I’m Going to Change My Husband With a Predatory Marriage - Chapter 91

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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 91

Chapter 10. Shadows in Motion

“…?”
Arpard and I began our mornings early.
I had much to accomplish, and he required little sleep.
Compared to the typical nobility who rose late, we were remarkably industrious from dawn.
For this reason, as we shared an early breakfast just as the sun crested the horizon, I found myself perplexed.
‘What is this? Why does something feel so off?’
Arpard methodically consumed the towering stack of steak upon his plate.
Ordinarily, his mouth would be occupied with countless cutting remarks, but now it was busy only with meat.
I attempted to lighten the atmosphere with casual banter.
“Has something happened? You seem rather displeased about something.”
Arpard responded in an uncharacteristically subdued tone.
“I had a troubling dream.”
“A dream? What sort of dream?”
At my question, his expression grew even stranger than before.
He hesitated, his lips parting uncertainly.
It was an attitude entirely unlike Arpard’s nature.
‘What is this?’
My bewilderment vanished without a trace at his next question.
“If someone you know appears in a dream, what does that mean?”
“Someone you know?”
“Yes. And if… if I were to hurt that person in the dream?”
I widened my eyes in surprise.
It was unexpected that he would be so troubled by harming someone in a dream.
Curiosity seized me, and I asked without hesitation.
“Who appeared in it?”
Perhaps this person was Arpard’s future beloved?
Though this was my fourth life, I had never directly witnessed someone Arpard loved.
Perhaps this time I might finally discover the answer.
Beneath this faint curiosity, an inexplicable emotion stirred within me.
An unsettling unease, a lingering trace of anxiety.
“…Is it perhaps a woman?”
I was startled even as the question left my lips.
Why am I asking such a question?
It sounds as though I’m concerned about Arpard’s romantic interests—which I most certainly am not.
Arpard, surprisingly, nodded in agreement.
“Yes. A woman.”
“….”

His uncharacteristic words from last night came flooding back to me.

“Do you trust me in other matters? Am I truly so unworthy of your faith?”

And yet, while sharing my bed, he dreamed of someone else?
I felt a petty irritation rising within me.
‘If someone appears in your dreams, doesn’t that mean you’re thinking of them?’
According to common folklore, dreams were typically interpreted in reverse.
I spoke words that contradicted my thoughts.
“You must despise that person greatly. To attempt harming her even in your dreams.”
“No.”
An immediate response.
Moreover, it carried absolute conviction. Arpard repeated himself firmly.
“Absolutely not.”
…If it wasn’t, then it simply wasn’t—why deny it with such vehemence?
‘But doesn’t excessive denial usually mean the opposite?’
As this thought took hold, my mood darkened further.
I stabbed at my Eggs Benedict with my fork as I replied.
“Then you must be quite fond of her. To think of her even in your dreams.”
“…Is that so?”
Arpard’s voice seemed oddly flustered.
It irritated me immensely.
I pressed down on the fork without thinking, and the golden yolk of the poached egg atop the bread burst with a soft pop.

* * *

The Empress Palace remained quiet despite the morning’s arrival.
Normally, at this hour, the palace attendants should be bustling about.
But the mistress had been placed under a confinement order, and yesterday the Maid had been summoned by the Crown Princess and stripped of her platinum key.
Naturally, the palace attendants had no choice but to hold their breath and tread softly, gauging their mistress’s mood.
The Empress’ Bedchamber.
There, Isabel had spent the night with her eyes wide open.
Last night, a man had infiltrated under the cover of darkness.
She recalled her conversation with him.

“It’s been a while, Isabel. Or should I address you as Empress now?”

Gaspard, the Mad Archmage.
I had heard he had traveled to distant continents searching for Dragon Lairs, but it seemed he had returned.
The dragon’s eclipse that occurred six days ago on the night of the banquet.
Word of it must have reached Gaspard’s ears as well.
Gaspard whispered his question with a tone dripping with mockery.

“The rumors are quite widespread, are they not? That the new Crown Princess was blessed by a dragon. Is it perhaps true?”

