I’m Going to Change My Husband With a Predatory Marriage - Chapter 9

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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 9

Ludwig’s knights, who had belatedly come to their senses, cried out in alarm.
All of them had turned ashen-faced.
“Good heavens, what a disgrace!”
“What will the Grand Duke say if he learns of this!”
“How could you do this to your cousin, Prince Ludwig!”
Yet among them, only one knight grew angry on behalf of the bride, Hillia.
“How dare you show such disrespect to a noble lady!”
Clang!
Without hesitation, he drew his sword and positioned himself in front of Hillia.
Count Beltane’s sudden advance had not shocked the surrounding knights, nor had it alarmed the threatened Crown Prince.
It was Hillia herself who was most startled.
‘No! I’m supposed to be abducted today, Beltane!’
At this rate, Hillia’s life-or-death gamble would be thwarted by this loyal knight.

* * *

The moment Hillia confirmed that the Crown Prince had blocked the bridal procession, I cheered inwardly.
‘Yes! I’m saved!’
And after cheering on the Crown Prince’s outrageous conduct, I couldn’t contain myself and rushed out directly.
‘This will make the abduction even easier!’
“At this rate, we shall be late for the ceremony. Please, step aside.”
Beneath my request lay this urgent plea:
‘Hurry! Faster! Swifter than the wind! I’m already prepared to be abducted!’
Only Arpard could fully understand what I meant.
He let out a soft laugh.
‘She’s certainly a strange woman, no matter how I look at it.’
The most surprising thing was that this feeling was not at all unpleasant.
In fact, when I think about it from the beginning, it was strange.

“Please abduct me!”

In the end, I had let that woman—the one who made such an absurd threat—live and sent her away.
Perhaps the moment I chose to spare her life, I had already lost the tug of war.
What truly confounded me was this sensation: I had lost, yet I felt no displeasure.
‘Regardless of the reason, it seems necessary to keep her nearby and observe her.’
In truth, even this felt like a mere excuse to accept such an unreasonable threat.
But I had no other choice.
‘Let me try this’—the moment that thought crossed my mind, it was decided.
Because my spirits were quite elevated, Arpard showed considerable mercy.
Which is to say, I did not kill the knight who dared to draw his blade and stand before me with a single stroke.
“Kugh!”
Clang!
The knight, his arm deeply gashed, dropped his sword.
And Hillia screamed.
“Count Beltane!!”
She was worried about this knight. Genuinely.
‘What is this?’
The exhilaration that had been building so unnaturally cooled in an instant.
I realized then: I had suddenly become displeased by that woman’s expression alone.
Hillia stepped forward to shield the knight and pleaded.
“Please show mercy, Your Highness!”
Her act as a pitiful, demure bride until moments ago was certainly a performance.
But her concern for this knight was not an act.
‘It was genuine.’
I felt somewhat bewildered. My insides twisted. Yet I still could not understand why.

Chapter 2. The Plunder

Arpard suddenly laid bare his twisted state of mind through his very tone of voice.
“So you’re the knight who serves this lady?”
“Yes. Therefore, the knight’s crime is naturally my crime as his master. Please direct your punishment toward me.”
At Hillia’s affirmation, Arpard’s already tangled disposition became even more complexly knotted.
Count Beltane, pressing his wound, stepped forward to shield his master and cried out with resolve.
“No! Drawing my sword was entirely my own decision. The Lady bears no fault!”
Even before the Crown Prince’s blood-soaked fury, Count Beltane remained unmoved.
“And more than anything, it was Your Highness who first brought shame upon my master!”
An impossibly gentle smile played at Arpard’s lips.
Anyone who had heard even a little about this Crown Prince would have known it.
When Arpard smiled like this, rather than when he raged… it was several times more dangerous.

