I Thought It Was the Monster Duke's Fake Sedative - Chapter 106

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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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Episode 106
“You’re safe!”
Though strictly speaking, “safe” was debatable.
The Duke was more than safe—his face gleamed with satisfaction.
Luciana, meanwhile, was wrapped head to toe in a Cloak, whimpering pitifully.
Gemini gasped, covering his mouth with pitying sympathy.
“Goodness. Your face has gone completely half…— Ow!”
Before he could even approach Luciana, Gemini found himself stopped cold by Edward’s razor-sharp gaze.
Snap!
Luciana, helped down by Edward, merely beckoned Gemini over with a curling of her fingers.
Edward’s expression soured, but Gemini grinned and bounded toward her anyway.
“Eek!”
Then his hair was seized.
“Ow, my head! My precious, brilliant head… which of course you’re welcome to grab, my lady. And such a firm grip too. Should we experiment? See what sound comes out if we hit different spots?”
“You….”
“Yes?”
“What did you do to the Ritual—”
What did you do?
Luciana, trembling despite her weakness, yanked Gemini’s hair even harder.
And with good reason.
‘…He didn’t become a complete Divine Incarnation!’
The passionate encounter with Edward, triggered by the Ritual Side Effect, hadn’t been bad in itself.
No—it had actually been wonderful.
She’d felt a secret sense of accomplishment at seeing it through to the end, and thanks to the Mucous Membrane Purification technique, she’d managed an utterly exquisite and pleasurable encounter without any pain.
There was only one drawback.
Whether from the Ritual’s influence or not, Edward’s vitality had become excessively vigorous.
‘…Or had it always been that way?’
Now that she thought about it, he’d probably always possessed that level of stamina.
But this time there were no brakes.
Unlike before, when he’d always stopped at a reasonable point, Edward lost all hesitation and held her for what felt like an eternity.
It wasn’t enough that an entire day passed while he embraced her—she’d barely managed to persuade him to stop asking for just a few more days before dragging him here.
She’d lost count of how many times she’d permitted him to embrace her just to calm him down.
‘…In any case!’
The real problem was that nothing had changed after the Ritual ended.
Or rather….
“…Wait. Stop moving!”
“Why?”
“Why is he glowing…?”
For just a moment, Edward’s body shone even more brilliantly.
It didn’t look like the result of a complete Divine Incarnation.
“Unfold your Wings. Now.”
“Wings? But why—”
“Hurry!”
The Wings he unfurled gleamed like a golden mirage, unchanged.
Not solidly manifested through stabilized draconic power.
‘…This isn’t right…!’
Edward tilted his head indifferently, but from that moment on, Luciana’s mind churned with doubt.
‘What is this?’
She’d prepared so carefully.
Every component was correct, every step of the Ritual performed flawlessly, without a single mistake.
Yet she could detect no trace of anything from Edward.
Nothing, except that he seemed pleasantly relieved.
Then a wave of crushing disappointment crashed over her.
‘It was so important.’
It truly was so important.
Did I miss something? Did I ruin it?
While Luciana spiraled in despair, Edward carefully opened his mouth.
“…It was far better than I expected.”
“…….”
For a moment, Luciana had no words.
She must have said it with his earlier words in mind—the ones where he’d said he wasn’t expecting much.
“Honestly, it exceeded my expectations.”
“…….”
“It was good.”
Don’t worry about it. He’d been satisfied enough.
The ritual hadn’t failed to leave him disappointed or angry.
“If your heart aches, it’s because I recognize how hard you tried.”
“…Your Grace.”
“You could try again next time if you wanted, but… I have a feeling it won’t be necessary.”
As Edward said this, he lifted Luciana into his arms and whispered softly.
“Because I think you’ll be able to see it through to the end without the ritual.”
With those words spoken, she was too busy calming her racing heart as they soared through the air….
But the moment they arrived and Gemini came into view, a sudden thought struck her.
‘Could that bastard have sabotaged this?’
From Luciana’s perspective, it was a reasonable suspicion.
Just as Edward had pointed out, Gemini might have tampered with the materials or the magical circle.
There was no other way the ritual could have failed.
