I Thought It Was the Monster Duke's Fake Sedative - Chapter 38

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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 38
Hic.
Lucy barely suppressed a hiccup at the force of it, gritting her teeth against the reflex.
Then she clenched both fists and looked up at Edward with the most pitiful expression she could muster.
“Please? Yes?”
……
So, on the day Edward and Lucy made their bombshell announcement to the priest about their marriage.
The Duke’s Mansion erupted into chaos, as it naturally would.
“Marriage?! So the Duke finally married Sepina after all—”
“No! The Duke’s bride isn’t Sepina!”
“What? Then who?”
“It’s that girl he brought back before!”
“And that’s not even the end! Apparently he’s already expecting a Young Duke!”
“What?!”
Before Lucy could even correct them, the rumor that she was already carrying the Young Duke spread from Tepe’s lips like wildfire through the entire mansion.
“You mustn’t exert yourself so while carrying the Young Duke.”
“I haven’t actually conceived yet—I just did the deed that could lead to conception. Tepe? Why are you suddenly speaking so formally all of a sudden?”
“Allow me to assist you.”
“Wait. Gorgo. I can walk just fine, can’t I? Why are you taking the carrying position—”
Lucy had to endure not only the stares of everyone around her, but also Tepe’s doting fuss over her supposedly gravid state and Gorgo’s wordless flurry of oversolicitous action.
“Another man’s back? If anyone’s going to carry her, shouldn’t it be her husband, darling?”
……
“All of you, what are you standing around for? You’re exhausting my wife.”
Of course, they were soon routed by Edward—who scooped Lucy into his arms and declared she be left alone—much to their chagrin.
Lucy found herself sweating profusely.
“Your Grace, everyone thinks I’m already carrying the Young Duke. What am I supposed to do?”
“Enjoy it.”
And so, with Edward’s response, the burden of clarification fell squarely on Lucy’s shoulders.
Over the following days, Lucy had to go about personally explaining to everyone, her face burning the whole time, that she hadn’t actually conceived—she’d merely done the deed that could lead to conception.
‘Though really, it was just a kiss.’
The shame, at least, belonged to Lucy alone.
In any case, though they managed to clean up the aftermath somehow, there was one thing Lucy simply couldn’t compromise on.
And that was this particular clause in the Marriage Contract.
“Why do we need something like this anyway?”
“You might not understand, Your Grace, but this is a truly crucial clause!”
For nearly a week now, because of this single clause, Lucy and Edward had announced their marriage to the Temple but couldn’t even sign the marriage certificate—locked in what could only be called a battle of wills.
“Why is it so crucial?”
Edward asked, making no effort to hide his irritation.
The reason this clause was so important was, of course—
‘I need a safety mechanism!’
Lucy was increasingly bracing herself for the ‘what if.’
‘…Honestly, I’m losing my nerve!’
That self-confidence of hers—the kind that insisted she wouldn’t give in if Edward tried to seduce her—it was crumbling.
She’d been certain that she’d never set foot in a marriage bed, not even if the male lead had to be castrated for it—
But Lucy, staring into Edward’s gaze that still struck her as dangerously tempting, had to admit defeat.
Moreover, the Temple would be watching with fervent eyes, and as a married couple they’d naturally be expected to do certain things, so she couldn’t exactly claim they wouldn’t share a room.
‘The probability of giving in to temptation just doubled!’
And on top of that, the wedding night was supposed to be some grand, intoxicating affair.
When the heroine and hero enter their chamber, rose petals are scattered across the bed, and the servants prepare risqué undergarments for the heroine.
In such an atmosphere, if Edward brought up Purification, Lucy would pretend not to be able to resist.
‘…And what if he kissed me then?!’
The two kisses Lucy had shared with Edward still lingered vividly in her mind.
Or rather, one kiss and one deeper kiss, to be precise.
‘It did feel good…’
Never mind not tangling deeply with the male lead.
She’d already kissed him deeply, their tongues intertwined, and shockingly, it had felt wonderful.
Exactly what one would expect from a man who’d been intimate with Sepina and left her hands burning so intensely.
With the mature-content concept of Mucosal Purification added to the mix.
Lucy could still vividly recall the moments when Edward’s tongue swept through her mouth so snugly that her reason flew away in real time.
The throb and wetness between her legs, and how she’d helplessly found herself wanting more.
She found herself wishing Edward’s large hands would touch not just her thighs, but the hardened peaks of her breasts and the damp crevice between her legs.
When his tongue pushed deep into the narrow passage of her throat, repeating its motion in and out, it stopped feeling like a kiss altogether.
