I Thought It Was the Monster Duke's Fake Sedative - Chapter 107

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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 107
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“I can see it!”
A few days later.
“There’s the Gate!”
The party arrived at the largest gate leading into the Capital.
“Finally!”
Luciana brightened, stealing a glance out the carriage window.
They were a little behind schedule, but they had finally reached the Capital.
‘At least we’re not being held up anymore. That’s something.’
Once Edward’s assassins’ plot fell through so openly, his enemies had grown cautious and stopped sending killers after him.
Beyond that, the closer they drew to the Capital, the fewer monsters barred their path.
It wasn’t that monsters appeared less frequently here than elsewhere—rather, whenever they did appear, the Knight Order responded in far greater numbers than anywhere else.
“Mmm.”
Luciana stretched, working the stiffness from her body.
While Edward gently massaged her shoulders, the carriage came to a halt before the massive gate.
Tepe, who had been riding escort nearby, moved to the window.
When he spoke, unease colored his voice.
“Still, we’re behind the original schedule. I wouldn’t be surprised if they use that as a pretext to complain.”
“Hmm, if they had any decency, they wouldn’t say a word.”
“The nobles of the Capital have no decency, that’s the problem.”
“…Fair point.”
If they had any decency, they wouldn’t have sent assassins in the first place.
Luciana nodded in agreement.
Even so, she kept stealing glances at Edward, who had remained silent all along.
Edward, now entering the Capital, still seemed unruffled.
As always, he looked like someone who had merely come on a routine errand.
Yet the moment Luciana saw the gate, worry began to stir in her chest.
‘This place is practically enemy territory.’
To her, the battlefield where monsters ran wild felt no different from the Capital filled with those who sought Edward’s life.
If anything, the fact that it wore the mask of civilization while poised to draw a blade at any moment unsettled her more.
‘…I should have made him a complete Divine Incarnation after all!’
The moment anxiety began to grip her—
A soft rustle.
As though reading her thoughts, Edward reached out and took her hand.
A silent assurance that there was nothing to worry about.
As Luciana’s eyelashes fluttered at the grip of his hand, the gate began to slowly open.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the Emperor’s envoy came out and demanded an explanation on the spot.”
“Stop with the bad omens and stand straight, Tepe.”
Gorgo sighed, grabbing the back of Tepe’s neck as he grumbled.
“Welcome, Duke of Teseron!”
Bang!
Unexpectedly, fireworks—the sort one might see at a birthday party—exploded alongside a rousing greeting.
“…What?”
“…….”
“…….”
Luciana flinched as she peered outside.
A crowd of people had gathered beyond the open gate.
And at their head…
‘It’s Sepina.’
There stood Sepina, dressed in a gossamer gown the color of lily of the valley, her expression wistful and melancholy—the picture of a beautiful, refined maiden bearing the wounds of heartbreak.
Though startled by the unexpected scene, Luciana quickly regained her composure.
‘She hasn’t changed one bit since the wedding.’
Behind Sepina, several nobles wielded flags of Teseron like placards.
Among them were nobles who had been openly hostile to Edward.
Even those suspected of having sent the assassins.
The corner of Edward’s mouth twisted into a smirk at the sight.
Tepe and Gorgo made their displeasure plainly evident.
The nobles, meanwhile, were too busy making a spectacle to notice.
“Duke of Teseron! Welcome!”
“I hear you’ve caught quite a number of monsters on your way here. Truly heroic of you!”
“May infinite glory befall Edward, Duke of Teseron!”
Edward smiled at them, though his thoughts ran otherwise.
‘I could run them down with the carriage, I suppose.’
Not that there was anything he couldn’t do, but the problem was that Luciana sat beside him in the carriage.
A child might be growing in her womb even now, and he couldn’t very well put on a display that would harm her health.
Edward was in the midst of spooning what tasted like kimchi stew—or perhaps pickled cabbage stew—when it happened.
The window swung open.
Luciana, who had been staring out at the crowd, casually pushed the half-open carriage window wide.
“Oh my, hello there!”
And she greeted the assembled nobles with cheerful brightness.
