I Thought It Was the Monster Duke's Fake Sedative - Chapter 30

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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 30
“Rather drab for someone we were expecting, I must say.”
“The Duke of Edward himself brought her, or so I heard—I wondered what sort of remarkable woman he could have in tow, only to find… this.”
A sharp click of the tongue echoed through the third-floor parlor overlooking the Training Grounds.
The lavishly dressed gathered there shook their heads, their voices layering one atop another.
“The Duke does keep her rather close, doesn’t he?”
“He’s even put her in a storage room attached to his own chambers, or so they say. And she shares the bath with him.”
At this, the sound of disapproving tongue-clicking grew sharper still.
“Well, I never knew him to be that sort of man.”
“And he sets aside the saintly Sefina for this? To indulge his base appetites?”
“What on earth could he possibly see in a woman like that?”
Dissatisfied eyes swept over Lucy, who trailed after Gorgo with uncertain steps.
A middle-aged man among them, his smile crude and unpleasant, spoke up.
“Who can say? When she arrived she looked like a vagrant, but now that she’s been cleaned up, her face is rather pretty, actually.”
“Hmm.”
“Perhaps she’s a seductress hiding beneath that plain exterior—or undressed, she might prove quite extraordinary.”
Just as the men around him began to wear similarly vulgar smiles—
“How revolting.”
A cold voice cut through the room, and everyone froze.
It was a tone every bit as chill and commanding as Edward’s own.
“One would think there were only men in this house.”
“Y-Your Grace, that isn’t what we meant—”
“You dare speak such filth in my presence and forget I am here? A mere viscount?”
“That is—!”
“Remove him.”
“Your Grace!”
The man who had been giggling obscenely was dragged away protesting.
What became of him afterward, only the mercenaries in the back alleys would know.
Those who remained wiped cold sweat from their brows, watching the woman who rose from the corner with sidelong glances.
Though age had silvered her golden hair in patches, traces of its former radiance remained—an elegant woman of distinguished bearing.
She was the Dowager Duchess of Teseron, widow of the late Duke.
She swept her gaze over those assembled before speaking.
“Why have we gathered here?”
“Well, that is—”
“Is it not to make sound judgments on behalf of a Duke who has grown… clouded in his reasoning?”
Some nodded, though none among them were foolish enough to believe this polished excuse.
Those gathered here were retainers who had held power in the late Duke’s time.
Now they had been sidelined by Edward, treated as relics of the past, and had formed their own faction in the shadows.
Yet whatever authority they once possessed had crumbled—every last piece now lay in Edward’s hands.
“Blast it all. The moment the old Duke passed, everything fell to pieces like this.”
“We are not so decrepit that we’ll be shut away in some corner!”
With the Dowager Duchess as their rallying point, they kept their eyes sharp for Edward’s every move, grasping at any chance to reclaim their lost power.
The Dowager Duchess in particular was desperate to reclaim her position as the lady of the household.
And then this woman had arrived.
A few retainers began to speak, feigning concern for Edward.
“Keeping such a woman at his side will surely damage the Duke’s reputation.”
“As it stands, the Duke has a habit—no, a frequent habit—of behaving brutishly toward the nobility, so opinions are already divided among the aristocracy.”
Those who clicked their tongues in exaggerated disapproval chorused their agreement.
“Should a vagrant woman like that have even been allowed past the front gate?”
“And Rozendale, that woman—no, the steward, is too slow-witted to offer the Duke sound counsel when it matters.”
“Besides, we hear that an envoy from the Temple is here now, isn’t it?”
This too was among the matters they had been discussing gravely.
The Temple had sent an envoy.
Moreover, one bearing an Imperial Decree from the Emperor himself.
This meant that not only the Temple but the Emperor as well had taken a hand in whatever had arrived.
‘Whatever it is, it cannot be refused lightly.’
If Edward could be brought to heel, it would serve their interests well.
While he was constrained by the Emperor and the Temple, unable to move as he pleased, they might yet regain their influence.
But if that woman became an obstacle, things would be different.
“What if the Temple’s envoy catches sight of that woman! What then?”
“If she took it as an insult directed at Sefina… the exchange between Teseron and the Temple could come to a complete halt!”
Most of those present had profited from dealings with the Temple, and they were quick to voice their agreement in the swelling excitement.
“No.”
“Dowager Duchess?”
“He’s always been wooden anyway. Look at how he treats that woman.”
The Dowager Duchess of Teseron’s lips curved upward instead, as if pleased.
The Temple would never cast Edward out now, having only recently invested in him.
The Dowager Duchess knew that Sefina had wanted Edward for a long time.
If anything, they would move to remove this woman.
And if, by some chance in that process, Edward revealed how precious she was to him….
The Dowager Duchess’s smile deepened further.
“Perhaps it’s because you gentlemen are men—you’re all emotion and hot temper.”
“…….”
“Wouldn’t it be better to bring that lowborn woman to our side instead?”
Her retainers’ eyes widened in surprise, but the Dowager Duchess continued with confidence.
“A creature this lowborn is easier to control than a saint like Sefina.”
“…….”
“It’s obvious—they’re the sort who presume to reach for what they shouldn’t have. Give them a few coins or treat them well, and they’ll spill everything they know without suspicion.”
The retainers exchanged glances at her words.
“True. She is the woman closest to the Duke.”
“With the right persuasion, she could prove quite useful.”
“And she could serve as a hostage for us as well.”
The Dowager Duchess smiled, satisfied with her reasoning.
‘At last.’
That ungrateful wretch who’d locked her away had finally acquired something precious.
For the Dowager Duchess, Edward’s lack of such vulnerabilities had long been a persistent problem.
‘The more one holds dear, the more weaknesses one creates.’
Until recently, Edward had possessed nothing that could be leveraged against him.
She’d begun to wonder if they would all simply rot away in confinement until life’s end.
Whatever his reasoning, he had finally acquired something.
‘And of all things, some common dredge from who knows where.’
The tastes of that couple’s creation were certainly peculiar.
‘Though I wonder how dearly he holds her.’
Even if he didn’t hold her particularly dear, there was still utility in her.
To look at her—small and timid—with just the right approach, she seemed the sort who would happily report Edward’s secrets, a little mouse waiting to be manipulated.
Besides, it was still early days since she’d arrived at the estate.
She had no trustworthy attendants, no grasp of the atmosphere yet.
‘I must secure her now.’
As the Dowager Duchess finished her calculations, several of her timid retainers shifted uncertainly.
“But Dowager Duchess, if that woman happens to be unexpectedly cautious, what should we….”
Snap.
The Dowager Duchess flicked her finger without bothering to hear them out.
A shadow rippled at the back of the room.
“Dowager Duchess.”
“You know what needs to be done.”
“Yes.”
“If you fail to accomplish this properly….”
“…I shall bear it in mind.”
The bowed shadow clenched a scarred hand tightly.
As the shadow departed with a bow, the Dowager Duchess’s smile grew darker still.
* * *
Several hours later.
Rustle, rustle.
Deep within the sprawling Great Library of Teseron Duchy Castle.
Lucy sat sunken into a chair that resembled a beanbag, her brow furrowed as she turned the pages.
Having scrubbed clean in Edward’s bath, her hair still damp, she carried the same scent as Edward.
…Edward, who would have been pleased to see her like this, was nowhere to be found.
Around her lay stacks of books as tall as she was.
All of them concerned the Dragon Incarnation and Holy Power.
Lucy studied the pages with a serious expression, her lips jutting out slightly as she muttered to herself.
“…So, if you use too much Holy Power all at once, you could pass out.”

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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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