Reincarnated As My Husband's Mistress-Chapter 92: [] It’s you

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As she imagined the Roardnes she had known during their two years together, Adrien couldn't bring herself to utter a single word of protest.

"I momentarily forgot that it was you who turned this madman into a human."

She twisted her body, wanting to disengage her shoulder from his tight grip and embrace him. But instead, Roardnes held her even tighter.

"Just for today, just for today, please. I won't say anything like that again. I'll be that real friend you can rely on, just for today..."

Thinking back, Roardnes had always drunk much more than she did. The smell of alcohol was strong on him. She wanted to tell him that she relied on him enough.

"I..."

As soon as Adrien opened her mouth to address him, who was panting heavily, Neil called out from a distance. It seemed like he had been waiting for the right moment to interrupt.

"Your Highness, I'm sorry to interrupt, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been looking for you. You should probably go back."

Roardnes raised his head and straightened his body, still gripping Adrien's shoulder tightly. His neck was still flushed and his eyes looked a little bloodshot, but he forced a smile.

"Neil, please escort Madam home."

It was practically an order to leave him alone.

****

Roardnes slammed his head against the corridor pillar as soon as Adrien and Neil disappeared.

"Damn it."

Just one thing at a time. If he was so desperate to stay by her side, even as a friend, he could just endure whatever she did in front of him. And if he didn't want to be friends, he could stay by her side no matter what Adrien thought. He should just eliminate all the guys who came near her...

"Ha."

No one could live peacefully after experiencing such a senseless death. Even knowing that in his head, he couldn't help but explode and burden her. What a fool. As he pounded his head against the pillar until it was about to burst, Roardnes finally realized that he was slightly drunk. All the way to the crown prince's chambers, he regretted it. Even if Adrien's plan went wrong, he had to prove that he would be unaffected. Hadn't he been proving himself all this time? Using his madness to save people, for instance. Or defying the rumors that his red eyes would bring ruin to the country by performing meritorious service. Because he was so crazy, he even dared to challenge his older brother. He had noticed Bardenaldo's dejected expression whenever he couldn't do something that Roardnes could, and he had acted accordingly. Unlike him, Bardenaldo had never wavered, and despite his nature, he was determined to succeed to the throne, protect his younger brother, and uphold his mother's honor. Roardnes wanted to protect Bardenaldo's innocence. Proving that Bardenaldo was innocent was his greatest desire, so he could imagine a future with Adrien without any qualms.

"You're here. Where have you been since you just showed your face at the party?"

Bardenaldo greeted him as he entered the immediately open study.

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"It doesn't matter if I'm the host of the party."

"Ah, right. I guess I stayed too long."

Bardenaldo replied wearily with a weak smile. Roardnes silently watched Bardenaldo's flawless white hands as he poured him a drink.

"Why are you drinking? You don't usually drink."

"I can't sleep without a drink on nights like these."

Bardenaldo's hair was slightly damp, as if he had taken a bath.

"It's our wedding night."

Bardenaldo smiled weakly, as if he were a stallion that had just been discarded. For a moment, Roardnes felt a pang in his heart. Even though he was the one who had separated him from Adrien, he couldn't hate him completely. But he couldn't afford to be soft with Bardenaldo anymore.

"What do you plan to do?"

He now had someone else he needed to protect and wanted to be with, besides his mother, Queen Retinia, and his older brother, Bardenaldo. Bardenaldo poured himself a drink and drained the glass in one gulp.

"I love Epero more than anything as a brother. This is the imperial family, after all."

Epero was the ninth prince but ranked third in line to the throne because the previous six princes, born to Empress Grace, had died young.

"People say we look so alike that we could be twin brothers."

Of course, they both had fiery red hair and deep blue eyes. Roardnes smiled bitterly.

"But as the Crown Prince, I have no choice but to keep an eye on that boy. Mother's wish is for me to inherit the throne, and to achieve that, a minimum level of surveillance is necessary."

Bardenaldo's voice was as soft and fresh as cherry blossoms scattered in the spring breeze, yet it was also firm.

"Honestly, the public opinion of the Countess of Acacia isn't very good, which also helps me."

He didn't stop talking even when Roardnes looked at him.

"We're friends, right? I'm always sorry about this, but while Epero is staying, I want that Countess to act as a surveillance, preventing other factions from approaching him."

