I Seducing the Black-Hearted Duke Wasn't Me - Chapter 32

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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 32
“Surely Your Highness isn’t that sort of person!”
“No. No, he isn’t! There’s no way His Highness would do such a thing. What nonsense are you talking about?”
“Then what was that example you gave just now!”
“I told you—it was purely hypothetical. Besides, I never said it had anything to do with Bernstein in the first place.”
The Grand Duke wasn’t that sort of person. After all, with that angelic face, surely he couldn’t harbor such a twist in his nature.
I defended him with all the desperation I could muster.
Fortunately, it seemed to work—the venom drained from Lora’s eyes.
“Fine. But if something like that ever happens, you must tell me at once. Understood?”
“What difference would that make?”
“Of course it would make a difference!”
Lora burst out as if I’d asked the most absurd question in the world.
“I will never accept this marriage. I’ll do whatever it takes to stop it from happening. In fact, if worst comes to worst, I’ll set fire to the chapel itself—!”
“Alright, alright, I understand. Just calm down. I was only asking hypothetically!”
If I left her to her own devices much longer, she’d bolt straight to the Grand Duke’s Residence and commit arson on the spot. I grabbed her hand quickly.
I appreciated her concern for me, but I’d really rather my handmaid not become an arsonist.
The thought struck me as so ridiculous that I let out a soft laugh despite myself.
“Duchess?”
“No. I was just thinking how absurd this whole thing is. But regardless, thank you. It’s funny, but you’ve actually been quite helpful.”
“See? I told you I was prepared. I’ve been gathering material for when our duchess gets married someday.”
One hundred conversation topics to comfort her when she’s quarreling with her husband.
One hundred responses for when she wants to speak ill of him.
Hundreds upon hundreds of other answers for dealing with the friction that arises in married life.
Just hearing an outline of it was so reassuring it was almost frightening.
“You’re right. Talking it through with you has really clarified things. So, Lora—”
“Yes?”
“Tomorrow morning, could you deliver a letter to the Bernstein Grand Duke’s Residence for me? And tell him I’d like to meet with him as soon as possible.”
As I handed her the letter I’d prepared beforehand, Lora hesitated for a moment, then her expression brightened noticeably.
She’d figured out what I was planning to do.
“Don’t worry, Duchess. I’ll slip out first thing in the morning and be back in a flash!”
“No, you don’t have to go yourself. Send someone else. Besides, it’s hardly polite to call on someone’s house at the crack of dawn.”
“I’m sure the Grand Duke would be delighted.”
Lora, brimming with confidence, clutched the letter tightly with both hands and declared it with such conviction.
I said nothing. Let her do as she pleased.
‘Well then, I’ve settled the matter with Leon. What’s left is Valentine’s toll tax problem.’
Leon did give me a harbor, but somehow I couldn’t bring myself to rely on others’ help to resolve these issues.
Problems would likely arise again in the future, and I didn’t want to depend on others every time one did.
So how could I overcome this obstacle on my own?
I was lost in thought when—
“Duchess!”
The office door suddenly burst open, and my butler rushed in with hurried steps, looking urgent.
“What is it, Valen? At this hour, no less.”
“I found it!”
The butler exclaimed loudly, visibly thrilled.
“That object you’ve been searching for all this time, Duchess! Chang just sent word—it’s finally been found!”
“What?”
Only then did I grasp what he was saying. I leaped to my feet.
I took the envelope from Valen’s hands and examined its contents. A smile spread across my face.
Talk about timing.
“Duchess? What is it? Why that expression?”
Lora came to my side, urging me forward with barely contained curiosity.
Regardless, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the documents, my lips pressing together firmly.
“…Lora.”
“Yes?”
“It seems the heavens are finally on my side.”
I gripped the document tightly in my hand.
“With this, I won’t be pushed around by toll tax issues any longer.”
More than that—I’d be able to humble Valentine’s arrogant presumption.
I grinned wickedly and clenched my fist.
It was finally going to be alright. Everything was going to be fine.
* * *
“Well, this is quite the spectacle.”
I stared at the report in my hands with utter disbelief.
It was another document that had been inside the envelope I’d received last night.
A report sent by the Guild, whom I’d hired to investigate.
