The Kidnapped Prince is Mine Now - Chapter 75

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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 75
Wolfgang smiled faintly, withdrawing the hand that had touched his lips.
I was the one who caught his arm as he attempted to sit up.
“What do you want me to do?”
“…”
“Should I kiss you? Or do you want my body?”
“Holy Maiden.”
“Tell me what you want. Tell me what I can give you.”
“There is nothing the Holy Maiden can give me.”
Wolfgang’s voice dropped lower than usual.
Why was it so? The emotion reflected in his eyes as he gazed at me was pity.
“So please, don’t cry.”
“…”
“I am not the one who can console you.”
Only then did I realize I was weeping.
When I touched my cheek with one hand, I felt the dampness of my skin.
An inescapable despair and helplessness crashed down upon me.
‘Rotar.’
Even now, Rotar’s army was rushing toward the Southern Region.
Would he survive this time?
In a war with Maximilian’s involvement—one that left no record in my previous life—could Rotar return alive?
And even if he did return alive, wouldn’t Maximilian be waiting for him with Naksura’s power unleashed?
I could not let him die. I wanted to save him no matter what.
Even if my choice would leave an indelible wound upon his soul.
Why had Pelmira chosen such a selfish woman as the Holy Maiden?
‘This is not the time.’
I wiped both cheeks roughly with my palms.
“…Treat it well. Don’t let scars form on this face—it’s the only useful one I have.”
“Holy Maiden.”
“Tell me if you change your mind.”
I turned away from Wolfgang’s wavering gaze and moved toward the carriage.
I had told him to speak if he changed his mind, but further persuasion would be meaningless.
This was not Wolfgang’s fault. I understood well that he could not cooperate precisely because he cared for me.
Then.
“…The Archbishop.”
The opposite case.
I needed someone for whom his own safety was paramount, regardless of what happened to me. Right now.
***
Upon returning to the Princess Consort’s Palace, I immediately penned a letter to the Archbishop.
“I was grateful for your previous note.”
I was referring to the verbose message I had received before coming to the Imperial Palace.
What exactly had it said? That if I didn’t go to the Grand Cathedral instead of the Imperial Palace, I would come to regret it.
I still couldn’t pinpoint what matter he was referring to.
Was it the assassination attempt on my first day in the palace? Since Frederike had possessed that information, it was hardly surprising that the Archbishop had uncovered it as well.
‘I’ll find out if I ask directly.’
I moved my pen with lifeless eyes.
“You know that Your Grace is to me as a father.”
By layering on platitudes that neither I nor the Archbishop believed, I could only broach the main subject halfway through the letter.
“Would you be able to come to the Imperial Palace?”
I expressed concern for the health and safety of the Second Prince, who had departed for the battlefield for the sake of the Empire, and suggested that it would be most gratifying if he would join me in prayer….
This was the public justification for summoning the Archbishop to the Imperial Palace.
But there was no way the Archbishop would drag his heavy frame here for such a reason alone.
‘So I’ll have to make it impossible for him to refuse.’
I dipped my pen in ink and wrote the next line. Now came the real part.
[If you don’t come, you’ll regret it. Before long, the First Prince will have you killed.]
A man like the Archbishop needed shock therapy.
[In all the countless lives I’ve lived through, it has never failed to happen.]
Even if it meant revealing that I was a returnee.
[If you wish to hear the details, come to the Imperial Palace as quickly as possible. This is your first and last chance.]
Even so, this letter was more concrete and substantive than the Archbishop’s note. Only after delivering one final threat did I fold the paper and place it in an envelope.
The real problem began now.
‘Who should I send to the Grand Cathedral?’
The Grand Cathedral was located on Luminaris Mountain in the western reaches of the Empire.
It was the region where the Goddess of Light, Pelmira, first descended upon the Empire and bestowed her grace.
Though it was where the sun set first in all the Empire, it was also a place where eternal sacred flames kept the light burning through the night.
