A Change of Husband - Chapter 117

Count Mirk’s letter arrived the next morning after dawn.

 

Right after they had received the surrender of all conservatives except him, Esperad ordered the troops to switch to defensive mode in preparation for more battles, reorganize all units, and return to the royal palace.

 

Since that task couldn’t be finished quickly, Esperad had to read the letter while barely having slept.

 

[To the king who will be defeated in the end.]

 

The letter began with mockery and was so arrogant that it was hard to believe it came from someone who had lost.

 

[What did you feel when you heard the news while drunk on your false victory?
Did you feel defeated, or did you feel baseless confidence that you could still take back what was lost?
Or were you excited at the thought that this might be your chance to defeat evil and bring justice?
It is a pleasure to be challenged by a fool. So I will not run or hide.
King whose time is limited, if you are sure of yourself, then come. I will gladly become your greatest and final enemy, and destroy you in the most painful way.
If you want to save that poor woman, come back alone to Rihanna—the place where your feelings first bloomed, and where your bones will be buried.
I will wait. But don’t expect me to wait too long. I don’t like repeating old mistakes.]

 

The meaning of the letter was clear.

 

“The place where your feelings first bloomed and where your bones will be buried” meant the Medici Mansion. And the fact that Count Mirk had taken over the Medici Mansion…

 

“Madam Marce.”

 

His hands began to tremble.

 

Because he had trusted too much in his memories of the past, he had failed to properly check the one who stayed closest to her. How foolish.

 

He should have remembered Lydia’s warning that this world was the same but different.

 

“…Damn it.”

 

Edgar, watching Esperad’s twisted expression, carefully pulled the crumpled letter from his hands and read it.

 

Edgar’s face soon turned serious.

 

“This is a trap.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Then the answer is clear. You can’t go. If you go alone, you’ll definitely die.”

 

“If I don’t go, Asilie will die.”

 

Even from his desperate voice, it was clear how deeply this affected Esperad.

 

Still, Edgar had no choice but to speak such cruel words—because he was a friend and a loyal subject.

 

“I feel sorry for Lady Grandier, but it can’t be helped. You’re the king of this country. You have people you must protect.”

 

“I don’t care.”

 

“What?”

 

Edgar’s face showed shock at the completely unexpected answer.

 

“For me, protecting my person who is trembling alone is more important than thinking about the people who will be left behind. At least, to me it is.”

 

“Esperad, you…”

 

“The reason I wanted power in the first place was to keep Asilie safe beside me. So I don’t need anything more than that.”

 

“Then are you telling me to just let you go alone? I can’t. I absolutely won’t.”

 

He meant it. Edgar, who had held a sword all his life, wouldn’t find it hard to stop a sleep-deprived Esperad in poor condition.

 

He understood Esperad’s feelings, but he couldn’t just let his friend walk into death. If he couldn’t stop him, he would have to go with him.

 

But Esperad shook his head right away.

 

“I have to go alone.”

 

“Yes. You must go alone.”

 

The voice came right after. Both Esperad and Edgar turned around at the same time.

 

Without them noticing, Lydia had entered the office.

 

Looking calm, she spoke as if she hadn’t just agreed with Edgar’s words. Edgar raised his voice toward her.

 

“What are you saying right now? Go alone?!”

 

“If not, my sister will really die.”

 

He realized it too late.

 

The atmosphere had been so different that he had forgotten—Lydia and Asilie were sisters.

 

Still, that didn’t mean Esperad could go alone.

 

They couldn’t even guess how many soldiers were lying in wait to kill him. Walking into enemy territory alone was no different from suicide.

 

“If you go now, Esperad will die. That must never happen…”

 

“If you do as you wish, you may avoid disaster for now. But since the future has already changed, His Majesty’s safety is no longer guaranteed.”

 

“What do you mean the future has changed…?”

 

“From the moment I reunited with my sister, I could see the moon in her.”

 

The moon is the pair of the sun. Asilie was meant to become queen in this world.

 

While the world doesn’t decide individual fates, people who influence many—such as a king and queen—often follow a path called destiny.

 

But if Asilie deviated from that path…

 

“Then her pair—His Majesty—could also leave the path of destiny. It means no one can predict what will happen.”

 

“Do you have proof? This isn’t just about Lady Grandier. Esperad’s life is at stake.”

 

“Even if I prove it or not, nothing changes. Your Majesty must go. Even for your own sake.”

