The Contract Marriage for Attilenta's Revenge - Chapter 75

—————
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, Chapter 75
It wasn’t something I could dismiss so lightly—a kiss that other lovers shared all the time, as though it were nothing more than a trifle.
Especially when this was a remarriage for me.
If a kiss carried that much weight, then what on earth could anything more amount to……?
My face flushed crimson, I forced myself to answer without stammering, striving for composure.
“……I understand. But still, someday I hope that I…….”
I trailed off into mumbling excuses, but my lips closed naturally of their own accord. I still didn’t know when I would find the courage to open my heart and move closer to him.
I let out a soft sigh and brushed back the hair that had slipped loose, tucking it behind my ear.
“Honestly, I’m not sure. I’m sorry—that’s the truth.”
“Tell me without holding back. I’m listening carefully.”
I looked at him—who maintained his unshakeable composure even in this mysterious forest, as unlikely as that seemed—and hesitated before parting my lips slowly.
“I hope you won’t betray me.”
“I know.”
“You……don’t seem like the type to betray me. Even after what you’ve been through, I can tell—though you might think me foolish for it.”
“I don’t think that at all.”
“……Your touch doesn’t repel me. Not now, and……not when we sleep together in the palace either.”
“But your heart isn’t entirely the same as mine.”
“……No.”
I wavered, then reluctantly gave my assent. Even as I confessed this inadequate feeling, I had no intention of changing it.
“Even this much feels like you’ve opened your heart quite generously.”
Henrik. The name rose unbidden to the tip of my tongue, and I turned it over in my mind.
“I’m glad.”
He made no attempt to hide his faint smile.
“I want to hold you while we sleep tonight too.”
Acting on impulse, I reached out and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, nodding.
Those broad shoulders that would swallow my entire body if I burrowed into them, the steady heartbeat felt through his warm chest against my cheek, the fresh scent of flowers and grass that tickled my nose, the gentle green breeze…….
Though we had fled the ornate, comfortable palace and found ourselves suddenly sleeping rough in this forest, somehow it didn’t feel uncomfortable at all.
It just……felt right.
“You don’t seem worried at all. I don’t even know when it will happen.”
“Because you’re coming closer to me like this.”
I know. I remained nestled in his arms for a long while, savoring the low murmur of his voice.