‘About what happened to the foreigner who entered my body on that fateful day when I pawned the ring.’
“Well, since the ring matter is already settled, it’s not strictly necessary.”
But curiosity is curiosity, after all.
So there I was, sipping my morning tea and reading through it leisurely instead of the morning paper, when the contents turned out to be absolutely shocking.
[Witness Statements]
— Witness 1 (Brahms Restaurant Customer): Jeroldo Valentine began picking a quarrel with a certain female customer A (claiming at the time that Yeongshik appeared to be intoxicated). The confrontation escalated progressively as he attempted to harass her, whereupon A subdued him with superhuman strength, thrashing him thoroughly. (All onlookers cheered.)
— Witness 2 (Rickshaw Driver Soliciting Customers in Front of the Restaurant): Observed the young master, his face badly beaten, accosting the woman and threatening her with blackmail — demanding compensation to avoid being reported. (Estimated that the woman, lacking immediate funds, grew flustered upon learning of a nearby pawnshop and departed with the man.)
In other words, that means……
“So his sudden need for quick money was actually to pay a settlement to Jeroldo Valentine. He’d coerced her into it by threatening to report her for assault.”
The situation painted itself before my eyes.
What’s more, several things that had puzzled me this whole time were now resolved.
“This explains how Yeongshik even knew to acquire the ring in the first place.”
He’d been watching the whole thing unfold.
So after sending me away, he promptly repurchased the ring.
“Incredible. So he concocted this entire fraud scheme in a split second? What kind of mind does one need to conjure up a plot like that in a moment of desperation?”
Of course, he’d been receiving the consequences ever since.
It was satisfying to finally understand the truth of the matter, even if it came late. It felt as though a weight had been lifted.
Yes, it certainly did, but……
“……Leon. Do you have any idea what time it is?”
“My apologies. I hurried over the moment I received your letter without checking the hour. Is it still before breakfast? Then we should eat together.”
I swallowed a sigh and regarded the man across from me, Leon Obsidian, with weary eyes.
He sat there in our parlor this early in the morning as though he owned the place.
It seemed Lora had made the trip to the Bernstein Grand Duke’s Residence the moment dawn broke.
‘Why on earth would she go to such lengths.’
I’d intended, as always, to rise early, read the morning paper, and begin my day at a leisurely pace with breakfast.
Instead, the frightened butler had come rushing in with a report.
The Grand Duke had arrived some time ago and was waiting for me.
He’d instructed them not to wake me, as I would likely still be sleeping.
“I was too excited to sit still. For you to send word that you wanted to see me as soon as possible — and not just anyone, but me — I simply couldn’t contain myself.”
“Even so, this is far too early.”
I shot him a reproachful look, having hoped for this even if not at this hour, but Leon merely laughed at my displeasure.
“So, what is it you wanted to tell me?”
He already seemed to know, judging by his expression.
Yet feigning complete ignorance, he appeared determined to hear it from my own lips, which irritated me somewhat.
“I apologize, but I must discuss that matter later. There’s something more pressing I need to address first.”
“I heard. Word is that the Valentines have ruffled Sacherete’s feathers.”
What, the papers were already reporting it in those terms?
Ruffling feathers — as if we weren’t the ones bearing the brunt of it.
“Fortunately, I’ve found a solution. The resolution should reach Sacherete by this morning, so I’m terribly sorry, but given the early hour, might you visit again this afternoon or tomorrow……?”
“Is that so? Then I’ll simply wait here with you. That’s all right, isn’t it? Don’t worry. I’ll sit quietly and cause no trouble.”
With those words, he fixed me with his clear, gentle blue eyes, as though begging me not to cast him out.
There was something in his gaze that made me feel like a villain for turning him away.
‘……Why must his eyes be so clear.’
Faced with a man who wielded his own charm so skillfully, I had no choice but to relent and nod in acceptance.
* * *
Moments later, the parlor held three of us: myself, Leon, and Zhan, the administrator of the Roar Trade Company who’d been summoned.
The three of us had gathered.
“By the way, Erna. I’m curious about something. You know that exclusive harbor monopoly rights I gave you before? Why aren’t you using it?”
“Ah, well……”
“Just a moment, Duchess. Did I mishear just now? Harbor? You said ‘exclusive harbor monopoly’……?”

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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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