And this was the first time she’d ever kissed anyone—across both her past life and this one.
‘I don’t think I was the only one feeling that way.’
Edward hadn’t seemed to dislike it either, she was certain.
If anything, when she recalled his unfocused crimson eyes hazily half-lidded, he’d almost looked like he was enjoying himself.
The thought sent a small flutter through her chest, and she felt once more that this clause was absolutely necessary.
If it felt good for both of them!
‘Things are going to get out of hand during Purification—I know they will!’
Even if, as Edward had said, it was merely Purification.
Once reason fled, she couldn’t guarantee what might happen between them.
If this breathtakingly beautiful rake asked her to kiss him again, how could someone of her modest means refuse?
Not that she was hoping for anything specific, of course.
‘Right?’
The real problem was what would happen later, when the heroine appeared.
‘Though there’s no telling if she will.’
In the original work, the heroine and Edward barely crossed paths at all.
By that logic, it would indeed be difficult to encounter the heroine easily.
‘But I’m bound to get involved anyway.’
To find the heroine.
Becoming a duchess hardly seemed like the time to start fixing a story that was already broken.
It was just that…
‘…it’s like feeling the same sympathy a victim feels for another victim.’
The Temple, having lost its sole experimental subject, would be frantic to find another.
There was no way to ignore the possibility that the heroine could be captured in that process.
Lucy, at least, didn’t want her to suffer in the Temple Basement in her place.
‘I know all too well how terrible such a life is.’
In the Shelter. In the Temple Basement.
Trapped in a dark, moldy solitary cell, being exploited and slowly dying.
Never eating properly, never sleeping, beaten and insulted.
Without the freedom to go anywhere, eventually ending life in that dark underground.
‘…Whether it’s the heroine or anyone else.’
Such things should never be allowed to happen.
‘So I need to get her out.’
That was why she planned to ask Rozendale or the Information Guild—those connected to Edward—to check if any new experimental subjects had been brought into the Temple recently.
They would surely have an intelligence network at their disposal.
Since she’d decided not to turn a blind eye, there was still a chance Edward might meet the heroine.
What if Edward developed the obsessive cleanliness typical of the male lead in mature romance tropes?
What if, before meeting the heroine, he wanted to kill every other woman he’d been with?
She was prepared to give him a clean, simple divorce if that was what he wanted, and she wouldn’t drag things out or create complications.
Tap-tap.
Lucy gently pushed away the strange, sharp sensation that crossed her chest.
She mustn’t think of Edward’s hands wrapped around her shoulders and lower belly, or his beautiful lips that had stolen her very soul.
‘In any case, if I secure legal protections in advance, I can at least save my own life.’
At the very least, she’d buy herself enough time to escape before the Temple could track her down.
Edward had written Lucy’s portion of the property generously into the Marriage Contract, making it possible for her to divorce and flee to another continent afterward.
Most of the clauses she’d requested had been reflected in the agreement.
Yet after being so cooperative.
Now, suddenly, Edward was raising objections to an additional clause—and she couldn’t fathom why.
“Consider it, sir. It’s hardly unfavorable for the Duke…”
“Why, Lucy?”
It was then.
“Yes?”
“We…”
Edward slowly licked the inside of his cheek with his tongue.
As if something dark had twisted in his mood.
“We seem to be planning our separation before we’ve even married.”
“That’s…”
Isn’t it only natural?
Lucy swallowed the words she’d been about to speak.
At least she had the sense to know this wasn’t the moment to say such things.
‘Besides, he’s the one who impulsively suggested marriage in the first place.’
Hadn’t Edward made a spur-of-the-moment decision too?
If anything, it was remarkable that he’d gone through with it so readily.
She’d certainly gained a safety net out of it—that part was wonderful—but honestly, he could have just pretended to be her lover and that would have sufficed.
‘Was Purification really so urgent?’
And yet thinking only that way felt off somehow.
Lucy was evasively rolling her eyes to dodge the question when he spoke.
A brilliant, intense smile aimed directly at her.
“I like people who are greedy.”
Lucy answered in sync with her instincts.
“…Well, that’s practically the definition of an ambitious schemer!”
“An ambitious schemer?”
“Yes! And such an ambitious one that….”
“That I’d cling to you for life and suck you dry, is that it?”
“…What?”
Lucy’s eyes widened at the unexpected words.
“That I’d sink my teeth into your very marrow and drain you steadily until death?”
Edward’s smile deepened further.
“Say it, Lucy.”
At that, Lucy’s words caught in her throat.

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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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