How to Get a Stolen Husband Back - Chapter 38
“Yes. I don’t know how such a thing would be possible, but the oracle mentioned ‘another world.'”
“……!”
It was an idea she hadn’t considered.
If it wasn’t a made-up story, but an actual person mixing fact and fiction to write a novel…
“Hey, did someone die? Your expression is so serious.”
Roselina laughed as she looked at the ice-like Aristie.
“It’s just a hypothesis, so take it lightly. Don’t act like you’re at a funeral.”
“No, Rose. Listening to you makes it all make sense. It’s like finding the answer to a question that couldn’t be solved.”
Aristie gave Roselina a look of admiration.
“It’s a simple theory, yet I never thought of it. As expected, our Rose is full of imagination.”
“Haha, you should try lying in bed all day too. You’ll be able to cross parallel worlds with just your imagination.”
Aristie laughed along with Roselina, but her mind was still cluttered with unorganized thoughts.
It’s certainly a plausible theory.
Yet Estelle seemed to know about future events that hadn’t happened yet through the book.
Just knowing the identity of the ‘female lead’ whom Khalid would love to death in the future was proof enough.
That means the person who wrote the book would have crossed over to another world at a future point in time… Who could it be?
No, whoever it is, how could that person know so much about Khalid? Enough to make that oblivious man talk about meeting a woman.
“It seemed like it made sense, but now it feels even more complicated.”
Aristie couldn’t find the answer. Perhaps even Estelle didn’t know that answer.
“Let’s set aside the other world for now.”
Roselina bit into a tart and changed the subject.
“Let’s talk about your feelings now. How do you feel?”
“What do you mean… about what?”
“About His Majesty the Emperor. Do you love him?”
“Love… I mean…”
Aristie couldn’t easily answer. She had already pondered over it many times, but it only added to her confusion.
Khalid’s image flashed through her mind, along with Rhion’s.
“I don’t know…”
Even to her own ears, her answer sounded frustrating. Roselina firmly held Aristie’s hand and spoke decisively.
“Then attend the tea party.”
“Estelle’s party?”
“Yes. Go and find out for yourself. Whether you like His Majesty enough to deal with that kind of woman, or if you’re merely political marriage partners. Find out your true feelings.”
Roselina placed her hand on top of Aristie’s as she ate the tart. Her eyes, filled with concern for her friend, momentarily regained a vivid blue as if she had overcome her illness.
“It would be better if it’s the latter. Then you can just focus on maintaining your position. And if by any chance His Majesty takes that woman as his mistress, you can do the same.”
“But…”
“Do it. It’s okay. Even the empire’s laws allow for that much.”
“…Alright. I’ll attend the party for now.”
Only after hearing Aristie’s answer did Roselina release her hand. Then she rummaged through her bag and pulled out a notebook.
“Take this. I came to give you this today.”
“What is it?”
“A diary. You’re busy these days, and once you get married, it’ll be even harder to meet, so let’s write an exchange diary.”
“Wow, thank you! I didn’t expect a gift like this.”
Aristie accepted the notebook with a bright face. The heavy feeling in her chest, like dark clouds, felt much lighter thanks to it.
“I have the same one, so let’s write what we want and exchange them next time we meet. You never know who might read it, so if you want to write something bad, use our secret code.”
Aristie lifted the notebook in her hand to show Roselina, who was winking playfully.
“Great. And since I received a gift, I’ll write about whatever you want in return. What do you want to hear?”
Roselina’s answer was immediate.
“Of course, the aftermath of that crazy woman’s party!”
* * *
On the day Estelle hosted the tea party.
The weather was annoyingly good. Aristie entered the garden of the Vascus residence, guided by the butler.
She quickly scanned the situation as she approached the table. Besides herself and Estelle, there were four other young ladies present, all familiar faces.
‘Just by looking at their expressions, I can tell how much they want to tear me apart.’
Seeing three of them sitting together, Aristie could roughly guess the purpose of the party.
Selona, the only daughter of the wealth and power known Glindel marquis family. Annelize from the Trovena count family, a branch of the Chelbon ducal family.
