Chapter 55
====
If Odelia hadn't experienced regression, she might have felt a bit intimidated at the thought of facing them at the wedding.
But not now...
"Your Highness, they don't evoke any emotion in me."
"If the miracle of the 'Ancient Magic' Cardel caused all came from your power, that's a terrible abuse and exploitation."
Ludville's voice carried raw anger.
"There's a limit to pretending to be okay. How can you be so indifferent about it..."
"..."
Odelia gave up on explaining.
In all likelihood, the more she said she was okay, the deeper the misunderstanding would become.
Instead, she calmly changed the subject.
"In any case, those with 'Purification' abilities are only born once in a generation in the Cardel family."
"...You're saying you're the only one in this generation."
Ludville looked at her with a complicated expression as she suddenly changed the subject, then his expression hardened seriously.
"Does that mean the next generation of Purifiers will only be born when you die?"
"That's right. You understand quickly."
"So that's why they were so desperately looking for you..."
But the Cardel family would now conclude that it was difficult to persuade Odelia.
In that case...
Odelia nodded.
"They will try to kill me, for sure."
She didn't bother mentioning that she was terminally ill.
However, she conveyed all the other important information.
So that Ludville could prepare in advance for how Cardel would move.
But Ludville, who seemed lost in deep thought...
"...Let's make it a runaway love."
Suddenly came to an absurd conclusion.
"Pardon?"
Odelia asked back with a dumbfounded face.
"In front of people, let's make it look like we're lovers who can't live without each other."
"Pardon me?"
What on earth was he talking about?
She repeatedly doubted her ears, continuing to mull over what she had just heard.
But Ludville was serious.
'What is he saying?'
While she was flustered, Ludville unfolded his arms and slowly took a step towards her.
"Cardel is the biggest threat, but now that your Purification ability is known to the world to some extent, there will be an endless stream of others who will target you."
Odelia slowly blinked, then pondered.
'Come to think of it...'
In Ludville's rough thousands of lives, there were several times when he revealed her abilities to the world.
Every time, malicious groups and groups with unsound minds would cling to her.
Not to mention Cardel.
'I didn't pay much attention because I thought I only had to endure for five years.'
Listening to him, she had a chilling premonition that she might die an absurd death before her life was even over.
But still...
"Of course, I had no intention of revealing the contract marriage to the outside world. Wouldn't it be enough to just say we're getting married formally?"
"That level of justification isn't enough to protect you."
"..."
"Marriage can be a political transaction. And a political marriage is something that can be broken at any time if the conditions are met. That's how the outside world sees it."
Since he was a Grand Duke and Odelia was a Princess of a ducal family, they would see it as a political marriage.
That was the norm for nobles.
"You can be the fuse for war. Because you are a Purifier, the Imperial Family, the nobles, and other forces will covet you. You can be traded, taken away, and torn apart."
That was the harsh reality.
He looked straight at Odelia and continued.
"But 'love' is different. Love is a personal emotion and extremely subjective."
"It can't be a means of transaction, then."
"It's difficult for outsiders to interfere or get involved politically."
That was probably true.
Wasn't that a tactic Ludville often used in the past, in his countless regressed lives?
No matter what anyone said about her, no matter how rational and justified the issue was...
"So, are you saying you have a complaint about my wife?"
He shut the other person's mouth with a single word.
No one dared to ask again.
If anyone touched her, he would bite like a mad dog, ignoring political face.
That's how it was back then.
Not because it was politically advantageous to act that way, as it is now, but because he actually loved Odelia fiercely.
But seeing him now claiming to act that way, she felt a little strange.
"That's good."
Ludville continued nonchalantly.
"It suits me much better to be called a madman than to be treated as a heartless Grand Duke, as before."
"What suits you?"
"Playing the lover."
"..."
He said in a still calm tone.
"I will announce that you are the Blue-Eyed Woman I have been looking for."
At those words, Odelia's eyes trembled very slightly.
In that moment, her heart 'thumped' and sank.
Could it be that Ludville had recognized her a long time ago and had been testing her all along?
Had he regained his memories?
Or could it be that he had instinctively felt it?
In that short moment, dozens of thoughts floated through her mind.
"Is there a problem?"
But the moment she looked into his eyes, all possibilities collapsed.
'Ah, he's saying it without knowing anything.'
The fact that the being he just mentioned was in front of him.
Odelia knew why he said that without having to hear an explanation.
It wasn't a simple idea or emotional outburst, but a meticulously calculated judgment.
Ludville had been spreading the narrative that he was looking for the 'Blue-Eyed Woman' throughout the empire.
Of course, he didn't spread it intentionally, he was just desperately looking for her to the point of going crazy...
Anyway, that's how it turned out.
The rumor had become a tragic love story of a Grand Duke who had gone mad because of a woman.
And now, he was going to give that madness narrative to Odelia.
Going beyond the level of simply 'he married her because he loved her' to the level of a mad love narrative of 'the Grand Duke went crazy because of her'...
'That's the reality, and the fact that I'm the real Blue-Eyed Woman... it's ironic, but.'
Anyway, the moment that narrative was added, Odelia would become someone no one could touch.
Not even Cardel, not even the Emperor.
No one would dare to touch her rashly.
That was partly because of Ludville's immense power and military strength, but more than that...
'Who would touch the bone that the mad dog, who bites even its owner if it doesn't like something, cherishes the most?'
It's generally better to avoid crazy people.
Because you don't know where they'll jump and there are no limits.
"I will hold a wedding that even the Imperial Family will envy, and throughout the ceremony, I will obsessively stare only at my wife... I'm saying I'll act like a man madly in love."
