I Thought It Was the Monster Duke's Fake Sedative - Chapter 82

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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 82
Her anger hadn’t truly dissipated from what happened moments before.
But Rozendale had thought the same thing Luciana had.
‘There’s nothing to gain from appearing at odds in front of others.’
A fight was a fight, but this was something else entirely.
And since this was her first reception, all the more reason to keep up appearances.
‘…We’ll settle this properly once the reception ends.’
And from that decision came a small, unconscious gesture—one that left Edward’s mind utterly blank.
…….
For only a moment did he lose himself in the small warmth clinging to his arm.
She’d linked her arm through his, their bodies pressed close, and her breast brushed against his elbow.
The very same breast he’d been so thoroughly touching, biting, and sucking just moments before.
His Adam’s apple bobbed involuntarily, and he swallowed hard.
But Luciana remained infuriatingly composed.
“Tell me which guests warrant the most caution.”
“Yes. Among those of concern, the list includes….”
Edward kept his gaze fixed on the back of Luciana’s head as she diligently reviewed the guest roster, unwilling to look her in the eye.
“The guests have arrived!”
A servant’s booming voice rang out from beyond the doors.
Luciana gave a small start but didn’t release her hold on his arm.
Instead, as if to remind him to compose himself, she gripped it a fraction tighter.
‘Damn it.’
She’d emerged from the washroom not long ago, and he’d gone in after her to clean up in his own way.
“Get yourself together.”
…….
“You said you wouldn’t ruin this.”
The way she held his arm as she chided him, with a tenderness that made his chest ache….
Heat flooded his throat until reason scattered like dust in the wind.
* * *
Edward’s reason finally returned several hours later.
It came back as he drifted numbly through the hall, having finished greeting an endless stream of guests.
“This reception is truly magnificent, Duke of Teseron.”
“It’s an honor to receive such an invitation to the first reception held in Teseron since your assumption of the dukedom.”
The assembled guests ventured to address him, one after another.
‘Strange. This isn’t what I heard.’
‘They said he had a vicious temperament. Was that only limited to the Capital nobility?’
Unlike the dark rumors circulating about Edward, he’d greeted them all with considerable kindness.
“…He’s unusually quiet today.”
…….
Tepe and Gorgo, watching from a distance, found this equally remarkable.
Edward normally disliked receptions and socializing with other nobles.
They’d assumed the allied nobility would be no exception.
“Who knows. He might throw someone across the room before the night’s through.”
“Don’t say such ominous things, Tepe.”
“Want to bet on it?”
“I said enough. I’m calling the constabulary.”
Even as Tepe and Gorgo exchanged words and the guests grew subtly excited, Edward’s demeanor remained unchanged.
Throughout his interactions, he either fell silent or offered only the bare minimum necessary, a slight nod here and there.
At times his eyes seemed to lose focus entirely, growing distant….
Had he been anyone else, one might have assumed his mind had wandered.
And in truth, it had.
“Welcome. I hope you all enjoy the evening.”
Even as he exchanged the customary pleasantries, Edward’s gaze drifted across the room to where Luciana conversed with the ladies.
…….
On his tongue lingered the soft texture of skin he’d held there moments before, and on his forearm he still seemed to feel the small warmth that had clung to him.
Watching the composed, unruffled Luciana, Edward found himself thinking something new.
‘Bold and admirable, isn’t she.’
She was performing her role as duchess with remarkable composure.
Her subtle smile never wavering, her eyes carefully avoiding his direction.
‘…And yet she did those things with me just now.’
The moment he recalled it, his lower half threatened to betray him again.
Edward, catching the signs, deliberately tried to think of nothing at all.
He even recited war songs the other knights sang, and forced himself to recall etiquette poems he’d learned at ten while enduring a beating.
Only then did his mind go blank.
…….
It was the first time he’d ever been this thoughtless at a gathering.
At the receptions his predecessor attended, he’d always had to maintain perfect composure and expression, and after the old duke’s death, he rarely attended gatherings unless absolutely necessary.
Even then, he made little effort to hide his irritation.
He’d deliberately behave outrageously, making the other guests watch his moods.
But a reception where he wasn’t worried about finding fault in himself, nor scheming how to offend others further—this was unprecedented.
The change had been wrought by Luciana, who treated all the guests with casual indifference.
His thundering heart had at some point begun to race with unease.
It was thanks to the sensation returning in an entirely different meaning when she’d linked her arm through his.
‘…It was quiet.’
Luciana’s heartbeat, which once would have hammered frantically the moment it touched him, had been quiet.
Her composed, measured pulse had instead sent his own plummeting.
And the moment the greeting with the guests ended, she’d casually withdrawn her arm.
Before he could even feel the emptiness, she’d moved toward where the ladies gathered and begun speaking, deliberately giving him no opening to join.
…….
Edward was studying Luciana slowly with his gaze alone when—
“My, my. We were so concerned about Teseron’s wellbeing, hearing that you’d secluded yourself.”
A familiar voice parted the crowd and approached without ceremony.
“I must say, you look far more sound than expected.”
…….
“It’s been a long while, Edward le Teseron, Duke.”
Edward turned his gaze slowly toward the one who’d greeted him.
“And you are….”
* * *
“You’ve come from the Kingdom of Erenta?”
“Yes. I’m delighted to make your acquaintance, Duchess.”
Meanwhile, Luciana was being introduced to a succession of noblewomen.
The Erenta noblewoman wore exceedingly old-fashioned attire.
‘She said it was the Grand Duchess’s birth family, didn’t she?’
A small kingdom, nearly a duchy, that had long been an ally of the North.
She recalled Rozendale’s explanation that it was a country that staked its life on tradition and bloodline.
And that Class Discrimination was far more severe than any other form of prejudice there.
For instance, long ago when women in Erenta still couldn’t attend school, a curious princess once tried to enroll in the public academy, only to be refused.
So the King of Erenta, rather than revise the law to allow women to attend school, resolved the matter by executing the academy director and all the professors, declaring, “How dare common folk refuse the royal bloodline!”
‘Hardly a fundamental solution, really.’
In any case, the extent of their classism was striking.
‘Now I understand where the Grand Duchess’s habit of calling people base comes from….’
It was while Luciana was thinking this that—
the Erenta noblewoman glanced sideways at something across the room.
“My betrothed seems to be exchanging pleasantries with the Duke over there.”
Following her gaze, Luciana saw an ostentatious-looking man greeting Edward.
‘If he’s her betrothed… then that must be the Second Prince of Erenta?’
At that moment, Edward, sensing Luciana’s eyes on him, turned his gaze toward her.
Just as her eyes were about to truly meet his, she swiftly looked away.
“But Duchess, you seem quite different from what we’ve heard.”
The Erenta noblewoman smiled as though bashful.
“We were told you were of common birth.”
At this unexpected remark, Luciana’s eyes widened slightly.
“Surprisingly… you carry yourself with dignity.”
The insult masquerading as praise escaped her lips.
‘…I see.’
Luciana regarded the woman who was measuring her so intently and offered a composed smile.
It wasn’t particularly surprising.
“Tell me about the people I need to be most careful with first.”
“Yes. To begin, there is Erenta.”
“Mm.”
“These are people with a very high probability of attacking you, ma’am, so it would be wise to stay on guard. There’s a considerable chance they won’t concern themselves with the eyes or atmosphere around them….”
After all, Rozendale had explicitly listed Erenta among those he’d warned her about just moments before.

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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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