The Contract Marriage for Attilenta's Revenge - Chapter 4

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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 4
Selena left quickly. With the nuisance gone, it was a relief for me. I returned to my room and ran my fingers over the mirror again, organizing the information I’d gathered.
Soon, a foreign guest would arrive here.
The Second Prince of Bwendofska, Henrik. Dragon’s blood supposedly runs through that royal line.
“Then again, my mother is a witch…….”
So that legendary creature, the dragon itself, seemed hardly remarkable to me.
Henrik was known as the first northern prince to emerge into the heart of this continent.
From what I understood, he was locked in a succession dispute with the First Prince, Resichka.
Henrik had been thrust onto the battlefield for political reasons, yet he’d climbed steadily upward until he’d even seized the epithet “Black Dragon of the Battlefield.”
In substance and reputation, he was a conqueror thirsting for war—and for even greater fame. Otherwise, there’d be no reason for a prince to take to the field repeatedly.
“It’s proof he’s ambitious and bellicose. To keep someone like that at my side, I’ll have to pay the appropriate price.”
I usually found that prolonged magic left me breathless, with an ache spreading through my chest. So I couldn’t read much beyond that point, but it didn’t matter.
Magic to read the future wasn’t omnipotent. It was merely one tool for me. I had many methods of gathering information.
I was confined to this small room, treated as a powerless princess, so the surveillance wasn’t thorough.
That’s why I slipped out of my chamber periodically in secret and read whatever newspapers or magazines lay scattered in the trash.
Even if word spread that I was rummaging through garbage, I had nothing more to lose.
The information I’d gleaned from there revealed Henrik’s supposed purpose for coming.
A peace accord between this kingdom of Francia and the northern realm of Bwendofska.
I knew the sentence I’d read in that crumpled, dirt-stained newspaper was a lie.
The mirror had shown me a different future.
The future I’d drawn was to take revenge on those who’d abandoned me, and the mirror was merely the means to show me how.
There was no reason this nation’s future—peaceful exchange with the north—should have anything to do with that prince.
A foreign nobleman of such high standing would naturally propose a marriage alliance as his method to achieve peace.
“The other two princesses have both married, so the King will want to be rid of me, his troublesome daughter.”
He would sell me off as a second wife to some nobleman, and he’d prepare to send some second daughter of a high-ranking house instead to that prince.
But what if that prince, wielding the military force that’s carried him into the heart of the continent and the banner of northern peace, demanded a different woman—demanded me instead?
I knew the King’s nature well. What mattered most to him was maintaining his authority. He would want to avoid any sudden conflict with a foreign power during this time of supposed peace.
I intended to exploit that weakness.
“I’ll have to persuade him to take me north.”
I would repay their anguish with my own cunning, and I would exact my revenge without fail.
“First, I need to escape this place. Only then can I attempt anything.”
With insults and shame, contempt and degradation—blows they wouldn’t inflict even on a servant—they sought to break me. Sometimes they murmured sweet and tender things, trying to shatter my reason and my heart.
“That will never happen.”
I touched the mirror and steeled my resolve. My objectives for revenge were clear.
First, I would persuade him to my will.
“Then I’ll need to place him on the throne.”
To do that, I had to earn his trust first. Whether by selling him information about this kingdom that I possessed, or by using my magic to aid him.
“If he becomes a strong force, he’ll be useful to me. It will take time to wage war and bring this kingdom to ruin, but…….”
Mere punishment wouldn’t settle my grievance with them. I would make them lose everything as I had lost everything—home, power, peace, all of it.
“……Until then, I can endure.”
Once the larger picture was drawn, my purpose and plan became far more vivid. I’d refine the details as I came to know Henrik and the northern kingdom better.
First, when Henrik arrived, I would find a way to meet him in person and begin my first conversation with him.
Since we didn’t know each other well, I couldn’t predict what variables might arise. I prepared several contingencies to ensure things went smoothly.

