My Contract Husband Demands a Divorce - Chapter 86

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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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As Dietrich twisted his body in resistance, Shan said to me,
“Amarynthis, something to tie him with.”
Moving quickly, I untied the curtain cords and brought them over.
Dietrich did not make a scene.
Whatever he was thinking, he stopped resisting and surrendered tamely to being bound, merely muttering under his breath,
“I distinctly told them to put sleeping pills in the food.”
At those words, I countered,
“No wonder. It tasted strange, so I didn’t eat it.”
“Ha!”
Letting out a short, cold mock of a laugh, Dietrich looked at Shan and me.
Then he shouted,
“Guards!!”
I wondered why he had been so quiet, but it seemed he was waiting for the perfect timing of the guard patrol.
It grew noisy outside the window.
Before long, the sound of footsteps rushing down the hallway echoed.
The first to arrive was Papilion.
“We caught the… Master Dietrich?”
He froze at the doorway as if struck by utter shock.
Following closely behind with the guards, Gunter, the knight captain, stepped inside.
He drew his sword and pointed it at Shan.
“Surrender.”
Shan sheared his dagger into its scabbard and raised both hands.
The guards surrounded us.
As Gunter stepped forward to untie Dietrich, Papilion blocked his path.
“You mustn’t.”
Gunter halted.
“Master Dietrich is the traitor.”
His eyes swept across Dietrich and Papilion once each.
Then he commanded the guards,
“Bring the Head Butler.”
A guard ran out and returned shortly with Klaus, the Head Butler.
Even after taking in the situation inside the room, Klaus asked calmly,
“What is the meaning of this?”
Papilion explained,
“To flush out the traitor, I sought the assistance of the Baron and Baroness. I asked them to forge fake directives ordering the elimination of the traitor.”
While Papilion explained our strategy, Gunter and Klaus simply listened.
“So, you are saying the Magistrate is the traitor who sold out the Archduke’s location?”
“Yes.”
At Gunter’s nod, the guards forced the prone Dietrich to his knees.
“Gunter, surely you don’t believe those words. I simply did not like these people wandering around the Kleinheits Mansion. Calling me a traitor is utterly absurd.”
Dietrich began to turn the tables, framing Papilion as the traitor.
“Rather, isn’t Papilion, who joined hands with Kildian’s subordinates, far more suspicious? Tell us, Papilion. Are you intending to incite internal strife?”
Papilion’s face contorted with a mixture of disappointment and betrayal.
“Master Dietrich, were you truly this kind of person?”
“Look at yourself. Why did you join hands with Kildian’s subordinates?”
“The Baroness was never one of Kildian’s subordinates to begin with. And Scheit Huniswald felt disillusioned by the inhumane deeds Prince Kildian is committing and wished to stop him.”
“And you expect us to believe that? The idea of Scheit Huniswald reforming is even more nonsensical than me betraying us.”
He looked toward Gunter and Klaus.
“Papilion is the traitor. It’s suspicious. He didn’t even come down while doing God knows what in the Capital, and he kept the Archduke’s location hidden.”
At Gunter’s signal, a guard brought Papilion over next to us.
Then they roughly forced the three of us down to our knees.
My knees hit the floor with a heavy thud.
I did not resist. Shan remained still as well.
However, Papilion tried to shake off their grip.
With bloodshot eyes, he let out a breath laced with pent-up fury.
“Now I finally understand. Actively acting so sensitive ever since the Baron and Baroness arrived, wasn’t that because you were afraid of getting caught as the traitor? Trying to destroy the directives immediately just a moment ago, wasn’t that because your own guilt made you panic for fear of exposure?!”
Papilion’s voice grew progressively louder.
“Why on earth! Why did you do it! Why did you betray His Grace!”
When Papilion acted as if he might lung forward, the guards pinned him down. Even with his shoulders forced down, he glared at Dietrich, trembling with a sense of betrayal.
As their gazes locked, Dietrich’s eyes wavered.
“What nonsense are you spouting.”
“Then explain why you were here!”
“I told you. I simply did not like those people, those subordinates of Kildian.”
“You attempt murder just because you don’t like someone? Since when were you that kind of person, Master Dietrich?”
“Then should I have just stood by and watched while the ones who assassinated His Grace wandered around the Kleinheits Mansion as if they owned the place?”
