Chapter 177 - North Korean rabbit

Episode 177

Arpad's gaze turned menacing.

His killing intent grew vast and dense, as if it could take on form and mass. It was enough to make one's skin prickle.

Once again, Yulken felt a threat to his life.

'Eek! Save me, Your Highness!'

...He soon realized, even as he screamed inwardly.

'Wait, but isn't this whole mess also happening because of His Highness?'

The very person who had put his master in such a foul mood now, the one who had secretly orchestrated this affair, was none other than that 'His Highness.'

However, the only person who could ever make Arpad, who was perpetually a ticking time bomb, behave and be happy was also His Highness.

Truly, the sole person who could make Arpad both happy and miserable.

As Yulken was torn between clinging to Hilia or resenting her, Arpad, chewing on his murderous aura, asked.

"Who is the secret rendezvous with?"

His tone when pronouncing the word 'rendezvous' was as if he wanted to chew the other party alive.

Yulken, trembling like a leaf, barely managed to answer.

"The Black Wolf of the North."

It was an expression alluding to the crest of the Duchy of Teslan.

Arpad's gaze grew even more foul.

"I thought they might start moving soon, as their internal consolidation should be nearing completion and the coronation isn't far off... but I didn't expect them to start by coveting another man's woman as soon as they began to act."

His tone, to the casual ear, was calm.

But inside, he was seething hotter than lava.

In truth, he should have been supremely happy and content at this moment.

He had brought down Ludwig and Isabel, and had gotten rid of the bothersome Evangeline.

The madness that had been like the work of a lifetime was also resolved. (He was convinced of this.)

And he had even obtained a love he had never dared dream of.

Yet, he was anxious and uneasy.

He knew very well the reason.

Right after abducting her as per the commission, taking her to the detached palace, and performing the marriage ceremony.

That very night, Hilia had presented the <Marriage of Abduction Contract>, effectively their marriage contract.

Arpad vividly remembered one of the clauses therein.

'She clearly intended to make it possible to divorce anytime if only one party desired it.'

At first glance, that clause was advantageous to Arpad.

Indeed, Hilia had tried to argue that.

"...This proves I'm not doing this commission because I want the Empress's position or power!"

It struck him anew.

'It was good I changed the contract.'

He had altered Hilia's draft, which allowed for immediate divorce if requested by only one spouse, to require the consent of both parties.

It wasn't a conscious action at the time, but thinking of it now, it was a masterstroke.

A doubt arose then, as it did now.

'Was Hilia planning to divorce and leave me immediately after dealing with Evangeline and Ludwig?'

Arpad's suspicion precisely pierced Hilia's thoughts.

When Hilia confessed everything, even the fact of her regression, she did not mention that she had planned to divorce immediately after dealing with Ludwig and Evangeline.

It wasn't intentionally hidden.

She had considered it too trivial a matter, and after genuinely falling in love with Arpad, she herself had forgotten about it.

Thus, she had unintentionally kept it hidden.

But Arpad had no way of knowing this.

Only Hilia's attitude and words right after the wedding, and the content of the contract before he changed it, were etched in his mind.

'Right. As if preparing to leave my side at any time...'

Changing the contract clause wasn't the issue.

Even if he refused a divorce, she could decide to leave his side.

Hilia had the ability and the will to execute such a thing.

"I love you."

Her confession was undoubtedly sincere.

Otherwise, she would not have confessed unbelievable truths.

Yet, Arpad's unease did not disappear.

He now understood it was because belief in love did not guarantee she would stay by his side forever.

He could not bear the anxiety that the little pink bird that had flown into his embrace of its own accord might fly away at any moment.

Now that he had come to know the little bird's warmth, the feel of its feathers, its scent, he could not live without it.

But his precious, small, beautiful cherry-blossom-colored bird was not caged, its wings were healthy, and it was not bound by chains.

It could fly away and disappear at any time.

Unable to bear it, Arpad abruptly rose to his feet.

* * *

Clearly, I did not want Arpad to know about this meeting with the Black Serpent.

'But there's no reason to say so straightforwardly, is there?'

I confidently smiled and retorted.

"I cannot fathom why you would think His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince would be unaware of this matter."

"......"

The Black Serpent's single eye scanned me with suspicion.

It seemed my assumption was correct—that he, far away in the north, would not know the affairs inside the Crown Prince's palace.

Managing the internal consolidation of the Duchy of Teslan alone must have been overwhelming.

He hadn't even been able to properly manage the forces in the capital's back alleys he previously held.

