“If I had known that on our first night, Your Highness would leave the palace to embrace another lady and return with a hole in your stomach, I wouldn’t have married you.”

Her honest but cold response made Aidan, who had been staring at her, lower his gaze. As he lifted his shirt, a bandaged abdomen came into view. Though it wasn’t life-threatening, the bandage was stained red with blood, indicating he had bled quite a bit.

Aidan let out a low sigh. Then he looked up at Karina again.

“I understand why you’re angry, but it really wasn’t me.”

Karina frowned at his repeated nonsense.

“I know you don’t believe me, but it’s true. This is my first time meeting you, and it’s my first time in this world.”

“If that’s the case, then it’s even better. There’s no need to continue a marriage with a stranger, right? Your Highness just needs to agree to my request for a divorce.”

She didn’t believe his nonsense. She just wanted to conclude the matter of the divorce without talking further.

“That won’t work. We don’t know when the original owner of this body will return. How can I divorce you on my own and face his resentment?”

Would the man who spent the night with another lady resent her for divorcing him? No, that would never happen.

“Even if Your Highness is telling the truth, and you really have switched souls with someone, the original prince would never blame me for the divorce. He might even welcome it.”

She was just stating the facts, but Aidan laughed. Why was he laughing? What was funny about what she said?

“It seems the man didn’t like you. Why did you marry him?”

It was so accurate that she had no rebuttal.

“That’s why I’m asking for a divorce now…”

“But how old are you?”

Aidan interrupted her. She felt both puzzled and humiliated, wondering why he was asking her age and if he didn’t even know her age until now.

“I’m two years younger than Your Highness.”

“And how old is this body?”

He seemed determined to stick to the soul-switching story. Annoyed, she sighed and told him she was twenty-two.

“You’re younger than I thought. Ah, I’m originally thirty-seven. So, can I drop the formalities? Luckily, this body’s owner is also older than you, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Suddenly, he dropped the honorifics and smiled at her while making eye contact.

Who…. is this man?

His tone had changed so drastically that he no longer felt like the Aidan she knew. Even his expressions were different, making him seem like a completely different person.

Could it be… is it true? Did he really switch souls with someone else? Then… what will happen to my divorce?

Thinking that Aidan’s soul might have actually switched with someone else’s, her mind was suddenly filled with confusion. Could something like that really happen? Did the Empress use some strange sorcery?

Whatever the case, let’s assume what he said is true. Considering she herself had regressed three years, it seemed possible that souls could switch too. Though she wasn’t entirely convinced.

Aidan with a switched soul. What kind of impact would that have on her future? If his soul had indeed changed, didn’t that make it even more imperative to end this marriage? No matter how she thought about it, the conclusion was the same. Aidan, who had been trained and raised as a prince, was already useless, so some nobody who had taken over his body wouldn’t make a difference.

“Let’s say Your Highness is telling the truth.”

“It’s not just ‘let’s say,’ it is the truth.”

He smiled again, catching her words. She frowned, feeling like he was playing word games, and he raised his hands as if to say he wouldn’t do it anymore.

“I don’t care who is in Your Highness’s body.”

Karina answered firmly. She was going to get a divorce anyway. Whether it was Aidan or someone else in his body, it didn’t matter. Whatever happened to the imperial family afterward would also be none of her concern once the divorce was finalized.

“Please grant me a divorce. That’s all I want.”

“Hmmm.”

Aidan hummed at Karina’s request.

“You want a divorce because I cheated on our first night? That does sound like a good reason.”

Aidan nodded seriously, agreeing with her. Yes, he was right. It was behavior that justified divorce in anyone’s eyes. She even had a reasonable suspicion that Aidan had deliberately set her up to cheat on their first night, knowing he didn’t want this marriage from the start. But that wasn’t why Karina wanted a divorce. She never had any expectations of him as a lover…

“But isn’t it strange? You said it wasn’t a marriage out of love.”

She paused and looked at him, feeling as if he had read her mind.

“In political marriages like this, it’s common for both parties to have lovers. Maybe that’s just in movies.”

He said something she couldn’t understand and glanced at her. She didn’t bother to deny his words, and Aidan’s lips curled into a faint smile.

“What if I said you could have a lover too? Then it would be even. Of course, I didn’t cheat, but if you feel wronged…”

His suggestion, delivered with a bright smile, made her face contort in anger. Have an affair in return? Was that something a newlywed husband should say?

“I have no desire to continue a marriage in such a dirty manner. Let’s just divorce cleanly.”

She never thought she would have to argue with Aidan over the divorce. She had assumed that he would happily agree once she brought it up. But now, Aidan seemed to be trying to avoid the divorce at all costs.

“I already told you that’s difficult.”

Aidan answered calmly, without any hesitation.

“Why is it difficult? If someone else is in Your Highness’s body, wouldn’t it be better to divorce and live freely?”

Of course, it would be more freeing for her than for Aidan, but still.

“As I explained earlier, we don’t know when the original owner of this body will return.”

The playful smile disappeared from Aidan’s face.

“Though I plan to stay in this world if I can.”

“In that body?”

Wasn’t that body under too many bad conditions to stay in? A stepmother, a half-brother, constant threats to his life, and an incompetent prince. Did he know all this? She couldn’t help but respond sarcastically.

“Do you regret that the original owner is gone?”

Aidan asked with a smile.

“Not at all!”

It wasn’t even worth considering.

“That’s a relief.”

What was a relief?

“For now, it’s a secret. Just between you and me.”

He winked, and Karina reflexively frowned. Seeing Aidan’s face wink at her was so unfamiliar it was almost scary.

“I can’t understand this at all.”

Karina sighed. Why would he want to stay in a body that was clearly in danger, one that had just been stabbed in the stomach? Moreover, he would die in three years.

“Why are you telling me this secret?”

A soul switch. Another soul in the prince’s body. If it were true, it was a huge deal. If the Empress found out, she would use it as an excuse to kick him out of the palace immediately. So Aidan should desperately hide this fact.

“Who knows?”

Maybe he was even dumber and more reckless than the original Aidan. How could he easily reveal such a secret, not knowing what she would do once she left this room?

“One, because Karina Hewitt is the political marriage partner of this prince.”

Aidan said calmly.

“And two, because the Hewitt Duchy is the most powerful in this empire.”

Aidan added with a smirk, explaining that the attendant had hurriedly explained this before Karina entered. It seemed they were worried about offending the Hewitt Duchy due to the incident last night.

“If a family like that married off their daughter, they must have ambitions to make this prince the Emperor.”

Aidan’s guess made Karina tighten her lips as she met his gaze. He seemed like a foolish thug, but he had sharply grasped the situation with just the attendant’s explanation.

“Whether there was love between you or not is secondary. Political marriages are always about who benefits whom and the power struggles involved.”

Aidan acted as if his deduction was nothing special.

“Two, because the woman asked for a divorce the moment we met.”

The second reason sounded playful. When she narrowed her eyes and glared at him, Aidan smiled and continued.

“Trying to annul a marriage between a duchy and the imperial family after just one night because of an affair? Isn’t that stranger? Especially since it wasn’t a marriage based on love.”

She had no rebuttal for this point. In fact, Karina had ignored Aidan’s infidelity. She had never expected love from him, so she had kept her pride intact, indifferent to his affairs.

“A woman who entered the palace with a clear purpose suddenly asks for a divorce? It’s reasonable to think something drastic changed her mind, though I don’t know what that is yet.”