The Contract Marriage for Attilenta's Revenge - Chapter 50

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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 50
Henrik’s face was anything but leisured and unhurried. When emotions—hot, unfamiliar—rippled through his gaze, I felt the sudden, overwhelming urge to flee this place entirely.
It was as though I stood before him again beneath the moonlight, stripped bare, just as I had that night.
“Surely you don’t mean that sincerely.”
“……I misspoke, Your Highness.”
Henrik exhaled a soft, low sigh. It felt less like reproach and more like a natural lament.
After a silence where only sighs seemed to linger, he—whose eyes had not left me—shifted the subject.
“……How did you find me back then? How much did you already know about me?”
I knew it was an emotion wholly out of place in this moment, yet I found myself grateful that he’d chosen to cover for my foolish transgression.
“As Your Highness witnessed before, I found someone to aid me through the Mirror. I had also seen accounts of your accomplishments in the newspapers.”
“To take revenge.”
When Henrik stated it plainly, I nodded without hesitation, confirming it in silence.
“Were you not afraid? Of course, I know your abilities are useful. But it was our first meeting—how could you know what I would do? You came alone.”
Suddenly, I recalled the day I first saw him. The memory was still vivid.
Crouched low in the stern vigilance of knights clad in black armor, I had only heard his voice asking who had come, yet I was already taut with tension.
When I finally faced him, his impression and demeanor were far colder and more merciless than what the Mirror had shown me, and I had felt a chill run through me.
“I would never presume to doubt Your Highness’s words……”
But I understood well what kind of information the Mirror gave to me.
I forced myself to speak with confidence.
“I felt no fear. I came only to persuade Your Highness.”
“……If you had truly wished to topple your homeland through war according to your desires, marriage would not have been necessary as a means.”
Though Henrik held no weapon in his hands, it was as though he wielded a small blade, turning me inside out.
His violet eyes, which always shone with brilliance, and his dark, low voice possessed that very power.
Even now, when those eyes held only me, his cold nature and presence had nowhere to go.
“As I have said before, I thought I must first escape from those who deceived me. With a rational pretext.”
Yet strangely, I did not feel afraid of him now. There was only a peculiar tension that rippled across my skin and stirred within me.
I continued to bite my lips. Even as I was telling Henrik outright that he was merely a means to my purpose, he continued the conversation.
“A rational……pretext.”
I felt myself ensnared once more in a snare Henrik wielded, one I could never escape.
“Did you plan what comes after?”
“That is……”
But I had never thought deeply about what would come after my revenge was complete. Only when the inferno raging in my heart had been extinguished could I build anything new.
There was nothing I wished to build in the immediate aftermath. I had walked this path thinking only of my single goal.
“Your Highness. I apologize, but it is difficult for me to speak of such things. You have never asked about them before, after all.”
Whether he had understood my true meaning or not, Henrik’s brows knitted in displeasure.
“What, is that a private matter? Are we not husband and wife?”
I pressed my lips firmly shut.
“You were considering divorce as well.”
He had found the answer far too easily, and now his brow furrowed and his mouth grew rigid.
He was always a man whose expression remained composed and at ease……
Had there been a time when his expression contorted so sharply, so unlike himself?
Yes, there had been.
When I said I would speak with Antonio again. When we were alone together. When I……had suffered an accident.
Suddenly, as understanding dawned, my eyes widened.
Rather, this kind of reaction felt like even clearer evidence of his feelings than a direct expression of jealousy would have been.
“You’re not denying it, Atilenta.”
Even if I found a single piece of evidence supporting his feelings, I could not dare speak a word. Knowing full well that it would sound like an affirmation.
“……I suppose so.”
As he released a deep sigh, looking as though resigned, I reflexively spoke carelessly.
“Your Highness, that is——”
“There is still work to be done.”
Henrik shook his head once, decisively.
“You……rest now. Fully.”
He bit me again, just as he had in the guest house in Francia.
“Yes, I shall do so. Your Highness.”
His expression and the atmosphere around him, like that of someone hurt, seemed to validate my judgment.
Then what use were any words I might speak?
I rose from the sofa at once and turned away. I had worried that he might press against my side, creating that peculiar tension again, but fortunately that did not happen.
Did you really want to hurt him, Atilenta?
No, that’s not it, but……
A sigh threatened to escape—one I couldn’t possibly bear to release. I swallowed it down hard, like bitter medicine, again and again.
At least I wouldn’t let it out in front of him.
In this confusion, that much was certain.

