I Seducing the Black-Hearted Duke Wasn't Me - Chapter 26

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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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Episode 26
Creak-eek.
The rusted door swung open, and two figures stepped into the prison cell.
Jerold recognized the man entering first and brightened visibly.
“You! What took you so long to get here?”
The man was the lawyer employed by the Valentine Earldom.
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve been trapped in this hellish place because of you? Get me out of here immediately.”
“I apologize, Jerold. The matter is somewhat… complicated.”
“Complicated? Do you know how much Father pays you every year? And you’re completely useless…. Then why are you even here!”
Jerold, exasperated by the lawyer’s obvious hesitation, erupted in fury.
His voice reverberated through the cramped cell, and the lawyer straightened his glasses—slicked with sweat—as he spoke.
“There is actually someone who wishes to see you, Jerold.”
“Someone wants to see me? Who…. Grand Duke Bernstein?”
Only then did Jerold notice the figure standing behind the lawyer, and he gasped in shock.
Wait—why is that man here?
Perhaps it was the setting, but the face of the man who was ordinarily praised as angelic seemed utterly devoid of expression, which sent a chill down Jerold’s spine.
“Then… please, take your time conversing.”
The lawyer, gauging the Grand Duke’s expression, quietly withdrew, saying he would return shortly.
Now alone inside the iron-barred cell.
How had it come to this?
Jerold’s head spun in the face of the sudden turn of events.
‘Well, since it’s come to this—’
“Your Grace, you’re being deceived! I was deceived by that woman too! The ring… of course I have no excuse regarding the ring. But she did seduce me—it’s the truth! Every time we met, you should have seen how she looked at men, the way she tempted them. She threw herself at me openly; how could anyone resist—”
“…….”
“If Your Highness had only witnessed it. The seductive glances she cast whenever we passed each other. Brazenly throwing herself at a man—no one could help but—”
Thwack!
Jerold, who had been thrashing about like a madman, suddenly crumpled, clutching his knee.
Even then, he didn’t understand what had happened to him.
“Aagh!”
A delayed scream tore from his throat as he gripped what was likely a shattered kneecap, convulsing in agony.
‘What just… what happened?’
As his mind raced to comprehend, he saw a pair of cool blue eyes looking down at him.
Eyes sharp as an awl, piercing enough to drill through bone.
The overwhelming killing intent radiating from that gaze froze Jerold in place; he forgot even how to breathe.
He could only roll his eyes.
“Here?”
“Y-yes?”
“Erna kissed your hand? Like this?”
“What? Ah, ah… I mean, that is… aaaah!”
Crunch.
Before Jerold could form another word, an expensive leather boot came down ruthlessly on his hand.
The sound of bone splintering mingled with screams of pure agony.
Yet the beautiful man before him didn’t change his expression in the slightest.
“Aaaagh!”
Moments later.
The moment the foot lifted, Jerold jerked his hand up in panic.
But it was already so mangled that its shape was unrecognizable.
He curled up on the floor, trembling with pain.
Though only briefly.
A hand shot out and seized Jerold’s silver hair, dragging him upward by the tangled strands.
“Now that I think about it.”
“…….”
“Didn’t you also kiss her lips?”
“No… no, I didn’t…! It’s not true!”
Jerold, covered in tears and snot, shook his head frantically, terror etched across his face.
As if he could somehow foresee what came next,
his voice poured out in desperate confession—that it was all lies, that he was sorry, that he’d done wrong, that he’d committed fraud.
The words that had stayed sealed behind his lips during the Public Security Bureau’s interrogation came tumbling out without restraint.
He begged frantically with his one unbroken hand, but the beautiful man before him didn’t even blink.
Muffled sobbing.
Another scream echoed through the Prison.
* * *
“Good grief.”
Outside, Vincent stood waiting with one ear half-plugged, and he sighed.
The darker the shadows beneath his eyes grew with each rising shriek.
“Looks like overtime is locked in for today.”
Vincent spat out the cigar between his lips and muttered under his breath.
“Even for someone with a loose tongue, you’d think he’d know better than to spin lies like that.”
He swept back his matted hair and rubbed the nape of his neck with a disapproving click of his tongue.
A memory from days ago surfaced unbidden.
When was that again…….
Ah, when His Highness visited the Marquis of Zaherete’s estate about the Betrothal Oath matter.
“I’ll be back soon. Wait for me in the carriage.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
That day too, Vincent had been rendered speechless by the sight of his master carrying an enormous bouquet, dressed up like a peacock on parade.
