I’m Going to Change My Husband With a Predatory Marriage - Chapter 93

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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 93

“….”
It was a deeply unsettling emotion.
The moment I opened my eyes just as I was about to taste her blood, suspended in that hazy boundary between dream and reality, I found myself thinking such a thing.
‘What a shame.’
That I hadn’t savored it properly.
‘…This is truly strange and terrible thinking.’
I wondered if my madness was manifesting in such a direction.
This worry also crossed my mind.
‘If Hillia knew of this thought, she might flee. She’s already so suspicious.’
She was already a sensitive woman with keen instincts.
Perhaps she might notice just from my reaction alone.
Because of this anxiety, I remained in my study far longer than I normally would have, delaying my visit to Ivory’s Bedroom.
In that moment, a sharp sense of wrongness pricked at the corner of my acute perception.
“!”
An intruder.
And it was heading toward Ivory’s Bedroom where Hillia was.
Alarmed, I wrenched open the door and ran at full speed.
‘Hillia!!!’

* * *

‘…He’s late.’
I quickly shook my head to dismiss the thought.
‘No, this makes it sound like I’m waiting for Arpard!’
I was simply sitting in my room.
‘To be more precise, I’m embarrassed.’
I couldn’t bring myself to tell Anny or Yulken why I was so flustered.
They naturally assumed that Arpard tended to my every need.
Well, we were officially husband and wife, after all.
We shared the same bed every single day.
They would find it strange if they knew I was being so coy about it.
I cooled my flushed face with the back of my hand and muttered to myself.
“I should have taken it easier today.”
A sudden thought struck me. What would Arpard think if he saw my reddened face when he arrived?
He was perceptive enough that he might see right through me.
I retrieved a glass bird from the decorative shelf on the wall.
It was the toy I’d used for wind effects during the last banquet.
As I spoke the activation word, small wings fluttered, and a pleasantly cool breeze brushed against my face.
‘That’s right. I’ll act as if nothing happened. He was pretending not to notice anyway, wasn’t he?’
Just as I was barely composing myself—
Something went wrong with the glass bird toy.
Crack!
Tiny sparks of light scattered, and the toy sputtered. The wind cut off and resumed several times.
“!”
Though it was a small thing, I tensed in alarm.
‘This happens when there’s another powerful magical force or magical artifact nearby!’
It was a rare malfunction, but thanks to experiencing so many different situations before my regression, I recognized it.
I jumped to my feet, looked around urgently, and called out in a tense voice.
“Who’s there!”
“…Hoh? How did you know I was here? So you do have something special about you after all?”
A voice from behind me answered—one that made every hair on my body stand on end.
It wasn’t Arpard’s voice.
But it was a voice I knew.
And in this moment, it was a voice I didn’t want to hear.
I spun around in shock.
A man stood there, as if melted from the darkness itself.
A black hood was pulled low over his head, revealing only his mouth and jaw below his nose.
I knew the true face hidden beneath that hood.
I barely managed to stop myself from crying out his name like a scream, my hand covering my mouth.
‘Gaspard, the Mad Archmage!’
Fear coiled up my spine like a serpent.

“Please, please stop! It hurts so much!”

My despair and pain were nothing but curiosity and amusement to him.
My memories with Gaspard, the Mad Archmage, were events that had occurred near the end of my third life.
The distance felt too close, and my body froze like a mouse standing before a serpent.
Gaspard stared at me intently before slowly approaching.
He extended a finger inscribed with intricate crimson patterns, reaching to touch my chin.
“So you are the Empress who received the blessing of the legendary dragon…”
“…”
He tilted his head back and forth.
“Your magical capacity and constitution don’t seem particularly different from an ordinary person’s.”
The sharp edge of the man’s fingernail grazed my chin.
“If there truly is something special about you, perhaps I could discover it through dissection…”
I knew better than anyone that this was no jest.
“I was curious whether the rumors were true. I hadn’t planned to be discovered, but since things have come to this, I might as well verify a few things.”
A chill ran down my spine.

“The Dragon’s Bride. No other epithet suits you better.”

