A Change of Husband - Chapter 80

Since his trip had been for nothing, Joseph wanted to go back to his room and rest right away.
But when he remembered his father’s request and the serious look on his face, he couldn’t just ignore it.
Besides, Asilie really had been acting strangely. It was hard to completely ignore her behavior. Maybe she had gone mad from the shock of losing her child.
Even so, since she used to act like she would die if he said just one word, Joseph thought it was necessary for him to step in and control her actions.

“Hoo…”

Joseph felt a burning sensation in his chest.
How nice would it have been if Monica, not Asilie, had been his wife?
Monica came from a good family and was exceptionally beautiful, so he wouldn’t be embarrassed to introduce her as his wife in front of others.
He remembered the secret meeting he’d had with Monica behind Geoffrey’s back not long ago and smirked. But when the maid stopped walking, he realized they had arrived at Asilie’s room and his face turned serious again.
When the maid raised her hand to knock, Joseph stopped her.

“That’s fine. I’ll take it from here. You can go.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Facing the woman he once tried to kill was an uncomfortable and disgusting task.
That’s why even after the maid left, it took him a while to finally make up his mind to open the door.
Knocking was basic manners, but Joseph didn’t think Asilie was someone who deserved that, so he opened the door without a word and walked right in.

No matter how composed you try to be, facing someone you despise is mentally exhausting.
That was why Asilie had even skipped dinner and rested in her room all day. But when Joseph barged in, just when she was starting to feel a bit better, her mood plummeted instantly.
She couldn’t help but look at him like he was a bug.

Thankfully, Joseph didn’t notice the disgust in her eyes. Or rather, he couldn’t even imagine that she could feel such a thing toward him.

“What are you doing? You’re not even going to get up and greet me?”

It was the first proper sentence Joseph had said to Asilie since she returned to the Bonaparte count family.
She stared at him, looking completely dumbfounded.

“You didn’t even send word ahead that you were coming.”

Her reproachful tone made Joseph look at her in disbelief. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
He had seen for himself that Asilie wasn’t behaving as obediently as before, but he never imagined she would speak like that to him.
She had been such a foolish woman, one who used to hang on his every word just a month or two ago.

“Are you serious right now? How dare you…!”

“Even between husband and wife, there are manners to be followed. In fact, the closer the relationship, the more polite you should be. That’s what I learned.”

“What?”

“Anyway, why are you here?”

Joseph was at a loss for words. He didn’t know what to say.
Telling her he came to comfort her and hold her in his arms sounded ridiculous. In truth, Joseph had never once made an effort in his relationship with Asilie.
He just gave orders when he wanted something, and Asilie usually obeyed out of fear of upsetting him.
That was all there ever was between them.

“I…”

As Joseph hesitated, Asilie looked him up and down coldly.
It wasn’t hard for her to guess what he was thinking.
There was only one reason a man would come to a woman’s bedroom in a robe this late at night.
But Asilie didn’t want any of that. If it came down to having relations with Joseph, she would rather jump out the window.

“It’s late, so I think you should go. Next time, please let me know in advance if you have business with me.”

“W-Wait a second.”

“…Do you have something to say?”

Asilie’s cold stare felt unfamiliar to Joseph.
But after coming all this way, he couldn’t just leave without doing anything.
He rolled his eyes and stayed silent for a moment, then seemed to make up his mind and gave her a command.

“Lie down.”

“…What?”

It was the worst thing she could hear.
Asilie frowned and pretended not to understand.
But Joseph, having decided already, wasn’t going to back down. He gave the same order again, more firmly.

“I said lie down! Didn’t you hear me?”

“For what reason?”

“Why are you even asking that?!”

He didn’t want to have a long talk with her.
In fact, he clearly remembered cursing her while she was coughing up blood and dying.
If it was just turning off the lights and doing it without thinking, he might’ve gone through with it. But talking with her made him feel creepy.

When Asilie kept hesitating, Joseph got angry. He walked up to her quickly and grabbed her wrist tightly.

“I told you to lie down!”

Then, full of frustration, he threw her onto the bed.
She couldn’t fight against his strength and was tossed roughly.
But Joseph, without the slightest guilt, got on top of her.
Or at least, he tried to.

If only she hadn’t moved her right leg and kicked the thing that was right in front of her.
She didn’t mean to kick that part specifically.
Yes, she had meant to stop him with her leg—but the place she hit was completely unintentional.

“ARGHHH!”

She swore it wasn’t on purpose.
She did try to block him with her leg, but she hadn’t meant to hit there.
Still, it turned out to be very effective.
Joseph completely lost both the strength and the desire to do anything to her.

That was no surprise.
She had kicked him—hard—right in the one place that would hurt the most.
Joseph’s face turned pale with pain.

At first, Asilie was too shocked by her own actions to say anything. But soon she looked at him, curled up on the bed and groaning in pain, with a pitying expression.
She couldn’t help but feel disgusted by this man’s behavior.
Asilie looked down at his pathetic back, then quickly changed her expression when he turned his head to look at her.

“Are you okay?”

“What—what the hell did you do to me?! Are you insane?!”

“I was just so surprised I made a mistake. If you’d told me in advance, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“What?! You crazy—! You almost ended the Bonaparte bloodline!”

“Geoffrey is still here, so the bloodline would be fine.”

Joseph’s face turned red with rage at her answer, and he glared at her.
Asilie didn’t avoid his gaze and stared right back before turning away coldly.

