I Seducing the Black-Hearted Duke Wasn't Me - Chapter 6

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

Episode 6
“……Marquis, are you absolutely certain this is the place?”
“I’m afraid so.”
At Lora’s plaintive voice, I could only nod weakly. Then I gazed at the dilapidated building before us, my chest tight with misgiving.
The sign above the door bore the characters “Pawn Shop,” though the paint had faded to a dull, lifeless gray.
The deterioration was so severe that the first character was chipped away, missing nearly half its form.
This was nothing like the refined establishments frequented by wealthy nobility—it was the sort of shabby place where alley dwellers conducted their business.
My reason for coming here today was simple enough.
“Hah. I really……”
I swallowed my sigh and unfolded the letter.
At first I’d been too shocked and flustered to examine it properly, but……there was a second page.
When I checked the back, it was densely covered with more of her handwriting.
[I needed money urgently, and I’d run through everything I had on hand. There was no choice.
I left the ring you were always wearing at the pawn shop.
I’ll include a map. The shop’s name is……]
That was it.
The first page had merely laid out her circumstances and actions, but the second page detailed every single mishap she’d caused—meticulously documented.
She didn’t remember anything. The only thing she felt sorry about was the incident with Leon Obsidian!
Reading it again, my jaw clenched with frustration.
Since I’d regained consciousness, my index finger had felt strangely bare.
The ring I always wore there was simply gone.
“This insane woman. What kind of ring was that to exchange it for money?!”
It was customary for the right index finger to bear the signet ring that marked the Head of House.
That ring was both an heirloom passed down through generations and the symbol of our entire lineage.
And yet.
A ring of such importance.
“To pawn it off—who in their right mind would even conceive of such a thing? If you needed money, you could have put it on the Marquis Residence’s account, or simply written a check. There are countless alternatives available!”
I felt tears threatening at this woman’s outrageous conduct.
Why, in heaven’s name, did I have to suffer like this for a woman whose face I’d never even seen?
After a brief bout of self-pity, I stepped into the shop.
“Ah, you mean the ring we had on display outside? That one’s already been sold, I’m afraid.”
“I’m sorry—what?”
* * *
“What on earth were you thinking!”
“……”
“You suddenly insisted on going to the pawn shop, and I thought something urgent had come up, but what now? You pawned the ring? The very ring you always wear? Do you have any idea what that is!”
My thoughts exactly.
Lora, face flushed with indignation, practically screamed at me.
And yet,
‘I’m the victim here!’
From the trouble with Leon Obsidian to the loss of the family ring.
I was not the source of any of this.
But explaining all these facts in tedious detail would only exhaust me further. And my listener seemed unlikely to believe a word of it anyway.
So I had no choice but to resign myself, yet I felt as though I might burst from the injustice of it all.
‘What sin could I possibly have committed in this lifetime to deserve this……!’
At this point, I was beginning to resent even the heavens themselves.
“We need to get the ring back. The pawn shop owner said he’d look into the buyer’s information, so let’s wait and see.”
“But what about your estate? You made arrangements to depart for your Territory tomorrow, and I’ve prepared everything.”
Lora tapped her knee reproachfully, reminding me that I’d already completed all the pending business.
Indeed, all arrangements for departure had been finalized.
But this unforeseen complication had thrown everything into disarray once more.
And that wasn’t even the end of it.
[Oh, and I got into a scuffle with a drunk on the street. The man kept making advances, so without thinking I just……beat him senseless.
Your body’s stronger than I expected, isn’t it?
Anyway, I have a feeling I might have known him from somewhere, so just be careful, all right!]
As if all that weren’t enough, she’d assaulted someone.
In just one week, the catalog of incidents this woman had managed to create was staggering.
Thanks to her, I felt as though I’d aged ten years sorting out the aftermath.
‘Still, the pawn shop owner said he’d track down the ring. As for the assault……well, if the victim comes to the Marquis Residence demanding compensation, I can arrange a settlement.’