A sorcerer obsessed with dragons, as expected.
Isabel remembered Gaspard from her childhood, how he had been fixated on dragons even before entering the Archmage’s Tower, let alone becoming a formal mage.
‘Of course. Gaspard would never ignore news of a dragon’s eclipse.’
Neither Isabel nor Gaspard knew it, but in the ‘original story,’ their paths diverged from the present.
For one, Gaspard’s return itself came at a different time than in the original.
The dragon’s eclipse had accelerated his homecoming.
In the original story, by the time Gaspard returned, Isabel had already successfully pushed aside Arpard and elevated Ludwig to power.
Afterward, the Empress had advised her daughter on how to approach Gaspard and gain his assistance.
Now, for various reasons, that was impossible.
Gaspard had returned early because of the dragon’s eclipse, and above all, Hillia’s appearance had shaken the Empress’s position.
Furthermore, Isabel had begun to harbor slight doubts about her daughter.

“Mother, you do know how to control the Imperial Family’s madness, do you not?”

Evangeline’s expression as she mentioned something I had never taught her was positively chilling.
Isabel concealed her agitation skillfully and attempted to manipulate Gaspard.

“All this talk of dragon’s blessings is nothing but nonsense. It’s a political maneuver to sway public opinion.”
“Perhaps. But it’s true that when the lunar eclipse phenomenon occurred, there was a powerful magical reaction.”
“A magical reaction? Could it be that an actual dragon appeared?”
“I don’t know either.”

Gaspard trailed off with a sly smile.
Then he began to taunt Empress Isabel.

“Whether or not there’s a dragon’s blessing, the new Crown Princess certainly seems capable. She’s managed to push you into the shadows.”
“…Did you come here to irritate me?”
“Seeing someone break their promise puts me in a foul mood.”
“…I didn’t break it intentionally. It was simply impossible.”
“Right. It was. You promised to give me any children of the Imperial Family, but neither you nor I expected the Emperor would never seek you out again.”
“…!”

Empress Isabel clenched her teeth.
Obtaining his assistance took priority over her anger at being mocked.

“Help me, Gaspard.”
“You’re not trying to appeal to sentiment now, are you?”
“…Of course not. I’m proposing a transaction.”
“Can you provide what I desire in exchange?”

The Empress hesitated for a moment, then steeled her resolve and rose to her feet, biting her lip.
Empress Isabel opened the jewelry box placed on the table.
Inside lay the Empress’s coronation tiara that she had worn to the banquet at Artanus Hall not long ago.
Seeing this, Gaspard’s eyes gleamed with greed.
More precisely, at the sight of the crimson jewel embedded in its center.

“Interesting? You’re willing to part with that? You said before it was absolutely irreplaceable. It seems you are indeed cornered.”
“Silence. Do as I command, and I shall give you the Dragon Heart from this tiara.”

The jewel embedded in the Empress’s coronation tiara was a fragment of Artanus’s Dragon Heart.
Gaspard nodded readily.
It was an extraordinarily simple task compared to the reward.

When the Empress finished her reminiscence, her expression remained rigid.
She struggled to regain her composure.
This would suffice. A great sacrifice, but if I could obtain “that,” it was worthwhile.
‘That child’s power ultimately stems from Arpard’s existence.’
An Empress without the Crown Prince held no value whatsoever.

* * *

“…Your Highness?”
“….”
“Your Highness?”
“Oh! My apologies, Yulken.”
My mind had wandered, and I hadn’t heard Yulken calling me until now.
I’d been like this all morning.
I couldn’t concentrate on my work at all.
I had summoned Yulken myself, yet here I was lost in thought.
Yulken showed no trace of his initial coldness—he was remarkably kind to me.
“Then allow me to explain once more. The information you commanded me to gather is….”
I made an effort to listen intently to his words.
But my mind remained scattered, and concentration eluded me still.
The conversation with Arpard from this morning kept replaying in my thoughts.

“…Is it perhaps a woman?”
“Yes. A woman.”

“You seem to dislike her greatly. To go so far as to harm her even in your dreams.”
“No.”

So what exactly is it?!
Who is that woman?
Why does he care about her so much?!
I wanted to scream this while grabbing Arpard by the collar and shaking him roughly.
But I simply couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Yet ignoring it and moving on felt impossible—I felt as though I might die from the curiosity consuming me!
In the end, I surrendered to my desire.
I caught Yulken, who was in the middle of his report, and asked carefully.
“Um… Yulken, do you happen to know if Arpard has a woman he likes, or perhaps a lover…?”
Yulken’s eyes widened in bewilderment.

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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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