I Thought It Was the Monster Duke's Fake Sedative - Chapter 1

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

Prologue
“Done!”
Clap!
Lucy clapped her hands together and gazed proudly at the completed Magic Circle.
She had drawn it with a protractor and ruler to ensure not a single angle was wrong, and it was still perfect upon second inspection.
‘It does look a bit sinister, though.’
The Magic Circle, drawn in what looked like blood and glowing crimson, resembled a demon summoning ritual in its menacing appearance, but its effect would surely be certain.
Presently, the Holy Stone placed at the center hummed to life, signaling that preparation was complete.
Now came the hard part….
“All right. Come lie down inside, Duke.”
Getting the handsome man standing beside her to lie down there.
“Which Duke?”
……
“There’s only one Duke in this empire, is there not?”
It was just the two of them here—and he was the only Duke, was he not?
Rather than point this out, Lucy rolled her eyes.
“Yes, your grace—the sole Golden Dragon’s Avatar of the empire, vanquisher of monsters, savior of the Continent….”
“You forgot to mention my face. You like it.”
“…and the exceptionally handsome Duke Edward le Tesseron.”
Only then did his reptilian crimson eyes, at odds with his sharp gaze, soften into something gentler.
Lucy met those eyes with a smile of her own.
Then she pointed at the Magic Circle with a look that said no funny business.
“Will you go inside now?”
Tilt.
“In there?”
The Duke’s head tilted in an oddly endearing way.
Despite his massive frame, his beautiful face made even such a gesture seem like nothing more than charming affectation.
‘If any other man had done that, I’d have wanted to hit him.’
The platinum-haired beauty, now looking so artlessly innocent, was at his most lov—.
‘—able!’
She nearly let herself be charmed despite knowing better.
Lucy shook off her wayward thoughts and answered.
“Yes. If you lie on the Holy Stone, it will be just right.”
The Duke’s eyes remained clear and bright.
And he spoke plainly.
“That looks like a human sacrifice ritual to anyone with eyes.”
Since it genuinely did look that way, Lucy felt a pang of guilt.
“…No, it’s not like that at all!”
“Then what is it, really?”
Lucy puffed out her chest with confident certainty and declared:
“A Magic Circle to forge a perfect Avatar!”
……
“Once you lie here, your Grace’s imperfect blood will become true dragon’s blood!”
Even as she spoke, she sounded like a snake-oil peddler, which made her wince a little.
“And?”
“And you’ll receive proper Purification! The Rampage will stop! And….”
“You’ll find me my true Mate?”
At that, Lucy’s eyes widened with indignation.
He just had to keep bringing up that mate business.
“Yes. Obviously!”
Even after hearing such a confident answer, Edward gave a small shrug.
“What if it fails?”
“It won’t, I’m telling you?”
“If it did, I’d be heartbroken.”
“Didn’t you hear what I said?”
“I’m more delicate than you’d think, Lucy. Having never tasted defeat, I’m weak to failure.”
“That might be true, but it’s honestly a bit irritating of you.”
“What can I do? It’s the truth.”
Soon the Duke blinked his long lashes and rested his head against Lucy’s shoulder…
“So I don’t even need to stay conscious, and I don’t even need to find a Mate….”
“Don’t say such weak things!”
…and then she was shoved back by Lucy’s raging palm.
“Ha.”
Between his hidden palms, the duke’s crooked smile faded, and he composed himself as though he’d never been pitiful at all.
Then, with shameless ease, he smiled sweetly and replied.
“Yeah, got it.”
“Now that you understand, truly….”
“But I’m scared to go in alone.”
“…….”
“What if this Magic Circle is a trap? What if the moment I lie down, a curse spell activates….”
“Good grief, I understand! I really do!”
Fine. For the sake of something this important, how could she refuse?
Lucy took Edward’s hand and stepped into the Magic Circle.
“Now, let’s…!”
The moment the words left her lips, she collapsed.
“Gasp!”
…What was this?
A scalding heat washed over Lucy’s body like a wave.
“Wait….”
‘Poison…?’
But it didn’t quite feel like poison.
She was gasping for breath, her entire body tingling, a dizzy sensation creeping in….
‘I’ve never heard of a Magic Circle having these effects before?!’
Had it failed?
Lucy’s eyes naturally turned toward the duke.
If she was burning this fiercely, how could that monstrous duke—who could rampage at any moment—be unaffected?
“Hah.”
As expected.
The duke across from her—Edward’s eyes burned a deeper red than usual.
Something about him seemed slightly off.
His head tilted again, slowly.
Not the cute, playful tilt of before, but the languid, predatory slant of a leopard.
“Something’s strange, Lucy.”
“Y-Your Grace….”
“I don’t feel anything.”
A chill ran through her.
Looking at her with those words, his eyes were unnervingly clear.
“Well… or maybe not nothing.”
“…….”
“My body is hot.”
In that instant, goosebumps erupted across Lucy’s entire frame.
