A Change of Husband - Chapter 74

Officially, she was already considered a dead person.

The message from the Bonaparte Count’s family to the Grandier Duke’s family expressed regret and said that she went missing after being attacked by a wild animal during an outing in the forest with Joseph.

But Asilie didn’t think they were completely wrong. In her judgment, Joseph was a man who could definitely be called a “beast.”

“What do you plan to do?”

The Grandier Duke asked Asilie.

He stared at her curiously, as she showed no reaction for a long time after reading the letter from the Bonaparte Count’s family.

Normally, someone would say or do something after reading news about themselves, but Asilie looked too calm, as if it had nothing to do with her.

“…I’m not sure.”

“Sending a letter like this to the Duke’s family means they’re trying to go through the steps before officially announcing your death, doesn’t it? Are you planning to stay dead like this?”

A dead person.

If they officially declared her dead, she would be free to go wherever she wanted. But if the Bonaparte family found out she was still alive, it would cause problems.

Also, she couldn’t forget that Joseph had met the daughter of the Bourbon Count before this happened.

Thinking about it now, it didn’t feel like Joseph decided to kill her all on his own.

‘If they brought in the Bourbon Count’s daughter as the new daughter-in-law, the conservative nobles would become even stronger together.’

Joseph may not have cared much about politics, but the fact that Esperad had a right to the throne would’ve had a big impact on many nobles.

Maybe it even caused a split among the conservative nobles who were supporting the Count of Mirk as the next king.

At that time, the best way to keep them united would have been a show of continued friendship.

“I guess I have to go back.”

There was no need to push the burden into the future just to escape this complicated moment.

If she had to face it eventually, it was better to do it now—while she had nothing to lose.

The truth was, she had no clear goal in life yet. At least for now, she hadn’t found a reason or purpose to live.

But even so, she couldn’t just spend her time missing a lost lover and live without hope. That would be disrespectful to him.

Asilie had learned from her experiences in the parallel world that even things that seemed impossible could be done if she did her best.

If she didn’t learn anything from that time, she would end up just like Agua Nale Roja said—stuck and unable to seize her chance.

So Asilie decided to make getting out of this situation her first goal.

The road ahead would be long and difficult, but she could face it. Besides, the ones she truly needed to get revenge on were still in this world—the Bonaparte family.

“You said you’re going back now? To the Bonaparte family?”

“Yes. Like Your Grace said, I am still a member of the Bonaparte family.”

“…Hah, I didn’t expect that.”

“Then what did you think I would do?”

“When you didn’t return to the Bonaparte family and came to us, I thought something must have happened and your safety was threatened. So I expected you would ask for my protection…”

Of course, that was possible. And the current Grandier Duke would give her enough help in return for the guns she had offered.

But she couldn’t rely on the Grandier family forever. So she had to stand on her own.

“I can’t run away forever.”

“Most people don’t choose to confront things directly. The more I see you, the more surprising you are.”

Most people try to avoid conflict when faced with hard situations because they don’t want to risk losing what they have.

But right now, she had nothing left to lose. Everything had already been taken from her.

‘Even if it’s just for revenge, I have to endure this time.’

With a firm belief in making the evil ones pay for their sins, Asilie decided to survive in this world without her lover.

It had been less than a month since she became queen when she faced death.

But many visitors came to mourn her unfortunate passing.

Count Mirk was one of those visitors—or at least, that’s how it looked.

‘If only she had died a little earlier, I wouldn’t have had this headache…’

The death of a woman he barely knew couldn’t possibly make him sad.

In fact, because of her, all the plans he had carefully made were ruined at once, and even the conservative nobles were now fighting among themselves.

Count Mirk didn’t care how inhuman it was to think a dead person should’ve died earlier while pretending to mourn.

He stood in front of the coffin covered with thick cloth marked with the royal family’s symbol and placed a flower on it, thinking:

‘Since things are quiet, maybe that magician didn’t talk, or maybe he ran away… but I can’t let my guard down yet.’

Esperad had been active politically, but so far, he didn’t seem to be planning to arrest any nobles.

Still, Mirk couldn’t relax. So after leaving the temple, he headed straight to the palace.

Surprisingly, Esperad allowed his audience request Asilie.

“Thank you, Your Majesty, for giving me your time even though you must be in great sorrow.”

“It’s not difficult.”

“I was deeply saddened to hear the news. We all must face the rest of death someday, but even so, it’s hard to hear such news. Honestly, I was more worried about the ones left behind than the deceased.”

Esperad almost twisted his face in disgust at those fake words.

If he didn’t know anything, that might’ve been fine. But since he remembered everything—from what happened to his mother to how Cordelia was ordered to kill Asilie—it was hard to hide his rising hatred.

According to Count Mirk, those events were from long ago in his memory. Still, seeing his face again made Esperad feel sick and disgusted.

He had thought he forgot, thinking the man was already dead—but it was just a simple forgetfulness. The hatred hadn’t faded at all.

“I’m fine.”

“Your Majesty is strong. But even so, it may be good to take a short break and calm your heart for a while. Running a country always requires careful judgment.”

Count Mirk spoke boldly, and Esperad raised one eyebrow, unable to hide his discomfort.

He had forgotten that Count Mirk, who now seemed like a person from long ago, could still be this shameless.

“How amusing.”

“I’m sorry if I offended you. As a loyal servant of this kingdom who swore to serve Astel, I thought it was my duty to speak honestly.”

“How could I doubt your loyalty? But if you truly think I’m strong, I hope you also believe I wouldn’t let personal feelings interfere with national affairs.”

“That is certainly true, but… sometimes sadness over someone’s death can shake even the strongest people. That’s why I was worried.”

