At the same time, I concentrated all my nerves to see his reaction. How would he react to my blood? But Arpad was just surprised that I threw myself away when I might die. He did not react to the spilled blood itself.
‘I’m glad. ‘t’s not the right time yet.’
I was able to confirm once again that this was before Arpad was truly overcome by mania. The Crown Prince, who had no idea the reason or conclusion of my observation, was just looking at me as if it were absurd.
“I haven’t heard that mental illness is inherited in the Delphine family.”
“Our family is of insignificant human origin, so that doesn’t happen.”
That’s what I was saying.
‘In our family, unlike your family, there is no genetic disease that causes people to go crazy because they cannot overcome the dragon’s bloodline.’
It was like punching the crown prince in the face from the front.
‘Well, what should I do? He pointed the knife at me first.’
Moreover, Arpad has already proven it with his actions.
‘You didn’t really point the knife at me to kill me.’
Then I would have jumped on the blade and let it die or not. But he stopped me. At least he was curious about why I was doing this.
‘And you might say that my suggestion was a bit harsh.’
Arpad frowned for a moment. Surprisingly, the non-human handsome man looked like a sculptor even when he used only his facial muscles. It must be so easy to live in this world. Oh, wasn’t it? He went crazy and died three times.
“Okay. Tell me, confident and brave princess. How can this crazy prince not go crazy?”
He seems to be aware that he was a madman. Was he surprisingly good at self-objectification?
“No one can cure the madness that comes down to the royal family. If you tell me how to do it, I will save your life.”
“With your bare mouth?”
The crown prince was speechless. and I laughed brightly.
“If I tell you all the methods now, you’ll kill me, right?”
“…”
‘Hey, why don’t you deny it? Did you really intend to kill me?’
I got goosebumps, but I tried my best to pretend not to. Arpad put a more explicit threat into his mouth. That in itself was evidence of a bit of a rush.
“…If I kidnap you like this, lock you up in a place where no one knows, and torture you, you’ll open your mouth.”
“Ah, after you monitored and blocked everyone from the Delphine duchy to the imperial palace?”
As I spoke for him, Arpad’s handsome face became strangely distorted.
‘Surely, he couldn’t have expected this much of a reaction.’
I smiled brightly and responded.
“There is not just one route to reveal Your Highness’s secret. Among them, there are some that will be sent to Her Majesty’s parents’ home.”
Her stepmother, the Empress, was the Crown Prince’s greatest political enemy. Of course, for her to pass on information about the mercenary king to the Empress would inevitably be fatal to the Crown Prince. Arpad’s handsome face distorted. He pressed his face so close that the tips of his noses touched. He was so close that his breath touched your skin and you could hear his heart beating. It would be natural to feel excited to be this close to an artistically handsome man…
‘I’m so excited. My heart is pounding because I don’t know when my head will fly off.’
After staring at me for a long time, Arpad finally said these words as if he was surrendering.
“What a strange woman.”
“I’m just an ordinary girl.”
“An ordinary woman would not know my secret identity, and she wouldn’t threaten to tell the Empress.”
“…”
“And she wouldn’t sneak into the catacombs alone on the night of the ominous crimson moon. How did you know I was here?”
The reason why the Crimson Moon is said to be unlucky was because many of the royal families who succeeded the Dragon Blood Dynasty often went crazy and died during this period.
“Okay, let’s just say I understand.”
“You mean you have no intention of talking.”
I laughed brightly. How could I provide all the funds from the beginning? In fact, Arpad didn’t expect that either.
“But how can I believe you? The risk of following your threats and being deceived is too great.”
Well, it’s still a precarious situation, being treated like a bomb that might explode at any moment. If you say you stole the bride of your perfectly fine cousin, everyone will think this.
‘The crown prince has finally gone crazy!’
Well, it seemed like now was the time.
‘I only swung the stick, so I should give you a proper carrot.’
Only then would I be able to increase the credibility of my words. I tried to speak as calmly as possible.
“If you leave me alone for a moment, I will give you an advance payment for the request.”
“What?”
“I’m not asking you so I can run away.”
I flicked the tip of my right hand, which was held tightly in his arm.
“I’m asking you to move only one hand.”
“…”
He glared at me with a truly suspicious and unbearable expression, and eventually nodded his head. The hand that was holding my wrist tightly, preventing me from moving at all, was withdrawn. I took out a small velvet pouch from my pocket and held it out to Arpad.
“This is an advance payment from me. Normally, mercenaries don’t move without advance payment, right?”
Arpad tore into his pockets, his brow still furrowed. Then, something shiny fell down. As expected, he must have had good reflexes since he was unmanned and caught the jewel in the air. A large blue pearl dangled in the middle of a silver chain shining between white fingers. Arpad’s red eyes widened when he saw that. With a smile of conversion, I said the name of the jewel.
“Agrippina’s tears. It is one of the five blessed gems that His Majesty seeks. Wouldn’t this be enough down payment?”
Agrippina was the name of the sea goddess. In other words, the nickname given to that pearl is the tears of the goddess. One of the famous gems known to have been blessed by God.
‘And it’s one of the family heirlooms I inherited from my mother.’
