Chapter 02

Chapter 02

Contract Marriage for Atilenta’s Revenge

Even if my mother possessed an extraordinary magical ability, locked away in a secluded palace as she was, she never had the slightest leeway to attempt anything.

Mother knew how difficult it was to return malice in kind.

“I… I think I failed too, Mother…”

I stammered just as I had in my childhood. It was obvious that if my nanny were here, she would scold me for looking so lacking and unworthy of a princess of the kingdom.

“Jaema…”

Even in the midst of this, am I still thinking of Nanny Jaema?

Once again, hot tears streamed down my cheeks.

“You’ve gone mad, Atilenta. Of course Nanny would take Selena’s side.”

The days when my nanny took care of me were still so vivid in my memory. Suddenly, another realization struck me.

After all, Jaema must have also envisioned a future where Selena would marry Anthoni. Why, then, had she been so good to me?

“It was… to sell me off.”

Selena’s claim that it was her first time meeting the Duke must have been a lie, too. I really can’t trust anyone anymore.

I slowly curled my body into a tight ball like a tiny insect.

“Why… why did you bring me into this world? If you were just going to leave me here alone, why…”

Tears fell constantly from my eyes, and alongside them flowed a deep resentment that could reach no one.

And so, with my eyes wide open, I spent the entire night until dawn. Anyone could see I was a complete mess.

“Princess! Princess! Are you awake?”

Fumbling to wipe away the tear tracks on my face, I got up and opened the door to my room. The servant sent by the King blurted out something while thrusting an object toward me.

“Princess. Please take this.”

Helplessly, I received it. It was a letter sent by my nominal father.

I placed my very last thread of hope on it.

Foolishly so.

When I opened the letter with trembling fingers, there were only two sentences written inside:

Do not lose your dignity as a princess of the royal family.

The moment I read the first line, my breath hitched in my throat. Panting heavily, I read the next sentence. It ended with a command that he would send a tutor, so I must not neglect my studies as a proper lady.

“Gasp, how… how could he…”

Slamming the door shut, I spat out curses like a madwoman.

“Ha, trying to sell me off again?”

Ripping the King’s letter into tiny pieces, I thought to myself: How on earth could he make such a plan?

Rumors were already rampant throughout the capital’s social circles that I was a woman who could not bear children.

In the past, no matter how hard we tried, I couldn’t conceive. The ducal family’s physician often advised me that I needed to eat well so that my womb would grow strong.

Anthoni occasionally expressed his regret, and the other family members whispered that I was failing to fulfill my duties. That was why I ended up believing it was all due to my own shortcomings.

I had been so busy using my abilities to the fullest, acting almost like a spy for him. Skipping a few meals didn’t matter. Because Anthoni and Selena took care of me.

“Without even knowing that it was all deception… Ah, what a fool I was.”

Anthoni used to tell me how charming I was. Even while planning to throw me away like a worn-out shoe and marry Selena…

The reason the King was trying to sell me off was actually obvious as well.

Even if my blood was humble, my status was still that of a princess, so if he sold me off as a second wife to an old noble, it would net a fairly decent price.

“Why… why did I hold onto something like hope…?”

Betrayed by the people I believed were my family, my heart was shattered, the days I devoted with all my sincerity were ruined, and my hope that there would still be a place for me in the future was completely crushed.

“I just… wanted to form a family.”

Ruminating only on things that already felt like the distant past, I slowly withered away.

My appetite was worse than before, and the food was terrible. Turning away even from the dry bread and watery soup, I lay down helplessly day after day.

Thanks to the successful conclusion of the battles along the borders, the kingdom was enjoying peaceful prosperity. It was obvious that even an ordinary servant wouldn’t eat meals as terrible as these.

“Why did you do that, Mother…?”

I would mutter uselessly to myself, despite being in the exact same miserable state as my mother once was.

My situation did not change.

It wouldn’t have changed.

If not for the words spoken to me by the tutor the King had sent.

“Princess. Please get up.”

The tutor, who entered my room without hesitation, spoke while standing in an extremely stiff and upright posture.

“We shall begin your bridal lessons.”

I stared at her with dry, stinging eyes.

