I Seducing the Black-Hearted Duke Wasn't Me - Chapter 14

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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 14
“Your Majesty.”
A calm but unmistakably sharp voice cut through the Reception Room.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry as I looked at him.
‘What… what is this? I’ve never seen him look that angry before.’
Actually, did that man even know how to be angry? I’d always thought he wore a perpetual smile, yet here he was.
“My, he’s quite upset,” the Emperor remarked.
I heard him click his tongue softly—apparently we shared the same thought.
“Ahem. So the Grand Duke has arrived.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I have.”
“Sooner than expected. I thought it would take longer. Perhaps we should start with some pleasantries? Tell me, how have you been keeping all this time……”
“Why did you summon the Marquis Jaharet?”
Leon cut through the Emperor’s words as though civilities meant nothing, his question sharp and direct.
“Impatient, aren’t we? No time to sit and exchange greetings properly? And here I thought you were my younger brother.”
“Yes. I’m impatient. So answer me directly. Why did you summon the Marquis?”
……
Leon pressed the matter with stubborn insistence.
I caught the faint murmur of the Emperor muttering something like ‘Good heavens, what’s the fuss over a simple greeting?’ but I pretended not to hear.
“Your Majesty. I was quite clear about this. Drop it.”
“Ahem. Well now……”
“If you interfere with my affairs like this even once more, I will lose my patience. Truly.”
“But I was merely curious……”
Whatever excuse the Emperor offered, Leon ignored it, exhaling softly before turning toward me and extending his hand.
“Come, Erna. Let’s go.”
……
“Don’t concern yourself with His Majesty.”
Yet.
‘He looks terribly hurt.’
What could one do when the truth was written plainly across someone’s face?
The Emperor’s brows dipped with a sorrowful slant at Leon’s cold dismissal.
Beneath the dignified mask, genuine wounded feelings showed through—not the expression of an empire’s sovereign, but of an older brother wounded by his sibling’s defiance, simple and painfully human.
“However, my conversation with the Marquis is not yet finished.”
“Your Majesty.”
……”Very well. Very well, I understand.”
Faced with Leon’s unwavering resolve, the Emperor finally conceded.
“This is all because of that insufferable younger brother of mine. I call for you endlessly, yet you never come to see me.”
“I’ve been occupied.”
“Hmph. You’ve been in Jedo since last week, and yet you couldn’t even spare a moment to show your face to your older brother?”
“I was occupied.”
“Yes, yes. I know. I know already.”
…What was this between the two of them?
‘I’d certainly heard the rumors that the Emperor held the Grand Duke in extraordinary regard, but…’
Rumors were only rumors, though. There was always a chance reality might differ.
Yet remarkably, the reality matched the rumors exactly.
Looking at the scene before me, the Emperor clung to Leon, desperately seeking his attention, while Leon seemed to regard the Emperor as little more than a nuisance—something tiresome he had to tolerate.
“I will make time to visit you separately in the future. So please stop using the Marquis as a means to that end. I’m only letting this slide once.”
“Oh, how terrifying,” the Emperor said.
He shuddered dramatically, his expression making clear he felt nothing of the sort. Then he waved us off dismissively, as though bidding us to leave.
He seemed to have simply given up.
“That’s all. I’ve learned what I needed to know anyway. Marquis Jaharet, safe travels back.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. We shall take our leave now.”
I bowed, and the Emperor smiled gently, waving his hand in casual farewell.
Strange—we’d shared no significant conversation, merely tea, and yet somehow the distance between us had narrowed, as though something invisible had drawn closer.
Held firmly by Leon, whose foreknowledge of my presence here I still couldn’t explain, I followed him out of the Reception Room.
As we crossed the Corridor, he remained silent.
Hmm. What was…?
“Are you angry with me?”
For meeting with the Emperor without telling him?
‘But that wasn’t something I could control. His Majesty summoned me—I had to go.’
Still, it couldn’t hurt to make sure.
“Or perhaps you were worried you’d said something unnecessary to His Majesty.”
“I’ve never worried about that.”
“Then why are you acting so sharp with me? And how did you even know to come? I didn’t tell anyone about this.”
Except for Valen and Lora, who’d been there when I received the invitation. I hadn’t breathed a word to another soul, yet somehow this man had found his way here.
“I received a letter.”
