I’m Going to Change My Husband With a Predatory Marriage - Chapter 95

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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 95

I didn’t hide Gaspard’s intrusion from Arpard and told him everything.
After all, he’d already sensed the intruder’s presence and come rushing over.
However, I didn’t mention that I knew about Gaspard from before my regression.
I simply said he appeared to be a mage obsessed with dragons, so I’d sacrificed you for my own safety.
At that, Arpard’s face contorted sharply.
“Are you really going to hand me over to some strange man?”
This man had a peculiar talent for twisting his words in the most bizarre ways.
I shook my head.
“No. And would you be someone so easily handed over?”
“Well, I suppose not…”
“I was just trying to escape the situation. But judging from how he snuck into Hillia’s bedroom, he’s clearly a powerful mage.”
I apologized once more.
“I’m sorry. I was in a rush, and I handed you over without even asking your permission…”
An unexpected answer came from Arpard.
“No, it’s fine.”
“Pardon?”
“You can hand me over as many times as you like. I’ll just escape on my own and come back.”
It’s not as if I’d sold him to a dog trader who’d somehow crossed the sea to return.
Rather, it felt more like he was some cursed doll from a horror story that keeps coming back no matter how many times you throw it away.
It was an absurd thing to say, but honestly, it was unexpected.
I thought he’d be angry about being handed over, even if it was to escape the situation.
But he was telling me to hand him over as many times as I wanted.
‘That’s almost… touching. No, wait.’
I shook my head vigorously.
Unlike Arpard, I still had my wits about me.
“I won’t hand you over.”
What good would it do to hand someone over?
Besides, I didn’t want to become a human trafficker.
The furrow between Arpard’s brows smoothed out.
“And if I say things like this, you shouldn’t hand me over either. You can’t keep saying things like ‘hand me over as many times as you want.'”
I understood it was meant as a joke, but it still made my heart uncomfortable to hear.
‘It sounds like you have no attachment to yourself whatsoever.’
The thought made my chest feel heavy.
Arpard tilted his head in confusion, but soon nodded in agreement.
“Understood. I’ll try my best.”
Did it really require that much effort?
I wasn’t given the leisure to think any deeper about it.
Gaspard deployed his teleportation magic, and the aftermath of Arpard smashing through the door came belatedly.
Knights and palace servants who had rushed at the commotion were in chaos.
“What on earth is happening?”
“Could there be an intruder?!”
“Your Highness! Are you unharmed?”
“Who destroyed the door like this…!”
Arpard and I exchanged glances without a word. An agreement was reached in an instant.
‘Let’s say it was the intruder’s doing.’
‘Agreed.’
In the end, that night we had to sleep somewhere other than Hillia’s bedroom for the first time since arriving at the Prince’s Palace.
Thanks to this commotion, I completely forgot the shame of having shown Arpard every embarrassing side of myself.
That realization came much later.

