Chapter 92

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 92

Chapter Title: The Question About a Lover

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Yulken stared at Hilia with a momentarily bewildered look in his eyes before asking her right back.

"A lover?"

Suddenly, exclamation points popped up over Yulken's head in a flurry.

His face had gone pale as he asked,

"No way... His Highness the Crown Prince is cheating?!"

'Why are you asking me that? I asked you.'

Yulken's face flushed red, then blue, then turned purple as he shouted,

"Y-You scoundrel!"

"...?"

"How long has it been since he married our Princess Consort, and he's already stepping out? I won't let that slide!"

Hilia found herself having to calm Yulken down as he ranted and raved.

Yulken had served Arpad for over ten years.

He had only known Hilia for barely a month.

Yet here he was, taking her side. Hilia felt more bewildered than touched.

"Affairs, adultery—I absolutely won't tolerate that!"

Then she remembered.

'Ah, right. Yulken has a particular hatred for infidelity.'

He had even used it as a personal attack when badmouthing Ludwig and Evangeline.

Hilia hurriedly tried to stop Yulken from painting Arpad's character in the worst possible light.

"No, no. It's not that Arpad was the one cheating!"

"Then what is it?"

"...He's at that age, so it wouldn't be strange if he'd dated someone before, right? I was just curious."

Yulken tilted his head.

"Why not ask His Highness the Crown Prince directly?"

"How could I possibly ask him something like that to his face?"

A sly smile spread across Yulken's face, which had been marked by a big question mark moments before.

"Aha."

Hilia flinched.

"W-What? Why are you smiling all of a sudden?"

But Yulken just kept grinning without giving her a straight answer.

"It's nothing. Anyway... His Highness the Crown Prince's lover..."

Yulken seemed lost in thought.

Hilia focused entirely on him now, her attention far sharper than it had been during the earlier report.

"If His Highness had a lover... if there was some poor woman like that, wouldn't I know about it?"

"Poor...?"

The question 'Isn't that something you shouldn't say in front of the Crown Prince's lover?' appeared plainly on Hilia's face.

Yulken replied matter-of-factly.

"Well, His Highness the Crown Prince doesn't have the best personality. And he's awfully twisted to boot..."

'Ah, can't argue with that.'

Hilia nodded without thinking.

Yulken was just stating the facts, after all.

"His Highness would probably express his affection in some warped, twisted way. That's what I meant by calling her pitiful."

"......"

Hilia hesitated for a moment before asking again.

"So, to your knowledge, there isn't one?"

"...Yes."

Yulken began chuckling to himself. Hilia couldn't shake the feeling that it was a somewhat awkward smile.

Perhaps sensing it himself, Yulken quickly covered his mouth with his hand.

Then he asked,

For some reason, Hilia felt like Yulken's ears were starting to stretch out like a donkey's—was that just her imagination?

"But why are you suddenly curious about that? Does it bother you?"

"Uh, y-yeah? N-No?"

Hilia tried to play it cool with an excuse, but her fluster was obvious.

"Information on Arpad is important. I'm just checking potential variables in advance."

"Ah, yes. Variables. I see."

Even with his hand over his mouth, Yulken's lips were curving upward as if they might split his face in two.

As he grinned, Yulken recalled the comedy he had witnessed the day before.

The time he had summoned Sir Beltein and barely gotten him to say, "Hilia's husband is me."

And now, here was Hilia doing the same.

'This is jealousy, plain as day, no matter how you look at it!'

A wife showing intense interest in her husband's old flame...

Right now, these two were pretending not to be jealous of each other.

As a mere spectator, it was deliciously sweet entertainment.

A sudden realization flashed through his mind.

'His Highness the Crown Prince would be over the moon if he knew about this.'

If he heard that Hilia was asking about his old lovers out of jealousy.

But Yulken had no intention of kindly informing Arpad.

'This has absolutely nothing to do with the grudge from all that paperwork rejection. Absolutely not!'

It wasn't because Arpad had nitpicked his flawless documents amid the hectic wedding preparations, yelling "Rejected, rejected!"

Absolutely not!

He had been fleeced out of a million kastels, but seeing Hilia so restless and pitiful tugged at his heart.

So he gave her a little hint.

"Ahem. Anyway... While the Princess Consort was unconscious, His Highness nursed her the whole time."

"Oh, right. He did."

"Even the court ladies were shocked. He dismissed all the attendants around him and took such meticulous personal care of her... I never expected that from His Highness, and neither did the ladies."

In other words, rest assured—that was the intent behind Yulken's words.

But Hilia, in her scattered state of mind, suddenly remembered something she had overlooked.

"Arpad personally, for all five days?"

"Yes."

"He dismissed every single person?"

"Yes!"

"......"

Hilia's face drained of color.

'Wait a minute. Come to think of it... when I first woke up, weren't my clothes changed?'

They had been. Even her undergarments had been cleanly swapped out.

She had been feverish and soaked in sweat, so she had assumed it was Annie or the maids.

But if Arpad had dismissed everyone...

'No way, no way... Arpad did it himself?!'

Hilia's face, which had gone deathly white, flushed bright red in an instant.

This shocking revelation left me reeling, unable to pull myself together.

I handled my work without issue, but the new information nagged at me relentlessly.

That was why.

I had subtly asked Annie, who was attending me as I got ready.

"You were the one who took care of me while I was sick, right?"

I desperately hoped she would say yes.

Annie's eyes went wide as she shook her head.

"No? I just prepared wash water, towels, clothes, and meals from outside the room—that was all. His Highness the Crown Prince was the one who cared for you directly."

"...!"

Unaware of my shock, Annie just chuckled.

"Everyone was worried, of course, but they were also surprised and impressed."

"Impressed by what?"

"We all knew the two of you had a good relationship, but it was touching to see how much His Highness truly cherishes the Princess Consort."

Don't let something like that move you!

I wanted to deny reality.

But Yulken had confirmed it, and now Annie too.

There was no reason for both of them to lie to me.

In the end, I had no choice but to accept the truth.

That I had shown Arpad every single unsightly side of myself.

'What do I do? I can't get married... Wait, I'm already married, so it doesn't matter...'

Either way, the embarrassment was all mine.

All day long.

And then, belatedly, it hit me.

'Wait! Arpad's coming to my room again tonight!'

We were currently putting on the show of a blissfully loving newlywed couple.

Last night, he had even caught me as I tried to flee the bed.

So he was definitely coming tonight too.

'How am I supposed to face Arpad?'

I agonized over it all evening, but no answer came.

Arpad was distraught all day.

It was because of the dream from the night before.

It had clearly been Hilia.

But the place they were in was somewhere he had never seen, and Hilia's condition was off.

'Whether she's the Delphin Duchess or the Crown Princess, there's no way she'd be in that state.'

She looked just like some criminal or vagrant.

The moment he realized that, rage boiled up inside him.

'Who dares...!'

And she was so pitiful—he wanted to lift her up himself, wipe away her streaming tears, and stay by her side to reassure her.

'Do I have some repressed desire or something?'

It was a dream that made him question himself on every level.

The most shocking part wasn't even Hilia's condition.

It was his thoughts and emotions in the dream.

Because back then, he had wanted to devour Hilia.