The Search for the Duchess’s Husband - Chapter 169

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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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In Search of the Duke’s Husband – Episode 169

“…!”
Killian and I couldn’t comprehend Charlotte’s words for a moment.
At the same time, it was Killian who spoke first between the two of us frozen in shock.
“Explain that properly. Right now.”
How bothersome.
Charlotte grumbled while pointing at me.
“You resurrected the girl who drowned in the Lake.”
My heart sank as I listened in silence.
I cried out in a flustered voice.
“I did fall into the Lake, but I didn’t die.”
Charlotte shot back.
“You died once back then. The marks of death are clearly etched into your soul.”
“No, I…!”
“A soul from another world simply entered your body?”
“…!”
“It was merely a fleeting delusion. After all, you stopped thinking that you weren’t Artia at some point.”
I couldn’t say anything.
Because Charlotte’s words were the truth.
Yet I shook my head with a bewildered expression.
“I still have hazy memories from before.”
In a different world from this one, I lived an incomparably happy life, beloved by kind parents and dear friends.
Charlotte, who read everything in my pink eyes, spoke.
“That was a dream you had.”
“…!”
“No foreign soul ever entered your body. From the beginning until now, you are Artia von Edenberg—the one who despised herself so much that she threw herself into the Lake and died.”

* * *

In the Emperor’s study at the Imperial Palace, Killian reviewed documents with meticulous focus.
Nocton von Alihas entered the chamber and spoke.
“Your Majesty, urgent news regarding House of Edenberg has arrived.”
Despite the word “urgent,” Nocton’s voice remained utterly composed.
This made sense—he reported critical intelligence arriving hourly, yet Killian rarely showed surprise or distress at any of it.
This time would likely be no different.
With that assumption, Nocton opened his mouth to speak.
“The Duchess of Edenberg has drowned, Your Majesty.”
In that instant, Killian’s expressionless face transformed.
His hand, which had been signing documents, froze mid-motion.
“What did you say?”
Sensing the gravity of the situation, Nocton reported with sudden tension, his demeanor entirely changed from moments before.
“The Duchess of Edenberg fell into the lake at her residence. A passing maid discovered her, but she never regained consciousness and passed away. The cause remains unclear, though suicide appears more likely than murder or accident.”
Nocton’s voice reached my ears, but the words refused to penetrate my mind. I could not comprehend them.
“Your—Your Majesty!”
Nocton cried out in alarm.
In an instant, transformed into a black panther, Killian leaped through the window and vanished.
The massive black panther arrived at the Edenberke Estate at lightning speed.
Though the sprawling space was unfamiliar, the panther bolted toward one location without hesitation.
Following the scent of Artia that I remembered.
Yet the fragrance was far too faint.
Like a trace left behind by someone who no longer existed.
A chill ran down my spine.
‘Her scent was always fainter than others’ anyway.’
Or perhaps she simply wasn’t in the residence.
Killian, who always assessed reality with cold precision, denied everything I was sensing and stepped into the chamber.
Inside the room bathed in the crimson glow of sunset, Artia lay motionless within a rigid coffin, her eyes closed.
Having transformed into a black cat, Killian’s breath caught in my throat.
Her face was as pale as the thousands of corpses I had witnessed on the battlefield.
Artia fears my true form. I cannot reveal it to her.
Yet Killian unknowingly shattered the taboo I had long upheld.
Returning to my original form, I opened my mouth.
“Artia.”
It was the first time I had called her name before her.
But no answer came.
“Artia.”
My voice calling her name grew louder.
“Artia!”
By then, a sound like a beast’s anguished howl tore from my throat, yet Artia did not open her eyes.
Seeing her like this, I recalled the image of her from long ago.

