I Seducing the Black-Hearted Duke Wasn't Me - Chapter 2

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

Episode 2
No, this doesn’t make any sense. This is absolutely ridiculous!
“Lora, Lora!”
“Yes! What is it?! A headache? Dizziness?”
At my cry, Lora burst through the door.
“Listen, you know… why didn’t I come home last week……”
I spoke carefully, stealing glances at Lora’s expression.
I wanted to ask outright, “Did I sleep out last week?” but I feared what misunderstanding might follow.
So I broached it tentatively instead.
“Ah, that day.”
Damn it. Something definitely happened then.
“I was actually debating whether I should ask you about that day or not.”
“Of course you should ask. Surely you found it strange that the Duke didn’t come home without any word? You didn’t ask about it?”
“We assumed you had a secret appointment, sir. You came back the next morning straightaway, after all. And also… ahem.”
What else?
Lora suddenly coughed awkwardly and continued, her face flushing red.
“The knot on the Corset I tied for you the night before was… different the next morning. Ahem.”
Oh, heavens.
The room tilted before my eyes.
For some reason, I’d undressed somewhere outside the house. How perfectly damning.
“But sir, why are you asking about this all of a sudden? Have you really lost your memory? I’m worried.”
“No, it’s nothing. I just can’t remember the exact date.”
“Ah, I see……”
Lora nodded, but her eyes still regarded me with suspicion.
I had the distinct feeling this line of questioning would only dig me deeper, so I hurried her out of the room.
Well then, back to the main problem.
“Leon Obsidian, you say… That I, Bernstein… ha.”
The more I thought about it, the more absurd laughter bubbled up. This was utterly impossible.
The man in question was the commander of the Holy Knights, who had sworn his chastity to God.
He was absolutely, utterly beyond reach.
And yet there were countless women ready to tear off their dresses and throw themselves at him at a single gesture from his hand.
‘But I have no particular connection to him, do I?’
The only thing we had in common was that we attended the Academy.
And we’d crossed paths a few times as Merit Scholars.
In short, we were practically strangers.
“Besides, Leon entered the Holy Knights around the time I graduated from the Academy. I haven’t even seen him since then.”
He was famous for his devoutness.
When he had eventually taken up residence at the Holy Temple, high society was shaken to its core.
The many young ladies who harbored secret affections for him mourned the widening distance between them, and even the haughty noblewomen sighed with longing and caused quite a stir.
But it didn’t last long.
Unexpectedly, even after he became a priest, the young ladies and noblewomen didn’t stop their advances. The reasoning seemed to be: forbidden fruit is the sweetest—why not try plucking it?
And beneath that lurked a perverse thrill in desiring something untouchably sacred.
‘Still, the sight of married noblewomen chasing after him like puppies… it’s too much.’
In any era, in Orden society, infidelity was an unforgivable sin.
Yet in a world of arranged marriages, there were plenty who indulged in this dangerous game, and Leon Obsidian made an excellent target.
A handsome face. A body honed by discipline.
The illustrious status of a Grand Duke, and despite being illegitimate, unquestionably royal blood.
On top of that, he was a priest trusted by the Grand Holy Temple itself.
But what good were golden veins running through his blood and a beautiful face if he couldn’t use what mattered most?
In other words, by all accounts, Leon Obsidian was officially an impossible target for infidelity—in short, a “safe” man.
Because of this, most nobles turned a blind eye to their wives’ one-sided crushes, and the noblewomen grew bolder in their advances toward him.
‘Yet despite all this, the Grand Duke has never kept a single woman at his side.’
Even though he could spend his days wrapped in the skirts of eager women if he wished, he passed most of his time at the Holy Temple in southern Orden.
There he prayed and occasionally undertook missions from the Grand Holy Temple to subjugate monsters—a life of excessive integrity and spotlessness.
Rumors even circulated that he had some deficiency in that department, but his handsome face kept people from dwelling on it too openly.
They only resented his unwavering faith, his heart given entirely to God.
And yet such a man…
“Slept with me?”
I sat there blankly, running my hands over various parts of my body.
Then I suddenly wondered what I was even doing.
“No, no. It’s been days already. There’s no way any marks would still be there.”
Still, on the off chance, I’d performed every contortion before the mirror, but not a single scratch, not one bruise showed anywhere on my body.
Of course, that didn’t mean nothing had happened that day.
After all, the woman who’d taken my body had clearly insisted she’d slept with Leon Obsidian, and according to Lora, I’d even stayed out overnight in a state where “there were signs of undressing.”
So it seemed impossible to deny the event altogether.
“But it absolutely was not Leon Obsidian.”
Not simply because it was hard to believe, but because the timing, the circumstances—none of it added up.
Which meant the remaining possibility was—
“This woman… she was swindled, wasn’t she?”
She’d been duped by someone impersonating the Grand Duke.
Yes. Nothing else made sense.
“How could someone who came from elsewhere have even recognized the Grand Duke? She simply believed a con artist’s words and assumed her partner was the Grand Duke. This foolish woman, daring to lay hands on my body!”
Though I had no memory and felt no particular discomfort, the sheer fact that I’d been intimate with someone—anyone—sent fury coursing through me.
Especially when I didn’t even know who that someone was!
“I thought it made no sense from the start. The Grand Duke wouldn’t be at the Academy. If he’d come, there would have been absolute pandemonium…”
Knock, knock, knock!
“My lord!”
Almost simultaneously with the knock, the door burst open and Lora stumbled in, her face drained of color.
“What is it? What on earth is going on?”
“S-something terrible has happened! Downstairs, right now!”
Downstairs? What—
I told her to calm down and speak clearly, and the breathless Lora cried out:
“The Grand Duke Bernstein has arrived!”
“What? Who did you say?”
The Grand Duke.
There was only one Grand Duke in the empire, but I repeated the question, wondering if I’d heard wrong.
Lora nodded vigorously.
“Leon Obsidian, my lord! His Highness wishes to see you! He’s waiting downstairs right now… Please, prepare yourself. Quickly!”
The confirmation, inescapable and absolute, drained the blood from my face.
But he should be at the outer Holy Temple. Why was he here? And why at our house?
Why was he looking for me?
And of all times… why now?
‘Could it be? No, no way. That can’t possibly be it. It can’t, it mustn’t!’
Countless questions and fears began churning through my mind.
All those doubts I’d been dismissing as impossible transformed into an uneasy premonition—what if they were all true?
I bolted upright from my seat and asked urgently:
“Lora. How did the Grand Duke seem?”
“My lord? What do you mean, seem?”
“Did he look angry, perhaps? Or injured? Or perhaps… upset?”
“Ah!”
Lora, who had fallen silent at my question about any notable features, suddenly drew breath and spoke:
“He was carrying an enormous bouquet in his hands!”
Good heavens.
I, who had been listening in silence, swallowed a scream within.
A bouquet.
‘Somehow that makes me even more anxious.’
* * *
My heart feels like it’s going to burst.
Standing before the reception room, I clenched my fists.
The entire way down, my mind had been consumed by a single thought.
‘Why is the Grand Duke here? What could he possibly want?’
On top of everything already in chaos, the very source of it all had arrived in person.
Now I had no choice but to face him.
“Breathe.”
All right.
Steadying my trembling nerves as best I could, I drew a deep breath and stepped inside.
And the first thing to greet me was—
“Ah, Erna.”
A face as brilliant and blinding as the sun itself, graced with a warm, radiant smile.

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