Chapter 14

Translated by XyeHeart Edited by XyeHeart

Meriel smiled and bowed her head in response to his ferocious gaze.

“Then I trust that, His Majesty, will assist me in this one,” Meriel said as she stepped away from him.

Everything has changed now that she isn’t pretending to be a fool. There will be many who do not want the facts to change.

Of course, the emperor is among them.

‘There’s no way I could do something so stupid if it wasn’t what the emperor did.’

How many assassins had Meriel seen during that time?

There were assassins who silently held her swords disguised as maids, and others who shot her crossbows mercilessly towards her sleeping bed.

They were all extremely talented individuals.

However, the emperor was not the type of person who would do something that could endanger the Grand Duke in front of everyone.

‘Was it someone else’s prank?’

She couldn’t help but think so.

Meriel went to the palace with the support of Bran.

She remembered Klaus as she walked in.

His wriggling and moving left hand was not forgotten in her mind. She seemed to understand why he was dubbed a monster.

Meriel dashed into his room.

“Haaaaaaahhh…!”

He screamed in agony as she opened the door to his bedroom. Bran held Klaus’ left shoulder while he struggled in a seizure.

“What the hell is going on here, Bran?”

“It’s the monster’s blood acting up.”

“What…?”

Bran snatched Klaus’ left sleeve and ripped it off.

“Could you please bring me the medicine that’s in the drawer, Your Grace?”

Meriel hurriedly opened the drawer on the side table. She could see rows of blue water vials.

She took one of them and gave it to Bran.

“A long time ago, we barely won the war against the monsters, but the Grand Duke was seriously injured.”

“Wasn’t it the scar on his left eye?” she asked.

“It’s all in his arm.”

Klaus, who had been screaming and moaning as he poured the medicine into his mouth, gradually calmed down. Bran wiped the purple liquid off his left arm with a towel.

“It only reacts to the monster’s blood.”

Meriel closed her mouth when she realized the purple liquid she thought was poison was actually monster blood.

“When the monster’s blood touches the left arm, it responds as it did a while ago. It’s a parasitic creature living on the body of another, and it’s in the Grand Duke’s left arm.”

Meriel swallowed and closed her mouth.

The phrase “monster grand duke” did not have an abstract meaning. He was a true monster grand duke who lived in the wounds he sustained while fighting monsters as a child.

“Are you afraid?” Bran probed.

She’ll never know when his left arm will go berserk.

She had no idea when his left arm would break into the Grand Duke’s head and take him all. Meriel squeezed her eyes shut as she recalled the worst-case scenario.

“The Grand Duke promised to give me a reason to live. Couples are said to rely on one another.

This time, I’m going to be the reason Klaus lived.” she responded emphatically.

Meriel couldn’t even imagine how difficult and painful he must have been.

He claims that he will give her a reason to live.

He did not extend his hand to her for assistance.

Meriel looked at his hand, which had taken her own.

From the backs of his hands to his shoulders, red and black patterns were engraved. As she examined his left arm, she realized why he always wore gloves.

Meriel felt her heart pounding for the first time in her life due to a man.

* * *

Meriel exited the room to change her soiled wedding gown.

Then Klaus, who appeared to have lost consciousness, opened his eyes.

“Wasn’t that what you were attempting to do?”

“…..you try not to get involved, but it keeps catching up with you.”

“I won’t be able to solve it again.”

“The moment you ran away and turned away, you’ll have to pay everyone back.”

Klaus slowly dragged himself out of bed in response to Bran’s words.

He moved his left arm to recall the incident at the ceremony. Meriel grabbed his shoulder without hesitation, despite the fact that it had to have been horrifying. Meriel was always like this.

She casually tells an important story while laughing like a mischievous girl. He was taken aback when she first mentioned marriage.

“What are your thoughts on this?”

“It wasn’t a last-ditch effort to save lives. How dare they throw the monster’s blood?”

“You had no idea. It’s probably a prank for the Princess.”

Klaus sighed in response to Bran’s words.

Meriel sighed a lot when she arrived at the Grand Duke’s estate.

Klaus spoke up, accepting Brand’s glass of water.

“I believe it’s for their amusement.”