 

“Are you saying this means Lady Grandier and Esperad can live together?”

 

“Or it means they might die together. Either way, it will be a happy ending for them.”

 

Esperad quietly agreed to her words.

 

But Edgar was shocked. He couldn’t answer for a while, and then finally raised his voice.

 

“How can you say something so cruel like it’s nothing?!”

 

“That’s because I was born cruel, or because I’m a sorcerer who uses unlucky magic. That’s why I warned you to keep your distance from someone like me. Very kindly and politely, too.”

 

“Hah…”

 

“At least you remember that clearly, right?”

 

The atmosphere was too cold to say it was just a reaction to the situation.

 

Normally, Esperad might have been curious and tried to advise Edgar about their relationship. But he wasn’t in a position to care now.

 

Lydia, realizing this wasn’t the time to argue with Edgar, turned to Esperad.

 

“You must leave before dawn. I’ve told you the direction. The choice is yours, Your Majesty.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

When Esperad replied, Lydia bowed and quickly left the office.

 

After everything happened so fast, Edgar stood there in a daze. By the time he came to his senses, Esperad had already finished preparing to leave.

 

“You’re crazy. Are you really going to throw yourself into that trap?”

 

“If I don’t come back…”

 

Esperad set down his newly loaded gun and looked Edgar in the eyes.

 

“Make sure the sorcerer escapes to safety. She has strange powers, and she’s connected to the previous king’s death. If we leave her alone, she won’t survive.”

 

“…I’m not obligated to. If you don’t come back, I don’t have to take orders from anyone anymore.”

 

“It’s not an order. It’s a direction. I can’t just stand by when I know you’ll regret it.”

 

With a deep sigh, Edgar suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Esperad’s hand tightly.

 

“I’ll remember that. But… you must come back. You must.”

 

“I will come back.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“I won’t let her die again. If we live or die together, then I’ll definitely return.”

 

He said that just in case.

 

Even though Esperad would give his life to protect her, even with all his strange and special experiences, he was still human—someone who could Asilie die like anyone else.

 

“See you later.”

 

Esperad patted Edgar on the shoulder, put on his cloak, and left.

 

Only after the sound of the door closing did Edgar realize what had bothered him.

 

“‘Let her die again’? What does he mean, ‘again’…?”

 

But the one who could answer had already left.

 

All that was left was to wait.

 

 

The feeling of something being wrong came the moment I opened my eyes.

 

‘How…’

 

 

 

Leaving aside the fact that the location had changed, Asilie had no memory at all of how she had been moved here, or how she had fallen asleep.

 

Asilie slowly traced her thoughts.

 

‘Could it have been Madam Marce?’

 

Madam Marce had brought her tea, saying it would help Asilie relax, since she hadn’t been sleeping well due to worrying about Esperad.

 

She had no memory after drinking that tea. It was as if she had passed out the moment she drank it.

 

‘I let my guard down too much.’

 

When Sophia told her about the suspicious maid, Asilie should have not only sent the maid away but also looked into how that maid had gotten close to her in the first place.

 

She shouldn’t have just brushed it off. She should have taken it as a kind of warning.

 

When Madam Marce said she had personally interviewed and chosen the maid, Asilie should have doubted her. But the memories from the past had made Asilie careless without her even realizing it.

 

Thinking back, she couldn’t say for sure that Madam Marce had always served her with firm loyalty in the past either.

 

After all, she never answered Asilie when she asked about the reason for the conflict between the former Duke of Camedici and Count Mirk.

 

‘Even so, I trusted her completely because of the past. Haa…’

 

Madam Marce’s loyalty was to the Camedici family.

 

The last person she truly served with devotion was Esperad. And even then, it likely didn’t reach the level of devotion she had shown to the former Duchess of Camedici, whom she served closely.

 

In fact, Asilie had never said it out loud, but she had suspected that Count Mirk had done something terrible to the former Duchess of Camedici, Esperad’s mother.

 

She remembered the phrase, “An immoral man cannot become king.” And based on the situation—how the Count and the former Duke had once competed for the Duchess but still maintained a relationship before suddenly falling out—it was clear one of them had made a grave mistake. More than anything else…

 

“A man courted a woman, but she married someone else. If the man had stepped back and wished her happiness, everything would’ve been fine. But he didn’t.”

 

“The man couldn’t accept that he couldn’t have her, so in the end, he did something horrible to a woman who had a husband and child.”

