I Seducing the Black-Hearted Duke Wasn't Me - Chapter 64

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

Chapter 64
Now that I thought about it, something seemed off.
The Foreigner had left me that Letter the night before I came to my senses—precisely the night before.
She’d entrusted it to Lora, asking her to pass it on to me the following day.
Which meant….
‘She must have sensed that she’d be leaving my body the next day. But how could she possibly know?’
“How could you have known that? And more importantly—is there actually a way to go back?!”
Lost in thought, another Foreigner—Yeji—sprang from her seat in barely contained excitement and cried out.
Her eyes glimmered with desperation.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know the method either. It just happened to me suddenly one day…. But you’re right. Maybe that person knew how to return all along.”
“Did she leave any clues? Information that might help?”
I shook my head quietly.
“I see.”
Yeji, who had been excited just moments before, collapsed back into her seat as if resigned to her fate.
I felt a pang of sympathy for her.
“Perhaps… with time, you’ll naturally return? The person who possessed my body also came back after just a week. So if you wait a little longer….”
“No. I don’t think that’s it.”
Yeji shook her head at my suggestion that time might be the answer.
“Because today marks my twenty-third day since I first opened my eyes here.”
“What?”
“I remember it clearly. The day I first woke up in this place. I came to in the middle of a forest. It seems the original owner of this body must have dozed off while doing something there.”
Yeji sighed, her eyes hollow with despair.
“The problem was that I was out in the open with no idea who I was or where my home was. If there had been anyone nearby, it might have been easier, but there wasn’t.”
That would have been brutal.
When Park Su-min, the Foreigner who’d entered my body, first opened his eyes, no one was around him either.
Even knowing he’d done what he did, I shudder to think what he might have gotten up to without knowing who he was.
“So what did you do?”
“I came down from the forest and searched for anyone who might know the body’s owner. But there was no one. So I spent some time wandering and sleeping rough. Eventually, I learned about the main character’s situation through a Newspaper article.”
……
“But I’m grateful, really. If I think positively about it, there must be a way to return!”
“You want to go back to where you came from?”
“Of course! I never wanted to come here in the first place, did I? Sure, I’ve wished my company would collapse so I wouldn’t have to go to work…. But still, if my consciousness is here, the me back in the original world is probably in a state of Unconsciousness. My family will be worried.”
Yeji clenched her fists, insisting she had to return home as quickly as possible.
Tears glistened in her eyes.
“That’s actually why I stormed the Imperial Palace too. After waiting without any real changes, I got so frustrated that I thought if I didn’t do something, I’d just waste away and die here. I decided to take a chance and see if anything would change.”
In other words, it was a last, desperate gamble.
I still thought it was reckless, but I understood her desperation now.
And at the same time, I felt an urge to help her.
When I’d first stepped forward before the Emperor without a real plan, I’d wondered why I was doing it.
‘Because only I know this secret.’
Because I could understand and sympathize with her in a way no one else could.
Moreover, as a victim myself but also someone who had experienced this phenomenon of Possession, I needed to know more about what was really happening.
In that sense, the emergence of another person with this experience might be an opportunity.
“All right. I’ll help you. Let’s find out together how you can return.”
“Really?”
“Yes. We already have one case of someone returning, so there must be a way. And just to be sure, I’ll also find out who the original owner of that body is. If I put in a request with the Cooperative Guild, it shouldn’t take long.”
“Ah, that’s true. The original owner of this body is probably considered missing in this world too.”
She worried that by moving around without permission, she’d caused great suffering to the original owner’s family as well.
“It will be inconvenient, but for now it’s best if you stay inside the Mansion. If word of your existence gets out, there’s nothing good that can come of it.”
“Understood.”
Either way, she was still a criminal who’d invaded the Imperial Palace.
No matter how leniently the Emperor had chosen to handle this, I couldn’t afford to be careless.
