Chapter 116

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 116

Chapter Title: Ludwig's Reckless Intrusion

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"……."

I truly hadn't seen this coming. It was so absurd that I was left speechless.

The only thought that came to mind was obvious.

'What the hell is this lunatic talking about?'

But Ludwig seemed to interpret my silence in a strange way.

"Yes, you're moved, aren't you? You never expected me to think of you this much."

Spouting that nonsense, Ludwig strode toward me.

Then Sir Beltein, who had been guarding right behind me, stepped forward.

"Stay back."

"You bastard!"

Ludwig's rust-colored eyes blazed with fury.

"How dare you...!"

Sir Beltein's armored arm blocked my front.

"Her Highness the Crown Princess has spoken. Please leave, Your Grace the Grand Duke."

"Shut your mouth! How dare a wretch like you stand in my way?"

A dangerous glint flashed in Ludwig's eyes.

No matter how diluted his imperial blood might be, he too carried the dragon's lineage.

Pow!

"Guh!"

The punch Ludwig threw caved in the armor covering Sir Beltein's chest.

"Get lost! I'm going to speak to Hilia directly!"

Sir Beltein groaned but refused to step aside from in front of me.

Ludwig showed no sign of holding back.

As if he'd forgotten this was the imperial palace.

He seized Sir Beltein's arm and slammed him to the floor with brute force.

Bam!

The loud crash rang in my ears. Startled and worried, I cried out.

"Sir Beltein!"

After the commotion, Ludwig finally faced me.

Annie tried to block him, but of course, she was no match for Ludwig.

"Kyaa!!"

Duchess Muzen let out a scream of shock.

"Guards! Protect Her Highness the Crown Princess at once!"

After the commotion, Ludwig finally faced me.

In that instant.

I smirked coldly and snapped my thumb and index finger together three times, making sharp clicking sounds.

One of the rings on my finger unleashed a brilliant magical barrier in front of me.

Since it poured out considerable mana all at once, Ludwig was pushed back.

"Kuh!"

I plastered on the most mocking sneer I could muster.

One that would make him feel insulted and enraged just by looking at it.

"As I expected, you're truly rude, Grand Duke Kielern."

"...What?"

At my unexpected tone, bewilderment spread across Ludwig's face. As if he'd never imagined me speaking to him this way.

Yes, speaking down to him.

"You seem so deluded that you still think you're my fiancé, so I won't bother explaining again."

My tone was, of course, an imitation of Arpad's.

It was the speech pattern among those I knew that was most specialized at infuriating the listener.

Moreover, Ludwig harbored quite a bit of inferiority complex and resentment toward Arpad.

'That should make him even angrier.'

"There was no formal request for an audience, no courtesy whatsoever—you even injured my knight and threatened me. That's more than enough grounds for treason."

"Treason?!"

I smoothed my disheveled hair from using the defensive magic tool earlier as I replied.

"Isn't threatening royalty and harming an imperial knight typically called treason?"

"I'm royalty too!"

"But I'm the Crown Princess. You're just a distant branch."

I smiled with feigned benevolence.

"If you don't want to be treated as a traitor, show some proper respect and apologize from now on."

In other words.

'Kneel and beg right now. Then maybe I'll let it slide.'

Of course, Ludwig would never accept that.

His face flushed red and purple. He looked ready to charge at me and resort to violence again at any moment.

But surprisingly, Ludwig quickly regained his composure.

A rare occurrence.

The Ludwig I knew had never held back his anger in front of me.

He grinned slyly, trying to coax me.

"Alright, I get it. You've been really upset with me, haven't you, Hilia?"

"What the hell are you saying?"

The words slipped out before I could think.

They were so repulsive and irritating that I doubted my own ears.

Ludwig kept stringing together those horrific words.

"I understand you're upset and disappointed because of the misunderstanding. It was understandable. But taking it to trial and trying to leave me penniless? That was too much."

I was currently pushing a trial against Ludwig for embezzling Delphin family assets and territory.

In return, to seize his lands and wealth.

He must have come to stop that.

"If you just wanted my attention, fine, I admit it. You succeeded. No—you won, Hilia."

He swept back his bangs as if he had no choice.

"You managed to summon me like this."

His fingertips oozed inexplicable confidence and narcissism—it was revolting to watch.

"The fact that you ultimately made me come to you means you still have lingering feelings. Doesn't it?"

I was so dumbfounded that my mouth snapped shut on its own.

"If you truly had no feelings for me, you could've just ignored it. But you didn't."

He was right about that. Which was why Duchess Muzen had warned me to just send Ludwig away.

Ludwig extended his hand to me as if he were reluctantly yielding to a lover.

"Let's go back together now. We'll put everything twisted back in its place."

"Back in its... place?"

Ludwig beamed. As if he never even considered I'd refuse.

"Yes. If you come back, I won't see Evangeline again."

My eyes flashed.

Ludwig had just half-admitted his relationship with Evangeline with his own mouth.

I glanced down at the necklace around my neck.

A large pale blue gem dangled from it.

A faint light flickered again. It was working perfectly.

'I figured if Ludwig showed up, I'd have a use for this... and here we are.'

I slightly altered what I was about to say.

"From what you're saying, it sounds like I'm not coming back to you because of Evangeline?"

