I Seducing the Black-Hearted Duke Wasn't Me - Chapter 7

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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 7
‘This is rather troublesome.’
I lifted the teacup to my lips, swallowing hard while doing my best to appear unaffected and composed.
‘Of all people to strike, I had to go and hit him.’
There were reasons, good reasons, for my distaste of these Valentine siblings.
‘Starting with Silvia, the elder daughter.’
Our relationship had soured back at the Academy.
More precisely, from the moment I refused to join her faction.
As an Earl’s Noble Daughter, she had always needed to sit at the center of High Society, and to her, I—a Marquess’s Noble Daughter—was a thorn in her side.
So she’d tried to bring me into her circle, hoping to make use of me somehow, or so it seemed.
Unfortunately for her, I had little interest in social activities even then.
‘So when I refused, the harassment began. Though if I’m honest, it was more like ostracism than anything else.’
For someone like me, who preferred isolation and solitude, it actually made it easier to focus on my studies.
So I ignored it.
Which only made the harassment worse.
Her attitude changed abruptly after I inherited the Marquessdom.
“Don’t you think it’s about time you started looking for a marriage partner? Everyone our age already has a fiancé or lover.”
“I don’t particularly think so.”
“Oh, come now. That’s precisely why I’ve taken it upon myself to help you find one.”
And with that, she thrust before me none other than her younger brother—that potato sitting across from us.
Jerold Valentine.
Four years my junior, he was infamous in High Society for his poor reputation.
To actually propose her own brother as my husband candidate—the audacity.
‘The scheme is painfully obvious.’
She was clearly after the Marquess Rank and the wealth of Jahrete that I possessed.
The Valentine Earldom, Silvia’s own family house, was hardly prosperous.
If her younger brother, unable to inherit the title, were to marry me and gain the Marquess Rank, they could secure financial aid for Jahrete and gain a powerful backer in the Marquessdom itself.
‘That’s why I refused.’
But the siblings never knew the meaning of surrender.
Not only Silvia, but Jerold himself had apparently been spreading rumors behind my back as if he were already my lover.
And he kept sending absurd love letters, accosting me whenever we happened to cross paths, so I’d finally decided something had to be done.
‘And I’ve certainly done it now.’
I must admit, there was some satisfaction in it.
“I’m absolutely devastated! For such a handsome face—not strikingly beautiful, but perfectly respectable by any measure—to be ruined like this!”
Silvia shrieked with agitation, looking ready to faint at any moment.
I turned my gaze to Jerold beside her, still fuming with resentment.
Perhaps it was because I’d recently encountered such an angelic man.
‘Handsome…?’
Even if I spared no effort in being polite, I couldn’t in good conscience call that face handsome.
Of course, I’m hardly qualified to judge appearances, but still.
He was perhaps a hand’s breadth shorter than me, yet three times as wide. The sort of build that would simply roll away if the wind blew.
And his face was twisted into such a perpetual scowl.
‘And that’s not even the worst of it. He’s known for his terrible relations with women, and rumor has it he spends his days drowning in drink and gambling. Does she truly not know?’
Though there were many reasons I couldn’t accept this marriage proposal, the real reason lay elsewhere.
It was that he was Silvia Valentine’s younger brother.
“Sigh. Erna, let’s drop the formality, shall we?”
Silvia, who had been seething with indignation, took a deep breath and continued in what she thought was a gentler tone.
“I know Jerold isn’t to your taste. But that’s no excuse to treat a person this way. Besides, as I’ve said before, marriage isn’t a decision you can make alone. So I’d prefer it if you didn’t insist on having your way.”
I paused for a moment to collect myself, then lifted my head and responded calmly.
“First, I must apologize to Jerold Valentine. It seems there was some misunderstanding about how to handle the situation, and in any case, seeing him again today, I realize my response was excessive.”
Then I turned my gaze toward Silvia.
“And let me be frank with you too, Silvia. My marriage is my decision to make. I would appreciate it if you would refrain from interfering further.”