So the moment Edward set her down, she grabbed Gemini by the hair—only to have him tilt his head in confusion.
“Eh? What’s the matter, ow, ow, ow. If you could just pull a little more gently, ow!”
“You… you con artist. Swindler. Liar. You….”
“Those harsh words you’re using to condemn me—are they a reward from you, my lady?”
“You unethical charlatan….”
“My, such cruel accusations!”
Gemini, who normally nodded along happily when cursed at, suddenly looked genuinely upset when his professional expertise came under attack.
And as if he’d realized something, his voice dropped sharply.
“Wait. Surely the effect didn’t fail?”
“It did. I have no idea what you did to the ritual, but….”
“That can’t be right. Doesn’t His Grace look to be in better condition than ever?”
“That’s….”
Luciana hesitated for a moment.
“Then the ritual’s purpose was achieved. Restoring the Divine Incarnation’s Original Vitality, circulating the blood, washing away fatigue as if reborn….”
“…What are you saying?”
“Wasn’t that the fatigue-recovery ritual you wanted?”
Luciana went pale at Gemini’s words.
‘…This con artist!’
As Luciana stared at him with intensity written across her face, Gemini rolled his eyes as if playing dumb.
He knew her intentions well enough by now.
Judging by the nature of the materials she’d been seeking….
‘She must have been trying to perform a ritual to turn an incomplete Divine Incarnation into a complete one.’
He had no idea how this small mouse of a lady had learned about such a ritual, but the principle behind it was simply one that restored the Divine Incarnation’s Original Vitality and reinforced physical strength.
There was no way an artificially created Divine Incarnation could become a true one just by undergoing a ritual.
Still, Gemini had done his part in preparing the ritual with sincere effort.
‘Since you never know.’
He was curious what would happen to Edward—that fascinating experimental subject—if he underwent the ritual, and besides, if Edward died, Luciana would grieve.
It seemed there hadn’t been any significant change in the end, but….
Unaware of the situation, Luciana was deeply alarmed.
‘The preparation was for a fatigue-recovery ritual?’
Not a ritual to create a complete Divine Incarnation?
‘Why? What I asked for was… oh.’
She’d never actually specified what kind of ritual to prepare, had she.
Luciana still didn’t fully trust Gemini.
Someone who had switched sides once could always switch back again.
So there was no way she could have told him Edward’s important secret or asked him to prepare a ritual for an incomplete Divine Incarnation.
‘Because I didn’t tell him exactly what kind of ritual it was, so….’
Was that why Gemini had taught her the magical circle for a fatigue-recovery ritual?
…Thinking about it that way, it somehow felt like her fault.
“Ugh….”
As Luciana let out a groan, Gemini rolled his eyes.
“Was there a problem? How so?”
“…….”
“Let me verify this once. If there was an error in the experiment, I could run a cross-check—”
“No. That’s enough.”
“What?! This is torture! For scholars, it’s genuine torture—”
“Get out.”
“My lady, we’ll handle this.”
“Right away, right away.”
The moment Luciana finished swatting Gemini, Tepe and Gorgo stepped in and dragged him away without ceremony.
Luciana sighed, her shoulders sagging with the weight of it all.
Edward had said it was fine, but…
‘Should I have just told him what ritual he wanted, even if it meant taking the risk?’
If Edward had lost his one chance to become a true Divine Incarnation because of me…
She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, her heart growing heavier by the moment.
A soft rustle.
A hand approached and gently cupped her chin, tilting her face to meet his eyes.
Edward’s brow furrowed slightly, his expression displeased as he spoke.
“Don’t hit anyone else.”
“…What?”
“Whether it’s Tepe or that psychopath—if you feel like hitting someone, hit me.”
“I don’t have any interest in that sort of thing!”
The absurdity of the exchange was enough to sweep away even the gloom that had been settling over her.
As if that had been precisely his aim, Edward began stroking her hair without a care in the world.
Then, in a lowered voice, he murmured.
“Shall we go inside and wash up?”
“…!”
“There are places we couldn’t clean properly outside. Every corner.”
Once she grasped his meaning, even her capacity to feel embarrassed seemed to vanish entirely.
Luciana’s face flushed crimson.

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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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