* * *

After the banquet, Hillia became the undisputed leader of high society in the Capital City.
The Empress was in seclusion, and even the platinum key had passed into Hillia’s hands.
Naturally, the public could not help but recognize that the true power had shifted.
Since what happened at the banquet was so mysterious and legendary, everyone was talking about it.
People wanted to know even the most trivial details of what occurred then.
Those who had directly witnessed the miracle boasted about what they had seen and explained it at length.
“So, for a moment, I thought Her Highness the Crown Princess had wrapped the Milky Way around her body!”
“My goodness, really?”
“Yes, truly. It was such a mysterious blue-violet dress. They scattered Iliadene pearls on it, and when it darkened, it sparkled so beautifully.”
When a fortunate noblewoman who had witnessed the banquet described what she had seen, those who had not attended flocked around to listen.
Such scenes had become common after the banquet at Artanus Hall.
It was a scene that symbolically demonstrated Hillia’s popularity and recognition.
As a result, naturally, a common topic of conversation emerged in the Capital City’s high society.
“By the way, about that dress Her Highness the Crown Princess wore. Who on earth made it?”
“I know, right? Now that you mention it, nothing has been revealed about it.”
“Usually in situations like this, don’t they boast about it themselves first?”
“That mysterious blue-violet color was really so beautiful.”
As interest in the dress Hillia wore at the Artanus Hall banquet exploded, whispers began to circulate from some point onward.
“I heard it was made at Kemel Atelier.”
“But that place is close to Evangeline, or rather, Evangeline Roux, isn’t it?”
“So they’re keeping quiet about it intentionally. They can’t ignore the attention of the Empress and Evangeline Roux.”
A few quick-witted individuals spread this information around.
As a result, Kemel Atelier experienced an unexpected boom.
Melissa Kemel, the owner and head designer of Kemel Atelier, had been keeping a low profile ever since the banquet.
There was no way the Crown Princess, who now held the reins of imperial power, could have missed what they were attempting to do.
In preparation for the worst, I had sent a “token of sincerity” in advance.
But then rumors began circulating that her atelier was the place where the Crown Princess’s dress—the one at the center of all the talk—had been made.
When the rumors first started spreading, Kemel Atelier panicked.
‘Wait, we didn’t make the Crown Princess’s dress—we made the green dress the maid wore!’
And that was the one we deliberately made poorly at Evangeline’s request, to humiliate Hillia.
Melissa Kemel’s head was spinning.
Her merchant’s instincts stirred to life.
‘This… this has the makings of a windfall!’
She deliberately kept her words vague.
“Ah yes, it’s true that we were summoned to the Prince’s Palace and did fittings for Her Highness…”
She naturally omitted the fact that the dress the Crown Princess actually wore at the banquet was a different one.
Then the slowly spreading rumors exploded.
That dress everyone was talking about was made at Kemel Atelier!
As the rumors spread, customers began flooding into the atelier like clouds.
“I knew it! The color was truly exquisite. Do you happen to have the same fabric? I’d love to have a dress made in that color too.”
“…That particular fabric is extremely difficult to source, you see.”
The vague lie that began so innocently grew larger and larger with each passing moment.
Melissa Kemel broke out in cold sweat.
By now, the situation had spiraled too far out of control to admit it had all been a lie.
“I want a dress made for me too—the same one Her Highness the Crown Princess wore!”
“In the exact same fabric!”
“While I cannot replicate Her Highness the Crown Princess’s dress exactly, how about this design instead? This was actually one of the final candidates for the banquet dress.”
Crowds poured in like clouds, and Kemel Atelier’s sales skyrocketed day after day.
At first, Melissa Kemel conducted business cautiously, watching for any sign of displeasure from the Crown Princess.
But five days had passed since the banquet without any negative response from her.
Then Melissa Kemel began rationalizing her actions.
‘After all, we didn’t even take the lead in that affair. Her Highness the Crown Princess surely doesn’t concern herself with such trivial matters!’
Otherwise, there’s no way she would have remained silent for five whole days.
‘She must have been pleased with the token of sincerity.’
The second gift sent after learning of the rumors, along with the one sent the day after the banquet, must have won her favor.
Now they were forgiven, and moreover, permitted.
Kemel Atelier began celebrating and launched an aggressive marketing campaign.
“This fabric here is one Her Highness the Crown Princess personally praised for its texture and color!”
“My goodness! Then I’ll take this one!”
“I was first! Make mine first!”
The sound of money flowing in seemed to echo in her ears.

* * *

I regarded the mannequin draped in that resplendent gown with indifference.
“So where did this come from?”
“From the Kemel Atelier.”
“Ah, from there?”
“Yes, they sent one package the day after the banquet, and another a few days later.”
The luxurious box beside the mannequin was the first shipment, she explained.
When I opened it, a sapphire necklace lay nestled inside.
“What shall we do with it?”
The gown adorning the mannequin seemed to contain more jewels than fabric.
It glittered brilliantly, yet appeared garish rather than beautiful.
What intrigued me was the mannequin’s material itself. I commanded that the dress be removed.
Beneath it emerged a heavy metal torso gleaming with silver.
As I drew closer and scraped the surface, the silver leaf coating peeled away to reveal gold underneath.
The entire mannequin was fashioned from gold.
‘Quite the substantial bribe, this is.’
They were asking me to overlook what they’d done while clinging to Evangeline.
‘They claimed they designed my banquet gown and were reaping the benefits, weren’t they?’
During those five days I lay unconscious.
I smiled, drawing up the corners of my mouth.
‘There’s no reason to refuse money.’
No matter how much wealth they offered, it gave me no reason to spare them.
The money is mine. The vengeance is mine.
Good. Very good indeed.
So then, how shall I deal with them?
The Kemel Atelier had handed me the perfect opportunity.
‘The debut of the Crown Princess’s exclusive designer.’
This would serve as both a pleasant amusement and a fine message to send throughout society.

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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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