Chapter 35

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 35

Chapter Title: Evicting the Grand Duke

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My take on Ludwig's bullshit was simple.

'Did he drink so much that he actually turned into a dog?'

And then I immediately felt remorse.

'Ah, I apologize once more in my heart to all the adorable daddies who make the world a better place with their cuteness.'

Comparing him to rotten food waste—no, nuclear waste—with those lovable, harmless furballs.

No matter how blinded by rage I was, I couldn't forget my duty as a human being.

In the meantime, Ludwig staggered down the stairs in a zigzag.

Somehow—and disappointingly—he didn't tumble or fall down them.

With his flushed face, he grinned brightly and spread his arms wide, trying to pull me into a hug.

"Hilia! I knew you'd come back!"

Two people reacted to Ludwig reaching for me.

The first was me—I swiftly dodged to the side.

The second was Arpad, who had been facing off against me just moments ago.

He blocked his path even faster than I had, tripping Ludwig's leg in a perfectly natural motion.

Thanks to that, Ludwig rolled across the floor like the ultimate drunkard.

The liquor bottle clattered to the ground, spilling its remaining contents in a stream.

The servants who had followed Ludwig down, along with the Grand Duke's retainers who had ignored me as if I didn't exist earlier, rushed forward in panic to help him up.

"Your Grace!"

"Oh dear! Pull yourself together!"

"Lady Hilia just... to us...!"

They probably wanted to tattle to their master that I'd done something outrageous to them.

But Ludwig, flailing around in his own spilled liquor, wasn't in any state to listen to his underlings.

How much had he even drunk?

'If only there were some device to record video. I'd film this and spread it everywhere.'

Oh, right—there was a mage I knew who was developing a magic tool capable of recording audio and video, even if it wasn't ready yet.

I needed to track that guy down ahead of time and make him one of my people.

It would definitely be incredibly useful.

That person wasn't someone Evangeline had secured through 'original story' knowledge; she'd learned about him by chance somehow.

'That makes it super easy for me to snag him first. Evangeline wouldn't know about him yet.'

Snatching all the talents Evangeline got from the original story knowledge outright would be too risky.

'High chance she'd notice something's off with me.'

Until I built up enough power, I had to minimize any risk of Evangeline figuring out I'd regressed.

Anyway, that was a problem for much later.

Among the immediate issues, the most important was the banquet at Artanus Hall.

But before that, the top priority was right now: taking back the Delphin ducal residence.

In the interim, Ludwig—finally hauling his pathetic, rolling ass off the floor—managed to stand with the help of his Grand Duke retainers acting as crutches.

And then he started picking a fight with Arpad, who had tripped him.

"You, youuu! Lowly scum daring to—to trip me?! Treason! I'll have you executed!"

Ludwig's slurred, tongue-twisted bluster was quite the sight.

Even Evangeline would agree he was the one starting trouble for no reason.

I smiled radiantly and said to Ludwig,

"How can a noble member of the imperial family harass an innocent commoner while blackout drunk? If word gets out, the imperial prestige will hit rock bottom."

Ludwig stared at me again, half-dazed.

And mumbled something idiotic.

"Hilia, were you always... this pretty?"

"Of course. Only just realizing now? Our lady—no, Your Highness the Duchess—has always been beautiful!"

Annie, who despised Ludwig even more than a water bug drowning in soda, shot back sharply.

Ludwig, oblivious that he'd been insulted, just nodded vacantly.

"Well, yeah, true. You've always been pretty. Honestly, prettier than Eva... Hilia, you..."

His belated compliments or regrets only piled on the disgust now.

"Enough nonsense. Time to go."

Fortunately, he seemed to catch that much.

"Go? Where? This is my house."

His expression looked a bit more sober.

I declared each word coldly and deliberately.

"Not our house—my house. And you no longer have any reason to be here."

Ludwig gaped up at me like I'd doused him with cold water, mumbling blankly,

"No reason? Why? I'm your husband."

"I'm already married to His Highness the Crown Prince. So we're not hus... well, now I'm basically your sister-in-law."

"Sis... ter-in-law?"

Ludwig's face twisted in despair.

And the next instant, he exploded, charging at me.

"Don't make me laugh! You're mine!!!"

