I Thought It Was the Monster Duke's Fake Sedative - Chapter 40

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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 40
Clara approached Lucy with gentle warmth.
“You seem worn out, so I asked them to add plenty of honey—not too bitter, I hope!”
Well. She wouldn’t have poisoned it.
Lucy accepted the Medicinal Tea and made a show of sipping it thoughtfully.
The real problem was that Clara remained her only familiar attendant.
‘Clara clearly belongs to the Dowager Duchess.’
As if to prove it, Rozendale, who stood in the corner, watched Clara and Lucy with obvious displeasure.
Lucy felt a twinge of bitterness.
‘I didn’t even drink it.’
Besides, poison wouldn’t work on her anyway, so even if it were truly there, it posed no threat.
Rozendale surely knew this.
Yet she continued to regard Lucy with that perpetual look of unease.
‘Even just now—I’ve felt it for some time.’
She clearly didn’t care for Lucy much.
At first, she’d seemed to take note of the fact that Lucy possessed Holy Power and could Purify Edward, but the matter of Lucy becoming Duchess was something else entirely.
‘Under these circumstances, I can hardly ask about whether the Temple has new test subjects.’
Not that Lucy didn’t understand.
She knew how devoted and loyal Rozendale was to Edward.
When the maddened Edward had driven out his faithful retainers, Rozendale alone had remained at his side until the very end—only to fall by Edward’s own hand.
Given as much, Rozendale’s current behavior was one of quiet discontent rather than open opposition to Lucy’s presence.
‘There’s nothing for it.’
Time would resolve the awkwardness with the other servants.
But Rozendale’s coolness—she who was among Edward’s closest confidants—was a trial for Lucy in its own right.
Meanwhile, Clara, having handed Lucy the Medicinal Tea, smiled while carefully avoiding Rozendale’s gaze.
“Does it suit your taste?”
“Yes. You’ve done well, Clara.”
“Oh, not at all. You’ve truly become the lady of the house now.”
“So it seems. Perhaps you’re prescient.”
“Not at all, my lady. But do you remember what I mentioned before? If it would please you, might I serve as your personal attendant…?”
“Ahem.”
Rozendale cut off Clara’s words with a deliberate cough.
Then she interjected, her tone measured but firm.
“Might I handle the matter of a personal attendant? As steward of the Duke’s Castle, I can select suitable maids to assist you, my lady—”
Knock, knock.
Rozendale had scarcely finished speaking.
“Steward.”
A page knocked at the reception room door and bowed his head through the opening.
“What is it?”
“The Duke has asked for you regarding the wedding budget.”
Rozendale exhaled softly once more.
Then she gave Lucy a small bow.
“I shall arrange the rest for your inspection tomorrow.”
Her expression remained distinctly unsatisfied.
Lucy shared the feeling of disappointment.
‘I was hoping that once Clara left, I’d have time to speak with Rozendale.’
Though Rozendale had subtly erected walls between them, Lucy was confident she could build a decent rapport with her.
After all, Rozendale was fundamentally a good person.
Moreover, she belonged to the Duke, just as Lucy did, so they were at least on the same side.
And Lucy had her own strategy.
‘Just as with Tephe and Gorgo—once Rozendale sees that I care for Edward, she’ll come around to my side.’
“My lady.”
“Tephe?”
Speak of the devil.
The moment the page and Rozendale vanished, Tephe poked her head into the reception room.
Tephe had completely reversed her attitude toward Lucy immediately after Edward’s marriage announcement.
And now she approached Lucy with proper deference.
“The Duke asks whether you might join him for dinner.”
“The Duke?”
“Yes. He says he must go hunt Demon Beasts now, but begs that you not be too disheartened that he cannot view the Dress with you today.”
‘It’s not as disappointing as all that.’
Lucy felt an odd flutter in her chest as she regarded Tephe.
She could have asked the attendant who’d taken Rozendale along to make the same inquiry.
It was rather typical of Edward—tasking his dedicated guard with errands that weren’t even her purview.
And Tephe, for her part, had simply accepted it without complaint and relayed the information. That was Tephe too.
‘Yes, that’s right.’
Unexpectedly, Tephe’s manner kindled a quiet confidence in Lucy.
When they’d first met, Tephe had certainly been wary, dismissive of her.
Even when the Temple’s Holy Knights had come pursuing, Tephe had looked at her as if she wanted nothing more than to abandon her.
