The Kidnapped Prince is Mine Now - Chapter 2

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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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Chapter 2
Now, let me rewind to the moment before I threatened the kidnapped prince.
‘Do not attempt to comprehend the divine.’
Words I’d heard countless times from that insufferable Archbishop’s mouth. One of the rare opinions where I actually agreed with him.
Long ago, I made a wish to God. Or rather, it was more of a yearning directed at no one in particular.
‘In my next life, I want to live with sound hands. For a long, long time.’
Why did I make such a wish? I’ll explain that later.
In any case, the wish was granted. Though it manifested in a twisted form.
When I opened my eyes, I had become a Saint in another world.
My hands were intact. All ten fingers moved perfectly. Except.
‘What is this hellish life loop?’
The prince before me had no idea. That his journey to the monastery was already the ‘sixth time.’
Rothar brushed away the hand gripping his jaw, but then studied my face intently for a long moment. Finally, he asked with a grave expression.
“Did you suffer a head injury?”
I hadn’t expected him to be frightened, but his genuinely suspicious gaze left me momentarily speechless.
Even now, he maintained respectful speech.
“I’m not injured. I’m not insane either.”
I lightly shook the man’s jaw as I replied.
“I have no intention of forcing myself on a man who resists and taking him as my husband.”
….
The bluntness of my word choice made Rothar’s expression even more subtle—the look of someone checking whether I was truly a demon wearing a Saint’s mask.
‘Perhaps that’s exactly what I am.’
Abduction marriage. An involuntary union achieved through physical coercion or threats without the other’s consent.
It was a method no one possessing a sacred soul meant to watch over the weak would ever choose.
However, abduction marriage had become an archaic custom used only as a political tool within the Empire. I had no intention of regressing from that trajectory.
“Maximilian.”
I whispered it like dangling bait. At the mention of that name, Rothar’s eyes sharpened for an instant.
“Don’t you want to crush that bastard?”
As I looked down at his face, now etched with unmistakable murderous intent, a memory surfaced. Of a man who resembled yet didn’t resemble the prince before me.
‘Elise. You need to bite properly.’
The First Prince of the Empire, the future Emperor Maximilian. The very man who had thrown my life into a pit five times over.
***
Saint Elise.
The moment I inhabited this body, I gained memories from before I turned twenty. And I understood.
‘Just smile when you’re told to. That’s your job.’
This life would not be easy.
A commoner orphan with no education. A symbolic existence with no special abilities. That was the Holy Maiden’s current status. Even before I possessed her, she had been manipulated as the Archbishop’s tool.
So at first, I tried to escape the old man’s grasp. It would have been even better if I could shed the cumbersome title of ‘Holy Maiden.’
But there was a problem.
‘She’s beautiful. Even more so when she cries.’
‘…Excuse me?’
I had caught Maximilian’s eye.
Shortly after, his first tyranny as Emperor was the ‘confinement of the Holy Maiden.’
Of course, now was the time to focus on the present. I looked down at Rotar’s rigid face and continued.
“Let’s make a deal. With quite favorable terms.”
“…A deal?”
Rotar’s brow furrowed deeply.
“Who is the principal in this transaction? You, the Holy Maiden, or the Archbishop?”
Look at this bastard.
Hearing this question, I understood what the ‘Holy Maiden’ represented in Rotar’s mind. He still thought of me as nothing more than the Archbishop’s errand girl.
In truth, he wasn’t wrong. I had lived that way for years. Still, hearing it directly irritated me.
“Listen.”
I brought my face closer to Rotar’s, close enough that I could feel his warm breath.
“You were supposed to die the moment you entered Lumen Monastery. That was the deal between the Archbishop and Maximilian.”
“…”
“In exchange for killing you, the Archbishop was to receive the western gold mines. Ostensibly a donation to the Temple, but really just padding his own pockets.”
Let the poor faithful eat dirt. Sometimes it seemed to be the Archbishop’s creed.
