I Seducing the Black-Hearted Duke Wasn't Me - Chapter 43

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

Chapter 43
“I think I need to sell myself out a bit.”
“……What?”
Lora recoiled at my ambitious declaration about causing a stir in the Capital’s High Society, then flipped again at what came next.
Surely I didn’t mean to use the press like this?
Yes, exactly this. This was the situation I wanted!
“What on earth are you thinking? How could you deliberately invite such controversy!”
“Don’t worry. Everything’s calculated.”
Easy, easy. I assured her I’d thought it through as she spiraled, raising a hand to steady her. “I’ve got this all figured out.”
“No matter how tabloid a newspaper is, they have to be careful when the Temple is involved.”
That’s a completely different sphere of influence.
And admittedly, there’s something rather stuffy about it too.
“After all, gossip magazines deal in spicy stories by definition—they need to capture as many eyes as possible. The Temple, on the other hand, has a very specific audience.”
Without a major incident, most people couldn’t care less what happened at the Temple.
Unless they were devout worshippers.
So from a gossip magazine’s perspective, the Temple wasn’t exactly appetizing prey.
But.
“There’s already precedent. Remember when they spread those rumors about me robbing Leon of his chastity and all that?”
They deliberately emphasized the “Temple” angle to tarnish my reputation for modesty, using it to highlight just how scandalous a lady I was.
Which meant.
“If I hint that some sordid scandal involves me, they’ll snap it up without hesitation.”
Even if they don’t realize it’s helping me in the process.
It was really quite simple. Let me trace back through my thoughts.
So it was back when I’d finished the High Priest’s interview and was huddling with Leon to strategize.
* * *
“Those nobles who supposedly paid donations to Serbando—do you think there’s a list with their names on it?”
“There probably is. Every donation has to be recorded. But if someone skimmed off funds somewhere along the way…… there would be a separate ledger.”
Otherwise you couldn’t track who gave what.
Vincent said this matter-of-factly.
“Still, the High Priest is meticulous, unlike his appearance suggests. It’ll be difficult to find, I’d wager.”
Briar ventured the observation cautiously, having listened in silence until then.
True to his word. Even if we searched, taking the ledger would be nearly impossible.
And even if we succeeded, conducting a search for the culprit within this small Temple of so few personnel would be child’s play for them to notice.
However.
“That’s fine. I’m not trying to steal the ledger itself. If we poke around the Temple when we don’t even know if it exists, we’ll only raise suspicion.”
“Then what?”
“What I want is literally just the names of nobles who paid donations and enjoyed private prayer—no, private, intimate time with Bernstein.”
“Wait, Erna.”
Leon, who’d been silent until then, suddenly interjected.
“Private time? I never had anything like that.”
“You wouldn’t have, Leon. But the other party certainly enjoyed it, didn’t they?”
“…….”
Leon regarded me with obvious displeasure.
Once because he’d unknowingly been used by the High Priest.
And again because his fiancée had learned of it this way.
For a moment, a distinct murderous intent flickered across his blue eyes, focused on a very specific target.
Whoa, whoa. Good thoughts. Good thoughts.
I was only teasing him a little.
“Anyway, what matters now is who participated in the High Priest’s private venture here at the Temple. Leon, you remember roughly who you met, don’t you?”
“……Damn it. So that’s what it was.”
Leon muttered, still disbelieving.
The shock seemed considerable, so I urged him forward with an assurance we’d process that later.
Fortunately, several names began trickling slowly from his lips.
“Mm. There must have been quite a few, but seeing you pin down only these few names makes it sound like a really memorable encounter.”
……And I might have needled him one more time, earning a pinch on my cheek for the indignity.
“There are a few others I remember too.”
“Good. I don’t need all of them. Oh, but ideally, those would be people with relatively little influence in High Society.”
“Usually it’s the opposite, isn’t it?”
Lesser-known families. Houses with less prestige.
At my request to focus on them, Leon tilted his head, puzzled.
But even so, his hand filled the paper with meticulous precision, and so a perfect list was completed.
And that list…….
* * *
“They’re all in an uproar.”