* * *

‘No! Stop! Enough!’
I knew well that Count Beltane was the very model of chivalry.
But I never imagined he would be so needlessly righteous even before a mad Crown Prince.
Just as I was about to rein in Count Beltane’s reckless outburst, the Crown Prince beat me to it.
“Can you keep the promise you made just now, Lady of House Delphin?”
“Yes? What promise do you mean, Your Highness?”
‘I’ve said quite a lot, so I’m not sure what he’s referring to.’
One corner of the Crown Prince’s delicate lips curved sharply.
For some reason, unease crept over me.
‘Surely he’s not saying he’ll call off the marriage abduction because I angered him?’
That would be ruinous.
But Arpard’s words held unexpected content.
“That you would personally repay the knight’s debt as his master.”
Ah, that? But why would that matter?
He was smiling as though he had seized upon my weakness. The scent of blood washed over me sharply.
It was no mistake. Count Beltane had already shed blood, as had the nameless servant.
But I did not retreat an inch.
Show your back to a beast, and it will attack. That was the feeling.
“Yes. It is a master’s duty to take responsibility for their knight.”
Of course, I say this because it is Count Beltane.
He is a truly rare person who never once betrayed me in my previous life.
And in the life just before this one, because of me, he met a death so terrible that merely recalling it was horrifying.
‘This time, I will absolutely never let that happen.’
At my answer, a smile of peculiar brightness and freshness bloomed at Arpard’s lips.
It was entirely different from the dangerous, blood-soaked smile I had seen before.
Perhaps it was because the brilliant sunlight shone behind him—he looked oddly pure, almost boyish.
And so I found myself momentarily entranced by a smile that seemed so utterly out of place on Arpard.
The moment I came to my senses.
His face was already inches from mine.
One of his arms wrapped around my waist in a single motion, lifting me effortlessly.
“Ah!”
My vision spun so violently that the sky and earth blurred together into a hazy gray.
When my senses cleared, I found myself already cradled in Arpard’s arms, seated upon his horse.
‘What? This is—?’
The shocked gazes of the onlookers fixed upon us.
Arpard’s whisper tickled against my ear.
“You said it yourself, didn’t you? That you would do anything. This is separate from your coercion.”
A chill ran down my spine.
I turned my head slightly to meet his gaze.
And I lowered my voice to ask.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden? Have you forgotten my request?”
“I told you, this is separate from that.”
“Given what you’ve done, Count Beltane’s response was perfectly reasonable!”
“Even so, drawing a blade before the Crown Prince is unmistakably treason.”
It was impossible to win an argument against Arpard.
He was essentially the human embodiment of the phrase “reasoning is futile with this one.”
‘I should have warned Count Beltane beforehand not to interfere.’
But knowing Count Beltane’s stubborn nature, he would never consent to a bride-theft based on my words alone.
And I could absolutely never tell him about the regression.
‘No matter how I think about it, there was no other choice. I had to protect Count Beltane too.’
Seeing my conflicted expression, Arpard suddenly asked.
“That man seems to trouble you greatly, doesn’t he?”
“…He’s my knight, after all.”
‘I want to save him.’
He continued as if he had read my thoughts.
“You seem to trust and care for him quite deeply.”
“That’s right.”
“Indeed, judging from what I just witnessed, it appears you have only one person you can truly call a knight.”
“Ugh.”
Arpard had struck directly at my weakness.
For three years since my father’s death, I had been managing the house, yet I had only one person I could call my knight.
‘This is clearly my incompetence.’
I had been far too naive and ignorant of the world.
I had simply trusted Ludwig with everything.
‘But that will never happen again!’
After reining in my wandering thoughts, I came to a realization.
‘What’s with that expression?’
Despite having willingly revealed one of my weaknesses, Arpard’s expression was peculiar.
‘Somehow… he almost looks displeased?’
But what reason could there be for that?
While I was still bewildered, Arpard’s subtle expression vanished in an instant.
All that remained on his infuriatingly handsome face was a malicious smile.
“Remember this. You now owe me a debt—one worth that knight’s life.”

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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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