“Decide for yourself? What exactly do you think you can decide? Running a single business after inheriting that position—that’s all you amount to.”
Silvia’s tone was becoming increasingly cutting.
“And speaking of it, I still remember what you said on the day of the Academy graduation ceremony. You declared in front of everyone who was worried about your future that you had no intention of ever marrying. Don’t you remember?”
Silvia exhaled softly and shook her head, pressing one hand to her chest.
“The Academy is a great marriage market, and everyone talked about you behind your back for saying such a thing. Of course, I understood it. Your father, the Previous Marquess, fell in battle so suddenly that you had no adult to arrange your marriage. That wasn’t your fault.”
……
“But Erna. The situation then, when you’d just inherited the Marquess Rank with no preparation, is different now. Your house has stabilized, your business is doing reasonably well—isn’t it time to find a companion for the rest of your life? Marriage is an important duty for the Nobility, meant to carry on the line. You, of all people, an Academy top student, know this better than anyone, don’t you?”
Silvia seized my hand, her expression full of concern.
“You’re my dear friend. I’ve been so worried that you’d grow old alone, lonely in your room…….”
“Thank you for that. But this is truly my own matter. I’m telling you again — I’ll make my own choice.”
I quickly pulled my hand free. I was sorry, but I’d reached my limit.
‘As if I don’t know you.’
Silvia hadn’t changed much since our Academy days, despite all the years that had passed.
She was always the sort to push people forward as shields for her own designs, the kind who’d feign sadness or concern when circumstances grew difficult, then slip away unscathed.
I’d watched her do this up close, fallen victim to it myself — there was no chance I’d let it happen again.
‘Besides, I’m a Marquess. My situation is different from most Noble Daughters.’
When it came to marriage, the choice belonged to me.
“If you keep going like this, you’ll miss your window. Then you might end up marrying someone older with children already, and you’d want that? If not, then perhaps Jerold…….”
“Yes. But not with your brother. So I’d appreciate it if you stopped making these visits and scheming behind the scenes.”
“What? Scheming — what do you mean?”
“I have ears. I know you and your brother have been spreading rumors quietly.”
I’d struck a nerve. Silvia flinched, and I could practically see the thought cross her face: ‘How did this dullard find out?’
‘I’m sorry, but I have two eyes and ears as well. Perhaps more than you.’
There was a reason I’d let the strange rumors circulate without interference.
‘Because I couldn’t be bothered.’
Setting aside beauty, suitors came readily enough to me — backed by a distinguished house and considerable wealth.
While I’d never received a romantic confession, marriage proposals had been arriving constantly since before I graduated the Academy.
Of course, I’d refused them all.
Refusing marriage proposals was itself an exhaustingly tedious process.
In that respect, the scheming of the Valentine siblings targeting Jahrete had actually been somewhat useful.
It’s just that it gradually overstepped the mark.
I straightened my posture and spoke firmly.
“Even if, as you say, I never marry and grow into a bent old woman, I will absolutely never marry Jerold.”
“Huh…….”
At my unambiguous rejection, Silvia bit her red lip. As if she’d never imagined I could refuse her brother so coldly.
‘Did she think that once proposals stopped coming, I’d have no choice but to marry him?’
To look at her, you’d think she’d been the one rejected — her whole frame trembled with fury. Those eyes that had been so confident moments before were now cold and sharp.
“I was trying to help you. You’re the one who threw my kindness back in my face. Mark my words — you’ll regret what happened today.”
“Yes. I’ll do my best to bear the consequences, Countess Oscar.”
“I’m not just saying this. You’d do well to remember it, Your Grace. I’ll make you feel precisely what it is you’ve touched.”
Except I didn’t touch anything. I was the one who did nothing.
You people came charging at me suddenly demanding marriage.
‘I simply refused.’
But Silvia, who clearly had no intention of hearing my side of things, had already begun to leave.
I was hoping she’d disappear just as quickly.
“By the way, Your Grace. I notice you’re not wearing a ring today — that ring you always wear.”
Huh?

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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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