On the way to the Prince’s palace, she encountered several attendants. They bowed politely upon seeing her, but as soon as she passed, they started whispering. Rumors of the consort being abandoned on the first night by the Prince had already spread widely. Moreover, Aidan being attacked while enjoying a tryst with another woman made for even juicier gossip.

If only Aidan had died in the attack, she might not have been dragged into this mess. Such thoughts crossed her mind as her anger boiled.

When she arrived at Aidan’s bedroom, the guards at the door bowed deeply.

“Announce my arrival.”

At Karina’s command, one of the attendants went inside, and quite some time passed. It was just a matter of announcing her presence, so why was it taking so long? Just as she wondered if his lover was inside, the door opened. Before entering the bedroom, Karina took a deep breath.

Aidan, who had been leaning against the bed and looking out the window, turned his head at her entrance. His face looked quite pale, probably from losing a lot of blood. Despite that, his handsome appearance hadn’t faded. No wonder women kept flocking to this foolish man.

“Everyone, leave us.”

Before Karina could demand it, Aidan dismissed the attendants first.

“Karina?”

Somehow, the way he called her name sounded different from usual. As he quietly watched her, he smiled gently. But Karina stared coldly at his face.

“Were you worried?”

“No. Unfortunately, I wasn’t worried at all.”

Aidan’s smile froze at her blunt words.

“Please grant me a divorce. That’s what I came to say.”

She got straight to the point. She didn’t even want to waste time talking to him.

“I’m sorry, but that will be difficult.”

It was an unexpected response. She thought he would agree to the divorce without a moment’s hesitation.

“I am not the Aidan Griffith you know, I am a completely different person. Unfortunately, it seems like my soul has switched bodies with your husband, Aidan.”

What on earth is he talking about? Switched bodies? With whom?

Karina couldn’t understand why Aidan was trying to deceive her with such nonsense.

“Let’s change the subject. Last night, Your Highness left me, your newly wedded wife, to meet another woman for a tryst. And now look at the result.”

Her choice of words was harsh due to her emotions, but she didn’t care. After today, she wouldn’t have to see that wretched man again. There was no need to look good for him, no reason to consider his circumstances, and not even a thought to treat him with the respect due to a prince.

In the three years she had treated him with the respect due to a prince, Aidan had never once shown any princely qualities. He made excuses to avoid imperial duties and, on the rare occasions he did attend, he yawned so much that it was embarrassing for the other nobles to watch. Moreover, his performance in knightly tournaments was abysmal, making one wonder where all the swordsmanship and spear skills he had learned since childhood had gone.

On top of that, there was no end to the gossip. At every banquet, the lady he was with changed, and eventually, one of his lovers even came to Karina claiming she was carrying Aidan’s child.

There was nothing about him that she liked. She watched him for three years, believing he could change. During that time, her patience had worn thin.

So being a bit harsh now was nothing. She was suppressing the urge to grab him by the collar and scream that she died because of him.

“A tryst… I have nothing to say since it wasn’t me who did it.”

His calm response made her clench her fists. She thought he wasn’t this shameless, but maybe she was wrong. She had never openly complained about Aidan’s affairs, so she hadn’t known.

“As I said earlier, my soul has switched with the Aidan you know.”

He repeated what he had said before. Karina gritted her teeth and glared at him. It would be better if he just admitted to meeting another woman. Saying his soul had switched was nonsense.

“So you and the owner of this body got married yesterday?”

Aidan asked with a genuinely clueless expression.

What is going on? Did he hit his head during the attack? Was he always this stupid, or had he become even more so? Her head throbbed.

“So you got married yesterday and he cheated on your first night? What a crazy bastard.”

She flinched at his last words. Had she unconsciously voiced her thoughts? She frowned and looked at him. It was getting more and more strange. It wasn’t just that he had lost his memory, his tone and expressions were different from the Aidan she remembered.

“Why did you marry such a guy? Oh, was it a political marriage?”

Was he really asking why they got married? Karina bit her lower lip as she glared at his face.

Right. Why did it have to be him? Thinking back, that was the wrong choice from the start.

Aidan was the Second Prince of the Griffith Empire. He was called the Second Prince because he was born a few months after the First Prince, Lloyd, but in terms of legitimacy, Aidan should have been the First Prince. Aidan was the only bloodline of the former Empress, who had died over a decade ago. However, the situation changed when Marchioness McCoy, who was the Emperor’s lover and Lloyd’s biological mother, became the Empress. Now, there was a faction insisting that Lloyd, as the son of the official Empress, should be recognized as a legitimate prince. With the living power of the Empress behind him, Aidan was suddenly called the Second Prince.

Of course, there was also a faction that opposed this. Representing them was the Hewitt Duchy. The Duke of Hewitt, being a cousin of the former Empress, had always insisted that Aidan should inherit the throne.

When the Emperor proposed marriage between Aidan and the daughter of the Hewitt Duchy, the nobles were abuzz. The Hewitt Duchy was the most powerful and wealthy family in the empire, second only to the imperial family. Raised in such a family, Karina had been educated to become the next Empress from an early age.

Moreover, Karina’s appearance was also outstanding. With her bright, long, wavy blonde hair, blue eyes, slender face, almond-shaped eyes with long eyelashes, a high nose, and red, vivid lips, she lacked nothing. She was perfect in both intelligence and beauty.

The perfect candidate for the next Empress. That was how everyone described Karina Hewitt.

The nobles believed that whoever married Karina from the Hewitt Duchy, whether Lloyd or Aidan, would become the next Emperor. Hence, the Empress and Lloyd were furious at the Emperor’s decision, and the nobles were divided into factions supporting either Lloyd or Aidan, causing a commotion.

Karina’s marriage was entangled with all sorts of surrounding powers from the beginning. Like most political marriages, her feelings were not considered. But she didn’t mind. She believed it was her duty, as someone born and raised as the daughter of the Hewitt Duchy, to become the Empress. She believed that if she became the consort and made Aidan the Emperor, she would become a great Empress.

The one who shattered even that glimmer of hope was Aidan, her future husband.

‘I do not wish to marry you.’

Those were Aidan’s first words when they met before the wedding. What about her had displeased him? Karina was the ideal woman that any noble child would desire. She was called the flower on the cliff, as everyone assumed she would marry one of the princes and didn’t dare to reach for her.

‘If I marry you, the Empress and Lloyd will be even more desperate to kill me.’

Oddly enough, his reason for not wanting her was that. In hindsight, the foreboding had started then. For Karina, who married to make Aidan the Emperor, there couldn’t have been a more absurd statement.

‘I do not seek the help of the Hewitt Duchy. I just want to live quietly, unnoticed.’

He had no ambition as a prince. Perhaps because he had spent over a decade living in fear of the Empress, he even watched her reactions while saying that to Karina.

‘Regardless of Your Highness’s will, this marriage will proceed. His Majesty and my father wish it.’

Karina paid no heed to Aidan’s words. She knew she was the final piece in deciding which of the two princes would become the next Emperor. She was well aware of that fact. Therefore, she was confident. She never doubted that if she and the Hewitt Duchy backed him, Aidan would become the Emperor.

She should have called off the political marriage back then. But it was too late to regret it now.