My Husband Hid His Regression, So I Hid Mine Too Chapter 69

Not only the northern vassals, but also the Imperial Palace delegation and high-ranking nobles had been invited to this wedding.

Since it was the final event of the wedding, every guest attended the reception. In other words, just as many of the Empire’s most important figures had gathered here as they had for the wedding ceremony.

‘It would have been much more natural if something had happened at the Grand Cathedral.’

It was a shame.

A ceremony held in the name of God, with countless eyes watching.

And above all, the temple was outside the reach of Exception.

But now they were at the Grand Duke’s castle.

They had to trigger an outburst of purifying power right in the heart of the Grand Duke of Exception’s own territory.

There was a risk of being caught if the plan failed, but they had no other choice left.

‘The risk is high. But if it succeeds…… there could be no better stage.’

Odely was now the Grand Duchess of Exception.

She had become a symbol of the entire North and the person responsible for it.

But what if, right after the wedding, an unknown surge of mana broke out in her husband’s territory?

‘That would give them a political reason to claim she was unfit to be Grand Duchess.’

It would naturally create distrust among the northern vassals.

That way, they could shake the Grand Duke’s family and take back the purifier at the same time. It was killing two birds with one stone.

‘Not bad.’

Gavin retrieved the holy relic.

He carefully removed the tangled spell formations without leaving a trace, then returned the original crystal stone to its place.

He made sure there was no sign of tampering, not even a trace of residual mana.

Once everything was ready, he stood up as if nothing had happened.

Then he spoke gently to the priest waiting outside the door.

“Priest, you may come in now. There’s nothing wrong inside.”

He wore a smile worthy of a saint.

 

 

****

 

 

 

After the wedding vows were complete, the guests returned from the Grand Cathedral to the Grand Duke of Exception’s castle by warp portal, riding in carriages.

As dozens of carriages slowly made their way up the hill in a long line, Odely looked out the window beyond the curtains and calmly steadied her breathing.

Ludville, sitting across from her, had not said a word the entire time.

Unlike yesterday, he did not question her about who that man was or what had happened between them.

He simply remained silent.

He seemed angry.

Because Odely had worn a ring around her neck on their wedding day, one that he assumed belonged to a former lover.

Without even knowing that the man had been himself……

‘When the maid asked me right before the ceremony if I wanted to take it off, I should have just done it.’

Was it because the ring had once held the Jewel of Regression?

Or because it was the ring Ludville had given her when he first confessed his feelings to her?

Ever since returning to the past, she had worn it out of habit.

To make sure she never forgot Ludville’s sacrifice, and to remind herself of what she had to do in this life. In other words, the ring was a kind of lucky charm to her.

A charm that helped her stay focused.

She had even felt a quiet sense of connection with him, thinking that he must have worn the ring to the wedding for the same reason she had.

‘Who would have thought he’d notice?’

He had reacted immediately just because she had placed her hand over her chest.

As expected, his instincts were almost animal-like.

‘But is there really a reason to get this emotional?’

If she brought up Clause 9 of their contract now, would that be like pouring oil on a fire?

The heavy atmosphere made her uncomfortable, but she had no idea what to do. All the way back to the castle, Odely’s mind was a tangled mess.

Before long, the Grand Duke’s castle’s enormous gates slowly opened.

The inside of the castle had already been decorated lavishly.

“……”

The Golden Banquet Hall.

The place where he had held banquets every day, searching for a woman with blue eyes.

The place where the pre-wedding celebration had been held, and where the reception was now taking place.

All three banquets had ultimately been held for ‘Odely’.

In the end, the Golden Banquet Hall was his way of welcoming her.

Even if he remembered nothing, even unconsciously.

As if to say, I have been waiting for you all this time.

‘What should I do?’

She was afraid.

Afraid that Ludville might fall in love with ‘Odely’.

It might sound like an absurdly self-centered thought, but……

Ludville was a man who had looked only at one person throughout thousands of regressions.

It would have been fine if all his actions now were simply because he missed his old love.

But what if his feelings were gradually turning toward ‘the Odely standing before him now’?

What if he was falling for the Odely right in front of him, rather than the shadow of someone in his memories……?

‘……No, at least not yet.’

His current feelings were closer to obsession and possessiveness than love.

He was simply drawn to Odely because she reminded him of the ‘blue-eyed woman’ he had spent so long searching for.

……Not yet.

Surely, not yet.

If his feelings were only a reaction to something that resembled her, then this level of obsession was fine.

As long as it went no further.

‘As long as it isn’t love.’

To keep up her act, Odely looked up at Ludville as he escorted her.

Once the reception was over, she would no longer have to play that tiresome role of a ‘love-struck couple’.

When that time came, they could redefine their relationship and set new boundaries.

This much was just right.

If he reached out toward her, she would step away before his hand could touch her.

“Even if you look at me that way, I won’t leave your side.”

“……”

“I believe I told you in advance that you would never be able to get rid of me.”

Even though Ludville was angry, he kept looking at her without backing down.

No, if anything, he seemed even more persistent than before.

Had she expected him to tell her to stay away and not interrupt, just as he had at the previous banquet?

“……That’s not why I was looking at you.”

Odely sighed before continuing.

“Actually, I’d like a little help.”

“Help?”

As if he understood what she had left unsaid, Ludville’s expression changed immediately.

With open disgust in his voice, he muttered quietly.

“So it has come to that.”

“Yes, unfortunately.”

She had known from the beginning that Gavin would never back down.

No, in fact, she had hoped he wouldn’t.

His carefully prepared scheme had failed before he could even put it into action, so he would definitely try again.

Odely had been counting on exactly that reaction.

She had disrupted one of the circuits so that it would look like a simple mistake on the Cardel side.

And she had deliberately left the Chaos Stone in place, too.

It was to tempt him into using his familiar method again.

If he tried something new, it would be harder to predict. It was much easier to deal with him if he picked up a weapon he already knew how to use.

‘As for the Chaos Stone……’

The Cardels had spent hundreds of years making them by using up purifier after purifier.

Their abilities while they were alive, and their bodies after they died.

A cruel relic made that way.

Odely had suffered through it more times than she could count.

Which was exactly why she knew how to handle it better than anyone.

‘Gavin believes it’s the only and most powerful way to control me.’

Ironically, that holy relic had become the tool Odely was most familiar with.

Of course, since it was a control device designed specifically for purifiers, it was just as dangerous.

‘But it’s worth using.’