Four years ago, at nineteen, Killian von Orpheus realized that Artia had entered the Imperial Palace.
It was during a period when, after her debutante ball, he had been plagued by torturous dreams of her every night.
The scent of her, which he had not caught in so long, was overwhelmingly vivid.
Transformed into a black cat, Killian von Orpheus found himself drawn to her as though enchanted.
She was smiling—she who always wept.
Her cheeks flushed crimson, her expression radiant as a flower in full bloom.
It was a sight I had never witnessed before.
Yet I could not allow myself to think her lovely or beautiful.
Her gaze was fixed upon Lloyd.
In that instant, raw, unrefined fury surged through me.
I wanted to tear out Lloyd’s throat with my fangs.
But I desperately suppressed that impulse.
Because he was the man Artia loved.
She would grieve.
She would hate me.
The mere thought made my heart throb with such anguish that it ached.
In the end, I simply turned away and distanced myself from her.
Yet no matter how much time passed, the scalding emotions that churned within me showed no sign of cooling.
It was the first time I had ever been so utterly beyond my own control.
Consumed by rage and fear, I desperately suppressed my feelings.
Then, not long after, war broke out.
As though waiting for this moment, I told the Emperor I would march to the battlefield.
Naturally, the Emperor opposed it.
I was his precious, irreplaceable heir.
But faced with my repeated requests, he relented.
‘No matter how exceptional his abilities, Killian is only the second prince. To surpass that cursed one and become Emperor, he needs an achievement worthy of display.’
And nothing served that purpose better than war.
In the end, the Emperor granted my request to deploy.
He believed I would remain safe at the front, protected by knights.
But his assumption was wrong.
On the battlefield, I wielded my sword at the forefront, ahead of all others.
Witnessing this, the soldiers marveled at what a valiant commander I was.
Others feared me, saying I would not hesitate to behead thousands if it meant victory.
All of it was far from the truth.
I was merely pouring the emotions that roiled within me onto the enemy.
‘What is it that Artia smiled at some man for?’
She was a woman I had encountered only a few times in cat form—someone with whom I had little connection.
There was no reason to concern myself with her.
Then one day, I returned to the military camp drenched in blood.
Witnessing this, Nocton von Alihas couldn’t help but inwardly exclaim in astonishment.
‘He’s become even more terrifying since arriving at the battlefield!’
Part of him desperately wanted to desert on the spot, yet he lacked the courage to do so.
In the end, Nocton von Alihas opened his mouth, dreaming of the day he might naturally retire.
“I shall report the news that arrived today.”
Killian von Orpheus listened while wiping the blood from his face with a cloth.
Updates from the Imperial Palace, foreign affairs, the petty squabbles among the nobility—matters unknowable on the battlefield—were delivered in concise order.
Then came that announcement.
“Artia and Lloyd von Rainer are to be married.”
The marriage of a great noble house was information one needed to know.
Yet Killian von Orpheus’s reaction far exceeded Nocton von Alihas’s expectations.
Those golden eyes grew so piercing that despite years of conditioning under Killian von Orpheus, Nocton von Alihas found himself so terrified he held his breath.
Fortunately, it lasted only a moment.
Killian von Orpheus soon returned to his usual self, carrying on with his days.
Holding meetings with his subordinates, cutting down enemies, washing the blood-soaked body, drinking himself to sleep, and so on.
As time passed, I gradually forgot my feelings for Artia.
When I briefly returned home and encountered Artia and Lloyd von Rainer at the Imperial Palace, I felt nothing.
Three years later, when the war finally ended completely, I no longer thought of Artia at all.
I believed I had forgotten her.
How foolish that thought had been!
Only after seeing Artia with her breath stolen away did I awaken to my true feelings.
I was afraid of this small woman who wielded me so effortlessly.
So I had pushed my feelings for her into the depths where no one could see, pretending they had vanished entirely.
But they hadn’t.
The emotions accumulated over all those years had not faded in the slightest; they remained within me, grown so vast they shook my very soul.
Thud.
The Empire’s prince knelt beside the coffin and collapsed.

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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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