Surviving as the Wife of the Swordsmanship Clan’s Troublemaker - Chapter 127

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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 127

A full day had passed.
Johannes opened his eyes on the bed, his entire body wracked with terrible agony.
Tremor.
His long eyelashes quivered faintly before his pupils slowly came into focus.
As the haze cleared from his vision and the unfamiliar ceiling of the bedroom came into view, his brow furrowed slightly.
‘…The stench of humanity.’
He had naturally assumed the poison would kill the frail human, and he would awaken in Seraphim’s Paradise in his true angelic form—as Johannes himself.
It should have been that way.
That was precisely why he had driven Hallara into the worst possible situation.
Yet he remained trapped within the body of Auriel, the Northern Empire’s Crown Prince. An unforeseen variable. He clicked his tongue softly in irritation.
‘Healed by a human wielding divine power.’
It grated on him that someone in Bloodmere possessed a gift bestowed by God himself, but it was almost laughable that such power had been used to save him—one who had betrayed the divine.
“Your Highness!”
The Knight Commander of the Northern Empire, who had been standing vigil beside the bed, cried out.
“You’ve awakened? Are you unharmed?”
“Silence.”
“Ah, my apologies.”
He immediately bowed in contrition.
His eyes swept briefly over the Crown Prince lying in bed.
The Crown Prince, who had died and been revived, had died and been revived once more.
That was nothing short of a miracle.
Yet something felt profoundly different about the Crown Prince now compared to before.
The Crown Prince he had known before his death had never been so foolishly naive.
The Knight Commander unconsciously stepped back and asked in a hushed voice.
“Should I not summon the Doctor?”
Johannes, wearing Auriel’s skin, slowly pushed himself upright. He gazed down at his garments.
“Bring me fresh clothes.”
His once-pristine attire was stained with human blood. The pounding in his head seemed less from anemia than from the revolting stench of human blood.
“Very well.”
Moments later, Auriel discarded the blood-soaked garments and changed into a clean white silk shirt. He stood before the full-length mirror, admiring his immaculate form, now devoid of a single trace of blood.
Now he could finally see Hallara.
Behind him, the Knight Commander, who had been standing in tense silence, carefully opened his mouth.
“Your Highness, did they attempt to poison you?”
“Yes.”
At that question, Johannes paused.
His original plan had been to bind Hallara on charges of attempted regicide, reveal her true identity as Brinihanta, and destroy Bloodmere first.
After burning everything to ash, he would retrieve her. Witnessing such devastation would surely awaken her original memories, and she would return to his embrace of her own accord.
Yet the frail human had somehow survived.
Yet the fundamental plan remained unchanged.
Auriel withdrew his gaze from the mirror and turned his body slowly. With an expressionless face, he asked.
“Then perhaps I poisoned myself?”
“That wasn’t what I meant. My apologies. But their actions seem insufficiently motivated….”
The Knight Commander trailed off. Unless the Bloodmere Family were fools, they had no reason to openly assassinate the Crown Prince. Of course, as he said, it was equally absurd that the Crown Prince would have consumed Black Death’s poison in some fit of madness. His head was practically splitting with frustration.
“So they sent a woman forward instead. A woman whose disappearance would cause no real damage.”
“Did you know that woman is a commoner?”
The Knight Commander asked with a look of surprise.
“Does that matter?”
“Ah, no.”
The Knight Commander fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
“Your Highness… given the circumstances, might this not be an opportunity? Due to our defeat in the war against Bloodmere, the Northern Empire now faces catastrophic reparations and unfavorable international treaties. If you were to cover up this attempted poisoning in exchange for negotiations that would absolve us of responsibility for the defeat and nullify the treaty….”
“I refuse.”
A flat rejection, delivered before the Knight Commander could even finish.
“Your Highness…? But sir, they won’t come so easily. Moreover, from what I’ve just heard….”
The Knight Commander swallowed dryly and added carefully.
“That woman is currently with child.”
At those words, Johannes—standing with his back to the mirror—went rigid.
“She carries Docheop’s child, they say. The Duchess of Bloodmere, the Knights, even the servants—all are keeping watch over her locked room with blazing eyes. One wrong move could spark an all-out war for survival….”
