The Contract Marriage for Attilenta's Revenge - Chapter 41

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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 41
“You’re awake?”
Henrik noticed the delicate tremor of her long, full lashes with precision, his gaze fixed entirely upon them.
“I… Your Highness?”
Atilenta pressed her throbbing forehead and breathed slowly, in and out. Though propriety demanded she rise and offer obeisance before Henrik, it proved difficult; she furrowed her brow slightly.
“Atilenta…”
Henrik called her name with a brief sigh—a different tone from his earlier lament.
“I’m glad you’ve come to yourself.”
Watching the relief written plain across his face, Atilenta managed to swallow with difficulty, her throat rough as if she’d swallowed sand. Her lips, parched and cracked, moved slowly.
“What… has happened to me…? Right now, I…”
“You’re in my palace. You’re safe.”
Atilenta still held her creased brow. Her body felt no particular discomfort from whoever had tended her, yet the unfamiliar ache was disconcerting.
“It was the work of a knight under Resica’s command.”
Atilenta’s eyes widened. This was the first time she’d heard Henrik speak of Resica with such open hostility—his voice as sharp and cold as a blade.
“He’d only recently arrived and was too eager to prove himself with a kill. The knight made a careless mistake while pursuing game.”
Atilenta studied Henrik’s stern face carefully. His lips were pressed tight, as though gritting his teeth.
Henrik recalled what Resica had said after the incident unfolded.
‘He’s one of my men, Henrik. To have caused such harm to your wife—it’s unforgivable. Do as you see fit.’
Resica, though expressing regret, had handed over the knight without hesitation.
‘I understand that no words, no amount of conduct could earn forgiveness for such a crime against the Prince’s wife. Please, Henrik, punish him as you deem fit.’
Even ashen-faced, the knight had begged for death as though he’d accepted his fate entirely.
Yet Henrik had said nothing, merely looking down at the man prostrate on the ground like a worthless insect.
Even if the knight, having served under Resica for only a short time, proved so zealously loyal that he revealed nothing at all.
Henrik had no intention of honoring the man as a Royal House knight deserved, granting him mercy or a clean death.
“I intend to punish him myself.”
Atilenta’s green eyes blinked slowly. Though her body was weakened, her gaze still shone with clarity.
“Is it time to remove him now?”
“Timing isn’t the issue.”
Yet both Henrik and Atilenta knew the truth: in this political strife, whatever measures were taken, timing was ultimately everything.
There was meaning in removing that thorn which had vexed Henrik time and again.
Even if it meant cutting off only the tail, one day it would reach the body.
“He laid hands on my wife.”
Atilenta looked at Henrik, frozen like a harsh season.
Though she had observed him carefully from the start, now she felt his state of mind far more acutely.
‘He looks ready to kill someone without mercy at any moment.’
More than that, his bearing suggested he would invoke Guilt by Association and display the body as a Public Execution Display.
By instinct, Atilenta understood: it was best not to cross him at such a moment.
In all the time Atilenta had observed Henrik, he’d maintained the composure of a gracious prince in public settings.
When necessary, he tested his opponents coldly, yet proved quite courteous toward loyal knights and servants.
Indeed, having given her a chance despite her display of ability, that generous demeanor felt natural enough.
But now he seemed an entirely different man—his eyes hardened to stone, his lips rigid, and even his black hair accentuated a frigid impression.
‘So that’s where the battlefield rumors came from.’
Atilenta found nothing strange about such a display.
For a man of his power and station, it seemed only natural that rage would surge when someone touched his tool without permission.
Yet regardless, Atilenta had made a bargain with him, and she bore the duty of playing a faithful subordinate to his specifications.
She offered counsel carefully, lest she appear presumptuous.
“I concur entirely with Your Highness. Yet if the punishment proves excessive, I fear it might tarnish the spotless honor and glory that you presently enjoy.”
“You should focus only on your recovery.”
His sharply raised brows gradually settled into place. His expression, which had been rigid as frost, seemed to soften somewhat, and Atilenta nodded slightly, reassured.
Whether the knight’s mistake was genuine or not, as the Prince it mattered that he appear solicitous of his ailing wife before others.
Delivering a measured, lawful punishment would pose no real threat to Henrik’s reputation.
That it would smooth the path forward was understood not by Atilenta alone.
“There’s nothing to worry about.”
Atilenta murmured quietly that this was fortunate, then drew a long, heavy breath.
“Ah…”
“Try some water.”
Henrik passed her the cup resting beside the bed. Atilenta drank from it like it was the elixir of life. Once the cool liquid swept through her, she began to retrace what had happened.
Atilenta knew precisely why she’d collapsed.
It wasn’t that the arrow had been laced with some potent poison—there was a more fundamental cause.
Of late, Atilenta had come to feel it keenly: she’d pushed herself hard, shamefully so, with no one to blame but herself.
‘After all…… I couldn’t handle that one spell properly.’
It was fine that the Royal House used the Mirror to assess situations before every official gathering, but her body and abilities simply wouldn’t cooperate.
‘If it were Mother…… would she have been able to do it?’
Had she wielded Magic normally from the start, she would have grasped not only Henrik’s safety but the entire flow of events at the Hunting Ground.
‘If only I hadn’t been so hasty that dawn, hadn’t caused such a scene…… yet Henrik gave me this chance.’
From Atilenta’s current judgment, it was possible—even likely—that Henrik had deliberately handled this incident carelessly to achieve some purpose through it.
‘It seems I didn’t pass this test cleanly.’
A swell of feeling rose unexpectedly in her chest.
Her eyes suddenly burned hot, and Atilenta quickly covered them with both hands.
“Are you…… crying right now?”
Henrik shifted his rigid posture on the bed, leaning slightly closer to her.
“Is the pain still that bad?”
Trembling shoulders, breathing that sounded like quiet sobs. He couldn’t fathom why she was crying.
“The physician did examine you. Should I call for her again?”
It was the moment Henrik reached out to ring the bell.
“It’s not that…… Your Highness.”
Even with her vision obscured, Atilenta felt the breath grow oddly close, stirring something strange inside her. She deliberately composed herself, thinking she must answer as though nothing were wrong, and shook her head.
If she spoke the truth, she didn’t know how carelessly he might seize and wield this weakness against her. Yet to him, who showed worry even in empty words, Atilenta found herself unable to fabricate a complete lie.
At least not now.
“…… I’m already in no position to be of use to Your Highness, yet I’ve caused you worry once more.”
It seemed better to simply acknowledge it this way.
If she was being honest, there had been a time before when she’d apologized to Henrik in much the same manner, after hearing something suspicious from Resica.
Atilenta reasoned with herself in this way, trying to accept it.
‘I need to apologize properly this time, but the words won’t come. …… I feel like a burden.’
Her neck flushed warm enough to feel, and Atilenta bit down on her lip. Whether from pain unfamiliar to her, the sting of rising negative emotions and thoughts pricked her sharply, worrying at her relentlessly.
‘Damn it, lying here like an invalid. What good is it to play the wounded and invite his pity now?’
A low voice gently drew her from her spiral of thought.
“There’s no need to think that way.”

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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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