I Seducing the Black-Hearted Duke Wasn't Me - Chapter 15

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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 15
Wow, I mean…….
[EXCLUSIVE] Grand Duke and Marquis reportedly sought the Emperor’s consent for marriage…….
[SCOOP] “Saw it myself — something’s afoot!” Relay of eyewitness accounts from Imperial Palace staff!
The newspapers of Orden were working hard as usual today.
I almost wished they’d be lazy about it.
“At this rate, it’s a done deal.”
“…….”
“I keep telling you — just give up.”
Lora clicked her tongue disapprovingly as she spoke.
I shot her a sharp look, asking if she was fanning the flames in a burning house, but it didn’t land anymore.
“Speaking of which, what have you been carrying around so industriously?”
“Ah, this? Heh heh. Finally showing some interest!”
Lora grinned as if she’d been waiting for exactly this, then brought the box she was holding into my view.
Besides this one, boxes that she’d gradually moved into the study were already stacked inside.
“These are all from the Grand Duke’s House! His Majesty says they’re gifts for you, sir!”
“What? Gifts…… Wait, hold on. That’s all of them?”
“Of course not. There’s plenty more piled up at the entrance downstairs.”
Good heavens.
Just from glancing at the inventory — expensive jewels, handcrafted furniture, dresses, famous paintings, and works by renowned artists.
The variety was staggering.
“His Majesty must really mean it with you, sir.”
Lora giggled, noting that the price tag on these gifts was no joke.
Indeed, selling just the necklace she’d just lifted would be enough to purchase an elegant silver-trimmed four-horse carriage of the sort nobility favored.
“Of course! A gift’s true value lies not in its price, but in the heart behind it.”
“Put down the diamond necklace in your hands first, then say that.”
The stones were so large and lustrous they gleamed clearly even from where I stood.
“Don’t unwrap everything. Pack it all away carefully in the warehouse. We may need to return it.”
“Return it? Sir?”
“I told you. I’m still thinking about it.”
“…….”
At my instruction to leave the items alone, Lora’s excited movements came to a halt.
She approached me cautiously, gauging my mood.
“Sir, Marquis… I’ve been wanting to ask you something for a while now.”
“What is it?”
“Why are you hesitating about the marriage?”
“What?”
“No matter how I think about it, the conditions are just too favorable.”
Though it might sound a touch materialistic, the terms are simply too advantageous to dismiss, Lora said carefully.
‘It’s true — as a marriage prospect, she’s ideal. In fact, now that I’ve shed the priest’s robes, I’m Orden’s most eligible bachelor.’
But.
“I’ve said it before, haven’t I? I have no intention of marrying right now. And there are more than a few things demanding my attention…….”
“That’s exactly why!”
Hmm?
“A few years ago might have been different, but not now. Your businesses are on stable footing, and there’s no more discord in matters of succession. True, some nobility still underestimate you, but——”
“…….”
“I know you value your house, sir, but circumstances have changed greatly from four years ago. Though admittedly, some nobles still regard you as insignificant.”
“…….”
“You’re already recognized — both as Family Head of Jauhellete and as a businessman. Don’t you think it might be time to seriously consider the marriage question?”
Her words struck me like a stone to the head.
‘Now that she mentions it, she’s right.’
All this time, I’d been running forward blindly.
Trying to become someone worthy of the position my father left behind.
Determined not to tarnish the name of Jauhellete.
I’d been so focused on the path ahead that I hadn’t noticed I’d already cleared most of the obstacles.
“Or don’t tell me — all that talk about consolidating the house’s foundation was just an excuse to avoid marriage discussions?”
“No. No, I……. Sometime or another, I suppose I will need to.”
After all, I couldn’t pass the house to an heir if I didn’t marry.
“Exactly! And that time is now!”
I’d set down the quill and now stood with my arms crossed, lost in thought.
When did my outlook on marriage become so twisted, I wonder?
‘Not that I was ever particularly interested in it from the start.’
Even when my father was alive, I preferred shutting myself away to devise my own ventures or research custom tea blends rather than spending time mingling with young ladies of the same standing.
