Chapter 106 - North Korean rabbit

Chapter 106

Chapter 12. The Husband's Temptation

Yulken narrowed his triangular eyes and glared at his master.

“Was being absent for a week not enough, and now you’re slacking off?”

He seemed ready to launch into a scathing critique of Arpad’s qualifications for the Crown Prince position at any moment.

“All this time, how much has our Crown Princess suffered alone! To speak of laziness the moment you return! That our Crown Princess’s fortune in a husband is only this much fills me with unbearable sorrow……!”

“…Enough. Yulken.”

Yulken was intelligent and, more than that, quick-witted.

He sensed that if he carried on as usual, Arpad would not let it slide this time.

Yulken stuck out his tongue with a ‘nyeh’ and a twisted reply, piled up a stack of documents, and vanished.

‘Fled’ would be a more accurate description.

To that extent, Arpad was in a foul mood.

Well, wouldn’t it be stranger if a man who was rejected before he could even confess to his wife was in a good mood?

Arpad looked at the documents Yulken had left behind with half-hearted attention, then took out the object that had been grating on his nerves all along.

The ring he had somewhat sneakily received (snatched) from Hilia.

‘To think she would still have the wedding ring from that Ludwig fellow…’

Moreover, when he had entered her bedroom last night, Hilia had been looking at this ring with a complicated expression.

‘As if she still had lingering feelings for whoever gave her the ring…’

*Crunch!* The corner of the sturdy ebony desk shattered under the grip of his hand.

As if that ‘whoever’ were the desk itself.

It was at that moment.

Arpad thought he saw a flicker—an illusion that one of the three gems on the ring had sparkled.

“?”

Simultaneously, darkness rushed before his eyes.

In an instant, the feel of the ground beneath his feet changed, and the movement and temperature of the air shifted. What stabbed into his nostrils was the thick stench of blood.

In the black sky where even the stars had hidden, an exceedingly ominous red moon hung.

Looking up at it, his lips moved of their own accord.

“I was always afraid of when I might go mad. Especially when the Crimson Moon rose after Mother passed away.”

These were not words spoken by his present self. They were words he had no memory of, even from the past.

Yet, they were words he could have spoken.

To whom was he saying these words now?

As if to answer this question, his vision shifted. He met eyes—purple pupils stained with terror and tears.

A face that looked much more haggard and gaunt than now.

‘Hilia!’

It was unmistakably her.

And he… was holding a blade to her throat.

“…Hah!”

When he came to again, Arpad was still in his study.

The wedding ring from Ludwig was still in his hand, and the shattered corner of the ebony desk was just as he remembered.

Intense bewilderment and questions dominated his mind.

Once, when he had lain beside Hilia and fallen asleep.

And now, when he was holding the ring given by her former fiancé.

In both visions, Hilia had looked at him with eyes full of fear or pain.

A terrible confusion clouded Arpad’s mind like a dark fog.

‘What in the world is this?’

His mood was utterly foul. He felt restless, anxious, and dreadful.

Utterly unable to stay and wrestle with the documents, he stormed out of the study.

He let the pitiful cry of Yulken, who had been waiting in the adjoining room for the documents to be processed, go in one ear and out the other.

When he arrived at Sia’s bedroom, it was empty.

“…….”

Something similar had happened last time, hadn’t it?

Feeling his mood sink even lower, Arpad called a passing maid and asked.

“Where is the Crown Princess right now?”

“She is having tea time with guests at the Crystal Pergola in the eastern garden.”

It wasn’t far. A location he could reach immediately.

“What guests?”

Whoever it was, they could neither stop Arpad from barging in nor refuse him.

At the maid’s answer, Arpad could not hide the hardening of his lips.

“She is meeting with the Duchess of Müzen and the young Duke.”

“…….”

The young Duke of Müzen… that man.

The one who had dared to present Hilia with an amethyst jewelry set.

‘He was already irritating, but now I dislike him even more.’

His restlessness surged, and Arpad’s steps quickened further.

* * *

Transparent glass from Mount Osen is a very precious item.

Clear as water, and though it is glass, it is as hard as steel, making it all the more valued.

The structure in the eastern garden, assembled solely from this Mount Osen glass, bore the nickname Crystal Pergola.

Rare flowers and trees were planted around it, and within, the pergola shone like a gigantic jewel.

The Duchess of Müzen gazed at the pergola and the surrounding scenery with a rapturous expression and spoke.

“This is my first time being invited here as well. It is truly an honor, Your Highness.”

