I Thought It Was the Monster Duke's Fake Sedative - Chapter 33

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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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Chapter 33
Of all places, it had to be the Temple.
Under normal circumstances, he would have dismissed the Temple, the Emperor, all of it.
But Lucy happened to be at the Duke’s Castle.
The Temple’s experimental subject—precisely what they were searching for.
“Go. Now.”
He had no choice but to hand Lucy over to Gorge and send her away.
After watching Lucy’s retreating figure fade from view, he made his way to the Reception Room, where the Priest was already waiting.
“My, how long I’ve waited. Is this how the Duke’s Castle treats its guests?”
“Curious. The usually quiet Territorial Priest flapping his mouth—our servants must have been far too hospitable.”
“I—if you remember how close the Previous Duke was to the Temple, then surely, Edward, you wouldn’t treat me this way…”
“So. What brings you?”
“Why, that should be obvious!”
Even as he spoke with swelling pride, the Priest’s eyes kept darting nervously toward Edward. He pressed two demands.
First: the return of the Temple’s experimental subject whom Edward had taken—Lucy.
It was no surprise; Edward had anticipated as much.
But the second demand was the problem.
“Ahem! The second is inscribed in an Imperial Decree sent from the throne.”
It was the contents of that decree which troubled him.
[I hereby command you to marry a lady of Temple origin, one capable of purifying you, Edward of House Tetheron.
This is an Imperial Order, issued in my name.]
Before Edward had finished the first sentence, a hollow laugh spilled from his lips.
The Emperor had even seen fit to spell out his reasoning in detail.
[Of late, I received word from the Northern Gate.
Upon hearing this, it strikes me that having only one Incarnation poses a grave threat to the Empire’s welfare.
Who knows when you might depart for the Demon Realm?
The Demons grow bolder by the day—I should prefer the next Incarnation be born with all haste.]
As if an Incarnation’s child were guaranteed to be born an Incarnation.
It was a letter of sheer presumption, treating him less like a human being and more like breeding stock.
‘Depart for the Demon Realm at any moment,’ he thought.
The notion was absurd.
Whatever tales had reached the Emperor’s ears, he was speaking as though Edward would abandon his duties as Incarnation and flee to the Demon Realm on a whim.
The theory that an Incarnation could open the Demon Realm’s gate rested solely on the fact that Dragon Blood flowed through their veins—nothing more than theoretical speculation.
Even if it were possible in practice, no Incarnation had ever attempted it.
And as for himself…
‘Utter nonsense. Complete and utter nonsense.’
He had half a mind to ride back to the Capital and level the Imperial Palace—but this was an Imperial Order.
To refuse was to commit Treason, and no matter how distinguished the house, the stain would be inescapable.
The Emperor’s game was transparent.
He always pretended to defer to Edward, made a show of hearing him out—
But the moment Edward refused this marriage proposal, the Emperor would openly withdraw his favor and threaten him from all quarters.
As Edward’s attendants reading the decree stiffened, the Priest’s face broke into a smug grin and he pressed on.
“Sepina has been waiting for this a long time… Gack!”
Before he could finish, he was bodily ejected from the Reception Room.
And now he continued to air his grievances in the corridor outside.
“It’s an inevitable marriage anyway, sir! Why not accept?”
……
“All the Empire knows Sepina and you are to be wed…!”
“How tiresome. Shall I have you dragged out by your collar?”
Shing.
Tepe finally drew his blade, only for Rozendale to quietly raise a hand and stay him.
Edward still stood there, smiling crookedly, fanning the Imperial Decree back and forth.
He could guess who had filled the Emperor’s head with nonsense.
‘The Temple… the Pope, naturally.’
That cunning old fox.
Since the Emperor possessed his own sly streak, the two understood each other perfectly.
‘Drawing out an Imperial Order like this… the Emperor must see it as a golden opportunity.’
A chance to mediate a marriage with Sepina, thereby keeping Edward in check while simultaneously binding the Temple to the throne with a great debt.
“So this is how he means to play it.”
The attendants gathered around Edward added their own remarks to his muttering.
“Your Grace. You needn’t force yourself to agree.”
“Precisely. Tetheron Territory can sustain itself without aid from the Capital, can it not?”
“I shall devise means to buy us time, however I can.”
Those gathered here knew well that Edward did not favor Sepina.
They also knew the Temple was using Sepina to tighten its leash around Edward’s neck.
Edward studied these people who would feign death itself in his service.
They spoke with resolve, yet…
‘Not for the common folk of the territory.’
Though he had not ascended to this position by choice, he was a duke and a lord, and his life could not be wholly separated from theirs.
If the territory faltered, neither could those he kept close to his side remain unscathed.
‘What am I to do?’
Edward was slowly rolling his eyes over the Imperial Decree again when it happened.
[I shall command you to marry a young lady of the Temple, one capable of purifying you, Edward le Duke of Tetheron.]
“…….”
That sentence pressed itself into his sight once more.
If they called her a saint outright, Sepina’s request would become embarrassingly obvious, so they had cloaked it in euphemism….
‘…but there is another.’
A young lady of the Temple.
There was one other person beside him who met this condition.
The small mouse Edward had scooped up on a whim….
“…You!”
It was then that the Priest outside raised his voice in a thunderous shout.
* * *
Lucy went rigid at the sudden outburst.
Clara, too, looked bewildered, her gaze darting between the Priest and Lucy.
“Young lady?”
In the meantime, the Priest had drawn nearer, his eyes gleaming.
For the Priest, this was an opportunity that could not be allowed to slip away.
‘This is a task the Pope entrusted to me with his confidence!’
Until just a moment ago, the Priest had been consumed by indignation.
The Temple in Tetheron Territory held far less power than elsewhere.
While lords’ castles typically housed a temple chapel, even that much was absent here.
All because the territory possessed an Incarnation.
The people relied on the dragon far more than on the Temple’s god and priests.
Though it had not always been so.
‘The current duke is needlessly arrogant.’
The Previous Duke had been different.
The Priest clicked his tongue, recalling the Previous Duke—severe yet exemplary.
When he had held the title, the Temple maintained quite intimate relations with Tetheron Territory.
‘Though he lacked the dragon’s power, he was a decent duke.’
Rather, it was precisely because he lacked the dragon’s power that he treated the Temple with proper respect.
He knew how to yield when fitting and possessed genuine humility.
Now Tetheron held the only Incarnation in the entire Empire, yet the house had not always produced Incarnations.
Compared to other noble families, it had gone a remarkably long time without birthing one.
The last Incarnation of Tetheron before Edward had been born two hundred years ago.
Even that Incarnation had failed to wield the dragon’s power properly, dying before his tenth year.
So when Edward appeared in society like a comet at age ten and was introduced as a new dragon Incarnation, all were astonished.
According to the Previous Duke, Incarnations had become so rare of late that they kept him hidden and sheltered for fear of danger.
Moreover, since their last Incarnation had not lived to see his tenth year, they took every precaution.
Now Edward had reached ten years of age, and with the conviction that he was a powerful Incarnation, they had felt secure enough to present him to the world.
Everyone nodded at this explanation and called Edward the Miracle of Tetheron.
Indeed, at merely ten years old, Edward was already powerful enough to overshadow all previous Incarnations.
In any case, before this new Incarnation emerged, the house of Tetheron—whose influence had been steadily waning—had actively cooperated with the Temple.
Sometimes they made substantial donations to aid the Temple’s endeavors, and once they even secretly funded certain experiments.
Experiments the Temple kept strictly confidential from the public.
‘And in exchange, they received any number of results.’

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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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