“You know as well as I do—would Maximilian be satisfied with simply locking away a rebellious half-brother in a monastery? That demon’s spawn?”
Of course, it would have been difficult to imagine your throat being slit on the very day you entered the monastery.
“…So?”
Finally, Rotar asked in a subdued voice.
“What are you trying to gain from this abduction marriage?”
A good question. It was time to reach the conclusion of this story.
I looked him straight in the eye and spoke.
“I’m going to kill Maximilian. That bastard. And I need you for that.”
“…You’re saying I still have that much use left?”
Use. The way of speaking from someone who had mastered the art of viewing himself objectively.
I nodded. I didn’t say that even if I failed in this life, I wouldn’t save your life in the next one.
Instead.
“You have nothing to lose either, right? You wouldn’t have come up with a better option anyway.”
“…”
With that stinging observation, silence settled over the carriage.
Think it through.
A hollow prince stripped of power and honor. I was the last lifeline dangled before his eyes.
There was no time for prolonged deliberation anyway. The carriage’s destination was fixed, and everything had to be resolved before we reached the Temple where the abduction marriage would be sanctioned.
I met Rothar’s gaze directly and asked.
“Do you know the conditions required for an abduction marriage to be recognized?”
“…Yes, I do.”
The man’s voice wavered slightly as he answered.
Physical intimacy between man and woman, followed by certification from the Temple. That was the prerequisite for an abduction marriage.
I didn’t avoid Rothar’s gaze as he studied my face intently in the quiet carriage.
Soon he raised one arm and asked.
“Should we do it here?”
Then his hand wrapped around my waist, and I flinched involuntarily, my body trembling. It had been a long time since I’d entrusted my body to another’s touch. And I’d never felt hands so large and firm.
My heart seemed to accelerate with each passing moment. Without betraying myself, I countered.
“Then where should we? In the grass? On the sand? Inside the Temple?”
I wondered if royalty would be particular about such things. But Rothar’s eyes narrowed as though he’d heard something absurd.
“I’m concerned whether it’s appropriate for you to experience this for the first time in such a manner, Holy Maiden.”
“…Ah.”
Only then did I grasp his meaning.
Perhaps because of his background as a knight, he was considerate of my position as a woman even as his own life hung by a thread.
It was rather touching. Foolish, even.
I pressed my index finger gently against his cheek and replied.
“It doesn’t matter. Virginity is meaningless.”
I meant it. By the sixth cycle, the things I truly value have become few.
“And I never intended to actually consummate anything.”
“…What?”
This time Rothar’s brow furrowed slightly. Incomprehension written across his features.
“Then what are you planning?”
“We’ll just fake it.”
I was confident it wouldn’t be discovered anyway.
I thought of the back of my dress, soon to be stained with dark red blood.
Virginity.
Even modern doctors couldn’t verify it by the hymen alone.
The number of times doesn’t appear above one’s head, and the priests had no way to confirm my virginity.
At best, they would examine the traces of blood that flowed. No one could discern exactly what transpired between Rothar and me.
“Just leave enough marks to satisfy the priests.”
As I explained, I lifted the hem of my dress, pointing to the inner surface of my exposed thigh.
“Here, and here. Bite and suck. Leave marks.”
Rothar’s gaze lowered. His eyes lingered intently on the skin of my thigh, studying the area barely concealed around my groin.
Saliva pooled in my mouth. I swallowed silently and attempted to continue my explanation.
“And then below my chest…”
“Then when will you have a true union with me?”
His words trailed off abruptly.
“…Huh?”
“If today isn’t the day of our joining.”
With his voice dropping to a whisper, the hand that hadn’t been gripping my waist traced up along my knee.
“When will you take me, is what I’m asking.”
His calloused fingers dug into the sensitive inner flesh of my thigh, and I found myself biting my lip without thinking.
“Mmph.”
A moan nearly escaped me. Almost.

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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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