But there was one thing that troubled me.
— The Saint Aileen Appears
— Leon Obsidian (*the Mastermind) Commits Treason
— Leon Obsidian Executed
— Bernstein Falls
What in the world is this supposed to mean?
The back of a letter meticulously detailing the major crimes I’ve committed.
The section scrawled at the end like some sort of chronicle particularly irked me.
“If you’re going to write it, at least be clear about it. It’s not a riddle, and if you’re just going to leave it like this, what exactly are you expecting me to do?”
Leon Obsidian was mentioned far more than anyone else.
The trouble was, the words attached to his name bordered on curses.
And “executed,” no less.
‘If I just read the sentences as they are, is the Duke supposed to die? But why? And treason? I was under the impression the Duke and the Emperor got along well.’
It was a charge that hardly suited the man in the white priest’s robes.
“Ah, I give up!”
I threw both fists up high and cried out in frustration.
I’d been thinking too much these past few days. My head felt ready to split open.
Meanwhile, the carriage had arrived at the Marquis Residence.
“My lord! You’ve finally returned. We’ve been waiting for you!”
“Has something else happened?”
The Butler came rushing over, having been pacing near the entrance the moment I stepped out of the carriage.
His anxious demeanor was strangely familiar, and when I asked if something had occurred, his face crumpled as if he might burst into tears at any moment.
Even so, his spindly legs fidgeted nervously.
Right. Something has definitely happened again.
“We have a visitor waiting for you.”
“A visitor? Who?”
Surely not the Duke? He said he’d give me time to think.
The Butler answered immediately.
“The Countess Oscar and Young Sik have arrived.”
“What? Why would they—”
A visceral sense of rejection washed over me at the mere mention of their names, and I frowned.
The Countess Oscar. Her maiden name was Sylvia Valentín.
During our academy days, she had been my classmate and roommate.
But the thing was, while we were technically classmates, she was the type of person the High Society called the “flower”—the polar opposite of me.
After her marriage, I’d heard she had come to reign over High Society as an ideal to which all noble ladies aspired.
‘So why has she suddenly come looking for me?’
Could it be about that business again?
Puzzled, I headed toward the Reception Room.
The moment I stepped inside, there she was. A beautiful noblewoman in an ornate dress sat gracefully before me.
A magnificent diamond necklace adorned her neck, and her dress glimmered with a brilliance as if precious stones had been ground into the very fabric—the cost must have been considerable.
Add to that her elaborate hairpieces and dazzling jewelry.
Without even a crown, her bearing alone made her look like a princess from an immensely wealthy kingdom.
By contrast, I had come directly from work, so I was dressed relatively plainly.
My traveling dress was made of respectable fabric, but it was nothing compared to that radiant gown.
Perhaps because of that.
The moment I entered the Reception Room, Sylvia’s eyes swept quickly over my appearance, and she smiled faintly.
The kind of look that seized the upper hand.
‘What business brings her here looking so determined?’
As that thought crossed my mind, I turned my gaze—
‘Hm?’
My eyes fixed on the man sitting beside the noblewoman.
His face was in terrible condition.
He looked as though he’d been rolled through a gravel pit; his lips were split and crusted with dried blood, and his face was marred with livid bruises everywhere.
As a result, his already potato-like face looked even more unsightly—like a moldy potato.
“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. I had some business to attend to… but, um, why does Young Sik’s face look like that?”
“Ha! You didn’t know, and yet you ask?”
At my cautious question, the man seated beside Sylvia’s expression darkened sharply.
“It’s all because of someone!”
“Who…? Ah.”
In that instant, something flashed rapidly through my mind.
The words written in the letter.
I got into an altercation with a drunk on the street. He kept pestering me, so without thinking much of it, I just beat him senseless.
I think it might have been someone you know, so be careful!
Oh no.
It seems that person was this man after all.

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