I Seducing the Black-Hearted Duke Wasn't Me - Chapter 50

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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 50
“Leon? What are you doing here?”
“I told you. I came to fetch you.”
But that still didn’t explain why.
I tilted my head and quickly surveyed his appearance.
Whoever came to pick someone up had no business looking quite so impeccable—and yet there he stood, groomed from hair to heel, somehow radiant in a way that seemed almost unfair.
As I stared at him in silence, I noticed his gaze drift past my shoulder.
I turned and let out a small, involuntary gasp.
‘Ah, so that’s it.’
At Leon’s arrival, Isabel—who’d been clinging to my back until that moment—started visibly and offered a greeting.
“Oh, it’s been a while. Leon.”
“Has it. You seem unchanged.”
“…….”
“…….”
What was this? The air had gone strange.
‘Am I the unwelcome third wheel here?’
Leon’s gaze had turned sharp and cutting in a way unlike him, while Isabel looked as though she’d committed some terrible offense and was bracing for punishment.
Oh, this was too perfect.
An entire novel plot assembled itself in my mind at once.
‘So Leon harbored unrequited feelings for Isabel, and then she got betrothed to the Emperor—choosing his brother over him. And now he resents her for it……!’
My goodness, it all fit perfectly.
With that narrative in place, his sudden appearance in such impeccable dress made complete sense.
‘He wanted to show her. Make her see him standing close to another woman, tender and attentive.’
What a deliciously dramatic turn of events.
‘……Though why does my chest feel so heavy?’
But separately, my own turmoil was becoming a problem.
“Erna, what’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable? Or are you very tired?”
“No, I’m fine. It’s just that I’ve been out so long, I’m feeling a bit dizzy.”
“Oh? I’m so sorry, Erna. I’ve been keeping you out far too long!”
I’d only meant to downplay it—don’t make a fuss—but Leon’s eyes suddenly went sharp and glittering.
His gaze sliced toward Isabel like a blade.
“……Erna?”
The single word carried the weight of ‘who do you think you are to use her name like that?’
This was going to end badly for poor Isabel.
“We agreed to drop the formality. It’s strange to use honorifics between friends.”
“Friends?”
“Yes. Friends.”
At my declaration that we were friends, Leon’s expression twisted into something unreadable.
He looked as though he had plenty to say but was holding it all back for now.
Yet even so, his piercing stare remained fixed on Isabel, while she made a desperate effort not to meet his eyes.
“Fine. I won’t presume to comment on your friendship. But remember this, Isabel: don’t presume too much on my fiancée’s good nature.”
“……I’ll keep that in mind.”
There it was.
The subtle emphasis on ‘my fiancée’, the unrelenting coldness in his stare—it was all deliberate.
‘He’s doing this on purpose. I see it all. I see everything.’
After taking a moment to observe, I gently cut the tension between them.
I bid Isabel farewell once more and boarded the carriage with Leon.
As the carriage pulled away and Isabel continued waving from outside, I gave her a light smile and wave in return, then faced forward.
So then…….
“Why do you look so disgruntled? You don’t seem to be in a very good mood.”
“I’m not. It’s worse than I expected.”
“Is it because I’m getting close to Isabel?”
“That seems to be part of it.”
Either it is or it isn’t. This ‘seems to be’ business was infuriating.
“If I’m being honest, I don’t care for it. I have a rough idea what your brother was thinking when he orchestrated this whole arrangement.”
“His Majesty?”
So the Emperor had some intention behind this.
At my questioning look, Leon answered flatly.
“He’s trying to throw you and Isabel together. And right now, it’s working exactly as he planned.”
Apparently that’s why his mood had turned so sour, he admitted with candid frustration.
In other words, he didn’t want me growing close to Isabel.
“Why not? I rather liked Isabel. She seemed like a good person. Bright, pure, honest.”
“She’s good-natured enough, I’ll grant you that.”
Leon, who had been silent a moment, nodded and spoke.
But despite the praise in his words, his tone still carried an edge.
“Still, there’s no need to become too close.”
Which was to say: keep a proper distance.
Hmm……
“Leon.”
At my call, he turned to look at me immediately.
I paused to gather my thoughts, then opened my mouth.
“I’ve realized something recently.”
“Realized what?”
“How damaging it is to your mental health to agonize over things alone.”
As someone who knew his future, could I really afford to let Leon Obsidian into my life?
I’d spent days, even weeks, wrestling with that very question.
“And I’ve also realized that worrying doesn’t actually solve anything. So I’m done doing it. I’ve decided never to do it again.”
“What are you talking about?”
Leon stared at me, clearly baffled.
His expression pleaded for a hint, anything to help him understand.
“I mean I’m not going to torture myself in silence over every doubt that crosses my mind anymore. It doesn’t solve anything, and it only fills my head with noise.”
Otherwise I’d waste the entire day fretting, unable to focus on anything else.
When I mentioned how remarkably inefficient that was, he nodded.
Right. So what I’m trying to say now is……
“That person you mentioned before—the one whose unrequited love you said had failed—was it Isabel?”
“……What?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I should be asking this more delicately. But I’ve been turning this over in my mind since just a moment ago, and my head’s been in such a tangle. I wanted to get it out as quickly as I could.”
I added sheepishly that I hoped he’d forgive my bluntness.
Yet even so, he only stared at me with his mouth slightly open and a dazed expression.
Ah. The question had caught him off guard.
I nodded firmly.
I was so absorbed in my own deductions at that moment.
“Heh.”
Leon suddenly let out a dry laugh, then covered his mouth with his hand.
And then, heh, heh, heh—he kept laughing.
‘What is this reaction?’
How had I figured it out? I’d been caught. But the reaction didn’t quite fit being found out. In fact, he didn’t look flustered at all.
Rather, it almost seemed like he was angry.
“You really are something.”
“I—what?”
“I’m hurt.”
Clatter.
Just then, the carriage that had been rolling smoothly came to a stop.
We’d arrived at the Marquis Residence.
He rose from his seat and stepped down from the carriage, extending his hand to me.
I took it without thinking and descended, but the moment I did, he whisked his hand behind his back as though he’d never offered it at all.
“Leon?”
“I’m angry now.”
Yes. I can see that.
“So I won’t speak to you until you figure out what you did wrong.”
With that, he walked away with an offended huff—really emphasizing how angry he was—his steps punctuated by indignant snorts.
“……Why is he like this, really?”
* * *
‘Hmm. This is more serious than I thought.’
It had now been three days since Leon Obsidian started sulking.
What I’d assumed would fizzle out quickly was proving to be surprisingly stubborn.
This morning at breakfast was a perfect example.
I’d thought he wouldn’t show up, given how offended he was, but he appeared as usual at his appointed time and joined us at the table.
The problem was.
“What’s on your schedule today?”
“…….”
“Do you have Imperial Knights Order training today as well?”
“…….”
“I was planning to go to the Tea Salon today. I arranged to meet Isabel there…….”
“…….”
“Leon. You don’t want to talk to me?”
His silent protest made things uncomfortable and suffocating for me.
It would be better if I didn’t have to see him at all…….
‘He won’t speak to me, yet he keeps showing up in front of me, acting out.’
If he was going to sulk, he should do it properly.
But whatever his game was, he’d deliberately read books in my presence, or deliberately sit at the small desk in my study attending to paperwork.
He could eat separately, yet he insists on dining in front of me, and then — deliberately — sits there with such a pitiful expression, all morose and wretched…….
“Good grief, this is driving me mad.”
I can’t stop thinking about it.

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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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