It was Arpad who blocked Ludwig this time too, as he lunged at Hilia with a monstrously distorted face.

He'd tripped him subtly before, but now he openly stood in front of her.

Like an unyielding wall.

Ludwig flailed his arms toward the unreachable Hilia, throwing a tantrum.

"Get out of my way!!! She's my woman! Mine!"

Arpad placed great importance on his identity as the Mercenary King Gerald.

That was why, except in a few special cases, he tried not to reveal his Crown Prince self while operating as a mercenary.

Acting like the Crown Prince all the time would defeat the purpose of creating the Gerald persona.

But in this moment, he felt an impulse to drop the mask and cleave Ludwig in two.

He was seriously considering it.

'Kill him, then claim it was a duel to defend my wife's honor?'

Ridiculous thought.

Something normal Arpad would never entertain.

But lately, Arpad had been feeling this way more and more often.

Sudden urges for actions his usual self would never take.

And it only happened regarding one person.

Impossible as it seemed, a voice like sweet floral perfume called his false name.

"Gerald."

Only then did Arpad realize he'd briefly lost control of his reason, letting his killing intent leak out visibly.

The surroundings were practically devastated from that alone.

"H-Hiiik—!"

"Spare me! Please, mercy!"

"Aaaah!!"

Some foamed at the mouth and rolled their eyes back; others collapsed, legs giving out.

And Ludwig...

"Oh dear."

Hilia frowned delicately and turned her head away.

"The smell..."

Indeed. Ludwig, who had taken the brunt of Arpad's momentarily unchecked killing intent, had straight-up pissed himself.

Gasp of horror and murmurs erupted from all directions.

"Oh my god!"

"What in the world!"

"Q-Quick, cover him up!"

This cut across Delphin and Kielern retainers and even mercenaries. It was that shocking.

The sharper-witted among the Grand Duke's retainers hurriedly covered Ludwig's lower half with their cloaks.

Hilia paid it no mind.

She turned coolly and ordered the black-clad mercenaries.

"Escort the guest out safely."

No one failed to grasp who "the guest" meant.

Chase Ludwig out.

Unable to hold back, one of the Grand Duke's retainers shouted,

"This is too much! How can you do this?!"

Hilia slowly turned her head at that.

Her sharp violet gaze pierced Ludwig's valet, who had uttered "too much," like a dagger.

The valet flinched in terror, trembling. Then he was shocked at himself.

'Why should I fear that woman? No matter what, I'm His Grace's close aide!'

He hadn't shaken the habit of three years as Ludwig's sidekick, looking down on Hilia and everyone in the Delphin household as inferiors.

Gathering his courage, he yelled,

"Even so, you can't just throw out His Grace—who's deeply hurt—like some thief! How much has he done for you all this time?!"

The valet's words were bizarre.

As if Ludwig had bestowed some great favor on Hilia.

Hilia tilted her head, then approached the babbling valet.

"What exactly did I do that's 'too much'?"

"Trying to coldly chase out His Grace like this...!"

"I've already become husband and wife with His Highness the Crown Prince before the gods. Does anyone here not know that? So Ludwig and I are nothing to each other now. Isn't it rude—and too much—for him to act like the master of my house?"

"Th-That's...!"

"The palace servants I sent to fetch my retainers couldn't even enter—they were chased off because Ludwig threw a fit. Isn't that outrageous?"

The valet was speechless.

Having sided with Ludwig and Evangeline's arbitrary antics in the Delphin residence all this time, his sense of common decency and etiquette had flown out the window.

But hearing it laid bare from Hilia's lips like this made him realize afresh that things at the Delphin estate weren't normal.

As the valet stammered without a proper reply,

Hilia asked in a cold voice,

"How is the crime of insulting royalty punished?"

"Those who insult noble royalty must have the offending body part severed."

Answering promptly was Gerald (Arpad). It was a law that had actually been enforced in the founding era, but now it was practically obsolete.

Still, plenty to terrify the valet.

Gerald (Arpad) added in a tone he couldn't keep from chuckling,

"Since the fool insulted Her Highness the Duchess with his tongue, it only fits to cut it out as punishment."

"Hiiik!"

Terror spread through the room.