“What a gathering you’ve all made!”
“Your Grace—”
“Well, not the Duke, of course—that’s me, the Duchess. I’ve been rather put out that you’ve been calling only for the Duke this whole time.”
……
“Surely you weren’t deliberately excluding me from the cheers? I’m hurt, truly.”
“N-no, of course not! Absolutely not!”
With deliberate shamelessness, Luciana flustered the nobles while turning her gaze toward Sepina, who stood at the fore.
When their eyes met, Sepina composed her expression.
And smiled—beautifully, pitifully.
“Oh. I do apologize. You’re right, of course. The Duchess was with us this time.”
……
“The Duke used to come to me alone, you see, and I grew so accustomed to it that I simply forgot myself.”
The surrounding nobles could not help but adopt expressions of sympathy.
Of course, since public opinion had turned at the wedding, there were no longer those who actively championed Sepina as they once had.
Yet there was still considerable power in watching a fair and gentle beauty tremble on the verge of tears.
Even Luciana felt a grudging admiration.
‘Wow. I almost fell for that myself.’
While Luciana’s eyes gleamed with amusement, Sepina caught the nobles’ reactions and smiled in victory.
‘You’re no match for me.’
By bloodline, by beauty and fortune, she remained superior to that specimen.
More than that, she possessed the gift of commanding people’s hearts.
That specimen had been nothing more than a distant figure at the wedding, and even then—
She had merely shone with the radiance of a bride, the day’s heroine.
Sepina, who had polished herself since childhood to draw attention, existed on an entirely different plane from such mediocrity.
‘I am not a woman content to settle for the role of Saint.’
Sepina’s ambition remained unchanged.
For the next, grander chapter of her life, Edward was indispensable.
‘And of course, that shall soon come to pass.’
“I shall make you a true Saint.”
Sepina recalled the Pope’s words and smiled.
Then she turned her gaze back to Luciana, her eyes now asking, What could you possibly do after that?
……
And she faltered slightly.
She had expected Luciana to wilt before her gaze, unable to meet her eyes.
But Luciana looked directly back, unflinching.
Watching Sepina, Luciana thought quietly to herself.
‘In the past, being this close, facing her like this would have unnerved me.’
After all, Sepina was one of those responsible for trapping her Possessed Body underground.
Yet just as she had felt unexpectedly calm when seeing Gemini, so too was it now.
‘I’m not afraid.’
She understood Sepina was formidable, but felt no fear, no aversion.
Even as the memories of her Possessed Body surfaced, reminding her dimly of how agonizing those experiments had been, still she felt nothing but calm.
That was likely because—
‘Edward is beside me.’
His grip tightened.
Edward, sitting across from her, squeezed Luciana’s hand more firmly.
His expression was twisted and cold, meant for the watching nobles, yet Luciana could feel the thin current of concern beneath it, directed toward her.
Then Edward whispered, his lips barely moving.
‘Shall I remove her.’
The question was whether to sweep away all these annoying things with violence alone.
At those words, Luciana smiled and moved her lips.
‘Are you joking?’
‘…….’
‘Absolutely not.’
Admittedly, it would be convenient if she did.
But if she did, they would only attack Edward more ferociously.
Luciana thought carefully.
‘I didn’t come to the Capital on good terms in the first place.’
It wasn’t that she cared what they thought.
She hated giving them ammunition to twist Edward’s actions and curse him without restraint.
She could no longer bear to watch people who knew nothing of the matter condemn him.
‘I’d rather step forward and dance with the blade myself.’
Of course, she couldn’t actually draw a sword and step out, but still.
Luciana grinned broadly, then quickly composed her expression.
‘Stay calm. Just do what I’ve always done.’
Soon after, Luciana masked her tension and opened her mouth wearing her ‘I know absolutely nothing’ expression.
She knew well that this expression could irritate her opponent even more.
“Oh my, you were only thinking about when you came alone. That won’t do, will it.”
“……!”
“Now the Duke won’t be coming alone—there will be three of you, so you’ll have to adjust, won’t you?”
At those words, Sepina stiffened with a start.

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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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