And it was one of the countless valuables that would be taken away from Evangeline if she married Ludwig anyway. However, our Crown Prince and Mercenary King did not take it easy. He smiled crookedly and asked back.
“Of course it is a precious gem, but do you think I, the crown prince, would be blinded by a gem like this?”
The act of pretending not to know the subject he was looking for so hard was very natural. I smiled brightly and pointed that out.
“As I already said, I know that Your Majesty is looking for this and all the Five Blessed Jewels. And I just handed you one of them.”
His handsome eyebrows rise again. It was worth knowing what he thought.
‘How do you know this information? Did you put ganja next to me? But even the Emperor doesn’t know…’
I dealt the final blow there.
“The advance I am talking about is not simply Pearl Harbor. One piece of information has been added.”
The young wariness and curiosity in Arpad’s eyes reached their peak. I shook my head and declared as if I were cutting with a knife.
“It’s no use.”
“What?”
“This pearl, or any other blessed gem or new item, will be of no use.”
“…!”
“The information that you can’t weaken or eliminate your madness with something like this is my advance payment.”
I laughed as the harsh truth was thrust upon me. At that moment, the man’s expression hardened like a mask and…
“Oops!”
Cheonggang!
A little later, I heard the sound of Árpád’s blade, which had been pointed at the back of my neck, being thrown to the floor. Because Arpad’s hands strangled me before that. It was completely different from when he lifted the back of his head earlier. He was holding my breath with genuine murderous intent. He had a bloody wolfish smile etched into his mouth.
“It’s bold of you to say something that makes me angry, paying in advance.”
“Tsk!”
“Then I wonder how the balance will be paid.”
“I told you, right? The advanced charge is crazy, ugh! Relax your hands! Even… I can’t do it!”
Then, surprisingly, the hand holding my neck lost some strength. So I could speak more comfortably.
“Cough! Ha, I will make sure that you don’t go crazy and become Emperor.”
“Explain how to do it properly.If you’re going to make me commit a political suicide just by telling nonsense.”
If the crown prince, who was already suspected of being insane, married his cousin’s bride, everyone would think he was really crazy. If he was going to call it political suicide, there was nothing she could do. But she couldn’t reveal everything as he wanted.
‘How can you say that you know everything after returning three times? Then it won’t just be strangling, it’ll be a real hit.’
Instead of being a duchy princess in front of the crown prince, I returned to being a client in front of a mercenary.
“You will find out about that after you accept the request. Mercenary King, Gerald.”
“… Are you asking me to pay a price?”
“That’s right. I already paid the advance. Then all you have to do is choose whether to accept the request or not.”
“…You threatened to reveal my identity if I didn’t accept it?”
“Ah.”
This was a correct point. I responded with a cheerful wink.
“It’s a condition of request, including everything.”
Arpad suddenly looked tired. It was strange because he looked like he had been harassed by me for a long time.
‘I didn’t bother you at all! I’m feeling strangled right now!’
“So, you’re saying I’ll find out naturally after I kidnap you tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going crazy.”
Arpad washed his face dry. If anyone saw it, it wouldn’t look like it was me who was being strangled, but that he, who was strangling me, was cornered.
‘But I can’t help it! Unless it is a predatory marriage, that is, a predatory marriage carried out directly by a member of the imperial family, I cannot prevent my marriage!’
I already knew that fact painfully well through three regressions. Therefore, he clearly drove a wedge into the shaking Arpad.
“I can keep His Highness Arpad from going crazy. I swear this is true.”
“Swear? Swear what?”
Arpad asked, laughing at the question of oath and trust. So, he would never be convinced by other people’s oaths or promises. So I reached out. He placed his finger on the new item I had given him as an advance payment a moment ago. I recited the sacred saying. In response to this, the divine power of the divine object sparkled and leaked out.
In Arpad’s eyes, light was reflecting.
“…!”
This was a rudimentary skill that I learned while living briefly as a monk during the three regressions.
-I ask you, a lowly servant, relying on the goddess’s blessings. Please prove the truth of these words.
When the sacred speech ended, the divine power that flowed from Agrippina’s tears formed on her wrist in the form of a bracelet and then disappeared. I held out my wrist, which still had remnants of divine power, towards Arpad and spoke.
“If I lied, my wrists would be blown off. I can calm your madness.”
“…”
A moment passed, but my wrist was safe.
“This is the first time I have seen a woman risking her life to determine the truth through sacred words.”
“Well, you wouldn’t believe it if it wasn’t to this extent, right? Is that wrong?”
Arpad did not deny it. But he didn’t even say he would trust me. But he let go of my neck and didn’t stop me from returning to the mansion.
‘It must be said that he was curious about the ‘balance’ I would give him.’
If so, it would mean that he was willing to follow my request. I hoped so.
‘If not… Because we may have to use even the worst method…’
After returning to the room without being noticed by anyone with the help of Lord Beltane, my legs gave out and I collapsed.
“My God…”
Lately, my whole body started shaking. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I saw a clear red handprint on my neck. I have clearly overcome the risk of death.
‘This is gambling.’
But I was in a situation where I couldn’t survive unless I won at gambling. After washing and changing clothes, I went into bed, but I couldn’t sleep at all. In the end, I greeted the morning of my wedding day with open eyes.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on December, 24.
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