I Thought It Was the Monster Duke's Fake Sedative - Chapter 63

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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 63
‘This isn’t the time for doubt.’
It seemed she would have to confront the Pope directly and get answers.
If she stayed here like this, she’d become nothing more than a defeated soldier stripped of all attention and concern.
Crunch.
Sepina clenched her teeth.
Then she bolted from the room.
“W-wait, Sister!”
“We’re coming with you!”
“Long live Duke Edward the Divine!”
“Long live the new True Mate!”
The handmaiden whose back had been stepped on and the other flustered servants streamed out after Sepina, while the nobles cheered as though this were the Emperor’s coronation itself.
Rip.
The curtain Edward had yanked finally tore free and collapsed shut.
Flutter.
Only after the balcony’s clamor had been cut off did their lips hastily part.
“H-hah!”
Luciana, flushed crimson even across her exposed shoulders, drew in a sharp breath.
Her heart, still unable to release its tension, continued to race wildly.
Even so, the hastily improvised plan seemed to have succeeded far better than expected.
‘I think… that’s enough….’
But there was no time to savor the triumph.
“Ah!”
Edward’s hands, which had been gripping her waist firmly, lifted her effortlessly into the air.
“D-Duke!”
Her suddenly airborne body tensed and instinctively searched for something to hold, moving of its own accord.
Luciana flailed and pulled his head close to her, and in that moment, she felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
Step, step.
Edward began walking rapidly without hesitation.
In fact, at an astonishing pace.
“Wh-what?”
Even as he walked through the corridor almost at a run, Luciana’s body barely swayed in his arms.
Save for the hair that had come loose as they kissed, his formal attire remained perfectly composed.
Her admiration was short-lived.
“Duke? Where are we….”
It was as Luciana asked in bewilderment.
“Duke!”
Edward’s attendants, who had witnessed what had just transpired, rushed over with flushed faces.
They all wore expressions of conflicting emotions.
“That was truly magnificent, sir. We never suspected the lady was your True Mate….”
“And to think you’d strike so unexpectedly like that. Everything was perfect, but will the Temple really let this slide?”
“And Sepina witnessed the whole affair, so they’ll likely move into their next phase immediately. We should prepare a response without delay….”
The three men each spoke in turn.
Only then did Luciana’s mind begin to clear somewhat.
‘Right.’
It seemed she’d created rather a substantial problem.
Seeing that even these men hadn’t anticipated this, it appeared the situation had unfolded without detailed coordination among Edward’s inner circle.
They still didn’t know that she was a false True Mate he’d fabricated.
‘…Did I go too far?’
Her body instinctively shrank inward.
It seemed Edward, too, would have to enter an immediate strategy session, as his men had suggested.
It was at the moment when Luciana began to wriggle, trying to lower herself from Edward’s embrace on her own.
“Later.”
Edward cut off his attendants first.
“They’ve been caught off guard anyway, so they’ll need time to respond.”
“That may be true, but….”
“Later.”
At his words, the attendants bowed respectfully and withdrew.
Edward continued forward without hesitation, deeper into the interior.
Luciana remained cradled in his arms, her eyes growing wide.
“Your Grace, are you certain you don’t need to hold a strategy meeting right now…?”
But the moment the words left her lips, she found herself speechless at the sight of Edward’s eyes.
His gaze was so intense it seemed as though it would burn her the instant it made contact, and every bit of that intensity was pouring directly onto Luciana’s face.
“I think what matters right now is something else entirely.”
“I… I’m sorry?”
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.
Her heart, already racing, now began to pound like it had lost all restraint.
As if she already knew exactly what he was about to say.
She watched Edward’s throat move as he swallowed slowly, the motion laid bare before her eyes.
“It’s not enough.”
“What… what isn’t?”
“It’s been weeks since you received Purification.”
“Oh, that issue…?”
Luciana wasn’t sure whether what bloomed in her chest was anticipation or disappointment as she watched him.
“And.”
Edward spoke as though driving a nail into place.
“Now that we’ve finished the ring exchange ceremony and the oath kiss, there’s one more important thing left before we can truly be husband and wife.”
…….
“Don’t you think so, my love?”
Luciana’s face, already flushed beyond what should have been possible, now burned so fiercely it seemed to steam.
