I Thought It Was the Monster Duke's Fake Sedative - Chapter 11

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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 11
Flutter, flutter.
Lucy’s jaw dropped at the sight of the Temple’s flags billowing in the distance.
‘Already?!’
Part of her was bewildered.
‘Even if the Temple guards saw the Duke take me away, this is ridiculous.’
Edward was driving the carriage at what felt like an uncommonly swift pace.
He hadn’t even taken the back roads through the mountains to avoid the main route.
Yet in that brief span, they’d already pinpointed her location?
‘Did they cast Location Tracking Magic on me?’
Now that she thought about it, the notion chilled her.
‘Right. I am the only Experimental Subject left.’
Finding a new child with Holy Power would be like plucking a star from the sky.
She should have anticipated their obsession!
Lucy’s eyes began to tremble—she had no intention of becoming the Temple’s prized possession, their precious fawn to dote upon.
Tepe and Gorgo had gone equally pale.
“Your Grace. It does appear they’re coming as expected.”
“…Moving so quickly, though.”
“The numbers seem rather substantial….”
Whoosh.
As he spoke, a sharp gaze cut across the space and landed on Lucy.
‘I’m done for.’
These two had never thought much of her to begin with.
Lucy swallowed hard.
‘That look in his eyes….’
Anyone could see he was weighing whether to abandon her and leave.
“Hic.”
Perhaps it was the tension.
A hiccup erupted from Lucy’s mouth.
So violent was it that her entire body convulsed in rhythm with the sound.
Edward’s brows drew together at the sight.
‘She’ll cough up her heart at this rate.’
Already so small and fragile—shaking like a leaf over a single hiccup.
“Hic—hic! Your Grace? You’ll take her… won’t you?”
“…….”
“Your Grace, hic, please! You said you’d take her with us, didn’t you?”
Said you’d raise her! Said you’d raise her!
Lucy’s pitiful plea didn’t register with him at all.
Every time she spoke, her trembling body grated on his nerves.
‘At least she eats well enough.’
While Edward was thinking he’d need to keep feeding her properly, Lucy’s mind was reeling.
She’d managed to make her eyes as pitiful as possible and was desperately appealing.
Yet Edward didn’t seem to be hearing a single word she said.
‘Damn it.’
She should have tricked him into signing a contract first!
It was in the midst of that regret.
Tepe and Gorgo, who’d been watching Lucy with narrowed eyes, interjected.
“This woman may have been a more important Experimental Subject than we assumed.”
“What? No, I’m not!”
“We may have inadvertently pilfered a precious resource from the Temple.”
“I’m not precious, I tell you!”
“If they make a fuss, it could become troublesome for you, Your Grace.”
“I’m as weak and small and cute and useless as they come—surely there’s no one less valuable than me!”
She couldn’t let herself be abandoned like this.
Lucy clasped her hands together and fixed Edward with an imploring gaze.
Edward’s expression shifted subtly.
A cruel smile naturally curved his lips.
“If you truly believe you’re so useless, why did you hand me a Contract in the first place?”
“Hic.”
What returned was a look that demanded—how dare you lie to me.
“No, Duke, of course, hiccup, naturally!”
Beneath an air of disapproval lay a smile of unmistakable delight—one that Lucy, in her urgency, failed to notice.
“Quite, hiccup! So useful and valuable, hiccup! A splendid exist—!”
She never finished the sentence.
Edward’s hand rose to her face, cradling it gently before sealing her mouth and nose.
No force lay behind it—it didn’t hurt at all.
And yet the firmness of his palm, the simple fact that it covered half her face entirely, was enough.
‘Oh!’
Lucy froze, vertigo flooding through her.
Whether she froze or not, Edward began to squeeze her soft cheeks gently, tilting his head as he did. Then….
“Ten.”
…….
“Nine….”
He began counting aloud.
He’d heard somewhere that to stop hiccups, one need only hold one’s breath for ten seconds.
With both her nose and mouth covered, she wouldn’t be breathing anyway.
‘Any longer and I might crack something.’
She looked so small and fragile already.
And hadn’t she been trembling terribly with each hiccup?
He could tell her to hold her breath, of course….
But Edward had long since stopped explaining his actions.
It was a habit of sorts.
The longer the explanation, the more time wasted; the more time wasted, the less time to save those miserable wretches.
