I Thought It Was the Monster Duke's Fake Sedative - Chapter 76

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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 76
‘…I’m thinking about Edward.’
It felt as though her true thoughts had been laid bare.
For some reason, her mood had turned sour, and Luciana puffed out her cheeks.
“On what grounds?”
“Well, that’s why you’ve come to the Library again to research the ritual….”
“There’s nothing else to do, and besides—it’s part of the contract.”
“Come now, don’t say that….”
“You ought to ease up yourself, Teppe.”
And she let out a short sigh.
“Suddenly bringing up Edward’s childhood—that was quite abrupt.”
“Was it really so unexpected?”
“No matter how I look at it, it’s a sensitive topic. I don’t think you shared it because you truly trust me, and I doubt Edward would have approved.”
……
“I’m certain you said it of your own accord. To make me feel sympathy for him.”
At her sharp observation, Teppe’s words faltered.
“Why would I….”
“It’s been quite some time since Edward last received Purification, hasn’t it?”
This time, Luciana had struck the heart of the matter.
Teppe’s expression showed he’d been caught, then he quickly changed the subject.
“No, well… since you mentioned the contract, I recall that purifying Edward is also part of our agreement….”
Watching Teppe’s reaction, Luciana bit back a sigh.
‘I see. He really did bring up something so personal.’
After all, Teppe had shared those details for Edward’s sake alone.
‘Not because he wanted me to understand Edward better.’
A certain clarity had come to her.
She’d newly grasped that, to his retinue, she ranked below Edward.
So it seemed wiser to concern herself with her own future rather than Edward’s.
“I’ll do it when the time comes.”
“But lately Edward has been going on hunts more often than before… it would be better if you performed it regularly.”
“That’s a lie. It’s been quite some time since he last went hunting, using confinement as an excuse.”
“Even so….”
“Besides, he won’t need it for some time anyway.”
She hadn’t said this without reason.
Until just before this, they’d touched each other every night and purified an enormous amount of Corruption.
At the same time, memories of the indecent things she’d done with him threatened to surface, so Luciana quickly steered her thoughts elsewhere.
To that secret chamber, now vanished.
‘What was that room’s purpose?’
She wanted nothing more than to rush to the Grand Lady and pry out every detail….
“My lady.”
It was then that Sophie entered the Library, her expression troubled.
“What is it, Sophie?”
“Well, the Grand Lady….”
How convenient—she’d just been thinking of the Grand Lady.
Luciana looked up at Sophie.
“What about her? Is she ill?”
She’d noticed the Grand Lady hadn’t been seen in a while, and now she’d heard the woman had been driven out of the Duchy altogether.
Recalling their last encounter, it wouldn’t have been surprising if she’d taken to her bed in a fit of rage.
Still, if the Grand Lady died from illness brought on by quarreling with her son, Edward’s reputation would suffer….
Without thinking, Luciana found herself worried about Edward again, and she bit the inside of her cheek.
Meanwhile, in response to Luciana’s question, Sophie slowly shook her head.
“…I was hoping not to deliver this.”
And with an expression of considerable distress, she extended something toward Luciana.
It was a neatly folded envelope.
“If I didn’t, she seemed prepared to come find you herself… so I promised I would deliver it after all.”
“Mm.”
“But you need not read it, truly. Even if you ignore it, no one will say anything to you about it….”
“It’s fine.”
Whoosh.
Having said that, Luciana immediately tore open the envelope without hesitation.
“……”
She tilted her head, puzzling over what was written there.
“My lady? Did the Grand Lady perhaps send you some sort of curse letter?”
“No, it’s not that.”
To Sophie, who fretted anxiously, and to Teppe, whose expression had grown rigid, Luciana casually unfolded the paper from inside the envelope.
“See, the thing is—”
* * *
“…She’s asking whether I might host a banquet.”
Shing.
Edward’s cold voice cut through the air in time with a bead of sweat falling from his brow.
“She talks nonsense while confined to her quarters like a prisoner.”
Gorgo, standing in the corner of the Training Grounds with a towel in hand, nodded carefully.
“There must be some scheme behind it.”
Shing-crack!
The moment Gorgo finished speaking, another sharp sound split the air.
It was the sound of Edward’s blade—the one-thousand-and-first stroke since dawn—cleaving through empty space without a tremor.
This habit of his, wielding the sword so relentlessly, emerged whenever Edward’s mind grew turbulent.