Gunter and Klaus’s eyes turned toward Shan simultaneously.
The hotter Papilion blazed like fire, the colder Dietrich grew like ice.
To an outside observer, it would certainly appear that Dietrich was the one thinking more rationally.
Unable to watch any longer, the Head Butler intervened.
“Enough. Both of you, stop this at once.”
At Gunter’s nod, the guards bound us.
Papilion twisted his body in resistance, looking as though he wanted to grab Dietrich by the collar right that second.
Yet, he was ultimately forced back down to his knees beside us.
Shan was watching Dietrich.
For a very long time. With a complicated expression.
Papilion lowered his head, breathing heavily as he mastered his emotions.
“I never even mentioned that the one who attacked Archduke Yulisian was Scheit Huniswald.”
The muffled, low voice struck the walls, vibrating through the room.
Dietrich’s expression froze.
“That’s—because such deeds are exactly what Scheit Huniswald does, so naturally…”
“To call it a mere guess, your tone sounded far too much as though you already knew, didn’t it? Furthermore, when the ambush occurred, Scheit Huniswald was not the only one present. Everyone had their faces covered, and I couldn’t even see Scheit Huniswald’s face properly.”
Dietrich’s mouth shut tight.
Shan finally tore his gaze away from Dietrich, turned his head, and spoke to Gunter.
“I will give you the cipher key. Decipher the fake directives. See whose words are true.”
“If you still cannot believe us, please summon Lord Tristan from the Capital. Isn’t Lord Tristan someone you can trust?”
As Shan and Papilion’s words followed one after the other, Dietrich let out a laugh of utter despair.
After staring at the ceiling for a while, he finally spoke.
“…Fine. They are right. I handed over His Grace’s location.”
Gunter walked right up to him.
Though his expression did not change, his hands could be seen curling into tight fists.
“Why.”
“His Grace has no intention of becoming the Emperor. If so, the next Emperor will be Prince Kildian. Do you honestly think he will leave us alone once he ascends the throne?”
Papilion gritted his teeth.
“Are you saying you committed betrayal just to beg for your life over something that hasn’t even happened yet?!”
“No. Prince Kildian promised me a future. He said he would grant me this Southern Region and the position of Prime Minister.”
The temperature in the room turned ice-cold.
“What will you do with me now? Gunter, will you execute me?”
Sheathing his sword, Gunter commanded the soldiers.
“…Lock him in the basement.”
The soldiers released their grip on us and moved in perfect unison to drag Dietrich out.
Gunter looked at us.
More precisely, at Shan.
For a fleeting moment, a murderous intent surged in his eyes, but he did not draw his sword again.
Instead, he turned on his heel and walked straight out of the room.
Papilion remained on his knees without getting up, while Klaus stood there with a grim expression.
Though he was trying hard to maintain his composure, the eyes looking at Shan held something akin to hatred.
It was the look reserved for the man who had harmed Archduke Yulisian.
“I cannot offer you any words of gratitude. Please leave tomorrow.”
He turned around as if he had no intention of listening to an answer.
Only Shan, Papilion, and I were left in the room.
Papilion remained on his knees, curling into himself.
Tears spilled over his clenched fists.
“Just for the sake of status, how could he do that to His Grace…!”
In a rare display, Shan stared blankly at the door with a vacant, expressionless face.
He placed a hand on Papilion’s back.
Too distraught to even think of brushing it away, Papilion trembled and burst into tears.
Shan spent a long time simply sighing like that before turning his head. He forced a smile.
“Amarynthis, are your knees alright?”
“It’s nothing at all.”
He helped Papilion to his feet.
Papilion rose, swaying as he was pulled up.
I caught hold of Shan’s hand.
“It might be best to leave him alone.”
We were outsiders here anyway.
Moreover, Shan’s face was the face of the man who had tried to kill the Archduke.
The more Papilion looked at him, the more distressed he was bound to become.
However, instead of letting go of Papilion, Shan gently pried my hand away.
“We must leave tomorrow, so please look after our people and pack the luggage. I have something to discuss with Papilion.”
I wanted to ask what it was about, but I kept my mouth shut.
Suppressing my disappointment as best as I could, I gave a quiet nod.

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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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