the Empress and myself, tension crackled like lightning ready to strike at any moment.
The Empress moved first.
She stepped closer and spoke.
“Since you are no longer a stranger to this household, it seems I must teach you proper conduct.”
A declaration that she would personally instruct me in etiquette.
But I laughed brightly and replied.
“My, how grateful I am, Your Majesty the Empress. To be recognized as the Empress by the master of my own household—what a refreshing feeling.”
“…What?”

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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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