I deliberately changed my tone. It wasn't the Arpad imitation I'd used earlier to anger and insult Ludwig.

It was the everyday tone from our engagement days.

Ludwig's eyes gleamed. He'd noticed.

The intentional shift in my attitude.

He latched onto it.

"That's right, isn't it? No? You wanted me to get jealous and angry so I'd come back to you."

He was probably the only one who would interpret my bride abduction marriage with Arpad that way.

Or rather, he wanted to believe it.

So he thought he could somehow turn things around even now?

Absurdity and rage surged through me, chilling my blood.

I have no idea how he interpreted my silence, but Ludwig grew even bolder in trying to sweet-talk and coax me.

"Don't worry. I've ended things with Evangeline. Just come back to me. Then we can go back to how things were."

A bright smile spread across my lips. This one was 100% genuine.

At my radiant smile, Ludwig's face lit up with hope, as if he'd reclaimed what was stolen.

I shattered it head-on.

"Why would I do that when I'm not insane?"

"...What?"

Ludwig's inflated hopes, buoyed by my sweet and gentle smile, seemed to pop like a balloon.

"But just now! Clearly...!"

I laughed coldly again, switching back to my haughty demeanor. Then I turned to Duchess Muzen beside me.

"Duchess. Who am I?"

She caught on quickly, kneeling before me at once.

"Her Highness the Crown Princess, the Empire's one and only. Currently, the manager of the Inner Palace holding the platinum key."

I turned to Ludwig. I raked my gaze from his head to his toes, openly showing disgust and contempt.

"So why are you telling me to go to a man whose lands and title are now meaningless? I can't comprehend it."

"You—you were my woman!"

"No. I was never your woman for a single moment. Yours was Evangeline."

I left the dazed Ludwig behind and headed toward the passage leading to the side chamber.

That was when it happened. Ludwig, filled with rage, lunged at me.

My attention was on opening the door, so I couldn't activate the magic barrier in time like before.

"Ugh!"

He grabbed my wrist and shoved brutish words into my ear.

"You'd better think carefully, Hilia. I told you—I came to give you one last chance."

I glared at him with an expression like I wanted to spit in his face.

"I wouldn't take that chance even if you offered it, and neither would I take you."

Then Ludwig whispered threats even more vehemently and explicitly.

"————————."

This was deliberate, his voice lowered so no one around could hear.

The whole time, I kept checking the necklace.

'Good. It's recording perfectly.'

That meant the 'evidence' was securely obtained. Relaxing my stiff expression, I smiled brightly.

And I clicked my tongue softly.

"?"

Ludwig looked puzzled, not understanding.

In that moment.

Bang! The door to the side chamber I'd been about to open swung open on its own.

And through it came Arpad, rushing like the wind, seizing Ludwig's wrist.

The very hand holding my wrist.

Crack!

A gruesome sound like bones shattering echoed, followed by Arpad's voice, laced with icy killing intent, booming across the floor.

"You dare lay hands on my wife again, Ludwig?"

"Krrk!"

"Maybe I should just make sure filthy fingers like these can never be used again."

"Gaaah!"

Pain-filled groans were forced through Ludwig's clenched teeth.

Arpad was radiating genuine murderous intent, at a level even Ludwig, who shared the dragon's bloodline, could barely withstand.

Women like Annie or the duchess, unaccustomed to such auras, clutched their hearts and collapsed.

I stopped Arpad.

"Enough!"

I reached out and tugged at Arpad's cloak.

I quickly explained right after—not because I was worried about Ludwig, but to make that clear.

"The maids are fainting. Stop it."

Arpad's twisted expression softened a bit.

Then, in a voice only I could hear, he confirmed.

"Did you secure the evidence alright?"

"Yes. Perfectly."

That was why I'd kept Arpad waiting in the side chamber without entering, even though he was there.

When Arpad heard Ludwig had come and rushed over, he insisted on not letting me meet him without his protection.

So we arranged for Arpad to wait in the side chamber, me surrounded by defensive magic tools, before facing Ludwig.

I fiddled with the necklace.

'It was all for this.'

Arpad bared his teeth in a grin and turned his head toward his cousin, discarded on the floor.

"Did you have to come here and cause a scene just to show you can't let go of what you lost?"

Arpad openly mocked Ludwig.

"Then why don't you treat her better, huh?"

This was rather satisfying. I stroked Arpad's shoulder and shook my head.

"It wouldn't matter, Arpad."

"Why not, Hilia?"

Arpad's and Ludwig's gazes turned to me simultaneously.

Eyes mixed with anticipation and dread over what my answer would be.

"No matter how kindly anyone treated me, I would have fallen in love with you in the end."

Arpad's and Ludwig's faces hardened at the same time.

Arpad knew.

That Hilia's smiles toward him, her natural skinship, and even her shy words were all calculated.

This line was the same.

Yet, even knowing that... fully aware, Arpad still felt his heart melting.

That was why he'd added unnecessary words.

"You have no idea how sweet and joyful those words are to me."

Hilia looked a little flustered. But given the situation, she didn't show it outwardly.

Not missing the opening, Arpad decided to indulge a bit more.

"Say it one more time."

Hilia's eyes widened in shock.