The Contract Marriage for Attilenta's Revenge - Chapter 77

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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 Through a Marriage Contract Episode 77
Henrik narrowed his brow, considering whether he had more to say, and held his silence for a moment.
“Shabby, aged…… somewhere that doesn’t suit a noble house at all. Truth be told, there would have been nothing strange about her visiting such a place whenever.”
When I raised the question, he gave me the answer.
“After my mother was falsely implicated in that scandal, no small number of servants lost their positions. Flouve was one of them. Apparently, the Iasha Family took her in specially.”
What was the Iasha Family doing?
That incident was something even the royal family had tried to cover up quickly.
In that moment, a sharp premonition flashed through me.
“Are you certain the Iasha Family did that?”
Henrik’s lips curved into a faint smile.
“…… On the surface, yes. After all, she was a servant planted by the Biaoubi Family in the first place. They must have hidden her away the moment the scandal broke.”
“So she wasn’t an ordinary servant, then?”
“Right. If my thinking is correct…… she’s quite deeply connected to that incident.”
What he brought up was rather shocking.
There was only one reason a legitimate queen could be falsely implicated in an incident connected to a mere servant.
…… Only one.
“They protected her so carefully that for a while she wasn’t even seen within these walls. Only after you found something suspicious were we able to investigate properly and uncover it.”
I recalled the day I had encountered that servant, Flouve. The peculiar detail that had bothered me then was……
“Wait a moment. Could that possibly be……”
I didn’t bother finishing my thought and immediately drew out the Mirror.
Beseeching it earnestly to show me the true intentions of the Biaoubi family head.
Soon the Mirror shimmered with a clear green light and gave me my answer.
I saw a scene: Lesicza and the Biaoubi family head seated across from each other.
I narrowed my eyes and looked down at them reflected in the Mirror.
A most curious feeling came over me.
I couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying in their secret conversation, but somehow I grasped the meaning — they were targeting Henrik.
And soon at that.
“From what the Mirror shows…… it seems they’re planning something. Not just the connection between the two families you mentioned before, but the principals themselves have aligned interests, haven’t they?”
When I conveyed what I had gleaned, Henrik calmly stroked his chin.
“My brother already has a betrothed. It was the same when I was unmarried.”
Lesicza covets the throne. On the surface he plays the part of leisure, but beneath he sharpens his blade. He would need capable allies.
The head of the Biaoubi Family wants to link Henrik because the daughter fancies him — but wants a son-in-law without power, someone to manipulate at will.
That’s how they meant to bolster Lesicza’s authority.
“The suspicious place that servant visited…… could it possibly be related to some sort of drug, Your Highness?”
“Yes, you’ve heard something of it? The Black Market. It’s where they sell drugs that don’t circulate among the common people.”
Henrik pulled a document from a heap of papers and showed it to me.
Without even asking if I was permitted to see it, I hurried to examine it.
What I had heard from those noble ladies at a gathering kept gnawing at my mind.
The drug mentioned there seemed no different on the surface from an ordinary tonic. The sort nobles enjoyed for their health.
But with prolonged use, it could produce symptoms of addiction.
And the other drug……
The moment I read the sentence describing that drug’s properties, I stopped short.
“…… There’s a drug here that shouldn’t be used carelessly.”
“That drug business is also a source of funding for the Biaoubi Family. That servant is merely a tool connecting them.”
Henrik conveyed information he had discreetly uncovered.
“…… So the truth is, she was never a servant of the Iasha Family’s daughter.”
As I watched him nod in agreement, another scheme occurred to me.
That woman, the one known to be knowledgeable in mysterious substances — a love elixir, no less. She was called Koshalin, the Iasha Family’s daughter, and seemed close to her.
“I just thought of something else. Something good.”
As if he’d been waiting, Henrik brushed his fingers gently through my hair.
“I suspect my thoughts align with yours.”
We whispered in voices so soft that no one else could have heard.
“If it works as intended, the damage would be considerable.”
“Yes, definitely…… especially for a woman like the Biaoubi Family’s daughter. The image would be devastating.”
I didn’t bother saying that such scheming itself violated a lady’s virtue.
Such things didn’t matter.
So it had to be done.
My expression had hardened, and then crumpled beyond my control. Henrik, who had drawn me close, spoke with perfect composure.
“It’s only repaying those who dared wound you. If they brandished a weapon, they should have expected the blade.”
I made my assent without words, watching those eyes shine cold and lucid.
“He must have felt the same way.”
At that hunting tournament, had I and Henrik conspired together, certain he was my weakness, and attacked me then?
In truth, I still wasn’t certain of Lesicza’s weakness. Even with Kirchia, that side had to remain quiet.
“…The Biaoubi Family head’s weakness, at least, is certain.”
“Yes, of course. This incident won’t break his authority entirely. But we must whittle down his faction.”
Henrik’s voice was cold. His lips twisted in an unpleasant way, and his bearing matched it.
“I won’t be a virtuous ruler.”
For some reason, seeing him like this felt like it had been a long time.
“Though… it’s not easy for others to think of it that way either.”
He had never once boasted to me about his reputation won on the battlefield, not even once.
I placed my hand carefully on his shoulder, hoping it wouldn’t seem like hollow comfort or pity.
“It was something you had to do.”
Yes—to survive.
“This is the path I chose.”
I closed my eyes and leaned against his shoulder.
“Like I told you before, things like this should always be done together.”
Without hesitation, he held me.
“I have no reason to refuse.”

* * *
The method we had settled on after discussion to suppress the Biaoubi Family’s daughter was, if put to words, elegantly simple.
A suspicious Love Elixir discovered in the Black Market, where Flouve, a maidservant of the Iasha Family, had been seen.
We would entangle it with Tatra.
It didn’t matter whether Tatra had actually used the elixir, or whether it was merely a plan, or whether none of it was true.
It made no difference if the family head knew nothing of the secret drug dealings he was conducting.
What mattered was not the fact of direct involvement, but reputation.
A mere suspicion of entanglement in such a matter was enough to ruin an unmarried woman’s reputation.
At an age when she’d be most interested in the opposite sex, she could easily harbor curiosity about such mysterious things in hopes of seducing a man she fancied.
But actually using it, and having it actually become rumor—that was another matter entirely.
And Tatra, of all people, from that distinguished house.
She who had always made her admiration so painfully obvious, who showed her feelings so openly that even without gossip, everyone knew what she felt—
She who had become so jealous of Henrik.
What if the rumor were that she had used this on another man? Or on Henrik himself?
Not that I intended to bring such evidence forward boldly and bring it directly to some social gathering like an exhibit.
The ball hosted by the Biaoubi Family would be the key stage, certainly.
But how to do it? By using the surrounding relationships.
And first, by making use of the Iasha Family’s daughters.
I had Poznan be the first to hear this.
“I’ve heard tell of some unsavory elixir. And I heard it spoken of among the daughters of those noble houses. Surely that shouldn’t be.”
“Your words are wise.”
“Then I trust you’ll pass my concerns quietly along to the other maids and servants. A loyal servant would naturally worry first for her master’s safety, wouldn’t she?”
“Everyone should know how Your Highness shows such broad-minded consideration. I shall do as you command, Your Highness.”
From my words—as though I were merely concerned that noble ladies I knew might be caught up in false rumors—the work had begun.

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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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