The Contract Marriage for Attilenta's Revenge - Chapter 48

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Atilenta’s Revenge: A Contract Marriage, Episode 48
“Sigh…….”
I had slipped away from Henrik and returned to the reception hall, but rather than act immediately, I first steadied my breath.
Something was deeply wrong. In this arrangement, personal feeling was an impurity that should never have entered from the start.
So the moment I realized I wasn’t his type, I’d felt relief as though I’d received genuinely welcome news.
“No—focus on the task now. Atilenta. ……Let me verify Antonio again first.”
Yet my resolve proved hollow; no significant conversation took place between Antonio and me.
The instant Antonio let slip that he already knew of my mother’s Mirror, he began strutting about like someone who’d just secured a decisive advantage.
I merely received repeated confirmation that the Francia Kingdom stood to achieve religiously significant gains through establishing diplomatic relations with Arad in the north.
Henrik had apparently already left the reception hall. The banquet would span several days, and it seemed his duties for today were finished—nothing unusual about it.
Thanks to the knight Henrik had assigned me, I slipped out of the reception hall without incident, though my mind churned so with conflicting thoughts that my head grew dizzy on the walk back to my quarters.
In times like this, it was better to remind myself of my own unwavering goal. Once I sorted through this chaos, I planned to attempt Magic to verify Antonio’s true nature. That would be the most reliable method.
And then I would report what I learned to Henrik.
Yes, first I had to resolve this matter concerning Henrik.
I came to a halt before the door of his quarters. Krakup, blessedly, said nothing and left me alone.
What if Henrik grew angry and insisted on calling off everything……? What then?
My temples throbbed suddenly. I closed my eyes and tapped my forehead lightly.
I was always supposed to appear composed before him, yet a moment ago I’d been too startled and flustered to manage it.
I knew well enough: the Mirror would never give me “false” information, but that didn’t mean I could trust anyone.
Pure love, like in naive times long past, was equally impossible.
I steadied my breathing, opened the door, and stepped inside—only to find the scene quite different from before.
“Atilenta, you’ve come at last.”
Henrik sat on the sofa, reading something. His expression was leisurely and composed, his legs crossed with ease. He looked exactly as he always did. I blinked slowly.
“……I see you were occupied with pressing matters, Your Highness.”
“Yes—a registry of the royal family and nobles of Arad. The key nobles came along with the clergy. Since you wanted to investigate Arad, I thought I should look it over as well.”
He spoke as though he’d fully accepted my position, but I suspected the tangle of complex emotions from earlier hadn’t entirely resolved.
As I deliberated on the best approach, I broached my true purpose very carefully.
“Your Highness. As I mentioned earlier, there are certain points that trouble me, and I’d like to attempt Magic to examine them.”
“It doesn’t seem urgent, but do as you see fit.”
As I moved slowly toward the sofa, he glanced at me, gesturing with his eyes for me to sit. Once I’d settled directly across from him, I parted my lips carefully and asked outright.
“Your Highness. ……Is your word sincere? I know it’s presumptuous to question you, but I……fear you might choose not to employ my abilities…….”
Henrik set down the thick documents and regarded me squarely.
“If that were the case, I wouldn’t have let you into this arrangement from the beginning.”
Having voiced an embarrassing concern, I merely swallowed.
Henrik was revealing that his forthright manner from the start had stemmed entirely from caring about me.
Serious eyes and a smooth mouth; a quiet, low voice.
I was not someone who deluded myself into thinking I was skilled at handling people. I’d merely tried to erase a foolish past.
Yet his words didn’t seem false in the slightest.
“Atilenta, did I seem like someone about to punish you? What good would that serve me? Why would I do such a thing?”
Henrik’s expression and tone were, as always, calm and composed.
Yet the fierce jealousy he’d shown earlier remained unchanged. That made me suspect his present demeanor might be deliberately constructed.
“……I know you to be a fair-minded person, Your Highness. I apologize for voicing such groundless concerns.”
“I’ve misled you,” Henrik admitted.
Only then did clarity strike me.
Henrik couldn’t possibly be sincere with me—no more than Antonio had been.
I was already holding him in the palm of my hand, arrogantly believing I’d seen through his heart.
I was entrapped and slipping into the snare Henrik had laid out himself—a disaster.
It was the last thing I wanted.
“……Then, the words you spoke at first—they remain unchanged, yes?”
I asked the question even knowing it was foolish.
“If what you said was a transaction, then yes. I’m still examining Arad, aren’t I?”
I gave only a nod, though I felt Henrik’s gaze fixed on me the whole while, my lips dry as I traced them nervously with my tongue.
If our husband-and-wife relationship were to be maintained in name, must I truly behave like a wife as well? Like now, even when no one else is present……?
But when we first made our arrangement, there had been no talk of rivals or jealousy. Tatara of Biaubiga had been the sole exception.
“……You’re still wearing that ring, aren’t you.”
I glanced down at my hand. The Bwendia Ring still gleamed with its mysterious black luster.
Only then did I realize my mistake.
Henrik had always taken care to maintain propriety as a husband before others. I should have done the same, just as he did…….
No matter how urgent matters were, I shouldn’t have spoken to Antonio separately at this banquet.
I, the guilty one, simply squeezed my eyes shut.
“I have no excuse for this blunder, Your Highness. Please, I beg your forgiveness—”
“I told you I wouldn’t do that, Atilenta. Simply speaking with him won’t damage your honor. You merely enjoyed a reception from your homeland, and if anyone dares say otherwise, I’ll say I sent you as my representative. That settles it.”
I lifted my gaze to study him more carefully.
Henrik seemed to have already resolved everything. His demeanor was entirely different from moments before.
……So there was only one reason he’d been angry, after all?
Despite what he’d said, I kept searching for another answer. I had no choice but to.
Jealousy. It wasn’t something I could simply accept.
What if it wasn’t a lie?
Henrik had hardly ever lied to me. If anything, it was I who had hidden unfavorable secrets.
Lost in confusion, I pressed my lips together and said nothing.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————