The Contract Marriage for Attilenta's Revenge - Chapter 10

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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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Atilenta’s Revenge: A Contract Marriage — Episode 10
To manage a matter akin to that Rite of Passage, I would need far more intelligence. I had no intention of wasting the meal hours here either.
Through these moments, I planned to gather considerable information from Henrik and the kitchen staff here, suitable for arranging an elegant banquet.
“Yes, Your Highness. Leave it to me.”
“The delegation’s affairs are indeed your responsibility.”
I glanced down at my plate. Even the cucumber salad before me was a dish that didn’t exist in Francia Kingdom. Could I make use of such a thing as well?
“But what is this method of yours?”
As I continued deliberating in my own way, Henrik tilted his head slightly and asked the question just as I took a bite of the apple pie that had been served for dessert.
I looked toward the knight standing behind him, clad in black armor—the same knight who had been present when I first encountered Henrik. He was unmistakably a trusted aide.
“I will be able to explain before your meal, Your Highness.”
The moment the meal ended, I asked a servant for directions and made my way to my chamber—a room prepared thanks to my position as Henrik’s consort.
“This chamber is reserved solely for the consort. Should you require anything, simply call for us.”
The servant who had opened the elegantly decorated door informed me courteously, then withdrew.
Now I could have completely private time, exactly as I wished.
The moment I used Magic was something I had kept secret even from Antonio and Selena. I had wanted to preserve my mother’s final words and her keepsakes.
Moreover, if I overused Magic, I would inevitably clutch at my chest and gasp like an invalid. It was not a sight I wished others to see.
If only I had hidden my abilities from them from the start.
“Sigh…”
A deep breath escaped me unbidden. Discovering my own foolishness was always an unpleasant affair. At the end of that sigh, I bit my lip firmly.
My chamber was so immaculate and spacious that even my breathing echoed clearly. Atilenta, your circumstances have changed so much now.
Collecting myself quickly, I withdrew the Mirror I had hidden in my loose sleeves and began to wield Magic borrowed from my mother’s power.
Now then, Mirror. Show me the spies who are draining information from this realm. Henrik—to use him, I must do such things.
“Only then can I achieve the future I desire, Mirror.”
The Mirror responded to my will at once. A pale green light rippled and spread throughout its surface.
The Mirror showed me a figure releasing a Carrier Pigeon from some corner, and judging by the black ramparts, it appeared to be within the Royal Palace itself. I carefully observed the person’s appearance, movements, the location where they sent the Carrier Pigeon and kept correspondence.
As promised, before the midday meal, I had written out a list of spies and handed it to Henrik.
“The information I mentioned, Your Highness.”
“I will speak with you after I have verified it.”
Even after reviewing the lengthy document, Henrik’s response remained composed and measured. I withdrew without further comment.
Night fell, and once again I found myself in the same bedchamber with him. Yet Henrik merely focused on his work before drifting to sleep.
After confirming that Henrik was deeply asleep, I slipped quietly into the washroom.
“Cough, cough!”
Inevitably, after a fit of persistent coughing, I coughed blood. The result of using Magic continuously—because there were far more than one or two spies.
This had happened before.
When I accompanied Antonio to the battlefield, I had grown ill frequently after using Magic, finding the unfamiliar surroundings overwhelming. Though an ailing woman had no place on a battlefield, Antonio had tended to me with the utmost devotion.
Once this affair was over, he’d spoken of going to the sea I longed for, how he truly cherished me—such empty words.
I stared at the blood I had coughed up with resentment.
“Curse it, damn it, …Antonio.”
In this world, no warrior wished to wield a worn-out weapon.
For now, Henrik was playing the part of one faithful to our arrangement, but who could say? What was certain was that I could not let him discover that I had coughed blood.
I moved quickly and cleaned away all traces.
Just as I had once erased every trace of my time with Antonio, I did so desperately.
That night, I dreamed a most unfamiliar dream.
I wandered lost in a forest and collided with something—a great tree. Startled, I wept bitterly, calling only for my mother.
The tree held me with dozens of branches and spoke to me softly.
You must not be discovered, Atilenta.
Discovered? But what?
Even as I wept in the dream, I thought: I have been careful all this while. Neither Antonio nor Selena knows my secret.
From that lipless thing came a peculiar laugh, a strange cooing sound.
Atilenta, you must not lose your way, and you must never let it be known that you do not know the path.
Not let it be known to whom?
I jolted awake.
“…Breath.”
As I exhaled the breath I had been holding, the morning light slipping between the curtains was so brilliant that I blinked several times.
Henrik, who sat quietly on the sofa reading through documents, addressed me as though offering praise.
“You’re awake? The information you provided yesterday proved quite helpful.”
“I am glad to hear it, Your Highness.”
I quickly wiped away the cold sweat and rose, offering a proper response.
Yesterday I had identified five spies. I planned to use Magic again to discover if there were others besides them. It would certainly place considerable strain on my body, but there was no help for it.
“I have no intention of sending them back to their homeland. Now that I know how and where they send their information.”
“Indeed, Your Highness is most wise.”
Henrik could now manipulate the contents of information that spies handled as he saw fit. Controlling information in such a manner was one of the finest strategies available in war.
In the long term, it would likely yield far better results than simply torturing spies and driving them out of this kingdom.
“I never even set foot in the Southern Region myself, yet the kingdom there seemed to know of me—which told me there had to be spies at work. Thanks to you, handling this matter became remarkably simple.”
Henrik appeared to be praising me purely and genuinely, yet I felt neither pleased nor gratified.
It was because I knew this too was a test he had given me.
In truth, Henrik could have managed even this much without me. He had knights of deep loyalty at his command.
There had to be a reason why, without ever having traveled to the Southern Region himself, he had become famous as the Black Dragon of the battlefield.
I fixed my gaze on Henrik’s amethyst eyes, which remained entirely untroubled even in this bright morning.
An ordinary person would have shown signs of fatigue or languor, but he did not.
His eyes always shone like jewels, or like a still lake.
Though not always, I supposed.
The moment when those eyes had turned toward me with a strange, heightened brightness flashed through my mind, but I swiftly erased it.
There was no need to dwell on such a thing.
“Should you have need of me again, Your Highness, please command me. I came here to fulfill your bidding, after all.”
And I carefully preserved one true thought that I could never voice to him aloud.
This man too could betray you. You know that, don’t you, Atilenta? He deals only in profit and loss, nothing more.
Perhaps the dream had been a warning to me.
Yet I had to offer him a measure of my abilities nonetheless. To obtain the sweet rewards he promised.
Henrik rose with elegant grace and rang a bell; a knight entered.
It was the same knight who, during my dealings with Henrik, had so accurately read the private thoughts I found “difficult to confess to my master.” The one who stood guard behind Henrik even at mealtimes.
“Your Highness, I trust you slept well. Your Highness, I offer my formal greetings. I am Krakup, the prince’s knight.”
“Pleased to meet you, sir.”
“Please, treat me with ease. I harbor no wish to disturb the two of you this morning, yet I have come bearing something for Your Highness.”
Krakup, kneeling on one knee, handed me a small box.
It was a delicate ring set with a black jewel. Though I was no expert in jewelry, it looked unmistakably precious at first glance.
I opened my eyes wide and looked back and forth between the ring and Henrik.
I had never asked for anything like this. What on earth was happening?
Caught off guard by the sudden gesture, my bewilderment flickered across my face.

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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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