* * *
“Your Highness. You seem troubled, if I may be so bold as to say—please use me freely whenever you need.”
I blinked slowly, watching Poznan’s reflection in the mirror.
Her expression was as composed as always. A maid who responded keenly to my moods—she wasn’t bad at all. Besides, everything she heard would make its way back to Henrik, I was sure.
“I’m not worried about anything. Only… there’s something I’m curious about.”
I tapped the vanity thoughtfully before parting my lips.
“At the gathering in Francia recently, I saw people from Arad.”
Since returning from Francia, I’d been hiding away in my own space, using Magic.
‘Mirror, there’s something Antonio said that troubles me. Show me what Arad is scheming in this exchange.’
So I’d pleaded earnestly, but the Mirror showed only Antonio dressed impeccably, and the people from Arad in their long veils and platinum-colored garments.
Clearly they were protected by some formidable magic. I wasn’t deeply frustrated though. The timing was fortunate—a good opportunity had presented itself.
“But I’ve heard so little about their State Religion.”
Poznan produced several newspapers as though she’d prepared them in advance and spread them out.
“If you look at this article here, Your Highness, I think you’ll understand better.”
I skimmed over the densely written text and the carefully drawn illustrations.
The State Religion of Arad—at its very apex was someone called the High Priest who had recently performed what could only be called miraculous Magic, saving the poor and sick.
The people of Arad praised him without exception, it was said.
“It sounds like their ruler cherishes and cares for his people greatly. A peaceful nation.”
“Indeed. I’ve heard that the High Priest also commands the Holy Knight Order.”
I nodded, listening carefully to Poznan’s explanation.
“Much like the Temple of Brwendia, which has traditionally maintained people prepared for holy war.”
I found myself wanting to meet this High Priest in person—his faith was remarkable, and the power he wielded seemed considerable.
Whether it was instinct or something rooted in the past, those who believed in the divine so earnestly made me slightly uneasy.
“Have you ever met any clerics from Arad, or anyone else from there?”
“I only caught a glimpse of the delegation from Arad at a gathering before. What struck me was how they called each other by different titles. Unlike the Temple of Brwendia, their hierarchy seemed far more clearly defined.”
“You’ve piqued my interest—tell me more.”
“Yes, they…”
As Poznan spoke in her measured voice, I recalled a thread I’d picked up from my conversation with Antonio.
Even if Arad were truly an ordinary holy nation, it could all be an elaborate disguise.
If they were preparing Display Magic…
What if there were a gathering where Francia’s nobles and Arad’s clergy discussed such magic together?
Though Antonio would likely never invite me to such a thing.
If the opportunity arose, I wanted desperately to go and see.
If I traveled to Arad myself, it might help me understand something. Just as it had in Francia.
For now, I lacked the pretext to attempt it, and asking Henrik outright felt complicated. So I resigned myself to waiting for a later chance.
After gathering such useful information from Poznan early that morning, I spent my usual mealtime with Henrik.
I stole a glance at him. Dark hair, bright eyes, neat appearance. Always the same composed man.
Suddenly, some small hope stirred in me. Perhaps he’d had a change of heart.
Our arrangement had always been this kind. So there was no need to dredge up past events and unsettle him. Remaining calm was surely the right answer.
Such feelings were… only momentary, after all.
Henrik, eating calmly, spoke to me first in a low, measured voice.
“Your birthday approaches soon.”

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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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