What I Gained by Giving My Body - Chapter 3.9

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Caitlyn woke up gasping for breath. She was lying in a magnificent bedroom that could never be her own home, but she didn’t realize that fact at all.

‘It wasn’t stolen.’

She panted. When she first heard Archduke Akbar’s explanation, she naturally thought her past life had deceived him and stolen his power. But according to the dream, Cassandra had not deceived him at all and had accepted the offer. Then why did Roxias Akbar accuse Caitlyn of stealing his power?

It was closer to him giving it because he wanted to. Furthermore, Apollo didn’t seem to have any intention of handing over all of his strength. All he wanted to give Cassandra was foresight. In fact, she herself possessed no power other than foresight.

“You’re awake. Did you have a nightmare?”

Caitlyn’s eyes widened. She hadn’t noticed because of the dream, but Roxias Akbar was sitting in an armchair holding a newspaper.

“……It was a nonsense dream.”

“It seemed so.”

The Archduke agreed.

“But a dream is just a dream. There’s no need to worry about it.”

“……Yes.”

Caitlyn studied Archduke Akbar carefully. Seeing him dressed in a suit with his hair neatly arranged, it seemed he was fully prepared to go out. Or, he had already returned from being out.

‘Probably the latter.’

The Archduke’s emotions were clearly felt in the crumpled newspaper. He had gone out somewhere early in the morning and hadn’t obtained a very satisfactory result.

“Where did you go?”

Archduke Akbar’s already sharp eyes narrowed further. Caitlyn swallowed hard at the sight, which reminded her of a snake. She didn’t think such a simple question would sour his mood……. Had her judgment been wrong?

“I had an interesting conversation with His Majesty.”

“It must have been about the Princess of Solaris.”

Caitlyn let out a sigh. To be honest, she couldn’t understand why Archduke Akbar was rejecting the Princess. A beautiful and gentle princess from an ally nation. She was someone even the Archduke of the Britannia Empire couldn’t easily come by. She was also a woman who was the best person one could think of as a marriage partner.

Above all, wasn’t even the Emperor making himself extremely annoying to the Archduke just to make the marriage happen? Of course, the Archduke would leave the human lands before long, but he didn’t seem like someone with a decent enough conscience to worry about the woman left behind.

But Caitlyn didn’t bother to say those words out loud. Her goal was to successfully complete her deal with Archduke Akbar, not to offend him.

“I told him that since I have you, a marriage with the Princess is out of the question, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“You gave a clumsy excuse. It’s no wonder His Majesty didn’t listen.”

Archduke Akbar let out a hollow laugh.

“A clumsy excuse…… is that truly what you think?”

“Yes.”

Caitlyn nodded.

“It’s an engagement that will end soon anyway, isn’t it?”

“……It will end only when I receive my power back.”

Hearing those words, a spark of anxiety that Caitlyn had tried not to think about for so long began to crawl up.

What if it took too long for Archduke Akbar to regain his power?

Suppose he regained it ten years from now. Then Edward and Leslie would both meet the fates destined for them. What would be the point of gaining the power to decide her own future then?

Caitlyn got out of bed. Her entire body still throbbed, but she headed toward Archduke Akbar without a moment’s hesitation. It was because she had realized anew that she didn’t have time to sit and chat calmly with him like this.

“Your Grace.”

Caitlyn spoke quietly.

“Hold me.”

“…….”

Silence fell. Roxias only stared at her, saying nothing. Her body tensed from the nerves. Surely, if it were the Roxias Akbar she had known so far, it was normal for him to fall for such an obvious provocation. Then why was he reacting differently now?

She couldn’t understand it at all. Finally, a low voice escaped Roxias’s lips.

“You really seem to hate being by my side.”

Caitlyn grew even more bewildered. Being with the Archduke wasn’t a matter of like or dislike. They shared their bodies because they had to. She stayed by his side because she had to. They acted as fiancé and fiancée because it benefited their mutual goals…….

“Then again, it was like that before.”

The mystery was solved instantly. Once again, Roxias Akbar was overlapping her with Cassandra. To that woman who, although he himself had actually given her the foresight, had the responsibility of being a thief who stole it pinned on Caitlyn, who didn’t remember her past life at all. But no matter how unfair it was for Cassandra, right now, herself and Edward were what mattered most to Caitlyn.

‘I can’t keep suffering because of that woman.’