A prank played on the princess. Klaus recalled how many assassins he had dispatched during that period. The emperor was sincere enough to be amusing.

Is he aware that sending an assassin that way is the only way to admit the carriage incident that day?

Klaus’ face hardened into a frosty expression. It was a face that had never been seen before in front of Meriel.

“Go find them.”

“Yes!”

Bran gave a brief salute and exited the room.

Klaus changed into a soft robe and remembered the assassins who had followed Meriel to the Dustin estate. They were all assassins with a penchant for chasing.

The emperor was terrified of Meriel’s existence, so much so that he risked sending the princess to the Dustin estate alone.

‘What on earth is it for? Just because she was privy to a long-forgotten secret? I don’t think so.’

It wasn’t enough that Meriel was aware of the secret. Today, Meriel was helpless. Nobody will believe her no matter how much she tells them that the emperor murdered his predecessor. For years, Meriel has been acting the fool.

The mind has returned, but the memory has not. The Emperor feared Meriel not because her mind had been restored. As much as her mind had been restored, he feared that her memories would follow.

He is terrified of it.

‘The moment you ran away and turned away, you’ll have to pay everyone back.’

Klaus looked at himself in the mirror and thought of what Bran said. However, when it came to the emperor, it was believed that he could not pay back. The rest of his life will not be enough to pay back everything the Emperor has taken from Meriel.

“The reason I have to live…”

The silver-haired reflection in the mirror sneered at himself. It was a sad and infinitely pitiful laugh.

“You have long been my reason for living.”

* * *

The wedding disturbance gradually subsided as the evening banquet was held.

Everyone seemed to believe it was a bad prank.

“The nobles of the capital city may dismiss it as a poor-quality joke, but his left arm, which reacts only to the monster’s blood, is said to have been known about and still thrown…It can’t be dismissed as a joke.”

Meriel murmured quietly as Hills guided her through organizing her thoughts and making a decision.

Hills turned her head slightly and said, despite the small murmur.

“That’s right, the capital’s nobles have never seen a monster, so it must be it. Maybe they’re ignorant because they’ve never heard of the Grand Duke’s left arm… or they’re just stupid if they already knew.”

“However, I’ve never heard of the Grand Duke’s arm. And I’ve never seen a monster in my life.”

“…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. They should not, however, play pranks on the princess by throwing the monster’s blood.”

Meriel nodded quietly as she noticed Hills bowed her head.

“They wanted to ruin the ceremony by dirtying my clothes, if it wasn’t the monster’s blood, it had to be red wine or animal blood.”

“At that point, the opponent is certain about the Grand Duke’s arm.” Hills responded with conviction.

The music and the crowd were more identifiable to her. Meriel, who came to a halt in front of the banquet hall’s door, fixing up the banquet outfit that Apellia had worked so hard to prepare.

She always wore frill-filled dresses, colorful socks and shoes in front of the royal family and aristocrats. She is unconcerned about it, even if it has flowers on it. She just pretended and laughed as if she enjoyed it.

It felt strange to walk into the banquet hall properly dressed.

“Please allow me to open the door for you, Your Grace.”

Said by the servant who bowed down in front of the banquet hall.

As she reflected on the past, Meriel smiled slightly.

Even if she didn’t mean to laugh, the habit was frightening.

She didn’t have flowers in her hair like she used to, and she didn’t have as many frills, but she didn’t wear colorful socks or shoes either.

People looked at Meriel differently after she walked in and opened the door. There was no mockery or sympathy. What she felt was the people’s admiration.

“The princess resembles her empress mother, and she is very beautiful.”

She admired herself in the mirror every morning after taking over the princess’s body.

Celebrities had never seen such a beautiful person before, and her coveted hair and small face, with her delicate and harmonious features, were truly flawless.

“Was the princess really this beautiful?” wondered by someone in the attendees.

“Really… she has matured into such a lovely young lady.”

Her ears were tickled by words of praise.

Meriel smiled at them, as if she were innocent. It was the same smile she’d been wearing for 14 years of living as a fool.

Translator’s Note:

It took me a long time to translate this chapter. Some parts/sentences literally cannot be translated by any translated websites, so I need to find some more references so that I can translate it as much as possible. Enjoy reading!

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