“Why do I have to learn such things?”

Slumped powerlessly on the bed, I expressed a rebellious spirit that I couldn’t possibly hide.

“Princess. Have you not heard the news about Viscount Saturn? It has been a long time since he lost his wife, but his children have all established themselves. So fortunately, a position has opened up for you, Princess.”

Just a few days ago, my position was that of the Duke’s wife. Driven by impulse, I ended up asking:

“What… did the Duke say about this?”

“My goodness. It was the Duke himself who recommended it. He has maintained a deep, long-standing relationship with the Viscount, after all. Did you not even know that?”

At that moment, something began to boil violently inside me.

Atilenta, you fool, it was obvious just looking at the two of them clinging together at the banquet that was supposedly held for your sake.

“The Viscount is a person of wonderful character. You must become a wife suitable for him. Right now, you are far too thin, and your posture is not lady-like at all…”

Listening to the tutor rattle on, I felt as though a final sentence had been pronounced upon me.

“Ha! Are you saying such things even while knowing my situation?”

I simply could not suppress the surging resentment within me.

“Princess. Looking at your teacher with such eyes is severely lacking in etiquette.”

As the tutor gestured, a servant immediately grabbed both of my wrists tightly. Another servant promptly raised a cane.

“What—let go of me—!”

Thwack! Before I could even resist, a strike landed on my leg.

“Aargh!”

“You must not make such vulgar noises. It is unbefitting of a princess.”

The servant holding me down forcefully struck the exact same spot again. Thwack! It felt as though the skin on my calf had been sliced open.

“Ah!”

From the intense pain, my body bent sharply forward. With my face buried in the bedsheet, I looked like nothing more than a defeated captive.

“I told you to be quiet, Princess.”

Unable to mount any resistance against those treating me like a criminal, I could only bite my lips so hard that I tasted the metallic tang of blood.

Thwack! Thwack! The flogging continued three or four more times.

I wished the sensation in my legs would just disappear completely. Instead, a searing, burning heat flared back to life, suffocating me.

“Now you finally seem to understand my words.”

At the cold tutor’s words, my eyes—filled with deep resentment—burned blood-red.

Even as tears welled up, I didn’t even have the strength left to shed them. Reality was cruel. I was all alone here.

“I hope you reflect on your actions today. Fast for the next three days.”

The tutor, who had allegedly come for bridal lessons, withdrew after doing nothing but ordering the flogging. Creeeak, the heavy door closed with a low thud.

Tears dripped down onto the floor, drop, drop. I clenched my teeth tightly and rubbed my eyes roughly.

“My… my situation hasn’t changed, you say?”

Even that thought had been a foolish delusion.

I realized with absolute clarity that my situation had fallen to an unprecedented low. I was livestock. A beast they intended to manipulate and shake around according to their whims.

“You people… are completely out of your minds…”

A flame ignited deep within me.

“I am… not a beast.”

Why do I have to be the only one destroyed?

“If… if only I could.”

Toward Anthoni and Selena, who had dared to cling affectionately to each other right in front of me; toward the people I had trusted, surging with resentment for being deceived; and from the bitter rage rising again from the realization that they treated me merely as a commodity—

All of those feelings tangled together, and in the end, I spat out these words:

“If I… if only I could… I want to destroy you all.”

You ruined me into pieces, too.

The words spat from my mouth echoed back into my ears, fiercely awakening my heart.

“I won’t… just sit back and take this quietly.”

Crawling toward the head of the bed, I pulled out a small mirror.

It was a small, worn-out, and rusted mirror. It was my mother’s one and only relic.

I wiped that mirror frantically with my frayed sleeve, just as if I were wiping away my own tears.

Even though I had been treated like livestock by them until now, there was a single secret I had protected with absolute secrecy.

They believed my ability was simply reading the future.

Fundamentally, my magic was something inherited from my mother. This mirror was an object that provided guidance on how I should act to achieve the future I desired.

My mother had urged me to keep this a secret. Just as I treasured her relic, I had followed that last wish to the letter.

I let out a soft sigh.

“Haa… Seriously, what would I have done if I didn’t even have this? Foolish Atilenta.”