The man who made me understand what I truly was.
Simultaneously, one of the most horrific experiences across all three of my lives.
If I were to name the person I despise most, excluding Evangeline and Ludwig, it would be Gaspard.
This man was the object of terror and hatred who tormented and abused my body.
I could not remain frozen before such a man.
‘Get a grip, Hillia!’
The taste of blood filled my mouth.
I could not lose myself.
Fortunately, reason slowly returned with the sharp sting of pain.
In that moment, I struck away Gaspard’s hand that hovered just above my chin with an audible slap.
“!”
A flicker of intrigue crossed Gaspard’s eyes.
“You were clearly afraid of me just moments ago, yet you’ve changed in an instant? As if you were a different person entirely? How peculiar.”
I forcibly swallowed the instinctive terror.
I suppressed the trembling and summoned my rage.
My voice, filled with force, resonated through the bedroom.
“Mind your manners, sorcerer.”
“How are you certain that I am a sorcerer?”
“Who else could perform such a trick of suddenly bursting through a wall?”
I knew Gaspard’s true identity, but I decided not to reveal it.
Beneath the hood, Gaspard’s lips curved into a sharp, cruel smile.
An unpleasant laugh pierced my ears.
“Quite bold. Most noble ladies freeze in terror just standing before me.”
Well, of course they would. What woman wouldn’t be terrified standing before a twisted psychopath like you?
“I’m not an ordinary noble lady.”
“Ah, of course not. You’re the Empress, blessed by the great Dragon itself….”
He extended his head toward me like a serpent.
“So, is it true? Is it real?”
“….”
“Did you really meet a Dragon in person? Were you chosen? Hm? What was it like? What did it look like? Was it in a transformed state? Or its true form? If it was the true form, how large was it? The scales and claws? How did it communicate with you? Tell me. Now. Now!”
The torrent of questions was thick with unmistakable madness.
“Tell me now! I could tear your body to pieces and verify if the rumors are true!”
His pale fury flipped the hood back.
The man’s face, hidden until now, was revealed.
Surprisingly, his face was quite beautiful. His long silver hair was neatly tied back, and his pale green eyes reminded me of spring’s first shoots.
However, the crimson tattoo etched around his left eye was grotesquely twisted, as if symbolizing his madness.
I bit my lips and laughed.
I scraped together what little composure I had left and responded.
“Why would I?”
“…?”
Then Gaspard tilted his head in a grotesque manner.
“You didn’t understand what I said?”
“No, I understood perfectly well.”
I had momentarily forgotten my situation.
Right now, I was standing on the edge of a blade.
My position was precarious and unstable.
This was no time for the idle, luxurious thought of shame over being seen half-naked by someone.
I uttered words that Gaspard could never ignore.
“Neither Evangeline nor the Empress can give you what you want.”
“…?”
The smile that had appeared on Gaspard’s lips vanished.
“Why are you bringing up the Empress and Evangeline?”
I ignored his question and continued.
“You’re not satisfied with the Imperial Family carrying weak blood like Ludwig’s, are you? Am I wrong?”
Gaspard, a brilliant mage, was obsessed with Dragons.
Because of that obsession, the only way to move him was to offer information related to Dragons or experimental subjects.
“…You really do know what I want?”
“You were just babbling about Dragons a moment ago—if I didn’t understand, I’d be an idiot.”
In truth, I had learned it painfully well during months of experimentation and torment in my past life, but I had no intention of mentioning that.
And I dangled the bait he desired most.
“Don’t you want a body—one that carries the bloodline of dragons, vivid and alive, the flesh of Imperial royalty?”
“…!”
The ease and madness drained from Gaspard’s smile in an instant.
Before my regression, I had heard it countless times.
Standing before the imperfect monstrosity crafted from Arpard’s corpse, the words he muttered to himself.

“Ah. This bloodline is remarkably pure—nearly half-dragon in its essence.”
“If only I could have obtained this fresh, living flesh while he still drew breath.”
“Then I could have recreated that beautiful, perfect race with these very hands….”

Now, genuine shock crossed his face.
Yes, he was startled that I had read his innermost desires and spoken them aloud so precisely.
I continued, wearing a smile brimming with confidence and contempt.
“Next time, come with a proper price and visit with courtesy.”
After a brief moment of hesitation, admiration bloomed across Gaspard’s expression.

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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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