I Seducing the Black-Hearted Duke Wasn't Me - Chapter 41

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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 41
Hmm. What exactly is this situation……?
I lifted my head slowly from staring at the simple snacks arranged before me.
Right. In the end, my escape attempt had failed.
Men in white uniforms were scattered across the Garden’s center, lounging about as if they’d come on a picnic, chatting idly among themselves.
‘White uniforms with silver insignia…… which means these people are all Holy Knights Order knights. And judging by the way they call Leon ‘Commander’……’
“Your Grace? Why aren’t you eating? Ah, perhaps we startled you terribly? My apologies. We’re not suspicious people at all. We’re members of the 1st Knights Order, led by the Commander…… that is, his Grace the Grand Duke Bernstein!”
The red-haired knight who’d introduced himself as Ruan Briar spoke with a bright smile.
“We were on our way to pay our respects after hearing that the Commander had returned after so long.”
“But then we heard he’d been summoned to the High Priest right away, so we were waiting here, and we happened to run into you! Oh, here, do try this. It’s a snack distributed by the Temple, and it’s quite delicious.”
“Ah, thank you.”
My mouth had been craving something sweet anyway.
I gave my thanks and bit into a cookie.
Despite its crude appearance, it tasted better than I’d expected.
“So. You’re all knights from this Temple who trained under Leon, is that right?”
“Exactly right. To be precise, we’re his direct subordinates, operating under the Commander’s orders.”
“That’s why we were all thrown into turmoil. The Commander suddenly didn’t just resign—he submitted a dismissal request. And we didn’t even hear it from him directly.”
“That’s right. He just left without saying a word to any of us. Wasn’t that too much?”
The knights cried out in exasperation.
They all looked terribly hurt, so I nodded in agreement.
“That is true. Leon was wrong about that. I think he should have told you beforehand—you were comrades for years, after all……”
Hmm? What is it? Suddenly everything went quiet.
I noticed an odd chill and looked at the men before me.
Several men with much larger builds than mine were hunched over, as if worried I might be frightened, but their eyes were gleaming brightly as they gazed at me.
“Please scold our Commander, Your Grace!”
“No, why would I?”
“Because the Commander doesn’t listen to what we say at all, but he seems like he might listen to you! He never even replied to the letters we sent him multiple times.”
The knights began making pathetic whimpering sounds as they lamented his coldheartedness.
Well. These were knights who’d spent three or four years with Leon at subjugation posts, risking their lives side by side.
It didn’t seem fair, so I told them I understood.
“Not that we’re opposed to the Commander getting engaged. On the contrary, I fully support it.”
“As you probably know, our Commander is quite famous. As ‘Orden’s Greatest False Commodity!’ in history.”
So that nickname had spread even to the Temple.
Well, that was inevitable, I suppose.
Beautiful features? He has them. Noble birth? He has it. Martial prowess? He has it. Wealth? He has it.
He surpassed every requirement with flying colors—all except for one.
Having sworn to love only God, a body that could never marry: a truly overqualified false commodity.
“If I were in his position, I’d have thrown off my knight’s robes in a heartbeat and run off. Or perhaps I’d never have entered the Temple in the first place.”
The knight added that, given all those conditions, it was strange that the Commander had chosen the path of priesthood of his own will.
His words made me falter.
Wait. Now that I think about it……
‘What if Leon genuinely wanted to become a priest? And what if things went awry because of me…… What then?’
The sudden thought tangled my mind.
“I’m sorry. I feel like I’ve caused trouble for all of you.”
“Oh, no, that’s not what we meant at all!”
The red-haired Ruan Briar looked startled and hastily waved both arms as he spoke.
“The Commander never talked much about himself, so we didn’t know…… But lately he seems happier in the news. That’s an expression we’ve never seen before.”
“That’s right.”
Now a taciturn knight elbowed Ruan Briar in the ribs and stepped forward to speak.
“We wanted the Commander to return to the Capital as soon as possible. All that happens here is exploitation and abuse at the hands of priests. Yet our Commander……”
Eh? What did he just say?
“Exploitation? Abuse?”
At my question, the taciturn knight flinched and quickly covered his mouth as if realizing his mistake.
Then Ruan Briar burst out:
“Right! That old geezer of a High Priest! He was always squeezing our Commander. You have no idea how much the Commander suffered!”
“When the dishonor dismissal notice about the Commander came down this time, the fuss was unbelievable. I was so relieved I could barely contain myself!”
Oh, now this is becoming quite an interesting story.
“Could you tell me more about that part in detail?”
“Of course! Your Grace is the one who saved our Commander!”
The other knights nodded and eagerly stepped forward as well.
“To the High Priest, our commander was merely an ornament to be displayed.”
“He’d deliberately have the commander run errands in front of people, and watching him preen himself with satisfaction made me want to die of revulsion!”
“That’s not all. Knowing that His Majesty treasured the commander dearly, he’d submit fund requests to the Imperial Palace at every turn. And every time, His Majesty granted him staggering sums.”
Strange. I’d heard recently that the Temple had been reducing its support due to concerns about the Church’s growing power.
They’d squeezed enormous subsidies from the Imperial Palace by leveraging Leon.
“The same goes for subjugations. Whenever the commander undertakes a subjugation, the Imperial Palace and nobility donate funds for the cause. They’d send him on subjugations even when it wasn’t the season for Demons to be active—deliberately. That’s how the donations flowed in.”
“Because of that, we went on subjugation campaigns at least once a month. We didn’t need to do it that often at all.”
They added that Demons had active seasons; they only needed to subjugate during those specific periods to deal with them—there was no reason to go every month.
In other words, they were sending these people into subjugation campaigns for no purpose other than extracting donations.
Listening to this, my blood was boiling.
“If it ended there, we’d be lucky. The worst part is what they did—turning the commander into a commodity for the nobility!”
“A commodity?”
What on earth was this about?
“As you know, our commander is quite famous. In the Capital, noblewomen and young ladies alike are desperate just to exchange a few words with him. Servando took advantage of that. He’d assign the commander as a dedicant priest to whichever donors gave the most.”
Wait. This story is…?
“Exactly. Those paintings you see there? All gifts from the nobility. That’s why this is good news. With this, Servando won’t be able to use the commander anymore to line his own pockets.”
It matched precisely with what Doresa had told me before.
The Temple had been exploiting donations by parading Leon before them.
“Well, about that. There’s been a complication.”
“Yes?”
“The reason we came was because the Temple wouldn’t give final approval on the Betrothal Certificate. But when I heard the reason, apparently the High Priest has decided to withdraw the Grand Duke’s dismissal.”
“That’s absurd. This is tyranny. The role of High Priest is to serve as God’s representative, not God himself—to go against doctrine using his own authority? It’s unthinkable.”
“Right. He’s still determined to exploit the commander! So what did the commander say?”
“He told me to wait outside while the two of them spoke, so I came out in the middle.”
I was just worrying about what might come of it, uncertain how things had gone, when—
“I suppose it’s about time she emerged…”
“There, my lady.”

“My betrothed and you have a rather similar silhouette from behind. Have you perhaps seen her around here?”
A voice thick with mischief came from behind me.
I spun around in surprise, and there stood Leon—I had no idea when he’d arrived.
“What’s everyone doing here?”
His gaze swept across me and the knights who sat encircling me in turn.
“Don’t tell me this is the infamous scene of indiscretion?”
It isn’t.

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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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