There were too many eyes and ears within the palace.
She nodded in agreement, seemingly reluctant to cause more trouble while already receiving help.
It was a relief to see she’d regained her composure since our first meeting.
“So, where should we start?”
* * *
Roden Street 4th Avenue.
The Blanche Duke’s Mansion, situated at a major intersection.
Normally, a steady stream of visitors would keep its grand gates wide open, but now the gilded doors stood closed and silent.
As if his footsteps had come to an abrupt halt.
“This is all because of that fool Bianca. If that idiot hadn’t kept making such stupid mistakes!”
“What can we do about it now? It’s already happened. At least returning to Roman Kingdom is a blessing. If we’d stayed here any longer, we’d have been nothing but gossip fodder for the idle masses.”
“Damn it! What kind of mess is this?”
Edgar Blanche, trembling with fury, brought his fist down on the wooden desk and shouted.
The crumpled newspaper in his hand went flying.
A small article tucked into the corner of page two—not even the front page.
[Duke Blanche Humiliated Before Thousands… Forced Apology in Desperate Straits!]
Below the headline was an even more degrading illustration.
Since journalists had been barred from the Banquet Hall, there were no photographs of the actual events.
But photographs might have been better after all.
Stories passed by word of mouth were always embellished, and by the time they reached the illustrator, they’d already been twisted beyond recognition.
The resulting image showed Edgar Blanche bowing his head almost prostrate before Zaherette, as though he were groveling.
Meanwhile, Zaherette stood beaming down at the Duke like some kind of victor.
Edgar Blanche ground his teeth in humiliation.
“That impudent wretch will pay for this. I swear it!”
“Please, calm yourself.”
A young nobleman seated across from him spoke again in a soothing tone.
His name was Yuan Caselword, second son of the Caselword Count Family.
Ordinarily, Valentine should have occupied this seat, but he had long since been treated like so much baggage and cast aside.
Yuan had naturally stepped into that empty space.
With his handsome features and eloquent manner, he commanded the social circles—so much so that he was called “Orden’s Most Eligible Bachelor.”
But that was before Bernstein returned. The Grand Duke’s arrival had stripped that title from him in an instant.
‘If he’d made up his mind to become a High Priest, he should have stayed cloistered and prayed. Why did he come back? Tch. Beneath that facade of virtue, he’s no different from the rest of us.’
Yet people cheered for him, blind to the truth. How pathetic they all were.
“Your Grace.”
At that moment, a knock sounded and the office door opened. The Duke’s aide stepped in.
“I’ve confirmed what you asked me to check. It appears the Grand Duke and the Marquis will not be attending tonight’s banquet.”
“Really? Well, that’s some small mercy. At least I won’t have to look at their unlucky faces. Good. I’ll need to work on reversing public opinion.”
“But there’s an odd rumor circulating.”
“An odd rumor?”
“Yes. The banquet yesterday ended somewhat earlier than scheduled, did it not?”
“It did.”
Now that he thought about it, why had it ended so early?
Edgar Blanche recalled a question he’d forgotten.
He’d taken Bianca outside because he couldn’t bear to stay, given her a thorough scolding, and was about to return when attendees were already beginning to file out.
At the time, he’d even felt relieved and simply returned to the Mansion.
Had something actually happened at the banquet?
“According to a story one of the gate guards heard from his colleague… the Princess of Roman Kingdom discovered an intruder and reported it.”
“What? An intruder in the royal palace?”
“Yes. Apparently, because this intruder made it all the way inside the inner palace, they hastily ended the banquet.”
“Good heavens! What were the soldiers doing? Unable to apprehend a single intruder. Tch.”
Yuan Caselword clicked his tongue in disapproval.
But Edgar Blanche remained silent.
“That’s strange.”
“Pardon? Strange how, sir?”
“An intruder in the royal palace, yet it’s all been kept so quiet.”
“Now that you mention it… you’re right.”
Edgar Blanche gathered up the newspapers he’d scattered.
He skipped over the grating articles and searched thoroughly, but found not a single line about the intrusion incident.
As if someone had deliberately buried it.
“Rotsel. Look into this matter more closely.”
The Duke’s green eyes gleamed with an eerie light as he issued the command to his aide.
“Something doesn’t add up here.”

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