“Y-Your Grace, I… hah, ah….”
She wanted to tell him something was wrong, but her ragged breathing wouldn’t let the words come out.
Her legs instinctively drew together, her throat burning hot.
‘I have to… run away….’
She had to keep him from being trapped any further in the Magic Circle!
“Maybe it’s because you didn’t lie down like I told you to?”
Yet even as he said this, Edward pulled Lucy close and embraced her.
Just from that touch alone, Lucy tried desperately to steady her reeling body….
‘What is this….’
The moment she lay down on the Magic Circle in his firm embrace, the heat intensified.
Lucy was clutching Edward’s collar with gasping breaths when—
“Nothing’s changed though.”
“Hnn… ugh….”
“I worked so hard to prepare for this… I’m hurt, Lucy.”
He was the one who’d prepared so much—why was he pretending to be wounded?!
She couldn’t even voice that protest.
Her mind was already drowning in a haze of excitement.
“They said it would help me find my true mate.”
With those whispered words, Edward’s lips curved upward.
“There’s no helping it.”
His breath carried a sweet, sultry warmth.
“As always, you’re the only one who can purify me.”
“That, Run—”
“But this purification…”
His hand swept across Lucy’s cheek before sliding naturally beneath her skirt.
“I should receive it properly.”
“……”
“The miasma’s built up quite a bit this time, after all.”
Blink.
Long lashes fluttered with a smile, wanton and practiced. The whisper of fabric falling away was unmistakable.
Lucy stared at the approaching lips, utterly bewildered.
What, what is this—?
‘How did it come to this?!’
Chapter 1
“The Duke Edward le Tesserone returns!”
Rumble.
With the urgent cry, soldiers of the Temple parted to clear his path.
Soon after, someone’s sigh cut through the air.
“His returns come far too quickly.”
“Must he be suffering greatly.”
Anxious whispers rippled through the crowd, laced with concern.
“This is serious.”
“The guardian dragon who remains to protect us…”
That remark summoned a history they all knew, flooding their minds unbidden.
Thousands of years ago.
When humanity grew too numerous and the world’s balance shattered, monsters emerged and miasma spread across the entire Continent.
The dragons, unable to endure it, sought to return to their homeland in the Demon Realm.
But as the monsters grew ever stronger and more rampant, humans clung to the departing dragons and pleaded.
“Please, great dragons!”
“Have pity upon us!”
In the end, moved by human suffering, a few dragons remained on the Continent, mingling their blood with humans and founding noble houses.
From that time forward, those houses produced, once every few generations, an incarnation of the dragon.
Beings of overwhelming strength and magic—as if the dragon itself had been reborn.
They hunted monsters and drove back the miasma from the Continent, but…
“The interval between his rampages grows shorter.”
A bitter whisper drifted through those present.
The dragon incarnations had dwindled with each generation, until now Edward alone remained.
And the fact that he rampaged so frequently…
“Isn’t it because he lacks a proper mate to purify him?”
“Temporary purification must strain him terribly.”
“That’s probably why his temperament has grown worse over time.”
It was the absence of a proper mate.
An incarnation takes only one mate in their lifetime—someone whose resonance aligns with theirs alone.
The dragons’ instinct to return to the Demon Realm, combined with the Continent’s miasma, corrupts them and causes rampage; their human mate is the one who purifies them and anchors them to this land.
Thus an incarnation without a mate carried the constant danger of rampage.
They could receive temporary purification from those with Holy Power, but it had its limits.
“If he had a mate, he wouldn’t be so temperamental.”
“When will the Duke find one, I wonder…”
Clang!
The sound of armor silenced them all.
“……”
Clang, clang!
The Duke’s massive form strode into the Temple, radiating lethal intent.
‘Intense as ever.’
‘He hardly seems human…’
The soldiers watched him with mingled dread and awe.
His entire body was encased in heavy armor, but his eyes—burning crimson beyond the helmet—blazed with unmistakable intensity.
“My Lord!”

A woman came rushing out to greet him.
“So Sephina was here?”
“Thank goodness for that.”
The dark-haired woman called Sephina took the Duke’s hand and led him inside.
“Let me purify you. Come this way….”
Before her, the Duke lowered his guard and bent his head.
The soldiers who saw this exchanged further whispers.
“So the rumor that Sephina is his mate—could it be true?”
“Then that’s fortunate. She’s a saint, after all.”
“But she doesn’t bear a Holy Mark.”
“She may be keeping it hidden.”
As such murmurs drifted through the Temple….
In the Underground Prison below.
“Ahhhhh!”
A small, disheveled woman bound in chains clawed at her own head.
“Why did I have to end up in a novel like this?!”

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