‘But not anymore!’
Lucy had torn down Tephe’s walls with a far more potent tactic than sunny smiles—the unassailable declaration that she too loved Edward.
Gorgo had been the same.
‘And this approach will absolutely work on Rozendale too.’
Not through my charm, but by showing how utterly captivated I am by Edward’s charm, how I revere him—that’s how I’ll win her over.
With that resolve, Lucy nodded to herself.
“Yes—or rather, yes. Tell her we’ll eat together.”
“Very good.”
“Oh, and tell her it’s fine if he doesn’t look at the dresses with me.”
Even as she said it, that flutter returned.
‘What’s the point of him looking at dresses anyway?’
He wouldn’t be much help, that much was certain.
In fact, when the dresses had first arrived, Edward had dropped by for a moment to look at Lucy.
His reaction had been…
“Buy all of these from here to there.”
“Sir? Is the Duke—well, of course you are, you’re loaded!”
“I said to buy them. Is that a problem?”
“No, not at all! I’m thrilled, truly! Please don’t change your mind! But still, I should pick things that suit me…”
“You’re beautiful.”
……
“Whatever you wear, you’re beautiful, darling.”
And with those words, he’d left the costume designers absolutely reeling.
Throwing around “darling” as carelessly as Lucy once had.
Of course, since he’d proclaimed the marriage to the Temple itself, he’d have to appear as a besotted husband to outsiders, so perhaps that was the reason—
‘But why is he so damnably good at acting?’
Honestly, when he’d said those words with that look in his eyes, Lucy had nearly fainted.
‘That seductive scoundrel.’
In any case, a man who said buy everything was pleasant enough, but utterly useless when it came to actually selecting dresses.
While Lucy fanned herself and tried to cool her burning cheeks, Tephe gave a small bow.
“I shall convey your message.”
Tephe then cast a brief glance at Clara before turning to leave.
Lucy watched Tephe’s retreating figure, and was just about to stretch and retire herself
“I’ll head back to my room now…”
“…One moment, my lady!”
Clara suddenly seized Lucy’s hand.
And she broached an unexpected topic.
“While you’re choosing your wedding dress, why not look at some jewelry ahead of time?”
“Jewelry?”
‘Rozendale probably already has something arranged at the shops.’
Clara nodded, as though she’d read Lucy’s mind.
“Of course, the housekeeper will help you procure new jewelry, and you’re free to choose whatever pleases you, but—”
“Are you planning to buy some for me?”
At Lucy’s playful remark, Clara broke into a bright smile.
“No, not I. If anything, it’s the Dowager Duchess—the previous Duchess—who would be giving them to you.”
Lucy’s eyes widened for a moment.
Clara was speaking so openly about the Dowager Duchess.
‘She’s not even hiding that she’s connected to the Dowager Duchess’s faction?’
Concealing her surprise, Lucy tilted her head, and Clara continued matter-of-factly.
“It’s one of the Tesselon Marriage Traditions—the new Duchess inherits the jewelry worn by her predecessors.”
“Ah, I see.”
“I’m here to show them to you ahead of time. Since I’m doing this in secret, it must remain hidden from the Dowager Duchess and the Duke.”
“……”
“Keep an eye on what catches your fancy, and then casually mention it to the Dowager Duchess before the wedding!”
Ah.
Lucy nodded quietly.
‘So she’s drawing a line—presenting it as her own personal gift, not the Dowager Duchess’s.’
Clara clearly hadn’t noticed yet.
That she belonged to the Dowager Duchess, and that Lucy already knew it.
‘Or rather, she thinks I couldn’t possibly know.’
Her gentle features had always made her seem scatterbrained and naive.
It was the same in her past life.
‘Then I suppose I should play the part.’
Lucy blinked innocently and asked.
“I’m allowed to choose? I shouldn’t just accept whatever the Dowager Duchess selects?”
“If you express interest in something, my lady, the Dowager Duchess will certainly provide it.”
“Hmm.”
‘Of course, if you say it that way, then it must be true.’
Clara’s words were essentially the Dowager Duchess’s intentions, after all.
So she meant to offer jewelry—trying to curry favor?
As Lucy feigned indifference to process this, Clara suddenly steered toward the point.
“So… wouldn’t you like to visit the West Wing of the castle today?”

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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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