That was simply how I preferred to spend my days.
‘Which is why Father worried so much.’
And after his sudden death, the added burden of steadying our wavering family only pushed the matter further into the future.
‘I thought: I’ll simply live this way, and when the time comes, I’ll just adopt a child to carry on the family name.’
But Orden’s nobility laws contained a strict provision: one must be married to register a child as heir.
So I’d assumed that by then, I’d enter into marriage with someone of suitable circumstance. I suppose I deferred the matter with that vague notion in mind.
‘But what about now?’
“Think about it. This is an opportunity! Would Bernstein not be called the number one marriage prospect for no reason?”
No, no. Lora wagged her index finger as she spoke.
“His credentials are extraordinary! But until now, those qualities have been sealed away beneath the vestments of the priesthood. But now? What has changed now?!”
The seal has been broken.
“Everyone else is scrambling, desperate to claim the seat beside him, and yet the Marquis who is being courted sits like this. Tsk, tsk.”
Wait, “like this”?
I tried to object that it was hardly fair, but I closed my mouth just as quickly.
Lora’s eyes were still blazing with fervor.
“In any case, that is my opinion!”
Lora declared this with the passion of an orator, her fists clenched tightly.
“If marriage is inevitable! If a husband is something you must live with regardless!”
……
“Then I recommend you marry the best conditions, the finest face, the best catch! For your sake, of course, and for the future of Jauhellete!”
The future of Jauhellete.
Those words struck something in me and my mind snapped into focus.
“Of course, you would become the common enemy of all Orden’s ladies. The foe of every woman, as they say.”
The price of capturing Leon would be the animosity of every woman in the empire.
“But isn’t that a necessary sacrifice when claiming such a prize?”
“You’re sure that’s all right?”
“It wouldn’t matter to the Marquis anyway, would it? You’re not particularly interested in high society. Unless it’s a gathering held by nobles engaged in the same business.”
“That’s true.”
I attended mostly the gatherings where nobles of similar business interests convened, rather than tea parties of noblewomen or balls held for selecting marriage prospects.
‘Since there are naturally more men at such events, I only attended when absolutely necessary.’
So being shunned by high society would hardly wound me at this point.
The only real concern was the possibility of a boycott by the noblewomen.
‘Though honestly, even that would be difficult to execute. Jauhellete’s dominance in the tea market is unrivaled. Besides, we compete on taste and technical mastery.’
In truth, several other nobles had ventured into the business hoping to displace Jauhellete, only to fail spectacularly and admit defeat.
I was fairly confident in my position.
“……All right. I’ll think it over once more.”
I nodded, settling the matter with those words of concession.
At that, Lora’s face brightened considerably, and she smiled wide before gesturing toward the half-opened boxes and asking,
“What should we do with all these, then?”
“That would be…….”
A mountain of gifts sent by Leon for the purpose of courtship.
Still cumbersome, though they were.
“……Put them in my room for now. I’ll look them over when I have time.”
“Yes, understood.”
With a promise to move them right away, Lora departed the study humming cheerfully.
I stared blankly at her retreating back before lowering my gaze to the documents once more——and then lifting it again.
Damn it. What was that?
“……I feel like I’ve been swept along somehow.”
* * *
The hotel Eldbrele, situated at Rodern Street 7, within its rooftop garden at the highest level.
Women gathered in small clusters at various tables, sipping tea and engaged in conversation.
“If I’d known this would happen, I should have made a more aggressive approach. Never did I imagine he’d abandon the priesthood…….”
“Exactly. It’s maddening. My daughter was so infatuated with the Grand Duke, and yet……. Since she heard the news from the papers and gossip columns, she’s locked herself in her room and won’t come out.”
One noblewoman expressed her distress, worried that something terrible might befall her daughter.
“You feel the same way, don’t you?”
The noblewoman, speaking her laments with a troubled expression, turned her gaze toward someone and posed her question.
“Baroness Oscar.”
At the noblewoman’s question, the silver-haired beauty who had been sitting with perfect grace lifted her head with a faint smile.
But beneath the table, the gossip column in her hands was being crumpled to pieces.

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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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