I Just Wanted Revenge, But Everyone Loves Me - Chapter 74

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 74
“……What?”
The question tumbled from my lips unbidden, laden with confusion. I couldn’t make sense of the situation unfolding before me.
I’d assumed everyone who attacked the Imperial Palace, everyone who’d be dragged before me, belonged to Bangcardium’s inner circle.
The very idea that Duke Bangcardium himself would appear so directly—I swear by heaven, it had never crossed my mind.
Yet here he stood, right before my eyes.
Before me!
“Your Grace!”
His retainers, recognizing him, cried out toward their lord. Perhaps because they’d been pressed so heavily from a psychological standpoint, they had countless questions, yet simultaneously felt a joy that brought tears to their eyes.
And in that same moment, we all understood.
Bangcardium would not fall.
“That person…… is the Duke of Bangcardium?”
“Good heavens.”
The nobles who stood dazed could only watch as Bangcardium’s retainers recognized him.
Many of them had never laid eyes on the Duke before.
The last gala he’d attended was years ago—before the death of the former Duchess.
With such a gap of time, it was natural that some saw him for the first time now.
The nobles, momentarily captivated by his ethereal beauty, quickly regained their senses.
This was no moment to be entranced by such beauty.
“Duke of Bangcardium.”
The Commander of Knights, who stood nearest and served the Emperor with unwavering loyalty, spoke first.
Though he too was shocked by this sudden appearance, he could not show hesitation at this juncture.
The Commander drew his sword slowly and assumed his stance. Around him, the knights began drawing theirs one by one.
For the Duke was currently a fugitive with a public bounty on his head.
“Amusing.”
“…….”
“After all these years of seclusion, you think Bangcardium has grown weak?”
As though a mere blade could subdue him.
Rodrigo closed his eyes slowly, then opened them.
His golden gaze, deeper than before, gleamed as it caught the chandelier’s light.
Sensing that cold killing intent, the knights faltered. Even the Commander at their head.
“I have but one question.”
The Commander swallowed hard, unnoticed.
“Could it be that the person who detonated the building just now……”
“How strange.”
Rodrigo’s lips curved as he considered the question.
“It seems the timing is off for my introduction.”
Rodrigo glanced at the serpent beside him. The Magical Beast’s body was rigid, its eyes alone barely moving.
“Shouldn’t we first discuss what to do with this creature?”
“…….”
“That’s more urgent than me, wouldn’t you say?”
His calm riposte came with an ease
that suggested he’d known of this situation all along.
“Your Grace!”
The Commander couldn’t contain himself and shouted. But Rodrigo didn’t so much as blink.
Seeing his serene face, the Commander gripped his sword tighter.
“Forgive me, but judging by Your Grace’s present demeanor, I can suspect only one thing.”
“Ah.”
Rodrigo made a casual sound of acknowledgment.
“That I’m controlling the monster.”
“!”
“Is that what you meant to say just now?”
The directness of his answer shocked not only the Commander but every noble present.
None had imagined he would admit it outright.
Rodrigo laughed coldly.
“Everyone here saw that I was the one who saved that nobleman.”
“That was because Your Grace commanded it, was it not?”
At the Commander’s words, the other nobles exchanged glances. The Golden Aura flowing through the creature’s body.
By all appearances, the claim that the Duke of Bangcardium controlled the beast was entirely plausible.
Yet Rodrigo merely tilted his chin upward.
“It’s not command, but submission to force. No monster, however fierce, can resist Dragon Blood.”
“And how are we to believe that?”
“Would you like me to release it?”
“!”
“If you’re so doubtful, I can lift the restraint at once.”
Rodrigo’s gaze swept across the nobles scattered on the ground nearby.
“But I’d advise you to think carefully before you answer.”
If you’re not careful,
“you might all die.”
One corner of Rodrigo’s mouth lifted in a crooked smile.
“So by all means, speak up if you think you can handle it. I’ll release the restraint immediately.”
“…….”
“I’m in quite an unjust position myself, you see.”
Faced with such unflinching confidence, the Commander ground his teeth. He hadn’t been the only one blindsided by the creature’s appearance—the Emperor too had been caught off guard. But so had the Commander himself.
In fact, the Emperor had only just learned of it, while the Commander still didn’t know of the Temple’s scheme.
So he’d tried to pin the focus on the Duke.
But faced with such a response, there was little he could say in return.
What if it were true?
If he was the caster of Brainwashing Magic, it was a problem. If he wasn’t, it was equally difficult.
Either he’d wound others with a single word, or he’d wrongly condemn an innocent man. One or the other.
But before the Commander could formulate an answer,
Shriek!
The creature convulsed with a savage cry.
The magic binding its entire body shattered.
“Ahhhhh!”
The nobles nearby screamed. The knights too, startled, tightened their grip on their blades.
The Commander’s gaze fixed on the beast.
Its target, now that the spell was broken, was—
“Y-Your Grace!”
One of the Duke’s retainers, watching anxiously, cried out urgently.
“…….”
A long shadow fell over Rodrigo’s head.
The serpent, its maw gaping wide, looked down at the still Drake. Normally it should have attacked the nobleman it had first targeted, but threatened unexpectedly, it had changed its mark.
“Just as I expected.”
Snap.
Rodrigo snapped his fingers.
The Magical Beast, which had been lunging as though to devour him, opened its eyes wide as saucers.
Its body went rigid once more.
“Had that been even a moment slower, I would have been the one about to die. Not that nobleman—me.”
He fixed his gaze firmly on his opponent, his eyes narrowing. The attention of every noble shifted.
The Commander, now the focus of all eyes at once, rushed to speak.
“B-But Your Grace just now issued a command to the beast……!”
“One who is brainwashed cannot harm the caster in any way.”
“!”
“It is the Unspoken Rule of Brainwashing Magic. You can’t be unfamiliar with it.”
Even if they had forgotten for a moment,
“the mages here will know. They’ll know my words are true.”
“That’s correct!”
As the momentum shifted, a retainer of Bangcardium cried out with conviction.
“The caster is one with the host. A brainwashed being can never touch the host!”
“Exactly! If Your Grace were the caster, that creature would never have attacked you!”
Sensing the turn in fortune, other nobles began raising their voices one by one. None dared contradict them.
For among the Emperor’s faction there were mages, and they too knew the Unspoken Rule of Brainwashing Magic.
‘Damn it!’
In the blink of an eye, cornered and losing ground, the Commander bit the inside of his cheek hard. There was no rebuttal left to him.
It was then.
“Duke of Bangcardium.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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