* * *
She had anticipated that the wedding night would happen, and she’d even written clauses into the contract to prepare for it, but….
The wedding night that existed in Luciana’s imagination was certainly not happening in broad daylight like this.
She’d expected that after the ceremony ended and the reception concluded, the sun would set in the late evening, and only then would the wedding night unfold according to the usual tedious procedures.
Rozendale and the servants would present her with some embarrassingly elaborate intimate garments, and she would reluctantly but dutifully put them on.
The bathwater and bed would be lavishly strewn with gorgeous rose petals….
In the end, only half of that came to pass.
“What? Wait, Your Grace!”
“Already?!”
Edward had burst into the bridal chamber while the servants were still in the midst of preparing it, sweeping Luciana up into his arms as he did.
The moment Edward’s crimson eyes swept across the room with an impatience that couldn’t even spare a moment for words, the servants caught the hint and fled at full speed.
What remained was less a romantic bridal chamber than the wreckage of what might have been one.
The scattered rose petals lay more on the floor than on the bed, and the candles sat unlit in the corners.
Even the bathwater remained only half-prepared.
Through the imperfectly drawn curtains, daylight poured in as though scolding them for what they dared attempt in the middle of the afternoon.
And yet her heart wouldn’t stop racing.
‘What am I going to do….’
Rip.
Even amid the chaos, she could hear something being torn—no, pulled—away from her head with perfect clarity.
It was the sound of Edward tearing the white veil from her hair as if rending fabric.
Even as excitement and nervousness flooded through her, Luciana couldn’t help but feel a pang of loss, and she thrust her lips out slightly in protest.
“C-couldn’t you remove it more… carefully?”
That was expensive.
…….
But for whatever reason, that remark seemed to strike something within him.
Edward’s throat moved in a slow, deliberate swallow.
“So.”
“Yes?”
“You were waiting for me to undress you.”
Did it work that way?!
She had no time to respond.
Without even bothering to wash, Edward stepped directly into the bathroom.
Though the bathroom was cold and not yet fully prepared, her skin prickled with goosebumps all the more because of it.
The cool air felt far more acute against skin that had already begun to burn with heat.
Luciana’s toes curled involuntarily.
Edward set her down slowly on the floor, then brought his hands directly to the buttons at the back of her dress.
Gasp!
Luciana flinched, squeezing her eyes shut and holding her breath, while Edward gritted his teeth as he held the buttons in place.
A sharp exhale.
He wanted nothing more than to tear the buttons away all at once and finally see the body he’d only ever imagined….
‘What a waste.’
It truly felt like a waste.
Even the candies she’d stolen and hoarded as a child never made her feel quite this way.
Because of it, Edward’s hand lingered endlessly over the pearl-studded buttons.
His eyes traced the exposed curve of her neck.
The delicate line of Luciana’s spine dropping straight down, the shoulder blades barely visible beneath—utterly tempting.
Even the precious downy hair sprouting across her skin was maddening.
‘Damn it.’
Edward cursed silently beneath his breath, hovering over the buttons unable to do this or that, when
Luciana—still holding her nose, eyes shut—tilted her head.
‘She asked me to undress her gently, but….’
This wasn’t gentle. This was impossibly, unbearably slow.
The main act hadn’t even begun, and here he was, still fussing with buttons.
A chill suddenly coiled in her belly.
‘…What if he’s changed his mind?’
Perhaps this R-rated male protagonist, suddenly realizing he had no desire for a woman who wasn’t the heroine, had just come to his senses.
So Luciana ventured carefully, “Um… Your Grace.”
“What.”
“…Shall I undress instead?”
If he said no, she’d understand his mind had truly changed and would stop.
But that question did the opposite of what she intended.
It short-circuited Edward’s mind entirely.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
A vicious sound tore from his back.
Edward, seized by blind instinct, clenched his fist so hard the buttons crumpled in his palm.
Luciana gasped.
“No, I didn’t mean—I mean, yes. Wedding dresses have complicated buttons and so many details to worry about. Take your time, I’m in no rus—”
Her stammering words stretched on endlessly, taut with tension.
Rrrip.
“……!”
The expensive dress tore as the remaining buttons were violently torn away, and the cool air of the bathroom swept across Luciana’s back.
“Hic!”
A hiccup burst from her lips.
Smack.
Hot, fervent breath descended against her neck with a wet sound.

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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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