I flipped through a gossip magazine whose contents matched exactly with the list I’d received from Leon, and couldn’t help but smile.
Certain parts were redacted under the guise of privacy protection, but there was no mistaking who they were.
[Countess A. Young Lady B of Baron’s House. Madame C of a certain dress shop……]
“But why did you select only those with little influence in high society, Marquis? If you’re going to expose them, wouldn’t it have more impact to reveal famous or powerful figures instead?”
“That’s precisely why.”
I answered Vincent’s curious question calmly.
“If I were to expose the names of major figures involved in this scandal, they would attempt to cover it up or bury the matter entirely.”
But.
“If only the small fry’s names are published while the big players remain unexposed……they will certainly pressure the High Priest to keep their names out of the papers.”
“……Ah!”
Exactly. That was it.
The fear that perhaps my name too might be included in that list. And the anxiety that followed.
‘They can’t pressure the newspapers or gossip magazines themselves—that would be tantamount to confession, and they don’t know how high up they are on the list anyway. So the only option left is.’
To pressure the man who created the list itself—the High Priest Serbando.
“We never actually had a ledger like that. Of course, it might truly exist somewhere. We simply don’t possess one. But now, this will plant the seed of suspicion that such a thing might indeed exist. And then…….”
“Those anxious noblewomen and young ladies will file complaints with the High Priest. About him creating the ledger without their knowledge, all the way to its leak.”
“Exactly. And they’ll demand he resolve this at once.”
The High Priest, having already accepted substantial bribes from numerous people, would be unable to move.
“Now all we need to do is wait patiently.”
For them to make the first move.
And indeed, this bore fruit sooner than expected.
* * *
[Things are in complete chaos here.
Every day, nobles send people to lodge complaints. They’re demanding immediate action.]
The morning of the next day. The Zaherete Marquis Residence.
Good. This was working.
I skimmed through the letter that arrived from the Temple, and smiled to myself.
Just in case, before leaving the Temple, I’d asked Briar to report on the Temple’s situation.
The results came far quicker than I’d anticipated.
“Isn’t this going too far?”
“What is it, suddenly?”
“Exchanging letters and laughing with another man right in front of your fiancé.”
As if he’d been waiting for this.
Leon, who’d taken to hovering around me constantly these days, spoke with a pout.
Ever since he’d seen the Temple’s seal stamped on the envelope, he’d been like this.
“That other man is your former subordinate.”
“Which makes it worse. It makes it seem like there’s some complicated backstory involved.”
Muttering that he didn’t like it, Leon snatched the letter in question without ceremony.
Well, it’s not as though I hadn’t already read it.
Instead, I picked up a newspaper.
‘With this new development, the gossip will spread even faster.’
While high society was on high alert given how many nobles were implicated, there was one place that thrived on such tension.
The newspaper houses.
It was already entertaining to pick apart a single person, but good heavens—multiple people involved.
They were desperate to obtain the full contents of this mysterious ‘list’ by any means necessary.
‘And the more desperate they become, the more anxious the nobles will grow.’
Through this virtuous cycle, the substantial scale of donations funneled into the Temple gradually came to light.
‘By now, anyone with keen eyes must have realized it. That the Temple is skimming money.’
Everything was going exactly as planned.
“But will you be alright?”
“Why would I not be?”
“I realized I never asked for your opinion on this.”
When I’d decided to remove the High Priest.
I’d simply acted on the impulse born from the fact that he was an obstacle and the rage I felt knowing Leon was being exploited by him, but now I realized I’d overlooked something important.
“Are you truly fine with stepping down as High Priest? You must have entered that position because you wanted to become a priest.”
And despite the Emperor’s opposition, no less.
She had climbed to that position with such effort, carving out a place that was entirely her own. She had asked because she wondered if it was truly all right to simply cast it aside.
“Don’t worry about that. I was never particularly interested in being a High Priestess anyway.”
……What?

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