“A letter?”
He’d been striding ahead in silence when he stopped and produced an envelope, holding it out to me.
It was a design I’d seen somewhere before.
[Today at 11. I’m planning an intimate tea time with Marquis Zaheret.
Come if you’re free.]
But the contents were similar to mine, yet subtly different.
There was something about it—a deliberate little jab.
“Nothing unusual happened, I take it?”
“Unusual in what sense?”
“Oh, say, if His Majesty happened to say something unnecessary to you.”
Hmm. Rather vague, that.
“No, nothing like that happened.”
I thought for a moment before shaking my head.
There had been a few conversations that stuck with me, but nothing of that magnitude.
Yet despite my answer, a thin shadow lingered across Leon’s face.
He looked distinctly displeased.
‘The legendary Leon Obsidian making a face like that—’
If anyone else knew, it would cause an uproar.
Not that his sharp, sculpted features were in question; it was his public image that didn’t match.
Soft, gentle, warm—the sort of adjective that made you want to swallow whole without chewing. That was the standard description.
But the man before me was slightly dissatisfied with his brother, and he was expressing it honestly. Just an ordinary man.
Not some benevolent saint or mild-mannered priest.
“I’m sorry. I was invited on short notice myself. If something like this happens again, I’ll tell you.”
“I’m not angry at you.”
“It really doesn’t look that way.”
……
At my blunt observation, he seemed slightly flustered and ran his hand through his hair.
Then, in a disgruntled tone—
“To be precise, my complaint is with His Majesty, not you, Erna. Next time he calls for you, just ignore it.”
“I can do that?”
The look I gave him suggested he was joking, and he responded readily enough.
“It’s fine. Trade on my name. They won’t be able to force the matter from that end.”
“You’ll be arrested for lèse-majesté.”
“I’ll get you out. Of course, I’ll have you out before it ever comes to that, so don’t worry.”
Where does he get all that confidence?
Before I could stop myself, a laugh slipped out.
Somewhere in that moment, the sharp edge that had hung about him before seemed to soften considerably.
“So, what were you and His Majesty talking about?”
“Nothing much. Just stories from my Academy days.”
“The Academy?”
At his surprised question, I answered quickly.
“He asked if there were any real connections between you and me. When I pushed back against that, it came up naturally.”
“You needed to argue the point?”
“What else was I supposed to say?”
Honestly, sir, I caused a scandal and ended up here. Yes, I got drunk and pinned your precious younger brother down.
……I could hardly say that.
‘It’s far more plausible and safe to suggest we’ve had some prior contact.’
Besides that—
“Actually, now that I think about it, we did talk separately at our graduation ceremony, didn’t we? You know, when I gave the student representative’s address.”
……
“I feel like we had some exchange then, but I was so nervous I don’t quite remember it.”
“If you can’t remember, there’s no need to dredge it up.”
“Pardon?”
I turned to Leon with a questioning look.
He met my gaze, and something like a peculiar smile seemed to cross his face.
“I’m sorry, but to me it’s a dark history I’d rather forget.”
Leon reached toward me as he spoke.
His thumb pressed against my forehead with a subtle but unmistakable force.
As if warning me not to remember.
But it lasted only a moment.
He smiled crookedly, withdrew his hand, and muttered, “Ah, left a mark,” before turning my head and pressing a kiss to my forehead.
This man, honestly.
‘He didn’t plan this from the start, did he?’
I stepped back quickly and rubbed my forehead. Then I shot him a glare—
“Oh!”
Well, this is awkward.
I noticed the Imperial Palace attendants scattered around us had frozen in shock—though I couldn’t say exactly when they’d arrived.
And there was Leon Obsidian, grinning away with that satisfied expression.
‘He orchestrated this.’
Naturally, the reporters’ movements from a few days ago flashed through my mind.
Look—people were already whispering among themselves, creating a fuss.
‘I’ll stake my life on it: by tomorrow morning, this story spreads across all of Jedo. Guaranteed.’
The Grand Duke Bernstein and Marquess Zaherete visited the Imperial Palace together in such an affectionate manner, and had an audience with the Emperor.
And apparently there was some new development in the relationship between the two of them…….
* * *
The next morning.
[EXCLUSIVE] Grand Duke and Marquess—Wedding Imminent?!!
“…….”
I told you so.

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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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