 

This was the story Esperad told her when Asilie first confessed her love to him.

 

He couldn’t bring himself to speak clearly about his mother’s truth, so he confessed like that instead.

 

Even so, Asilie hadn’t fully grasped what had happened—at least not until she heard that Count Mirk had seen someone else through Esperad.

 

‘So in the end…’

 

Unlike in the parallel world, the Count Mirk of this world did not see his incident with the former Duchess as a bittersweet memory. If he had, he could never have started this war in the first place.

 

Besides, there was only one way for Madam Marce to follow Count Mirk’s orders:

 

By being blackmailed over her former master’s honor.

 

‘This world is similar but different. I should’ve judged people by new standards and with new insight…’

 

Because she failed to do that, she couldn’t suspect the person she should have.

 

This wasn’t anyone else’s fault. It was Asilie’s own mistake.

 

Even now, Asilie could feel it painfully.

 

She had been arrogant, believing that because she had experiences others didn’t, she could stay on top in every situation—without any real reason.

 

“I was such a fool…”

 

“Oh? That’s unexpected.”

 

At the voice right in front of her, Asilie jerked her head up in surprise.

 

She hadn’t expected anyone to be there, but it seemed Count Mirk had been watching her ever since she woke up.

 

“Usually, a fool doesn’t even realize they’re lacking. At least a lowly person like you knows how stupid you are.”

 

If she said she wasn’t afraid of the attitude of someone who stood above her, it would’ve been a lie.

 

But Asilie didn’t want to show obedience or cowardice to this vile, despicable man.

 

“You’re being rude.”

 

“There’s no need to show manners to someone who’s going to die soon.”

 

“Too bad. Since the opposite will happen, I guess I don’t need to show manners either.”

 

If it had been Joseph, he would’ve considered her disrespectful and tried to break her neck on the spot.

 

But Count Mirk simply smirked and calmly evaluated her reaction.

 

“How arrogant.”

 

“I’m going to be the queen of this country. I can’t afford to just be humble.”

 

“What? Hahahahahahaha!”

 

Bursting into laughter like it was the most ridiculous thing he’d heard, Count Mirk soon looked at her with a cruel expression.

 

Though the room was dark, a few lit candles made it easy to see the look on his face.

 

“Are you provoking me to make me kill you before Esperad gets here, so you lose your value as a hostage?”

 

“That’s a good idea. Go ahead and kill me.”

 

“No need.”

 

“…Wasn’t it already over? Why are you doing something this reckless?”

 

“It’s a gamble. If I kill Esperad here, then I’ll be the only legitimate heir to the throne.”

 

Hearing that, anger suddenly boiled up inside her.

 

She knew Count Mirk wasn’t talking to her because he saw her as a serious conversation partner—he was just bored.

 

But Asilie couldn’t hold back and replied coldly.

 

“Then you’ve already lost legitimacy.”

 

“What?”

 

“An immoral person cannot be king. How could a man who acts like a beast while wearing the face of a man dare to rule over others?”

 

A short silence followed.

 

His face, which had just been laughing, suddenly froze with a terrifying expression as he glared at her. Then, as if making up his mind, he stormed forward.

 

He kicked Asilie hard in the face while she sat defenseless, her arms tied.

 

“Ugh!”

 

She had endured all kinds of harsh treatment and even frequent beatings from Joseph, but she had never been kicked in the face before.

 

The impact was so intense, it felt like her skull might crack. Whether it was because the kick was strong or because she was hit in the wrong spot, her lips split, and she tasted bitter blood. Tears welled up from the sudden pain.

 

Still, Asilie held herself together. She didn’t want to show weakness in front of this man.

 

“You really are foolish. Do they all look human to you?”

 

“Ugh…”

 

“Do those who bleed their neighbors dry to fill their own pockets, abandon their families for honor, and point swords at their own kin for power—do they seem human to you? Just like a lion is king of the animals, beasts need a king suited for them.”

 

All she could do was groan, and it made her feel even more frustrated. Then Count Mirk whispered into her ear.

 

“So, calling me a beast might not be completely wrong.”

 

Bang—

 

That was when a loud gunshot rang out from outside.

 

Count Mirk smiled and closed his eyes, as if he were trying to feel something.

 

“Heh… Finally, he’s here.”

 

There was an unhidden excitement in his voice, and a chill of anxiety swept through Asilie’s chest.