CMFAR 15

Chapter 15

Contract Marriage for Atilenta’s Revenge

“It seems yesterday’s incident wasn’t even worth making a fuss over.”

My tone remained as calm as ever. Poznań, who understood the implication, lowered her head a little further.

“The Białowieża House may have great influence, but it cannot compare to the royal family. Moreover, Lady Tatra overstepped herself toward His Highness Henryk, to whom you are wed. So I believe you need not worry much about yesterday’s affair. Your Highness did what was proper.”

She explained in detail to me. It seemed she had been present at the scene yesterday as well.

This newspaper, too, must have had royal interference behind it. I thought to myself—so this is Henryk’s authority, after all.

I guessed that the dishonors that had followed me like a tag in the Kingdom of Francia were, in any case, not widely known in detail by the people here.

For one thing, it was the affair of a foreign kingdom with which they did not frequently interact, and they could certainly look into it if they made the effort—but that was not important to me right now. Henryk would likely block it appropriately for the sake of our transaction.

“What did you think of it, Poznań?”

“I merely follow His Highness’s commands.”

I deliberately rested my chin on my hand, crossed my legs, and gazed down at her steadily.

“Ah, so you hold loyalty toward His Highness?”

“Your Highness the Princess-Consort. I am not a knight like my brother, so I would not go so far as to offer my life.”

Poznań’s answer was satisfactory. I judged that I had grasped her feelings well enough, and relaxed my posture.

Even if she were to deceive me, there was no need to prod and dig it out right now. There was no reason to adopt a cold attitude from the very first meeting with the family of a knight Henryk trusted.

“I wish to go to the royal library. Prepare for it.”

Upon arriving at the library, I deliberately left Poznań behind and entered alone. I had no desire to give her any unnecessary explanations.

The library I stepped into on my own was as quiet as a forest path.

I had expected it to be lavish and grand, as it was the royal library, but it was not.

The atmosphere was still, the scent of books filled the air between tightly packed shelves, and beyond the few windows, the shadows of trees hung thick as mist.

“Haa…”

I took a deep breath in and out. I could swear this would become my favorite place in Bwendowska.

I was looking for where the books I needed might be shelved, when—

“There you are.”

Beyond the dense rows of shelves, I saw Henryk. Though we were married, we had hardly spoken since yesterday’s banquet.

Henryk maintained his usual composed demeanor and cool voice. As if yesterday’s events meant nothing to him at all.

“Yes, there is something I wish to look up. And what brings Your Highness here?”

He walked over between the brown bookshelves and stood before me, whispering lowly.

“There is something I need to verify among the information you provided.”

In the quiet atmosphere, his calm voice flowed like a breeze.

“Same as you.”

The information I had recently given him was, in the end, about the spies who had infiltrated this country. Rather than interrogating them or sending them back to their homeland, Henryk had chosen to interfere with their intelligence and use them strategically.

But what kind of information related to that could be found in the library? Lost in thought, I tilted my head.

Henryk, looking down at me, reached for a bookshelf and skimmed along it as if choosing a book.

“You. Are you by any chance interested in ciphers as well?”

Suddenly, his hand—glimmering even under the dim light of the library—caught my eye. He was wearing a different ring from the one he had given me.

It was a ring that seemed lavish and precious, with a black gem at its center, densely inlaid with gold fragments. So that is what they use here to mark a marriage, I noted.

Instead of meeting his eyes, I gazed at his fingers gliding gracefully between the large, thick books and asked:

“Are there such books here? Your Highness, this is indeed the library I am permitted to use, correct?”

Hoo—a small laugh carried on a calm breath. I immediately turned my head to face him. Henryk was faintly smiling.

“This is the palace where you reside.”

Henryk finally picked up a book, as if he had chosen it. Its cover was faded and worn, filled with Bwendowski script—it seemed no ordinary book.

“Most books are here. What are you looking for?”

I took a moment to deliberate, and made a show of lightly touching my cheek and chin before him.

I thought to myself—I am what I am, and he is what he is.

Truly, the way he acted as if yesterday’s affair did not concern him in the slightest. To him, there was probably only one thing that mattered. He was even worse than I was.

Of course, from the prince’s standpoint and from the head of that house’s standpoint, if yesterday’s incident was not even considered a scandal, then I was fortunate.

I had even entertained such thoughts briefly after reading the newspaper Poznań gave me—things like, ‘If the head of the Białowieża House is so magnanimous, then why did his daughter act that way yesterday?’

And that was not all. Even to me, a foreigner, it was unusual that he, with his standing and power in this country, would personally search for information in the library. He could have sent a knight to do it.

Then again, he was the prince who personally took to the battlefield, complex and dangerous as it was. Whatever his reasons, this was no ordinary matter.

Clearly, he was the type of person who could only be satisfied by doing things himself.

Thinking that made me somewhat tense. I decided not to fabricate any unnecessary lies at this moment.

That man seemed the type to personally interrogate enemy prisoners as well. If I failed to hold up my end and showed even a hint of ‘betrayal,’ I would surely be tortured by him directly.

Henryk was still gazing fixedly at me. I acted composed so as not to seem suspicious.

“I wish to study the history of this country. Legends, fairy tales—anything, as long as it’s old.”

“Your education seems sufficient already.”

“Your Highness, I am deeply curious about such things.”

“You wouldn’t suddenly want to study mythology now. Do you need imagination for your magic?”

As expected, he was sharp. His piercing question suddenly felt as if it were rummaging through my insides, and I unconsciously bit my lip.

I could have chosen to lie to him.

But what bound us together was a transaction with clear purpose and compensation, and I was obligated to repay him in turn.

Henryk knew of my dishonor and had hidden it so that others here would not easily discover it. It seemed he had done so purely because he rationally understood the reason behind my request on our wedding night.

Our wedding night. Tch—I almost clicked my tongue. Despite knowing it was a pointless thought, I ended up recalling that night.

I wanted to continue thinking more rationally, like Henryk standing before me now.

If Henryk helped me, it would become far easier for me to operate in this country. In fact, that would benefit him as well. So this time too, I chose to answer truthfully.

“As you say, Your Highness. I can perform magic through imagination.”

After all, he had directly witnessed me using magic—that sight of a mysterious green light shimmering within an otherwise ordinary mirror.

“You. Surely you haven’t said you don’t believe in Francia’s main goddess either, have you?”