Wow, so he really means it. I never thought he’d go this far.
Yet in his surprise, he also understood. He had stood at his master’s side through so many years.
What the Marquis of Zaherete meant to Leon Obsidian…….
In any case. It had been one of those rare days when Vincent found himself genuinely moved by his master’s earnest efforts, even rooting for him.
“I’m telling you, it’s real. I even showed you the evidence. That’s the only reason I came here today—to confirm it.”
Hmm?
At the sound of two voices—male and female—coming from around the corner, their footsteps stopped short.
“Just get married. Once you do, I’ll instill the proper manners into you, thoroughly.”
“Yes. And after the wedding, you can do as you please, so just bear with it a little longer.”
At first it sounded like an Elder Sister comforting her younger brother, but the content was rather charged with meaning.
His master must have caught the drift too, for his eyes gleamed with a predatory sharpness that followed…….
Something about this felt ominous.
“Vincent.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Keep a close watch on Jerold and Silvia for now. If they pull anything out of line, come straight to me and report it.”
“Understood.”
The added responsibilities had kept him frazzled these past few days, and then this incident had erupted in the middle of it all.
“Well, this is why they say you need a sharp head to even attempt wrongdoing.”
Concluding his recollection with the thought that getting caught was what they deserved, Vincent scratched his head vigorously.
“Let’s see—covering tracks, compensation for damages, concealment, illegal activities, bribery, keeping people silent, and so on…….”
There was a mountain of work ahead.
Exhaling a deep sigh, he muttered quietly.
“This is going to blow wide open tomorrow.”
* * *
“Marquis, have you heard the rumors?”
“What rumors?”
“Why, about Jerold of the Valentine Earldom.”
Laura burst into the study with an oddly exhilarated expression and began chattering away.
“He was locked up in the Public Security Bureau’s Prison for questioning, and apparently was released on bail.”
“Is that so?”
Was she really in good spirits, or had she simply lost her mind?
The news of Jerold’s release shouldn’t have been particularly pleasant for Laura either.
“He was let go early this morning from the Public Security Bureau, and get this—apparently something happened inside, because his left hand was absolutely destroyed.”
“What?”
“And he apparently can’t speak for a while. I only heard this through rumors, but his mouth was……torn, or something like that.”
Good heavens.
“The Public Security Bureau was in absolute chaos this morning. There happened to be a doctor among the detainees, so they treated him urgently, but wouldn’t you know it, that doctor turned out to be a quack—an unlicensed swindler—and apparently stitched him up in complete disarray.”
At that, I frowned.
His hand was crushed, and his mouth was rendered incapable of speech.
“How on earth did things come to that?”
“From what I hear, a fight broke out inside the detention block, and he got caught up in it.”
Laura clicked her tongue in disapproval as she spoke.
“Normally they’re supposed to separate nobles and commoners in separate cells, but apparently a guard made a mistake and put them all in the same one.”
“Dear me.”
“And it just so happened that one of the people in there was someone who harbored a tremendous grudge against the nobility…….”
So a quarrel erupted and she ended up facing retaliation.
“The scandal sent the Valentine Earldom into shock, and the Countess has taken to her bed, they say.”
Laura exaggerated the drama with relish.
“The daughter is under investigation for complicity in fraud, her reputation is ruined beyond repair, and she won’t be able to show her face in society again. The son is simply wrecked.”
……
“Oh, and I heard the Oscar Earldom is in turmoil as well. Divorce proceedings, they’re saying.”
“How troublesome.”
A vindictive satisfaction mingled with an unwelcome pang of pity.
I knew, dimly, how dearly Silvia had treasured her place as the Countess of Oscar, how proud she’d been of it.
“And Bernstein is filing a separate suit, so the damages they’ll have to pay could be astronomical?”
“Naturally. We’re planning to press charges through Zaherete as well.”
“The Valentine Earldom is finished now, surely.”
Laura spoke with satisfaction, relishing every word.
Her delight was contagious, and I found myself smiling — but only for a moment.
A vague unease bloomed in my chest like a dark speck spreading through white cloth.
‘The matter has grown far larger than I anticipated…… It should be fine, shouldn’t it?’
The Marquis was a typical hereditary nobleman among the aristocracy — the authoritarian kind.
He would not let this rest quietly.
…… But no, it doesn’t matter. He’s paid his debt. It’s no longer my concern.
I shook my head, dismissing the useless worry.
Then I glanced at the time.
“Um…… But sir?”
Laura called to me in a suggestive tone, her eyes full of meaning.
“Do you have an appointment today?”
Oh.

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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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