Chapter 23

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 23

Chapter Title: Ex-Husband's Intrusion

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As soon as the audience chamber door closed behind my back, a sigh of relief burst out of me before I could stop it.

"Haa..."

If I'd relaxed even a little more, I might have collapsed right then and there.

But I couldn't afford to do that in a place where the Emperor's eyes and ears were undoubtedly watching.

I did my best to maintain a straight, dignified posture and waited quietly for Arpad.

'Trying to walk back to the Crown Prince's Palace alone right now? I'd probably keel over halfway.'

That big, sturdy walking stick(?) known as Arpad was absolutely essential for me.

Besides, we had to play the part of the lovestruck newlyweds in public.

Sticking close together made the most sense anyway.

On top of that, I'd promised him with my own words.

"I'll be waiting quietly outside..."

Even I couldn't bring myself to break a promise I'd just made.

But the world has a way of never going exactly as planned.

I can't control every unexpected twist myself.

For instance... when an ex-husband and former fiancé suddenly pops out of nowhere.

"Hilia!"

Ludwig, who always prided himself on his polished, elegant appearance, showed up before me looking like an utter mess.

"...Ludwig?"

Why the hell was this guy popping up here all of a sudden?

His state was something to behold, though. A sight I'd never seen before, in more ways than one.

His hair, usually slicked back neatly with oil and pomade, was a tangled, dust-caked disaster.

His clothes looked like he'd rolled around in a dirt pit ten times and then ripped them for good measure.

'Ah, he chased after the bait I scattered, realized it was a dead end, and came crawling back.'

Considering that, his arrival was actually pretty quick.

I'd laid out about five different lures, and he'd only checked one or two, apparently.

Shockingly, he approached me with a somewhat pleased expression.

Striding right up, calling my name again.

"Hilia! I finally found you!"

Before I could even think of a response, he was already in front of me.

And in a flash, he reached out to grab my wrist.

"You can relax now. Let's go home, Hilia."

That instant.

Memories of the man who'd betrayed and killed me three times struck my mind like lightning.

Ludwig's face as he mocked and despised me from above.

"Your usefulness is at an end, Hilia."

"I never loved you, not for a single moment."

"Do you even know how pathetic you look right now? Just die quietly already."

A vile surge of disgust rose in my throat.

I slapped his hand away.

Smack!

He looked taken aback.

"What's wrong, Hilia?"

I backed away a couple of steps without a word, until my back hit the wall.

Ludwig seemed unable to process my rejection and revulsion.

"Ah, you're just in shock. Don't worry now that I'm here."

Bullshit.

But Ludwig kept barking on.

"Can't you see how I look right now? Don't you get how much I've suffered searching for you? It's time to go home."

My response came out ice-cold, even to my own ears.

"No."

"...What?"

He couldn't accept my refusal. Or the informal tone, for that matter.

I drove the point home again for the idiot who clearly wasn't getting it.

"I told you, I'm never going back with you."

Saying it out loud brought a tiny bit of relief to my chest.

Ludwig still wore that clueless expression, like he had no idea what I'd just said.

I followed up by correcting his slip of the tongue.

"That 'our house' you mentioned? You mean the Delphin Duke's estate, right?"

He'd outright taken over my father's room.

And Evangeline had claimed the best guest quarters as her own.

In truth—and this wasn't self-pity—the Delphin estate might as well have been their honeymoon home.

"You've got no right to stay there anymore. Pack your shit and get out."

Ludwig's face turned red then purple, like he'd been verbally eviscerated.

But he quickly schooled his features and tried to coax me with fake gentleness.

"Hilia. You're clearly too shocked and out of it. Where else would we go if not our house?"

"Back to that tiny, pathetic rat hole you call the Kielern Grand Duke's estate, obviously."

I laughed just like the Ludwig from my memories had mocked me.

That moment.

Ludwig roughly seized my arm and bellowed.

"There's a limit to my patience! Know your place!!"

That instant.

The closed audience chamber door swung open, and a tall man stepped out slowly.

The man's red eyes turned toward me and Ludwig.

His inhuman slit pupils narrowed, exuding a chilling killing intent that sent shivers down the spine.

I called out to him for help.

"Arpad!!"

As if answering my call, Arpad's figure vanished.

"...?"

No, vanished wasn't right—it was more like he'd moved so fast it seemed that way.

He was already right in front of us, me and Ludwig.

And he'd clamped down on the wrist of the hand holding mine.

"What do you think you're doing? Ludwig?"

"You bastard, Arpad!!!"

Ludwig ground his teeth, his voice thick with hatred and inferiority.

"The Emperor will hold you accountable for kidnapping my wife! I'm taking Hilia back!"

A sharp smile curled Arpad's lips.

A smile that could kill just by looking at it.

"Your wife? Where's your wife around here?"

"You son of a bitch! No matter what you've done, Hilia is my wife! The Emperor himself decreed it!"

That moment.

Strength surged into Arpad's grip on Ludwig's wrist.

Crack!

A grotesque sound echoed, like human bone shattering.

With it, Ludwig let out a pathetic scream.

"Arrrgh!!!"

Arpad yanked roughly, freeing Ludwig's hold on me.

He hurled his cousin to the floor like trash.

"Guhk!"

Ludwig rolled wretchedly across the ground, clutching his grotesquely twisted wrist.

A piercing wail rang out.

I covered my mouth with my hand.

Not out of shock or fear, absolutely not.

'Can't let him see me smiling.'

Seeing Ludwig writhing in agony had tugged my lips upward without me realizing.

And Arpad must have noticed.

His angry expression softened just a touch.

He scooped me up in both arms and whispered in my ear.

"Want me to break one of his legs too?"

"No need. This is the antechamber."

I swear I heard a disappointed tsk, but it must have been my imagination.

Clutching his broken wrist, Ludwig thrashed on the floor and spat venom.

"His Majesty won't let you get away with this! Who would tolerate a lawless madman like you...!"

Arpad, still holding me, sneered down at Ludwig and replied.

"His Majesty has granted Artanus Hall for my wedding banquet with my wife a month from now."

To be precise, a month and six days, but close enough.

"What?"

Even in agony, Ludwig's eyes bulged in shock.

The Emperor—the one thread of hope he'd clung to—had acknowledged us.

"No... that can't be! His Majesty would never!"

"His Majesty seems quite taken with my wife. He personally approved Artanus Hall for the occasion."

Arpad tossed in one more line, as if bestowing a favor.

"If my wife allows it, I'll even send you an invitation."

"Arpaaad—!!"

Mocking Ludwig's desperate outburst, Arpad carried me past him.

And near the end of the corridor, we ran into another familiar face.

There stood Evangeline, her blazing green eyes narrowed in fury.

She chewed her lips and asked.

"Brother, is what you just said true?"

She called Ludwig brother, but Arpad too.

As the Empress's daughter, it wasn't wrong for her to call both cousins that.

'She's basically their stepsister.'

But the way she glared at me and Arpad wasn't how one looked at a brother and his wife.

If anything, her eyes burned hotter than when she'd seen me with Ludwig.

Blatant jealousy.

'What the hell? Weren't she and Ludwig supposed to be a perfect match?'

She asked again.

"His Majesty approved Artanus Hall for the wedding banquet?"

Her gloved hands trembled violently.