* * *
The next morning.
“Let’s go meet the Elder today.”
Andi appeared without a sound from somewhere unknown. I followed her out onto the path.
The place where the Elder lived wasn’t far, and it didn’t feel like any particularly special space.
It was simply beneath the deep shade cast by a massive tree, the sort one saw commonly throughout this forest.
“Child, you really do resemble Bris.”
Someone who had been absorbed in sculpting something in the shade looked up at me and spoke immediately.
“I figured you’d say that.”
Andi affirmed it with an expression of evident satisfaction.
“Especially in how stubborn you are, isn’t that right, Lizena?”
I felt a strange sting, as though the truth had been struck home without warning.
“……Is that so?”
I glanced at the Elder introduced as Lizena, but unlike Andi, she was half-naked, and her appearance was somehow awkward to confront directly.
“Particularly in that you haven’t wondered about it until now, or used it.”
She seemed to see right through to the Mirror hidden in my breast. I decided to change the subject slightly.
“Why did you choose to leave a Mirror specifically? You all seem to be able to cast Magic even on leaves.”
Anya, who stood like a shadow behind Andi just as she had yesterday, burst into giggles.
“She liked it because it came from the outside world.”
Tanya also offered an explanation with an artless smile.
“When something catches her fancy, she thinks of nothing else. Just like you.”
“You only thought of one thing when you received that Mirror, didn’t you?”
Now there was no escaping the embarrassment of having my secrets laid bare by people I’d scarcely known until yesterday.
“Yes. I moved only for the future I desired.”
“I suppressed doubt, worry, even curiosity. I didn’t even attempt to call you through the Mirror.”
“……I was foolish.”
The moment I spoke my regret, Lizena set down whatever she had been sculpting and strode toward me.
“Don’t say that.”
And in a voice as solemn as an ancient tree with roots running deep underground, she spoke.
“Child, I had hoped Bris would not leave this place. But I have never blamed her for going.”
“……How could you not?”
“Because it is Bris’s life.”
Lizena’s demeanor was remarkably composed, as if she were conveying an immutable truth of the world.
“Bris’s daughter. So rest here comfortably. There may be children who cannot fully accept you and remain wary, but I want you to remember—you are always welcome here.”
With a serene face that did not crease even a brow, Lizena offered these tender words, then picked up the sculpture-like figure she had set down and began shaping it again with meticulous care.
I stared at her, dumbstruck.
I had sensed it from the way Andi spoke of her with respect, calling her the elder, but Lizena seemed to be a being who had lived through far longer spans of time than anyone else here.
If that were so, it must mean she possessed far more knowledge than I could ever comprehend.
“Atilenta, shall we finish the conversation we were having yesterday? Hmm, you said you were curious about Bwendia?”
Andi, stepping out of the shadow, plopped herself down on the sunlit earth. I followed suit and asked at once.
“Um, Andi. How do you know so much about dragons? You all live in the forest. Have you perhaps ventured outside like my mother did?”
“You could say that.”
It seemed there were many demi-humans who were cautious of the outside world.
But there must also be demi-humans who engaged in exchange with it.
“I had only heard about it in stories. I watched an opera about her.”
I continued, briefly explaining the content of the opera that dealt with Bwendia.
“She seemed to have shown such deep favor toward a mere human. Even if the ending was tragedy. If she were a dragon, would she have already known such an outcome?”
“It’s said Bwendia took an interest in humans because of a certain incident, but… well, she was someone who rarely spoke of such things.”
“Then you didn’t engage in frequent conversation with her.”
“Child, are you curious about a dragon’s love?”
Lizena suddenly approached and asked. My eyes widened in surprise.
“What? Love?”
I raised my voice reflexively, then let the thought trail away.
“I was curious about her story, but…… I was mainly thinking whether it might help with Magic. She’s such a different kind of being after all…….”
“Always look with your own eyes.”
I could not escape it—I met Lizena’s gaze directly. Her eyes were clear and transparent like spring water, tinged with blue, yet also warm like the gentlest sunlight, tinged with gold.
“The essence of life is the same.”
Though anyone could see she was not the same kind of being as I, there was a mysterious power in her calm voice that conveyed a subtle certainty: all are the same existence.
“Child, Atilenta. Your health was not so good, was it?”
The enigmatic woman gazed at me intently and asked.
“Ah, yes. It had been that way for some years…….”
“Here, take this. It’s medicine I made after seeing you yesterday. You’re not in poor health now, but taking this will help you recover much more.”
Andi handed me something wrapped round in white cloth. I accepted it somewhat reluctantly and spoke what I had guessed.
“You said yesterday you had something to do, and this was it…….”
“Yes, you’re worth that much to me.”
Andi spoke warmly and squeezed my hand. Her eyes and lips trembled slightly—an expression I had never seen before.
It felt as though she wanted to say more but was holding back.
Did they know about my circumstances—that I had been unable to bear children?
“Keep it with you always, and take it when you need to.”
I gazed down blankly at the medicine. Memories of past shame surfaced, and I felt a deep sigh welling up unbidden.
I had long since resigned myself to the reality that I was a barren woman, that nothing would truly change. Yet I offered only a broad smile.
“Thank you so much.”
The several days I spent in the Teresia forest, resting as if on a retreat, passed in a heartbeat.
On the day of departure, the sisters Andi, Anya, and Tanya, who followed me to the forest’s edge, offered warm blessings.
“Be well. That’s what Bris would wish for you.”
“You’re always welcome to come back.”
Parting from the enigmatic demi-humans whose faces had become familiar, the journey back unfolded still like the Pilgrim’s Path—quiet and serene.
Before boarding the ship bound for Bwendofska, Henrik, his arm draped warmly around my shoulders, asked.
“How was this journey?”
I tilted my head slightly toward his shoulder. Looking out at the sky and sea that stretched before us like a vivid painting.
“I didn’t want to leave.”
Henrik burst into a bright laugh.
The salty, bracing scent of the sea, and his smile—dazzling as sunlight on white linen.
I sensed it then.
That I would remember this moment for a long time to come.

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