And the last girl was Selona’s lackey, whose name was fuzzy.
‘Who was it? Roxyne? Roxana…?’
Including Selona’s vaguely named follower, their commonality was clear.
They were young ladies with a certain standing in the social circle, and they had a history of harassing Aristie.
Trying to seduce her with a male cousin, slandering Aiden to tarnish the Yentrice ducal family’s honor, and even approaching Khalid to seduce him.
Recalling Selona, who had flirted with Khalid, brought back memories of the situation. At the time, the Crown Prince Khalid seemed unaware of her intentions, even when Selona, all dolled up, approached him.
“Why does a particular person keep lingering in my sight?” he once grumbled in annoyance.
It was understandable. During his adolescent years, he was utterly clueless.
When it came to women, he was not just ignorant but entirely blind, unable to perceive them as the opposite s*x.
Given the circumstances, it was natural that Khalid couldn’t notice the subtle schemes of the women targeting Aristie. Moreover, such plots were mostly carried out in his absence.
Just like today.
“Oh my! Fancy meeting you here, Lady Yentrice.”
The short Selona greeted with a haughty look. Though her words suggested otherwise, her eyes revealed that she already knew Aristie would come.
“Lady Glindel, nice to meet you.”
Though the dark intentions were obvious, Aristie responded without showing it. She knew Selona, who had plotted various schemes to push her out, was still eager to find her flaws.
At least, Selona’s parents were working behind the scenes to bring her in as a consort.
And that wasn’t all. Khalid’s otherworldly appearance was famous even in other countries. As a result, princesses lined up to pursue him, not for the connection to the empire, but simply because they were infatuated.
“Enemies everywhere… I’ve managed to endure well, even if I say so myself, Aristie.”
As a self-deprecating smile appeared on her lips, the only young lady who had a favorable impression of her warmly approached.
“Lady Aristie!”
Another familiar face. It was Lady Vivian of the Guise baron family, a member of her following.
She had been sitting uncomfortably, but upon seeing Aristie, she looked as if she had met her savior.
“I’m glad you came! I was worried you might not.”
“Of course not. It’s been a while, Vivian.”
Aristie greeted Vivian with a gentle smile. While it was reassuring to have an ally, she was inwardly suspicious of Estelle’s intentions for hosting the party.
Given the previous three invitees, the purpose of the party was clear: to slander and belittle her.
But Vivian?
If Estelle’s goal was merely to insult her, why bother inviting Vivian?
“I don’t know why I was invited. I have no acquaintances here.”
Vivian seemed to share the same suspicion. She whispered quietly to Aristie as she led her to a seat.
“I didn’t want to attend a tea party like this. But since you were coming, I came to protect you.”
“You heard I was coming?”
“Yes. The invitation had the names of the attendees. If not, I would have declined.”
‘My name was listed?’
Aristie’s eyes widened. It was unusual to have the names of the invitees on the invitation.
However, the truly strange part was elsewhere.
Unlike the invitation Vivian received, the one sent to her had no mention of the other attendees.
‘Even if I argue, they’ll just say it was a minor oversight.’
Having only discerned that Vivian was manipulated into attending, Aristie took her seat. Estelle, who welcomed her warmly, spoke with a smile in front of everyone.
“Thank you all for attending. Actually, I was worried because I entered the social scene late and had no friends. So I bravely sent out invitations. I hope we can become close.”
As soon as Estelle finished speaking, the invitees started chattering excitedly.
“Of course! Thank you for inviting me, Lady Vascus.”
“I want to call you Saintess, hohoho.”
“There’s no one around who doesn’t know you these days. Everyone’s talking about how beautiful and holy you are.”
“It’s understandable. It’s been over a hundred years since a saintess appeared in the empire.”
“Right. I thought God had forgotten us, but seeing you made me realize He was preparing someone like you all along.”
The trio, led by Selona, laughed together, forming their own bond. It seemed Estelle had selected similar villainesses and they were trying to align themselves with her.
Perhaps the four of them had bonded beforehand. Otherwise, they couldn’t be so in sync with each other, including Estelle.