Hilia smiled softly.

“You’ll soon be coming and going here as if it were your own home, so there’s no need for such words.”

The Duchess was pleased to see Hilia wearing the amethyst necklace and brooch.

‘She is openly showing favor towards me.’

However, one unusual thing about the Crown Princess caught her eye.

The Duchess cautiously inquired. For her, she simply had to ask.

“But, Your Highness. That beautiful ring—what might it be? It seems to be an extraordinary item.”

The Duchess’s eyes gleamed.

Hilia realized anew.

‘Ah, the star of Statalia is a pale purple, so the Duchess would like it.’

The Duchess had opened the conversation, and around them were three or four friendly noblewomen the Duchess had brought along.

A perfect situation for spreading rumors.

Hilia covered the corner of her mouth with her left hand, making the ring particularly visible.

“Ah, that was a gift from him yesterday.”

“Oh my, heavens!”

“Well, it did seem like a remarkable piece.”

Just then, a sudden voice came from a corner of the garden.

“Pardon my intrusion, Your Highness the Crown Princess. Might that gemstone be a divine relic?”

A male voice, but unmistakably a beautiful one.

Nevertheless, Hilia felt the hairs on her body stand on end.

‘This voice…’

Her heart beat ominously, and her mouth went completely dry.

But she could not ignore it. Hilia turned her head.

Long, night-black hair was neatly tied to one side, and elegant gray eyes shone with composure.

The sacred white vestments and the emblem of the main temple glittered in gold on his shoulder.

Just as she remembered.

Sir Beltain and the other imperial knights, startled, blocked the front of the pergola.

“Who goes there?!”

“An intruder?!”

They were astonished.

Because until this man spoke, they had sensed no presence at all.

The Duchess of Müzen and the other noblewomen let out small exclamations. Their eyes sparkled.

“Oh my! Archbishop Bio!”

Only then could the knights understand why they had not sensed this man’s presence.

It was only natural for one with divine power strong enough to attain the position of archbishop.

The noblewomen chattered without any wariness.

“How did Your Grace come to be here?”

“I heard Your Grace was on sabbatical and had gone east.”

“I’ve been neglectful in my faith, but with Your Grace here, I can regain my devotion.”

Archbishop Bio responded to the noblewomen’s fuss with calm and polite manners. A very familiar attitude.

“I returned not long ago. On my way back from an audience with His Majesty the Emperor, I lost my way while viewing the gardens and happened to arrive here.”

He bowed his head lightly and apologized to Hilia, the mistress of this gathering.

“I must have startled you by intruding so suddenly. My apologies, Your Highness the Crown Princess.”

Everyone looked back and forth between Hilia and the archbishop with interested eyes.

“But, you said divine relic just now?”

“Is it true, Archbishop Bio?”

“Does Your Highness the Crown Princess possess a divine relic?”

As a priest awakened to divine power, it would not be strange for him to recognize a divine relic immediately.

Hilia received his greeting with composure, as if it were nothing.

“We meet for the first time. Archbishop Bio. May the justice of the Heavenly God be with you.”

“The honor is mine, Your Highness. May the light of the Heavenly God descend upon your shoulders.”

Though they acted as if meeting for the first time, Hilia knew about this man.

The one who, across all temples on the continent, had attained the position of archbishop at the youngest age, and who would break all temple records and rise to the highest position.

‘He is also one of Evangeline’s powerful allies…’

Simultaneously, he was the one who had helped Hilia when she fled to the temple to avoid marriage after her first regression.

Hilia had trusted and relied on him sincerely, only to be betrayed miserably.

Archbishop Bio had brought Hilia before a holy tribunal on a dirty pretext, which became the cause of Hilia being stripped of everything and confined to a small provincial convent in her second life.

“This sinful woman, under the pretext of seeking sanctuary in the temple, lured numerous men and even attempted to seduce me.”

The terrible sense of betrayal and wound from that time threatened to surge anew.

Her many experiences allowed her not to show it. But she could not help the turmoil in her heart.

It was then. Someone she had neither expected nor anticipated appeared and utterly blew away Hilia’s anxiety.

“For one who bears the title of archbishop to get lost in the imperial palace. It seems the main temple does not properly educate its priests.”

“Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

“Y-Your Highness!”

As everyone rose in surprise, Arpad strode over and stood beside Hilia.

And, as if naturally greeting his wife, he pretended to kiss her cheek and asked in a low voice, so only Hilia could hear.

“You can just answer with a nod. Do you need my help, Hilia?”

“…!”