‘Tiresome creatures.’
Save us, help us, aren’t you a hero?
They all wanted so much yet demanded explanations with nauseating persistence.
“These men guard our nobility! Why must you send them elsewhere?”
“Why must our high priests venture into danger zones?”
“What? Jump from here? Absolutely not! I won’t move until I understand why!”
The time they wasted demanding reasons and explanations was time he could have spent outside saving one more life.
So one day, he simply began throwing anyone who wouldn’t listen—rank be damned.
Action was faster than words, after all.
Oddly enough, things became far easier after that.
“I hear the current Dragon Incarnate has no regard for anyone.”
“Such a beautiful person, yet so dangerous?”
“Well, naturally. With the instinct of a dragon, why would he care about mere humans?”
“Still, they say he protects lives reliably. Even that viscount who had his arm broken when thrown—he survived, they say….”
Everyone knew what they were thinking, even if they didn’t dare speak it aloud in his presence.
And most people had no desire to provoke a madman.
There were almost no words anyone could level at Edward, the Dragon Incarnate.
And even if resentment took root, time would see it fade into reluctant acceptance, or simple hatred harbored in silence.
Edward was neither wounded by such misunderstandings nor inclined to clarify.
‘She’ll come to understand on her own.’
Advising her to hold her breath seemed pointless; she looked the type who’d only chatter more.
So he was simply being helpful, taking matters into his own hands.
Meanwhile, Lucy’s mind had gone blank.
‘Did my chatter annoy him?’
Her thoughts spiraled toward extremes.
‘…He’s going to kill me out of irritation!’
Lucy knew all too well.
Cross the whims of the world’s strongest, temperamental madman, and there was no hope.
No matter how precious a bearer of Holy Power she was, no matter that she was a Purifier.
‘I’m terrified!’
Contrary to Edward’s intent, Lucy’s entire body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Even as his brow furrowed slightly, she forced tension into her throat.
Still, this life was too new, too fresh.
‘I can’t die like this!’
“One….”
Splash!
The moment the count plummeted to one.
Lucy squeezed her eyes shut and grasped Edward’s hand—the one covering her mouth.
She held it the way a mouse might cling to an almond offered as a treat.
……
Edward flinched and pulled his hand away from her face.
Yet Lucy’s grip on his hand remained firm, clutching it like a snack she refused to release.
‘What is this?’
Edward stood motionless, staring down at the small hand wrapped around his own.
Tepe and Gorgo, who had been watching them all along, reacted first.
“My lord!”
“Woman! Step away from the Duke at once—ugh!”
But as Gorgo moved to seize Lucy, he froze, struck by a pressure emanating from Edward’s gaze alone.
Both men felt a cold sweat trickle down their spines without warning.
‘That’s a warning to stay out of this.’
‘Is he that irritated? Does he mean to handle her himself?’
Tepe and Gorgo clenched their teeth at the ominous atmosphere.
Meanwhile, Lucy—still keeping her eyes shut, unaware of how the situation had shifted—cried out desperately.
She hadn’t even noticed that her hiccups had stopped.
“Duke, no—Master!”
……
And she slowly opened her eyes, meeting Edward’s gaze directly.
“I take back what I said about being useless.”
“You’re… taking it back?”
“Yes! I’m not just small and charming—there’s so much more to me!”
……
“My Purification is genuinely exceptional!”
So don’t kill me—take me away kindly this instant!
As Lucy pressed her point, the corner of Edward’s mouth softened.
Her hiccups stopping alone would have satisfied him.
But now this tiny creature was regaling him with even more amusing stories.
“In what way is it exceptional?”
“I can hold your hand very well!”
“What about kisses?”
“Kisses? Why would I—yes, of course I would!”
Lucy cried out desperately and broke into another smile.
To her mind, this too felt like some sort of test question.
‘Perhaps he’s testing to see how far I’ll go, how much I’m willing to sacrifice for my Purification.’
The Edward she knew was an absolute efficiency fanatic.
So maybe he was trying to gauge how prepared she was, how truly useful she could be.
Desperately needing that contract, Lucy swiftly shifted her stance.
“Will kisses be enough?”
And she shouted these words without knowing how much they would reshape the rest of her life.
“This Purifier will do anything for you!”

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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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