The Contract Marriage for Attilenta's Revenge - Chapter 79

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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 — Chapter 79
“You seem to doubt me, as though I’ve done something dishonorable. If you’ve endured any scandal, I’m truly sorry for it.”
I set aside my innocent mask for a moment. Yet to ensure my reproach wasn’t excessive, I maintained a coolly measured demeanor.
“It seems my meaning didn’t come across clearly.”
“I… I would never presume such a thing. Forgive me, Your Highness.”
Henrik, who had been watching her apology, stepped toward the door as though ready to leave on the spot.
“Is that all? Let’s go.”
Tatra called out to me urgently.
“Your Highness, I dare make a request. I beg you—in light of all the time we’ve known each other, might a wise ruler such as yourself offer me counsel—”
Henrik pulled me close and spoke with ice in his voice.
“Tatra, step back now. Must I swear to you that your affair has nothing to do with my wife?”
“Your Highness…”
Though beautiful Tatra called to him with longing, Henrik’s expression didn’t waver.
“Or do you wish everyone to personally confirm that you handled that poison?”
“No, no, Your Highness. I only… I was so worried—”
Tatra’s face had gone completely white, and she shook her head in denial.
“There’s another option, as I mentioned before. I’ll introduce you to an affable aide.”
She extended a delicate arm toward Henrik.
“I… I haven’t any such intentions yet, Your Highness—”
“Then this is my will.”
Her unspoken desire to have him take her hand hung in the air.
“Tatra, I’m certain I’ve told you this before.”
Henrik didn’t even glance at her outstretched hand.
“Return to your father’s embrace—the one that keeps you caged like a bird—and confess everything to him.”
He cut her down with the finality of someone telling her she’d overstepped.
“The banquet was quite enjoyable, but this? I confess my disappointment at such conduct.”
“Your Highness Henrik, I beg your pardon, but I never meant to be disrespectful—”
“Don’t you dare touch my wife again. I know your secrets as well.”
At last, Tatra could not bring herself to reach her ghostly white hand toward him. She bowed her head in defeat.
“I will obey what you have said, Your Highness.”
As she left the room, Tatra looked back at me one final time.
With the resentment one shows toward a cruel person.
Once, that look had been the jealous face of a rival in love. Now it was different.
“How… how could such a thing… I can’t believe it. Even now…”
I smiled softly, as though I’d just received a compliment.
And so she departed, leaving only suspicion in her wake.
We remained at the banquet until its end and returned to the palace without incident.
Before retiring that night, Henrik relayed the Biaubi Family Head’s response to me.
“He asked that I be generous and forgive his daughter’s unintended rudeness. He spoke as though he cherished his child as dearly as I cherish my wife.”
“He understood your meaning perfectly.”
I recalled that family head—the one who’d seemed cordial and warm-hearted. A man of his station wouldn’t stand idle if his daughter were caught up in such rumors.
Even as I felt as though I’d landed a blow, I couldn’t quite feel the clean satisfaction that should have come with it.
“Still, I won’t drop my guard. I plan to keep watch on the Biaubi side as well.”
Having signaled my agreement to Henrik, I made my intention clear.
“I think it would be good to visit that place myself.”
Even if Tatra, who’d been like a thorn in my side, was now suppressed, there was no time to rest.
“You seem determined to be certain.”
The moment I saw his composed expression—yet somehow fractured, as if something had cracked within—I understood.
He hadn’t intended to let me go.
“Yes, and something else might be tangled up in this. Tatra or Biaubi—neither will let this pass as is.”
“You would go yourself.”
“Yes, actually, I’ve been curious about it ever since I first heard of it. A mysterious object that even noblewomen know of—it truly intrigued me.”
“It might aid your Magic?”
“Yes, though of course you were planning to go yourself.”
My eyes swept across his sharp gaze, his jawline, his imposing frame in one swift moment.
Everyone already knows his face. How could they not?
“But when you go to such a place, you should disguise yourself. I can do the same—simply wear a veil. Like a priest’s companion. I won’t say a word.”
“…”
He released a long, thoughtful breath, as if deliberating. But I knew he would ultimately consent, so I waited silently, offering no pressure.
“As you wish. I’ll have a knight accompany you.”

* * *
A few days later.
Half my face hidden behind the hood of a thick cloak and opaque fabric, I slipped in behind Krakup, who was dressed to pass for anything but a knight, and entered the Apothecary.
It was the place Plob had mentioned.
The exterior was worn, and the air inside hung thick with the scent of incense and herbs. I’d suspected from the start that this was no ordinary shop, yet the interior looked precisely like a typical apothecary.
“Welcome, customer. Please let me know if there’s anything you need.”
I moved slowly through the wares. Fortunately, the proprietor made no move toward us, remaining behind the counter instead.
Then again, a shop dealing in such particular goods would naturally draw particular customers, so caution was only prudent on the owner’s part.
That was when something caught my eye—a white package marked with a blue pattern.
It was the medicine I’d taken in Francia. It had been so long since I’d seen it that my body leaned toward it without my noticing, my memory grasping at the edges of recognition.
The name was definitely…….
“Are you perhaps interested in Adela, customer?”
Krakup answered without my prompting.
“It is something I know of.”
The owner maintained a cautious demeanor while offering a smooth explanation.
“I see. It is excellent for the body, but……it could prove harmful to excess for that customer.”
What?
I whipped my head around to stare at him, immediately signaling Krakup with my eyes.
The knight’s clipped question came at once.
“What do you mean?”
I picked up the white package. It was medicine Jaema and Selena had recommended, something I’d taken regularly.
“……A woman taking it may find it difficult to conceive.”
Shocked, my grip went slack and I dropped the medicine.
I didn’t know.
Selena had taken it too—I was certain of it.
Could they have given me a larger dose?
“I see.”
Krakup answered with perfect composure, picked up the fallen medicine and returned it to its place, then gently guided me out of the apothecary.
As I emerged from that dark alley and returned to the palace under the knight’s escort, I could not speak a word to him.
Conflicting emotions and thoughts whirled inside me like a storm.
So that was why my health had improved so much recently?
I’d thought my inability to conceive was my own failing.
It was all a scheme.
If I’d borne a child, it would have been harder for Antonio to divorce me, and difficult for him to push me aside at that victory banquet under the pretense of an heir…….
“How long…….”
I muttered without thinking, then quickly covered my mouth. Krakup gave no sign of having heard anything, merely keeping watch behind me in silence.
How long. What, exactly…….
I simply understood anew that from the beginning, I had been nothing but a tool.
And the king who orchestrated it all, yet permitted this.
Upon reaching the palace, I moved with quick steps toward the washroom.
Fortunately, Henrik was not there.
“Ugh…….”
I retched, and tears streamed down my face as I did.
“A divorce, you said? For the Duke’s House heir? Antonio?”
I wiped my tears away roughly.
Even my crying felt wasteful.
“I couldn’t bear children? And you did this? Damn you, Antonio.”
I wanted to destroy everything.
Indignation boiled up inside me.
“It’s my fault, you said. That I wasn’t enough…….”
Antonio, the Duke’s House physician, Selena, Jaema, all the Francia nobles—they had all said the same thing.
Whether expressing sympathy, casting blame, or doing both, it all amounted to the same.
Yet what rose in my chest now was not anger, but something vile and filthy.
“What did I ever do wrong…….”

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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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