"Brother."

"Yes."

Even if Bardenaldo's expression had looked unusually tired, or if it weren't for the fact that he was about to go to an unwanted wedding, Roardnes would have wanted to shout and ask.

'Why did it have to be Adrien?'

I don't think my brother had anything to do with Adrien's death. Please, I hope my brother is innocent. The thought that even that wish was just my own selfish desire for a future with Adrien left a bitter taste in my mouth. Seeing his pitiful face, which didn't look happy at all despite being in such a high position, made me feel that way. It was natural to have such lingering feelings for someone I had protected all my life. It was natural that Adrien couldn't tell me everything. His belief in Bardenaldo was as sincere as a vow to the gods.

"Is there anything you want to say to me?"

If he could, he wanted to ask.

"Adrien..."

At that moment, the footsteps of someone who had been subtly bothering him since a while ago grew closer. As soon as Bardenaldo also noticed the sound, the study door burst open without warning. The brothers' brows furrowed at the same time. Vincenzo burst into the study like a cork popping open a bottle of wine.

"Your Highness! Your Highness, there's been a major incident!"

"What impudence. Don't barge in without announcing yourself."

Roardnes glared at him, shaking his head before he could muster the courage to speak. He had just taken another sip of wine.

"The Countess of Acacia, she... on her way home..."

Roardnes stood up abruptly.

"She was kidnapped!"

The wine glass he was holding shattered into pieces on the marble floor.

****

I looked around with blurry vision. It was a dark, warehouse-like place. Judging by the way the moonlight filtered through the gaps in the walls, casting shadows of wisteria vines, I guessed we were in the wisteria forest near the capital. Several fat men, whose mere sight made my skin crawl, surrounded us. Yes, "us". I bit down hard on the tender flesh inside my mouth, looking at Magi and Yona who were trembling beside me. They were the maids who had smiled broadly and patted me on the shoulder when I told them I had become the Crown Prince's advisor.

As the men with swords as thick as my arm scanned us with sinister eyes, I felt like I was going to vomit. I didn't know how I ended up here, but my last memory was leaving the palace. Neil had said he would finish up some work and join us later. I had then stopped by the Countess of Acacia's residence to check her office for any documents related to the mana stone mine, and then got back into the carriage. And then, the carriage, which was speeding towards the Duke's residence, collided with another carriage with a tremendous crash, and my body lurched.

"Ugh..."

My mouth tasted of blood; I must have bitten my tongue. Twenty knights had been escorting me. I had originally planned to wait for Neil at the Countess's residence and return together, but I was in a hurry to find the books about the mana stone mine.

"Madam, Madam, are you alright?"

"Ma, ma, ma, Madam...!"

When I groaned, Magi and Yona, who were sitting with their arms bound, quickly crawled towards me. I wanted to ask what was going on, but the gag in my mouth made my tongue sore and I couldn't speak. My whole body ached as if I had been beaten. The carriage was half-destroyed, so there was no way my body could be unscathed. Who could it be? Who would attack a noblewoman's carriage in the early evening? Various people's faces flashed through my mind, but I was bound hand and foot and couldn't move. As I struggled to sit up, I felt as if insects were crawling all over me because of the men who were watching me wriggle with glee.

"Madam has regained consciousness! Hurry, hurry, send her away! What are you doing! Do you know who she is...?"

Magi mustered all her courage and whimpered softly. In the dark warehouse, illuminated only by the moonlight, someone stepped out from among the men.

"Oh dear... Oh dear..."

"How dare you...?"

Short in stature, walking with a cane, and with feeble steps. In this ominous place, Magi and Yona's low sighs followed one after the other.

"Well, well... you should have been more careful."

Under the thin beam of light coming from a small window, the figure's identity was fully revealed. An old, wrinkled face. Her black eyes, hidden beneath drooping eyelids, glittered like fake jewels. Sophie, the head maid of the Duke's residence, had a cold expression. But her stern face gradually cracked as she looked at my miserable state. It must have been because of the way I was wriggling and laughing.

'...It's you.'

Even with a gag in my mouth and my whole body bound, tears streaming down my face...

'The eyes and ears of Doris in the Duke's residence that I couldn't find no matter how hard I looked.'

My eyes, far from being filled with fear, must have been laughing so hard that my mouth was splitting.

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