Count Mirk wasn’t wrong.

Asilie’s death had caused Esperad—who always followed rules and procedures—to lose his reason. Esperad let his personal feelings interfere with the principle of fairness and killed Count Mirk.

“You’re worrying too much.”

“But still…”

“It would be better not to waste your time worrying about things that haven’t even happened. What’s coming will already give you enough of a headache.”

At Esperad’s meaningful words, Count Mirk looked up at him with a strange expression.

Just looking into those snake-like eyes was irritating, but Esperad kept a blank face.

“Oh? Are you concerned about me?”

“No.”

He cut him off coldly.

“It’s more like a warning.”

Of course, even if he accepted the warning and bowed his head, Esperad had no intention of forgiving him.

‘Does he know something?’

Count Mirk frowned.

He couldn’t figure anything out. What Esperad knew, or what kind of plan he had.

Until his marriage with Siena, Esperad had completely stayed away from social events after the deaths of his three fiancées.

Because no real policies had progressed while Hort was bedridden, there had been no reason to speak with Esperad even when they met at meetings.

Although Benjamin had sent regular reports about Esperad, those only covered his daily life and whether there was anything unusual, so Mirk couldn’t guess anything about Esperad’s personality or behavior.

Only one thing was clear…

‘He doesn’t have any friendly feelings toward me. But if he really knew the truth, he wouldn’t have let me go, would he?’

Speculating without proof didn’t suit Count Mirk’s nature.

After a brief thought, he changed his expression completely, smiled faintly, and bowed.

“I will take Your Majesty’s warm advice to heart.”

Although his tone sounded sarcastic, Esperad’s expression didn’t change at all.

That cold indifference annoyed Mirk even more, but he didn’t push any further.

Rather than talking more with Esperad, he might gain more by asking Cordelia if she knew anything.

“Then I’ll take my leave.”

“Take care.”

“Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty.”

Count Mirk gave an exaggerated bow on purpose and left the audience room.

As he disappeared, Esperad also stood up to return to his office.

At that moment, Benjamin, who had been waiting outside the audience room, quietly stepped inside.

“Did he say anything?”

“He gave orders to watch Your Majesty more closely and to report immediately if there’s anything unusual, no matter how small.”

“And?”

“I told him I would follow them faithfully. But… does he really not know where my sister is?”

“We replaced their informant with one of ours. And he probably doesn’t have the mental space to worry about your sister. That’ll be even more true from now on.”

At Esperad’s words, Benjamin lowered his head silently.

His life, once filled with guilt and sorrow, began to change on the night of the queen’s death.

After finishing his duties and saying goodnight to Esperad, he returned to his room—and was shocked, nearly fainting.

His younger sister, whom he hadn’t even seen for over ten years, was waiting in his room.

“It was also my fault that I didn’t notice your troubles earlier. But Benjamin, if you had asked for help, I wouldn’t have ignored you. Why did you carry everything alone?”

“I couldn’t tell who in the mansion was working for Count Mirk. I didn’t know who was suspicious, so I just couldn’t take the risk of gambling with that child’s life. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry…”

Esperad had never truly been out of Benjamin’s sight, but surprisingly, Esperad knew far more than Benjamin expected.

Even about what had happened between the former Duke and Duchess of Camédici and Count Mirk.

Saving his sister’s life without punishing him was a once-in-a-lifetime act of mercy. Since he had acted as a spy, even execution would have been fair.

“Did she go to the former queen?”

“Yes. And I found that all of the former queen’s attendants were from the conservative faction. It looks like Count Mirk planted them years ago. Especially the head maid, Odette Avent, was close enough to exchange letters with Count Mirk.”

“Let me see those letters.”

“We haven’t secured the previous ones yet, but we’ll be able to get them without issue going forward.”

“Good.”

Esperad nodded slightly and closed his eyes for a moment.

Lydia had warned him, but it was still strange that he had memories of both worlds.

What shocked him the most was that Asilie already existed in this world’s memory.

Although she didn’t hold the title of ‘Duke Grandier’s daughter’ as before…

The Asilie of this world already had a husband.

And that husband was Joseph Bonaparte.

Even with Lydia’s warning, and knowing there could be all kinds of situations since he might not exist in Asilie’s memory in this world, he hadn’t imagined this one:

Esperad had never expected her to be married.

And her husband was Joseph. That fact wasn’t just shocking—it was absurd. From his perspective, it was a relationship that made no sense.

“You may be right to a certain extent, but why would you risk your life to marry a man you don’t even know?”

“Because I don’t like the man chosen for my political marriage.”

“That’s your reason?”

“It’s important to me. I hate that man.”

Suddenly, he remembered the conversation he had with Asilie when she proposed to him.

It had been a long time ago, but thinking back, Duke Grandier had been planning an alliance with the Bonaparte family.

In this world, maybe Asilie had gone along with the plan and married into the Bonaparte family.

In any case, whatever had happened, there was no reason to blame her for the past.

There was only one thing that Esperad truly wanted now.

No matter what his situation was, no matter what hers was—he had to meet her.

He missed her desperately. So much time had passed since he lost Asilie.

“Benjamin, there’s something I need you to look into.”

“What is it?”

“…Asilie Bonaparte. Starting tomorrow, I want you to report regularly on her location, health, and daily activities.”

At Esperad’s command, Benjamin looked up at him in confusion.

Then he asked carefully.

“Are you referring to the wife of Joseph Bonaparte, the eldest son of the Count of Bonaparte?”

“That’s right.”

“Then it’s impossible, Your Majesty.”

“Why?”

With a more troubled expression, Benjamin hesitated, then answered.

“Last night, the Bonaparte family officially announced that she was missing and presumed dead.”

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