Chapter 44

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 44

Chapter Title: Too Many Men Around You

-----------------------------------------------------------------

“Companion.”

“Yes?”

“I said to reject all these documents.”

The papers Arpad tossed fluttered down in front of the baffled Yulken.

“You told me yourself that handling them this way was fine before!”

“That was then. This is now.”

In the end, Yulken stayed up all night rewriting every single document from scratch and brought them back.

And then.

“Rejected again.”

“Why? I fixed every single issue you pointed out yesterday perfectly!”

Arpad smirked and picked at something utterly ridiculous.

“I don’t like the paper quality.”

“Have you finally lost your mind?!”

Anyone could see he was nitpicking just to torment him.

Arpad might be an eccentric borderline lunatic, but he’d never been this petty and spiteful before.

Yulken had never faced this, no matter what mistakes he made.

Not even when another subordinate botched something catastrophically.

‘He’d just kill them cleanly and be done with it!’

He’d never dragged things out with contrived excuses to grind someone down.

‘But that’s exactly what he’s doing now!’

To Yulken, no less—the most capable subordinate anyone acknowledged, himself included.

“Your Highness, if you lose it now, it’ll be a disaster!”

“Why? Worried about losing your job?”

Whenever Yulken had pulled a “Are you insane, sir?” on Arpad before, he’d always tacked on similar lines.

But this time, the response was entirely different.

Yulken’s off-target jab only poured fuel on Arpad’s spite.

“We can’t have our precious Crown Princess turning into a widow the moment she arrives!”

“...!”

Whoosh!

The flawless document in Arpad’s hand burst into flames.

“Aaaagh! What do you think you’re doing?! That was the fruit of my blood, sweat, tears, and all-nighter...!”

“I told you, I don’t like the paper.”

“That’s absurd...!”

“Just rewrite it.”

“Arrrgh!”

This absurd chaos—where tormentor and victim alike had no clue about the real reason—dragged on for days.

Only the unwitting culprit remained blissfully oblivious.

‘Great. Now that I’ve won Yulken over, I can focus purely on the banquet prep. What a relief!’

Three days after returning from Delphin Manor.

Sir Beltein, having received emergency treatment and some recovery time, finally entered the palace.

Naturally, it was in his role as my official guard knight.

Unconventional as the situation was, I still went out personally to greet him.

I paid extra attention to my outfit and even dragged along Annie and a horde of palace servants.

The reason was simple.

‘Sir Beltein thinks I was truly abducted, so I need to show him I’m being treated well to put his mind at ease.’

That way, he could relax.

He must have been terribly worried already.

According to Annie, he and one other were the only ones genuinely concerned for me.

“Everyone else was just fussing over the Grand Duke. Sir Beltein was the only one blaming himself for failing to protect you, and he even took the brunt of Grand Duke Ludwig’s temper...!”

Annie, who had entered the palace alongside me upon my return, adapted lightning-fast.

In no time at all, her natural charm had won her friends among the servants.

She even relayed the gossip floating around among them to me.

‘If I help Sir Beltein settle in as my knight, at least I won’t have to worry about those two anymore.’

Brimming with anticipation and pride, I headed to the entrance of the Crown Prince’s Palace.

But halfway there, an unexpected intruder appeared.

“My, my bride looks so stunning today, it hurts the eyes.”

It was Arpad, spouting cringeworthy lines like they were the most natural thing in the world.

Arpad was decked out in ceremonial robes of crimson silk embroidered with lavish gold thread.

His mantle, adorned with a golden dragon motif, glittered so ostentatiously it was almost overwhelming.

‘What’s this? Dressed like he’s off to a banquet?’

While I stood there stunned for a moment, he approached with perfect naturalness and offered his hand.

“Will you grant me the honor of escorting you?”

“......”

What in the world?

Flustered as I was, I couldn’t ignore the eyes on us.

With no choice, I played the shy bride and extended my hand, replying loud enough for all to hear.

“My hand is yours whenever you wish, Your Highness.”

Ugh, saying it myself doesn’t make it any less cringy.

As I suppressed the chills creeping over me, Arpad swiftly seized my hand.

His grip was firm—almost too firm—leaving me puzzled.

‘What’s that about?’

I had no intention of pulling away, but his hold felt like it wouldn’t tolerate any such attempt.

As I hurried my steps in confusion, Arpad whispered softly.

“You know something?”

“What?”

“You have way too many men around you.”

“...Pardon?”

It was the most outlandish nonsense.

I doubted my ears for a second and nearly yelped right there, forgetting time and place.

I shot back in a low voice.

“What nonsense is that? Why accuse me out of nowhere...?”

Arpad yanked me closer, his grip tightening further.

We ended up walking practically embraced.

This was beyond mere escorting.

But I had no spare attention for the positioning.

Because Arpad’s nonsense wasn’t over.

He splayed his hand and folded his thumb.

“First, me.”

That’s when I caught on to what this man was doing.

‘He’s counting out my “men”?’

And starting with himself? Ridiculous.

‘Well, he is my legal husband, so it’s not entirely wrong...?’

He folded his index finger.

“Second, that Ludwig bastard.”

“Have you forgotten why I came to you? It was to escape his clutches. Why drag his name into this?”

But Arpad just shook his head.

“From what I saw at Delphin Manor, he’s still overflowing with lingering attachment to you.”

“It’s not me—he’s hung up on the Delphin title and fortune.”

Three years of leeching off us. Of course he’d regret losing it.

But Arpad didn’t concede so easily.

“You just don’t understand male possessiveness and obsession.”

“And why should I?”

Arpad’s expression grew oddly subtle. Then he nodded to himself, as if deciding something.

“Well, maybe it’s better if you don’t.”

Why was this man spouting nothing but drivel since earlier?

Amid it all, his middle finger folded down.

This time, I asked first.

“Why’s that one folding? There’s no man there.”

“Yulken.”

“Huh?”

Arpad’s voice dropped low.

“How the hell did you win him over? He turned into a loyal dog in a single day.”

“Loyal dog? That’s a bit much, isn’t it?”

Surprisingly, he was dead serious.

“Not an exaggeration at all. I’m rarely this shocked. Taming Yulken in an instant like that.”

I giggled.

His talk of “my men” was absurd.

But his words about taming Yulken carried genuine awe.

“What, impressed by my skills?”

“...More than impressed. Overly so.”

With that, Arpad folded his ring finger.

He pointed at the familiar figure standing at the Crown Prince’s Palace entrance.

“The fourth... is obviously that knight, the only one who’s drawn his sword for you right in front of me.”

There stood Sir Beltein, propped on crutches.

I tried to rush over in shock and delight, but failed.

Arpad wasn’t just holding me—he had me practically in his arms.

I lacked the strength to break free of his grip and run.

With no other choice, I whispered to him.

“Let go.”

“No.”

“Why?”

Arpad looked almost exasperated.

“You really don’t get it?”

I tilted my head.

No matter how I racked my brain, nothing came up.

So I tossed out a joke, poking at an emotion Arpad would never show me.

“What, are you jealous or something?”

I fully expected him to recoil in disgust or laugh it off.

That would lighten the mood and let me slip free from his embrace, or so I thought.

I never imagined Arpad would nod seriously.

Let alone reply like this.

“Don’t I have the right to be jealous? I am your proper husband, after all.”

“P-proper husband?”

It was phrasing that made me question if my ears were working right.