I Seducing the Black-Hearted Duke Wasn't Me - Chapter 31

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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 31
Back at the mansion, late into the night.
I drummed my fingers against the desk, lost in thought.
What? They won’t let me cross because it’s their land? Fine—I’ll go around by sea.
Simple enough, except for one problem.
“Nothing in this world comes free.”
I sighed and stared at the two documents before me.
One was a contract transferring control of a port on the Valka Coast. The other was a Betrothal Certificate.
There was no scenario where I could choose just one.
They came as a package deal.
“Though I suppose I’ve made some peace with it, at least.”
But there was another problem.
Chin in hand, I muttered uneasily and opened yet another envelope.
What fell out was a single sheet of paper I hadn’t seen in ages.
It was a letter left behind by the Stranger.
– Leon: Treason
– Leon: Execution
– Bernstein: Downfall
“There it is. That’s the real problem.”
Treason. Execution. Downfall.
Words that couldn’t be brushed aside lightly, any of them.
And now all three applied to that man—Leon.
“I can’t put complete faith in the Stranger’s word, but if this is true—”
It might be wisest to keep my distance from him. For Jehurete’s sake, and my own.
But something didn’t sit right about that either.
“What am I to do?”
I was still deep in thought when it happened.
“Just as I suspected! I knew you’d still be awake. The Office light was on, so I thought I’d check, and—oh? You look worried about something. Your complexion’s dreadful.”
Lora poked her head through the half-open door, then tilted it with a questioning look.
Lora knows me too well.
“You’re right, Lora. I do have something on my mind, so—”
“Oh, wait just a moment! Don’t worry about it. I already know!”
Know what?
She told me to wait right here, then hurried out of the Office. I could only stare dumbly after her.
Not long passed.
Lora returned carrying a tray with two steaming cups of tea.
“For matters of the heart, a warm cup of tea is essential. Don’t fret, sir. I’ve been preparing for a day like this all along.”
“A day like what?”
“What else could it be?”
Lora’s eyes sparkled as she answered.
“A newlywed bride with romantic troubles on the eve of her wedding, of course!”
That’s not it.
At least, I’m certain it’s not—except now that I think about it, I can’t quite say it isn’t, so I held my tongue.
Lora clearly took my silence as affirmation and broke into a beaming smile.
“Well, Lora. Suppose, hypothetically speaking—just suppose, mind you.”
“Yes. A ‘suppose,’ you mean? I understand. Suppose.”
Lora nodded eagerly, eyes bright.
She’s almost too enthusiastic, which is oddly off-putting, but I have no choice.
“Suppose the factory that manufactures our Blending Tea were fitted with new pipeline equipment.”
“…Couldn’t you use a simpler example?”
“Just listen.”
“Yes.”
Displeasure flickered across Lora’s face, but I pressed on.
That wasn’t what mattered now.
“But this pipe is exceptional. Supply’s reliable, it’s been specially treated for smooth processing, and apparently the finish is good enough to have high demand.”
“Ah, I see. High demand… well, then you should just keep using it, shouldn’t you?”
“Right. Except there’s one absolutely fatal flaw.”
“A flaw?”
I nodded.
A problem so grave it overshadowed every single advantage.
“People say that pipe is bound to cause trouble eventually. So the whole factory using it will end up facing some serious consequences.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Lora’s eyes widened at the sudden turn in the conversation.
A moment passed.
Soon, as if her mind had finished processing the information, Lora spoke again.
“First… who said such a thing? Is the information reliable, at least?”
“I don’t know. But I think it’s credible enough.”
“If you say so, then I suppose it must be entirely accurate. So… this ‘problem’ you mentioned—is it something that will definitely happen?”
“I’m not certain about that. But isn’t the mere possibility of it happening troubling in itself?”
A danger that might harm us all.
At my suggestion that mere possibility was threat enough, Lora tilted her head thoughtfully.
“So you’re troubled by a problem that may or may not occur?”
“The fact that it could happen at all is the problem. I don’t care for variables.”
“I know that well enough. But sir…”
Lora fixed me with a grave gaze, then spoke carefully.
“This isn’t about factory equipment anymore, is it? This is about a person.”
……
“Surely you don’t believe people never change?”
And of all people, she added with a faint smile, it’s you who should know better.
“Do you remember? Before I became Jehurete’s handmaid?”
I nodded quietly at her words.
How could I forget?
Lora had been a child from the Orphanage sponsored by the Marquis Residence.
Back then, she’d been brimming with resentment toward the world, desperate to escape the Orphanage, and had taken to thieving to fund her escape—caught red-handed more than once, by her own admission.
Most critically, she’d even been caught stealing from my father’s belongings when he visited the Orphanage in his capacity as patron……
‘Father forgave Lora and compensated her for everything she’d done in the past. Then he brought her to the Marquis Residence and gave her work.’
And so Lora became part of our household.
“Thanks to the late Marquis, I can live a decent life now. And serving under Erna has helped me mature considerably.”
Though I still make foolish mistakes left and right, I’m certain I’ll improve! she added with confidence.
“You’re right about that.”
“Yes. Equipment rusts with time, but people can change. Look at me! Do you still think it’s impossible?”
“…No.”
I shook my head after a moment’s reflection.
It wasn’t.
‘Actually, now that I think about it, Leon committing Treason—it does feel rather sudden.’
As the small dread lifted, a question I’d forgotten about resurfaced.
‘Would Leon really commit Treason for the Empress Dowager?’
Now that I reconsidered it, the whole thing felt abrupt and disconnected from any logical chain. Unless he’d gone mad overnight without reason……
‘There doesn’t seem to be any catalyst for it.’
Resentment toward his half-brother?
Looking at histories of neighboring kingdoms, such things did happen from time to time, but in those cases there was always a foundation—an unhappy childhood, years of mistreatment and discrimination, things like that.
But Leon?
‘Not at all.’
Rather, there was an Emperor who doted on his younger brother and wished to keep him close, and an Empress Dowager who embraced Leon as her own son.
True, appearances can deceive and reality may differ, but at least in matters of brotherhood, hadn’t I witnessed it with my own eyes?
How Leon treated the Emperor.
But if, despite all that, such a future were still to come…
If that were our path ahead……
‘Couldn’t I change it if I tried hard enough?’
Keeping Leon Obsidian from nurturing ill intentions.
Preventing him from walking down a dark path.
The question was whether I could truly accomplish something so monumental……
I was lost in such thoughts when it happened.
“Well then, it’s my turn now.”
“Hmm?”
“I listened to your worries, so now it’s my turn to trouble you with mine.”
Lora let out a long sigh, set down her teacup, and looked at me.
Her suddenly serious demeanor made me nod somewhat uncertainly, and she continued with a grave expression.
“Does the Grand Duke perhaps… use harsh language with you? Swearing and the like?”
“What?”
“Or maybe you’re the type who looks perfectly innocent on the surface but is actually prone to violence?”
“No, Lora, please—just calm down for a moment…….”
“Or is it that you’ve hidden a lover somewhere and the Marquis found out about it? Oh God, do you have illegitimate children scattered around like sausage links, or something like that?!”
“What are you saying right now?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? Factory equipment and all that—it’s all an allegory for His Highness, isn’t it? Did you really think I wouldn’t catch that?!”
Good heavens.
‘I thought she wouldn’t.’
Lora glared at me, her shoulders trembling with fury.
If I confirmed her suspicions, she looked ready to march straight to the Grand Duke’s Residence and beat him senseless.
I clamped my lips shut.
I’m sorry, Leon. You’ve become the villain through no fault of your own.

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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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