* * *
A cool wind slipped through the gaps of a poorly maintained, loosened window.
“Sigh…….”
In a room where even the fireplace couldn’t burn properly, I exhaled a long breath. Ghostly wisps of breath rose naturally in the cold autumn air.
Beyond the window, brilliant lights flooded the palace, and elegant music filled the air.
Though I was confined here, I could sense how events were unfolding.
Tonight, a grand banquet was being held to receive a foreign guest.
Bwendofska was distant, not a kingdom we’d frequently exchanged with. So those dealing with its prince would be in chaos.
Everyone but me.
It didn’t matter. Honestly, the days I’d spent in social circles, being called a princess or duchess, seemed like empty dreams.
“What matters is meeting him. Atilenta.”
I spoke to myself, a habit I’d fallen into during my confinement, and renewed my determination.
I needed to be careful not to misspeak before the Prince of Bwendofska.
As night deepened, I made my way along a route I’d taken many times before to slip secretly out of the palace, heading toward the guest house where the foreign visitor was lodged.
It wasn’t difficult, using my escape experience and abilities. My thin, gaunt frame proved helpful too—I drew no attention.
Before the guest house stood knights clad in black armor and armed with weapons.
There he was. I drew a deep breath and stepped forward. The sword would come flying now.
“Who goes there?”
“Stand back.”
Even at the foreign words I didn’t understand, I didn’t retreat. I simply pressed myself lower to the ground and pleaded.
“I wish to meet with the Prince.”
To any observer, I was nothing but a weak, fragile woman. Even arriving like this in the dead of night, they wouldn’t cut my throat on the spot.
While the knights hesitated, I spoke again.
“I harbor no ill intent. Please, let me inside.”
I had chosen to speak in their native tongue as a sign of deep respect for my host.
Then, from within, a low voice called out.
“Who’s come?”
His voice was cold as the autumn wind, deep and dark as shadow itself.
A chill ran down my spine.
“Your Highness. A girl has arrived.”
In that instant, I knew he was the Second Prince of Brwendopska. I bit my lip lightly, trying to steady my racing nerves.
“Prince, I am no child.”
“How could we turn away a night visitor?”
As though his words were a signal, the knights seized my arm and lifted me, ushering me into the adjoining chamber.
Inside, everything was lavish and ornate as befitted a distinguished guest—crystal chandeliers casting light on patterned carpets, solid wood dining tables, fine upholstered sofas.
There was only one person seated on the sofa.
“I carry no weapons.”
I didn’t object when the unfamiliar knight searched me. There was only one thing that mattered now.
“Why have you come?”
I studied Henrik carefully. He had raven-black hair like a moonless dawn, and eyes of a color I’d never seen before—like amethyst. The man before me was unlike anything I’d imagined.
Unlike the knights around him, he wore no armor, yet his cold bearing and sturdy frame were striking in their own right.
The ease that emanated from him as he lounged on the sofa was something a humble princess like me could never hope to emulate.
“Mind your words.”
I would have done so regardless of the knight’s warning. To anyone’s eye, he and I were not equals.
But that didn’t mean I had to cower. I had come to propose a bargain.
“I am the Princess of this realm—Atilenta.”
My eyes were green, the same as the King of Francia. This was a truth that could not be fabricated.
Even the author, having witnessed a Francia banquet already, would know this well.
Henrik tilted his head in assent. I took the seat across from him. He raised one large hand and rested his chin upon it with unhurried grace. Even in that simple gesture lay the refinement of long years of cultivation.
“Too thin, and eyes of royal blood—hardly the makings of an assassin.”
With fluid pronunciation and a low voice, Henrik assessed me as though I were some clumsy recruit. I disregarded his appraisal and moved to the point.
“You are right. I came here for one reason alone. Since you desire only a nominal relationship with this kingdom anyway—”
“The Princess seems to be under a misapprehension. Your King’s banquet was quite enjoyable.”
“—it is precisely I who am suited to be your counterpart.”

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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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