“Anyway, I think it’s best if I call the doctor.”

“You’re calling someone now?”

“You said you were worried about the family line. Shouldn’t you get checked out?”

Just the idea of someone finding out about this situation was horrifying.
If Monica found out…

Joseph checked himself with his hand. He figured he was probably okay, then shouted at Asilie.

“Forget it, just call a servant!”

“Of course.”

No matter how calm she tried to seem, she couldn’t hide the mocking smile that tugged at her lips.
Joseph realized she was mocking him but didn’t even have the strength to yell anymore. He just watched as she rang the bell to summon someone.

As she pulled the cord, Asilie let out a short chuckle without meaning to.
She tried not to think too much and keep a blank face, but she couldn’t help the satisfying feeling of an unintentional revenge that spread through her chest.

“Shall I bring you another cup of tea?”
“No. When His Majesty arrives, prepare proper refreshments then.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”

Cordelia glanced coldly at Lady Avent as she left the room, then turned her head away.

Though Odette Avent had faithfully served her for many years, Cordelia had recently taken a strong dislike to her.
That was likely because she knew all too well that Lady Avent was a loyal pawn of Count Mirk.

“Soon, the spies planted inside the palace will be rooted out. Then, Your Highness’s role will become much more important.”
Cordelia recalled a conversation she’d had not long ago with Count Mirk.

It had been useless.
Perhaps it was something she simply had to accept—that there was nothing to gain from talking with a man who had already lost.

That day, Cordelia took a good long look at Count Mirk’s face for the first time in a while.
The man who had once held her hand and shared her bed.
Now, after all this time, his face was deeply lined with wrinkles.

Truly, they had been together a long time.
She had known him nearly ten years—ever since she was a naive young queen and grew into a mature woman.

But despite all those years, Count Mirk had never achieved anything significant.
He had always been indecisive, always disappointing her.

He’s already rotten. I can’t stay aboard a sinking ship.

Cordelia had no desire to take risks for Count Mirk.

In the end, it was Esperad who claimed the throne.
The power struggle between the king and the nobles had yet to begin, so no one could say for sure who would ultimately come out on top.
Still, Cordelia believed it was difficult to ignore the weight of legitimacy.

Perhaps that was because she herself came from Velkoz’s royal bloodline.

In any case, my connection to Count Mirk will only end up being a liability.

Count Mirk had offered to help her avoid returning to Velkoz, but Cordelia had decided she would no longer trust a man who had never shown results.

She wanted to secure her own path forward.
And, in fact, it wasn’t as though she had no options.

The new king is officially unmarried, and historically, it wasn’t unheard of for a new monarch to marry the previous queen for the sake of consolidating power.

The problem was that she didn’t know what kind of relationship Esperad wanted to build with Velkoz.

Still, given that the conservative nobles were still dominant, a strong alliance with Velkoz would likely be a benefit to him, not a burden.

At the very least, Velkoz had been Astel’s closest allied nation up to now.

Knock knock.
At the sound of a knock, Cordelia turned her head.

“His Majesty the King has arrived.”
“Please show him in.”

Cordelia gave a quick command, then hurriedly straightened her clothes.

The door soon opened, and Esperad entered the room.

Since he said he would come in person, it must mean he has something to say. I should try to match his tone as best I can.

Reminding herself of this, Cordelia rose to greet him.

As Esperad approached and sat across from her, she quietly studied him.

He had a striking appearance, like a sculpture carved by a master artist.
His tall height and broad shoulders were in stark contrast to Count Mirk, whom she had seen just a few days earlier.

Cordelia found herself staring, almost mesmerized.
Snapping out of it, she opened her mouth to speak.

“It’s an honor to see you again, Your Majesty. I heard you wished to meet me.”
“Sit down.”
“Ah, yes.”

At his curt tone, Cordelia felt herself shrink back slightly without realizing it, then took a seat as instructed.

Esperad stared at her silently for a moment.

He knew that this Cordelia had never harmed Asilie.
But just seeing her face made his blood boil.

He found her repulsive. Disgusting.
He wanted to kill her—right then and there.

Cordelia could sense his cold gaze.
But even so, she thought that Esperad, with his emotionless expression, looked every bit the rightful king.

“……Your Majesty, you still wish to maintain the alliance with Velkoz, don’t you? Astel is currently in chaos, and nothing has been settled yet.”

Though Cordelia had little actual interest in politics, she quickly cobbled together what she’d overheard from others when she heard that Esperad would be visiting.

“Perhaps it’s rude of me to bring this up first, but I, too, wish to fulfill my duty as a member of the Astel royal family.
I believe I can serve as a bridge to strengthen our alliance with Velkoz. What do you think?”

Traditionally, once their husbands died, former queens would either retreat to a temple or return to their family homes.
That was the custom.
So Esperad had planned to urge Cordelia to return to Velkoz—he didn’t want her lingering in Astel any longer.

But Cordelia clearly had other ideas.

“And how exactly do you plan to serve that purpose?”
“The most effective way to maintain an alliance… is through marriage.”
“You mean, I should take another queen from Velkoz…”

Esperad had been about to dismiss it as a ridiculous suggestion, but then he caught the true meaning behind her words—and stopped mid-sentence.

What if I use this woman?

He looked at Cordelia again, her eyes shining with ambition.

Perhaps she could be used as a convenient tool to drag Count Mirk down.

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