The Contract Marriage for Attilenta's Revenge - Chapter 58

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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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Contract Marriage for Atilenta’s Revenge — Episode 58
“I know you’ve already considered divorce. ……This is selfish of me. Still, the place where I was born and raised rejected you.”
I looked at him, barely managing to keep my gaze from wavering, only nodding slightly.
“Yes, that’s right. It’s the truth.”
“I know.”
Henrik exhaled a rather long breath.
“Sigh…….”
That breath carried what seemed like a deep, unfathomable anguish that I could hardly comprehend.
“I’m grateful that you think well of me, but I don’t see it that way. If you were abandoned by your homeland, then I’m the one who destroyed someone else’s. That’s why I chose you as my weapon.”
That’s why I chose you as my weapon.
“And yet I didn’t stand idle or turn back. It wasn’t something I could stop or should have stopped.”
Henrik regarded me with a slanted gaze.
“The same holds now.”
Then, carefully, he stepped closer by one pace.
“You won’t believe it. But I swear to you now by Bwendia — not a word of it false.”
I found myself looking down at Bwendia’s Ring, which carried the aura of the one he’d mentioned.
“The Ring of Bwendia that I gave you truly has power. Why not try believing in that ancient history instead?”
His face and voice were far too earnest, lacking the fresh smile he’d shown me often of late.
“There is no falsehood in the history of Bwendofska. No one can deny the truth that Dragon’s Protection dwells within it. If you would only believe in that ancient history, I would ask for nothing more.”
Henrik kept his hand pressed against my chest. My heart thundered, and I feared he would notice.
“You are very special to me. In this moment, I care for no one else.”
Atilenta. I’ve really made things come to this.
I have neither pure love nor trust within me.
I didn’t know what I was so afraid of, but even breathing became impossible, my full chest threatening to burst.
Yet one thing I knew for certain.
I couldn’t push him away any longer.
I let out a trembling voice like a sigh.
“Then, Your Highness, what should I do…….”
Henrik laughed with a sly, easy confidence.
“Just do as your heart wishes, Atilenta. Since that day, do you know I’ve never once told you that you displease me?”
I couldn’t tear my eyes from him.
“If it’s a foolish misunderstanding, tell me. If you say it plainly, I’ll follow gladly.”
I barely managed to swallow a sigh. How could I ever say I dislike you when every woman gathered here likely feels the same? How could I?
At first glance, his expression was coldly set and stern, but up close his eyes shone like jewels, his brows smooth, his jawline sharp, his lips soft—every feature was striking.
His build was as solid as any knight’s, need I say more. And that voice, cold as autumn wind, once you grew accustomed to it, you could feel a quiet generosity toward his own people woven through it.
Yes, I’d known from the start he was a handsome man beyond my reach, burdened as I am with inferiority. He was the kind who naturally drew every eye in a room.
Remarkably, I’d seen his face flush before.
Because of me alone.
At just this moment, that purely flushed expression came vividly to mind.
Whether from my heart’s relentless pounding or the charged atmosphere, I was suddenly overtaken by a peculiar sensation.
Realizing my expression had given me away, he closed the distance and whispered.
“If you would take my hand, there would be nothing I’d want more.”
I looked down at his hand. The lean muscle and prominent veins made it feel warm even before I touched it.
“What you emphasize so much will continue. As you wish.”
Though Henrik soothed me with a patient tone, fear surged within my heart.
If things went wrong, he was a man capable of displaying such pure passion that he could easily change his words.
In the end, I took his hand.
I already sensed what might unfold.
Instinctively, I squeezed my eyes shut.
“You don’t look the least bit at ease.”
I tried to part my lips and say something.
Do I dislike being close to him?
No, that’s not it.
On our wedding night too, my expectations went completely awry, leaving me only embarrassed and flustered.
But I already know.
The reality that I was the one who first asked him.
I didn’t let go of his hand. Instead, I tightened my grip.
“It’s……not uncomfortable.”
Henrik drew me into his embrace very slowly. His hands, which had first captured mine and my back with a gentle touch, gradually tightened with considerable strength.
Like someone who would not let go.
“Don’t push yourself.”
“……Your Highness.”
“I told you—it doesn’t matter how long it takes.”
On impulse, I lifted my gaze to meet his eyes. In those bright, wide eyes like a lake, I saw only myself reflected.
How could this be possible?
This impossible patience—something I’d never dared to imagine—felt altogether foreign.
In fact, this very restraint seemed to reveal his feelings far more vividly than the confession I’d just heard.
“……Yes.”
I could manage nothing more than that single syllable. I swallowed hard, fighting down the unexpected tightness rising in my throat.
He held me for a long time. With my eyes closed, I felt everything: the warm, unfamiliar sunlight, the salt-tinged ocean breeze, his breath and warmth transmitted through every inch of my skin.
“……They’ll be looking for us downstairs.”
After what felt like an eternity of stillness, this embrace—quiet as the ancient, deep-rooted smile he’d shown me so often before—continued.
I finally parted my lips, speaking as slowly as a child uttering words for the first time.
“You needn’t worry. If you’re really concerned, I can send word to Barsha.”
Sometime during this, Henrik’s hand had begun gently stroking my hair.
“After all, we’re husband and wife, aren’t we?”
He laughed lightly, with the easy charm of a carefree aristocrat.
“Who would dare say anything about us spending a little time here?”
Henrik drew back the curtain with a sweep of his hand and gestured into the room beyond.
“You’ve made such a difficult decision—you must be exhausted. Come, rest for a while.”
The room still overflowed with innumerable flowers scattered across every surface, their heavy fragrance hanging thick in the air.
At the center, a bed stood adorned with unmistakable romantic ceremony.
Where exactly…should I sit?
I wandered aimlessly like a traveler who’d lost their way, deliberately keeping my eyes from the bed.
“Why don’t you make yourself comfortable?”
But Henrik, as though nothing were amiss, simply dropped onto the bed and beckoned me over.
I couldn’t refuse him. Very slowly, I walked to his side and carefully settled myself on the edge.
We’d been holding each other only moments before.
Yet sitting together on this bed in a room arranged this way, something oddly awkward now filled the space between us.
So I simply fretted with my innocent fingers, pressing them together without purpose.
“How fortunate.”
Then Henrik offered me something.
“Your Highness, this is…….”
It was the small box—the one that had caught my eye before, the one he’d been holding. Given what it likely contained, my throat went dry as though of its own accord.
Henrik drew a Necklace from the box.
“Today is yours alone. The banquet has already begun, but still—accept this.”

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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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