Even riding at full speed, it would take a solid four days to reach that place.
I needed someone who could travel that distance without having the letter stolen by anyone.
And among those currently around me with such capability….
‘Hilda.’
No matter how I thought about it, there was no one else.
The knights of Graupels had all departed with Rotar to join the campaign. Wolfgang would not cooperate with me this time either.
What about the other Holy Knights? I considered it briefly, but it was not a good option.
‘Move to prevent the fallen Archbishop’s misdeeds.’
This was the false oracle of the Goddess I had invoked to recruit the Holy Knights. Most of them distrusted the Archbishop, so if I showed any sign of secretly contacting him, it would backfire.
In the end, Hilda was my only trusted confidant to entrust the letter to.
She was a maidservant I had selected to prepare for unexpected ambushes and assassination attempts….
‘There’s no helping it.’
Most imperial family members didn’t keep martial women as maidservants in the first place. The duty of protecting the imperial family fell to the Imperial Guard.
If I were to ask whether I could fully trust the Imperial Guard, the answer would be no. Still, I only needed to be cautious until Hilda returned from the Grand Cathedral. It was merely a week, after all.
“Sigh.”
My deliberation was over.
I melted wax over the candle flame and sealed the letter envelope, then left my bedroom. Hilda was standing in the lobby, engaged in conversation with Clara.
“So when night falls, in the empty kitchen, the head cook and Hannah remove their clothes and….”
“Good heavens, aren’t they cold! …And then?”
What sort of scandalous gossip was this?
The moment they noticed me, both women snapped their mouths shut and bowed their heads in haste.
Under normal circumstances, I would have pestered them to share the story they’d just been chattering about, but time was not a luxury I possessed.
I handed the letter to Hilda and lowered my voice.
“I need you to go to the Grand Cathedral right now. Deliver this to the Archbishop. Don’t let anyone take it from you.”
“…! Understood, Your Highness!”
Hilda, whose face had been flushed moments before as she listened to Clara’s tale, immediately shifted her expression.
The moment she secured the letter envelope, she offered her respects and departed.
Left alone, Clara met my gaze and offered a composed smile.
“Shall I bring you a glass of warm wine, Your Highness?”
It was her way of signaling she had something to report.
Clara set the table with wine and a sweet dessert, then opened her mouth.
“Shall I begin with information regarding the Head Maidservant?”
“Yes.”
I had nearly forgotten about her. Her presence had been so insignificant of late.
“That woman has the Imperial Attendant Chief as her maternal uncle. Among her other relatives and close acquaintances, none are known to belong to the First Prince Faction or the Second Prince’s Faction.”
“The Head Maidservant is the Emperor’s person?”
“Yes. There is also testimony from a maidservant that the Head Maidservant frequently visits the Imperial Attendant Chief’s office under the pretext of discussing household matters.”
Wait. Then that means….
‘This is insane.’
Memories of the day I entered the palace flashed through my mind.
The assassin beneath the bed, the maidservant Irma who rushed at me. The Head Maidservant who had separated Clara and Hilda so they could kill me with ease.
The one orchestrating them all was the Emperor.
That old man had been so desperate to have me killed that he’d employed an assassin.
“I’ve never seen a father so disgusted by a common-born orphan daughter-in-law that he’d try to kill his own son along with her….”
Clara neither affirmed nor denied my murmur. At this point, it hardly mattered.
‘Rotar negotiated directly with the Emperor.’
Now the Emperor’s priorities had shifted.
He must have been watching Maximilian’s movements all along.
The eldest son, growing stronger by the day, wielding power that exceeded even imperial authority. To an Emperor unprepared to relinquish his throne, Maximilian’s very existence was a sufficient threat.
‘That bastard Maximilian—anyone can see he’d twist his father’s neck without hesitation.’
And now, the Emperor’s fears were on the verge of becoming reality.

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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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