The Contract Marriage for Attilenta's Revenge - Chapter 71

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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 Contract Marriage for Revenge — Chapter 071
Atilenta, you cannot escape from me. Never.

* * *
It happened quite suddenly. At least, that’s how it felt to me.
“Atilenta. Would you be interested in going to Teresia Forest?”
On an ordinary morning with no particular plans, Henrik appeared unexpectedly groomed and put-together despite the early hour, posing a question I never saw coming.
“Do you dislike it?”
I’d only recently woken and still felt somewhat dazed; I’d never even considered such a thing, yet I found myself nodding without thinking.
“Of course not. If the opportunity arose…”
Looking out through the clean window where golden sunlight poured in, I realized it was autumn—the foliage was glowing brilliantly, much like when I’d first arrived here.
Henrik held a faint smile, like an old maple tree suffused with gentle color.
“Good. We’ll depart together then. Our marriage anniversary is coming up soon, after all.”
“I beg your pardon?”
I found myself asking for clarification, but he seemed utterly unbothered.
“I’ve already obtained the King’s permission. Don’t worry about leaving the palace.”
“Now… this very moment?”
“Do you have some other obligation?”
One of his eyebrows lifted subtly.
Wondering if he was jealous of some imaginary rival, I hastily waved my hands in denial.
“That’s not it. It’s just rather sudden. I’m truly grateful that you’d go to such lengths for an anniversary, but truth be told, there’s quite a distance involved, isn’t there? And it’s not a place I know well.”
“I understand your concerns, but everything is already prepared. So please, do as you wish.”
I blinked slowly. It was an unexpected situation, but there had to be a reason he was doing this.
“Then… I shall follow gladly, Your Highness.”
And so we departed—though we took only two carriages with just a handful of knights, a notably modest retinue for a royal couple traveling abroad.
The moment we boarded the carriage, I voiced my questions.
“Your Highness, would you please tell me the reason for all this?”
“Hmm?”
Henrik regarded me with an unhurried expression.
“You seem unusually hasty today, unlike yourself. I’m curious if there’s a particular reason.”
He gently enclosed my hand in his.
“Lord Krakup offered me some advice not long ago.”
He slowly traced the back of my hand, sometimes circling gently with his fingertips.
“He said that to emphasize how well we get along, there’s nothing quite as effective as honoring an anniversary.”
Warmth from him gradually spread through my hand and radiated through my entire body—a peculiar, tingling sensation.
“Kobel agreed as well.”
That man must be quite the loyal servant, then. Well, he’s even been entrusted with teaching me, after all.
I studied his face carefully. He seemed to have more to say.
“The matter concerning your brother was resolved safely the other day, wasn’t it? Think of this as a gift.”
It was truly sudden, as I’ve said. But that man—I was certain he’d checked every detail of our journey beforehand.
I couldn’t even guess how long he’d kept this hidden for today.
Did he want to see my surprised face? The way he had when he gave me the necklace…
Almost absently, I touched the necklace I’d been wearing continuously since that day.
“I’m truly delighted. Thank you.”
He smiled freely and brightly, seeming genuinely pleased.
“I’m relieved to hear it.”
Still not quite accustomed to that smile, I felt embarrassed and gazed out the window instead.
But as the silence threatened to stretch on, which would be impolite, I carefully ventured to express a curiosity I’d long suppressed.
“…Is there any new news regarding Princess Barsha?”
Henrik adopted one of his characteristic cunning expressions.
“In fact, I was joking with the very lord who gave me such advice.”
Though Henrik is generally magnanimous toward others, something about it seemed hard to imagine, so I tilted my head inquiringly.
“You were, Your Highness?”
“Yes. I told him that despite still being unmarried, he seemed more of an expert on the matter than I am.”
Recalling that iron-willed knight’s demeanor, a small laugh escaped me. Lord Krakup would certainly have responded firmly, insisting I not make such jokes.
“As for Barsha’s situation, I told him to resolve it by the time I return. However he must. The lord needs time, of course, but I cannot afford to give him indefinitely.”
Watching him fret seriously over his younger sister, I nodded in agreement.
Barsha had broken a long-standing betrothal after learning of his feelings. The sooner she could establish a new position, the less her honor would suffer.
But in his presence, I suppressed any deeper worry.
The journey was long. We exchanged only trivial conversation—the sort of things we’d scarcely remember later.
The way stations where we lodged along the route caused no great hardship, and truthfully, I had no desire to lodge complaints.
It was merely a certain feeling that bloomed within me.
The thought that since meeting him, I’d experienced so many new things.
I’d seen the sea, and now I was visiting the Teresia Forest.
I wondered if there would be more opportunities like this in the future, and I could only ask the mirror hidden deep in my bosom.
Was this truly the future I had yearned for?
When my thoughts reached that point, confusion surged again—but the moment we finally arrived at the Harbor, all such stray thoughts scattered like dust.
It was a dazzling, beautiful, brilliant, and vibrant harbor.
“That’s the ship we’ll be sailing on. What do you think?”
When Henrik stretched out his hand to point at the vessel, where elegant straight lines harmonized with vine-like curves, admiration escaped my lips unbidden.
“Wow…….”
He seemed intent on disguising his station, and handed me a thick cloak as well. Our retinue was kept to the bare minimum.
When anxiety didn’t completely fade and I asked cautiously, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“I went to the Temple beforehand and obtained assurances.”
Perhaps we had been granted some special protective magic to shield us.
And so I boarded a ship for the first time, and set out beyond the continent where I was born and raised, toward a distant land.
Henrik was a man of thorough preparation, showing no hesitation. Even on that first journey across unfamiliar soil, all passed without incident.
I had worried there might be conflict because we came from abroad, but the path Henrik’s knights led us along was utterly secluded.
To speak plainly, the way from the foreign harbor to the forest felt almost like a pilgrim’s road.
And when we finally arrived at the Teresia Forest—
“We’ve arrived, Your Highness.”
I gazed around and let out a long, lingering breath.
“Ah…….”
It was a forest so immense that it couldn’t be taken in at a glance—thick with trees I had seen only in dreams.
Towering ancient trees I had never glimpsed in Francia or Bwendofska, and grasses and flowers that grew taller than I stood.
It felt unreal.
“Now…… what do we do?”
When I looked at him and tilted my head in confusion, Henrik rested his chin thoughtfully on his fist.
“To enter here, from what I’ve heard—”
My goodness?
That was when it happened.
Between the trees, where no gap seemed to exist, a figure emerged—peculiarly sporting long rabbit ears that stood alert and twitching.
Following came a person darkly tanned and another as pale as if never touched by sunlight.
“……Beast-humans.”
One of the knights muttered. I too found my eyes widening at the sight of these beings I had never encountered.
Moreover, the one with rabbit ears let flow hair the color of sunset red—almost like a mother’s locks.
From this stranger emanated an aura as clear as spring water. Though unfamiliar, it felt strangely comforting.
“So you really are Atilenta.”
At the same moment, strange words struck my ears with perfect clarity. Yet I understood their meaning at once.
I don’t know the language of this land. It was far too strange.
Even stranger was that though I had never seen this woman before, her casual manner of speech felt not at all odd.
“……Do you know who I am?”
I spoke in formal speech almost unconsciously, showing caution, and her rabbit ears twitched. She moved lightly toward me, step by graceful step.
The knights protecting us seemed utterly unconcerned.
“My name is Andi. I was a friend of your mother.”

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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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