My Husband Hid His Regression, So I Hid Mine Too Chapter 70

Gavin would definitely escalate things again this time.

So Odely……

Had been targeting this reception from the very beginning.

The reason they had invited the Imperial delegation and high-ranking nobles to an event that would normally be attended only by the vassals and retainers.

Every detail of the excessively lavish reception had been designed to lure him in.

‘This time, I’ll crush him completely.’

So he would never dare to rise again

 

 

****

 

 

Inside the Cardel family carriage.

As soon as Gavin sat across from Veloa, he took a small box out of his coat pocket.

“Let’s use the Chaos Stone again.”

Since they did not have much time, Gavin got straight to the point.

“……You want to use that again?”

Veloa asked cautiously.

“We’re at the Grand Duke’s castle.”

Gavin shook the box in front of her as if she were being unreasonable.

“It’s the first reception since the official appointment of the Grand Duchess. All the nobles will be gathered there. What do you think everyone will think if the purifier loses control in front of them? They’ll see her as someone who cannot be controlled. It will also make our decision to keep her hidden seem reasonable. This is our chance to restore our reputation.”

He raised the corner of his mouth.

His cheap hypocrisy was plain to see behind his thin smile.

“Besides, the northern vassals have never been happy about an adopted son becoming Grand Duke. I’ve even heard some of them say they want the previous Grand Duke restored to his position. Those people probably wish Ludville Exception were either impotent or a madman forever.”

“……”

“And now he has a Grand Duchess, too? If they have an heir, it will be no different from Ludville declaring that he intends to hold on to Exception forever. Do you think those people will accept that quietly?”

Veloa looked at him silently for a moment before asking calmly,

“Are you planning to get them involved?”

Gavin nodded and smiled confidently.

“I’ll win the vassals over myself. If I tell them something like, ‘My beloved younger sister has entered an unreasonable marriage, and I must protect her,’ half of them will join us in no time.”

His eyes were full of confidence.

He looked like a hunter who was already certain of victory and could afford to relax.

But Veloa shook her head.

“……No. We can’t.”

His smile froze for a moment.

“Using the same method twice is dangerous.”

“……”

“We only have a few low-ranking servants planted inside Exception, and we don’t have anyone who can make the Chaos Stone work reliably. Using it again under these circumstances would be…… extremely dangerous.”

Gavin’s eyes and smile slowly turned cold.

“Why don’t we let this one go and wait for the next opportunity, Brother? We can kill her for good next time, leave no loose ends, and make sure a new purifier is born.”

Gavin stared at her quietly.

Then he fell silent.

A suffocating silence lingered for some time.

When he finally spoke again, his voice had taken on a completely different tone.

“So you’re saying we should just stand by and watch a mere purifier sit in the Grand Duchess’s seat?”

“That’s not what I……”

“Then what is it?”

Gavin suddenly slammed his fist against the carriage wall.

“My reputation is already lying in the dirt. I’m about to lose everything—the title of God’s messenger, even my image as a savior. And you want me to kill the purifier in this situation?”

He leaned toward Veloa and shouted as if cornering her.

“Our already troubled family will come under suspicion. And I’m the one who will have to clear those suspicions first.”

“……”

“Do you really want to see your own brother being criticized?”

Gavin was no longer trying to persuade her.

He was simply blaming and pressuring her.

And, as always, his words soon turned into an attack against her.

“The reason the plan failed at the wedding…… One of the spell formations was missing from the circuit.”

At those words, Veloa’s expression stiffened.

She knew what he was about to say.

“It was your fault.”

“……”

“You couldn’t even check a simple circuit properly…… If you hadn’t made that mistake, everything would have been over at the cathedral. If the plan had gone as expected, I wouldn’t be in this situation now.”

Gavin quietly picked up the box again and placed it on Veloa’s lap.

The box containing the Chaos Stone.

“Is there any way to make the purifier lose control when we’re this unprepared? Other than using this Chaos Stone? If there is, tell me right now.”

Veloa pressed her lips tightly together.

At her silence, Gavin’s mouth twisted into a cold smile.

“Make sure you get it right this time.”

He said it as if it were an order, not a request.

Turning away from her to look out the window, Gavin delivered his final words coldly.

“I don’t want to be disappointed in you any more.”

Veloa bit her lip and looked down at the box.

The small, lightweight object felt as heavy as a block of lead.

If Gavin was going this far, she could no longer object.

To her, the family’s will was the truth, and the orders of her older brother, who carried the family’s future on his shoulders, were the law.

‘He wants me to become the medium myself.’

To activate the Chaos Stone, they needed an anchor point to hold the mana circuit in place.

At the Grand Cathedral, they had been able to do it because they had spent several days working on the magic circle that was already in place.

But inside the Grand Duke’s castle……

There was no time for that.

There was no time to study the foundations, no time to secretly install the device, and no people available to do the work.

There was no way Gavin didn’t know that.

Even when Veloa had indirectly pointed it out, he had deliberately pretended not to hear her.

He ignored her, avoided the issue, and forced her.

As if the answer had already been decided from the beginning.

In the end, there was only one option.

Veloa would have to carve the markings directly into her own body and become the medium for the Chaos Stone.

“……But if you use me as the medium, the moment we’re discovered, everyone will know that the Cardels are behind it.”

She cautiously argued against him.

Only then did Gavin return to being a kind older brother. In a gentle voice, he said,

“Oh, Veloa. When did I ever tell you to sacrifice yourself?”

Then he added casually,

“We have a spy planted inside the walls of Exception Castle, don’t we? He’s only a low-ranking servant, but…… he’ll be enough for this purpose.”

“……”

In other words, Veloa would become the medium, but if anything went wrong, they would put all the blame on the spy.

On the surface, he seemed to be promising her safety. In reality, he was using her as a shield.

In truth, there was no other option besides her.

It would be disastrous if the existence of the Chaos Stone became known to outsiders. Besides, Gavin and Veloa were the only ones here who could activate it without a separate spell formation.

“……”

Becoming the medium would not put her life in danger.

But it was certainly not a simple task.

If she failed to control the Chaos Stone, she could suffer side effects such as mana overload, temporary loss of consciousness, or loss of sensation.

Even so, Veloa lowered her head.

This was her brother’s order, and the only chance she had to make up for her mistake.

Above all, what frightened her more than any of those side effects was the look her brother would give her if the plan failed.

“……I understand.”

She drew in a small breath.

The Chaos Stone in her hand slowly pressed down on her heart, like an anxiety that refused to fade.