Before the Knight Commander could finish, a chilling sound echoed through the room. The edge of the ornate marble table Johannes had been leaning against crumbled like sand.
Johannes’s eyes, which had been coldly composed until moments before, transformed into a crimson hue.
“A child?”
The shallow political games of humans and the interests of the Northern Empire had never mattered to him. All he desired was Hallara’s ruin and isolation—and to reclaim his other half completely.
And Hallara’s feigned pregnancy to infiltrate Bloodmere was part of their plan, was it not?
The plan to annihilate the Bloodmere Family.
Now that she had forgotten him, there was no reason for her to use pregnancy as a pretext.
The arrogant composure that had lingered at the corners of Johannes’s mouth shattered completely.
“…Bring her to me.”
A grotesquely twisted voice spilled forth.
​
***
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Bloodmere Territory Outskirts.
A guttural shriek tore through the air.
With that final cry, the massive monster’s breath ceased. Docheop exhaled heavily, shaking the creature’s blood from his blade. Around him, Knights lay sprawled on the ground, groaning in agony from the beast’s lethal venom.
Without hesitation, he approached the fallen Knights and extended both hands to help them up. Their faces bore expressions of awe—mere months ago, this man couldn’t even properly fell a tree, yet now he moved with such fluid grace in dispatching monsters.
“Th-thank you, my lord.”
Yet the monsters kept coming.
They poured forth endlessly, as if from an inexhaustible spring.
He had brought Moldorf along just in case, but even he and the Knights were struggling to keep pace.
‘Hallara.’
A vague unease gnawed at him, and he turned his gaze toward the Castle when a figure came thundering toward them from the distance, kicking up clouds of dust in their frantic gallop.
An unsteady rider.
Dirt-covered skirts fluttering wildly.
It was May, Hallara’s Maid.
“My lord! Docheop, my lord!”
May tumbled from the horse as if unfamiliar with the saddle, her face streaked with tears and drained of all color as she screamed.
“Disaster! Our mistress has been locked in her room—accused of attempting to assassinate a member of the Imperial Family!”
“…Hallara?”
His dark premonition had come to pass.
“Which member of the Imperial Family?”
He asked with measured calm.
“A Crown Prince from the Northern Empire arrived, and suddenly he collapsed after consuming poison… They’re saying our mistress tried to assassinate him. The Castle is in absolute chaos. And…”
May glanced around nervously, then gripped Docheop’s sleeve tightly, her voice trembling as she whispered.
“Our mistress made me tell you—the Northern Empire’s Crown Prince’s true identity is… the Holy Church.”
The Northern Empire’s Crown Prince. The Holy Church.
At those words, Docheop’s eyes turned glacial.
‘Could it be Johannes?’
He clicked his tongue sharply. There was no need to deliberate. From the very beginning, monsters breaching the barrier and trapping him here had been a meticulously orchestrated snare.
The thought of Hallara locked alone in her room made his chest burn black with fury. He wanted to gallop to the Castle immediately, but a swarm of monsters still remained. The Knights were wounded and in no condition to continue fighting.
Docheop bit his lip, surveying his surroundings, when—
A low growl rumbled through the air.
A massive silhouette emerged from the dense shadows of the Forest, moving with a leisurely gait.
“Quite the reek of blood here. Are there any interesting prey left to hunt?”
It was Helbeorn, who had been running an errand for Hallara and had tracked down the monsters by their scent and blood. Docheop approached without hesitation and gripped Helbeorn’s shoulder firmly.
“Perfect timing, Helbeorn.”
“What? You were here?”
“Handle all the remaining monsters. I need to return to the Castle immediately. May, you follow safely with my escort Knights.”
With those words, Docheop seized the reins of the horse May had ridden and vaulted onto its back in one fluid motion.
“What? Hey!”
Helbeorn shouted in disbelief, but Docheop was already turning the horse’s head.
“All these wretches do is order me around!”
Yet even as he spoke, Helbeorn drew his blade from its sheath. As the blood-red sword gleamed brilliantly, a smile played across his lips.
“Tch. You’re all finished anyway.”

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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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