Gorgo, knowing this well, pressed on rather than urging him to stop.
“By asking my lady whether she might host it instead of stepping out herself, the Grand Lady was making quite a calculated move, I’d wager.”
Twitch.
At the word ‘my lady,’ the one-thousand-and-second stroke wavered for the first time, the blade veering slightly off course.
Before Edward could even click his tongue at this first slip, Gorgo spoke again.
“What’s surprising, if I may say so, is that my lady actually accepted the proposal—and now the banquet truly will be held.”
Boom!
The instant Gorgo finished, fireworks burst in the Main Hall not far away.
It was the sound of preparations underway to receive the Northern Region’s retainers and allies who would soon pour into the Duchy.
And indeed—before there was even time to object, the banquet had begun to take shape.
“Sigh.”
Edward exhaled sharply and dropped the blade he’d been wielding, as though hurling it away.
‘I never thought it would come to this.’
A few weeks earlier.
Edward had received the Grand Lady’s letter several hours before Luciana did.
After being silent as a ghost all this time, she suddenly proposed a banquet—suggesting that he host one.
The pretext seemed sound enough.
[As a mother, I offer you this counsel, Your Grace.
For the sake of your retainers and neighboring allies alike, you must now hold a grand celebration honoring your marriage. And you must emphasize that you did not intentionally exclude them from your wedding ceremony….]
On the surface, it was impeccable logic.
Among those retainers and allies were indeed men who had helped Edward establish his footing as Duke.
If they harbored resentment and refused to watch over Tesseron while Edward was away, there was no guarantee what might happen in his domain.
Without hesitation, Edward had refused the request.
‘I know what that woman is capable of.’
A banquet would be nothing but a pretext.
The Grand Lady—who had attempted such vile deeds against Luciana even before the wedding—would never stop there.
If she had a banquet as her excuse to fill the Duchy with strangers, he could not guarantee Luciana’s safety.
For Luciana’s sake, the banquet was best left unhold.
The problem was….
“Your Grace, I—”
“What is it? And straighten your posture. Gorgo, your discipline is slipping too….”
“It appears the Grand Lady has also contacted my lady.”
“Wretched scheming.”
“…And my lady has apparently decided to hold the banquet.”
“…What?”
Luciana had suddenly declared that she would hold the banquet herself.
Edward, who had not exchanged a single word with Luciana all this while, finally made his way to the Library that day to see her.
He meant to explain, point by point, why this banquet must not be held, and to persuade her to cancel it.
It seemed Luciana—capable yet harboring quiet fears and an innocent streak—might have felt some unnecessary pity for the Grand Lady and decided to hold the banquet for that reason.
And then….
Splat!
“I told you to stop talking! I said no more, didn’t I?!”
“Ah, ow! Ow!”
From a distance, he caught sight of Luciana casually striking Teppe’s forearm in a gesture of familiarity.
In that instant, something twisted inside him, and a bitter sense of betrayal rose to his throat.
‘She touches another man without hesitation?’
…And yet she no longer presses her skin against his.
With resentment already taking root in his chest, there was no hope the conversation would flow smoothly.
“Oh, your Grace? What brings you here… Are you finally ready to reconcile…?”
“…Teppe. Tell my wife—no, the Duchess—that this banquet is to be cancelled.”
“Pardon? But my lady is standing right here. Why would you tell me?”
“Teppe. Tell the Duke that this banquet is absolutely necessary.”
“But that’s exactly why I don’t understand—”
“Teppe. Tell him the Grand Lady might be plotting something.”
“Teppe. The allied nations coming to this banquet will bring local delicacies as gifts—and they’re essential for the Fire God Ritual. Make sure he knows that.”
“Teppe. That ritual….”
“…And if he’s about to say again that he doesn’t expect it and doesn’t need it, just tell him to go ahead and leave, would you?”
Then she turned and walked away, and he found himself utterly unable to hold her back.
In his mind, fragments of the shattered Black Pearl drifted like ash.
Those dark splinters were the reason Edward could not bring himself to speak to Luciana all this time.
‘…Black is the color of death, isn’t it?’
The words that the merchant—a man whose temperament had displeased him—had uttered without hesitation now unsettled his thoughts.
If those words held truth, then Luciana’s heart toward him had died completely.
Because of that one incident alone.
Edward’s mood darkened further still.

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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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