Thanks to that, I was able to wholly absorb Milana and her followers into Penny Terrace.

Perhaps sensing he had overreached regarding Arpad, the Black Serpent changed the subject.

"By the way... I had no idea the noble and sacred Crown Princess would be so interested in the dirty, dark affairs of the back alleys."

It seemed he had also discerned that I was the true master of Penny Terrace.

Well, originally, that area was his hometown and main stage, and the connection between Frida Wes's dress shop and Penny Terrace would be easy for the Black Serpent to uncover.

"And to go so far as to pour even the hard-recovered fortune of your maternal family into it."

He seemed to have a rough idea of the funds flowing from the Ducal House of Delphin into Penny Terrace as well.

'Especially since I was absent for three months.'

I silently cursed the utterly useless, damnable lizard a few times.

"Ah, perhaps His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince is unaware of that as well?"

"Of course he is well aware."

This was 100% true, so there was no need to sugarcoat it.

At that, the Black Serpent harbored an overt sneer.

"It seems the rumors of you being a devoted wife who follows her husband are true."

It sounded like praise at a glance, but this was implying that Arpad was the true mastermind behind everything I did.

It was closer to blatant mockery, and Aaron, a knight unaccustomed to such manner of speech, openly grew angry.

"How dare you mock his master before a knight?!"

The Black Serpent merely scoffed at the killing intent emanating from the Sword Master.

"Hmm. Rather, I wonder if you haven't forgotten your manners. Young Duke of Müzen."

The Ducal House of Müzen of the south and the Ducal House of Teslan of the north.

The prestige of the Teslan house was slightly higher.

Moreover, Klaus Teslan was the Duke himself, while Aaron was merely a young duke.

Thus, he could speak like that, implying Aaron should show him courtesy first.

After restraining Aaron, I brightly smiled and shook my head.

"No. Rather... wouldn't 'shrew' be a more accurate term?"

"...?"

"I cannot be a woman who acts only with her master's permission. I'm closer to a shrew who freely orders her husband about."

Perhaps a shrew who might soon abandon her husband and leave.

"......"

Perhaps not expecting this, the Duke of Teslan fell silent for a moment.

It displeased me that he kept acting as if he were dealing with Arpad, not me, who was right before his eyes.

'How dare he try to treat me like a puppet.'

"...I heard the Crown Prince dotes on Your Highness, but it seems the rumors fall short."

"Embarrassingly, that is true."

I smiled broadly, imbuing my words with sincerity.

At that, the Black Serpent, that is, the Duke of Teslan, scanned me again with a subtle expression.

He still seemed not to understand why I had appeared here or why I was doing this.

Well, it was normal to send a formal invitation to the Crown Prince's palace once his official entry into the capital was announced.

I, too, might have done so if it weren't for such an urgent situation as now.

The Duke of Teslan openly posed a question.

"I don't know how you learned of my relationship with the Tower Lord, but I hope you are not suggesting that I owe a debt of gratitude to Your Highness and His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince for cutting that man's head off."

"Of course not. The Tower Lord was a dangerous individual who needed to be definitively eliminated when the opportunity arose."

I am not that shameless.

"Your power holds little significance for me or my husband to the extent of cutting off the Tower Lord's head for your sake. You seem to have a slight excess of self-importance."

"......"

The Duke of Teslan's expression openly soured.

Well, who told him to go around provoking people's moods?

"Are you perhaps presumptuously confident that you truly killed him just by cutting off his head?"

I beamed a radiant smile.

"Of course not. But I eliminated all four spare bodies he had prepared as well."

"...!"

For the first time, astonishment appeared in the Duke's single eye, which had been watching me with a mix of suspicion and mockery.

It seemed I had struck a true nerve.

I could not miss this timing.

Stepping closer to him, I broached the main subject.

"My goal is one. The Wolf's Fang."

The Duke's expression, frozen in shock, changed to one of disbelief.

"Are you threatening me to hand over a family treasure now?"

"Its true name is 'The Needle of Remnemia.' A divine artifact of the goddess of memory and oblivion, Remnemia."

"...!"

I extended my hand.

"I'm not asking you to hand over such an item for nothing. I am proposing a trade."

"A trade?"

I lightly clenched my outstretched hand, then extended only my little finger.

And I pointed at the Duke's left eye, covered by a black eyepatch.

"That 'thing' inside your eye there, I will resolve it for you."

The Duke's visible eye now revealed emotions too intense to be expressed by mere astonishment.

It was extreme wariness and anger.