I Thought It Was the Monster Duke's Fake Sedative - Chapter 83

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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 83
That the royal family there disliked Luciana was, in a manner of speaking, only natural.
She was connected to the Duchess Dowager’s blood family, after all.
‘But all the more so now that the Duchess Dowager isn’t here.’
The very woman who had proposed the banquet hadn’t attended this one either.
The official reason announced to the public was a matter of health.
But Luciana had heard a different story beforehand from Rozendale.
“Ah. The Duke will see to it that the Duchess Dowager doesn’t attend, so you needn’t worry too much.”
“But this banquet was the Duchess Dowager’s proposal. Will that even be possible?”
“I fear I misspoke. That condition—the Duchess Dowager’s absence—is what the Duke requires for this banquet to proceed at all.”
…….
“If only the Duchess Dowager stays away, the banquet will go smoothly.”
He would allow the banquet to be held, but the Duchess Dowager would not be permitted to enter.
Which meant she likely hated Luciana all the more now—and it was as transparent as flame that she had asked her blood relatives to make life difficult for her rival.
“But is it really because of your common-born origins…?”
…….
“Your dress seems a bit….”
The Young Lady of Erendia said this while surveying the noblewomen around her and fanning herself.
Her intent was so obvious that Luciana simply smiled.
Such trials came with the territory at banquets, one might say.
Compared to the Duchess Dowager, this girl was mild, and her barbs didn’t cut as deep.
But this time, Luciana didn’t want to spend long sparring with people sharpening their knives.
Edward had been watching her so intently from across the room that her nerves were already fraying, and she could barely afford the distraction.
‘What is he staring at like that?’
Every time his gaze found her, that moment of Purification in the anteroom flickered into her mind, and her face threatened to flush hot.
The fact that their bodies had spoken while their hearts remained silent still rankled her.
“To wear such a dress to an occasion like this….”
“It’s lovely, though, isn’t it?”
“…I beg your pardon?”
So Luciana cut her off before the Young Lady could continue.
“The designers chose it to match the Capital’s latest fashions, they tell me.”
“…It’s rather bold for a trend, isn’t it? The sort of thing only young girls would wear, no matter what….”
“True. I’m rather young, after all.”
The Young Lady of Erendia had no choice but to hold her tongue.
After all, the Duchess truly did look young.
If not for the dress, she might have seemed even younger—almost approachable.
Luciana shrugged and changed the subject.
“Speaking of dresses, I’ve noticed Erendia wears them rather tightly bound, don’t you think?”
“Pardon?”
“Well, I suppose you’re simply honoring your ancestors’ wisdom. Erendia is in the north and such a cold land, after all.”
“That may be true, but….”
“Indeed. It’s lovely to see a people hold fast to tradition, even as times change.”
…….
“I haven’t offended you, have I? It was only a jest—do smile.”
“N-no, a jest, you say….”
“You’d be so lovely if you smiled.”
The Young Lady lost her words at the sudden shift.
Luciana drove the final nail in before she could mount another attack.
“If I’ve been presumptuous, I apologize. My husband has been teaching me Etiquette Training.”
…….
“Is that a problem?”
It wasn’t a lie—before things between them soured, Edward had taught her several times.
And invoking Edward’s name had yet another effect entirely.
The moment the noblewomen heard that Luciana had been receiving Etiquette Training from Edward, their anxious expressions melted into understanding nods.
Even Luciana’s slightly impertinent manner became ‘quite reasonable’ once Edward’s name was attached to it.
‘How useful that is.’
Luciana thought this ruefully, then added:
“And perhaps it’s because we’re True Mates? I seem to have picked up some of his manner.”
“That….”
“Which means I’ve become rather willful in the bargain, I’m afraid.”
“…….”
“Same woman to woman, I hope you’ll understand.”
A wink.
As she finished speaking and gave a light wink, several noble ladies who had been pressing Luciana—along with Erendia’s Young Lady—fell silent.
Their eyes darted about so visibly that Luciana could see the confusion written across their faces.
‘I didn’t need to worry about misspeaking or cram for Etiquette Training after all.’
…It turns out all I had to do was sell out Edward.
While Luciana tasted that bitterness again, a few noble ladies favorable to Teseron stepped in to soothe Erendia’s Young Lady.
“That’s true. Your Young Lady from Erendia must be quite lovely when you smile.”
“You’re betrothed to the Second Prince, aren’t you? The bearing of a future princess, indeed….”
Luciana swallowed a sigh at how quickly the situation had resolved itself.
At least no one would press the matter further during the banquet.
“Then do enjoy yourselves. The banquet still has a long way to go….”
“…You’ll see!”
A loud voice rang out just then.
As she turned, eyes widening, Erendia’s Second Prince—the Young Lady’s betrothed—was puffing out his cheeks and turning red in the face.
“No matter how well the Duke catches demons, Brightness-Eye Bird hunting is Erendia’s specialty!”
“I think you mean tradition, not specialty, Your Highness.”
“Tsk!”
“In any case, we should depart at once. There’s no need to drag this out.”
Edward’s tone didn’t sound particularly pleasant either.
In truth, he was holding back the urge to overturn everything according to his temper.
“It’s been a long time, Edward of Teseron.”
The Second Prince of Erendia had barely sauntered over before Edward found him tedious.
He didn’t even feel the need to point out the man’s crude manners.
‘A bundle of inferiority complexes has arrived.’
The Second Prince of Erendia, a relative of the Duchess Dowager, had met Edward a few times before.
It was when Edward had first entered society as a child.
He had disliked Edward from the start.
‘The Duchess Dowager must have told him something.’
Whether he knew all of it or only part, Edward couldn’t say.
The Second Prince was desperate to find fault with Edward, and eager to quarrel whenever the chance arose.
It was plain as day that he couldn’t stomach Edward’s superiority—which he thought Edward lacked—and that Edward actually possessed.
‘There’s no reason to deal with that.’
So he’d decided to let the man bark his nonsense and move on.
“That said, it’s quite unexpected.”
“What is?”
“I heard you’d taken a wife, so I wondered what sort of woman she’d be.”
“…….”
“To permit such a scandalous, provocative dress. You must value her quite highly, I see?”
…It wasn’t until that man spoke such words, his gaze running over Luciana with unmistakable contempt, that he’d crossed a line.
There were things he could overlook, but not this.
“Perhaps instead of worrying about another man’s wife’s dress, you should attend to your betrothed’s wardrobe?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Your betrothed’s dress looks like the fashion from fifty years ago… wait. Now that I look more closely, what you’re wearing seems to date back a hundred years or more.”
“……!”
“If anything, your betrothed is dressed quite elegantly. What’s that jumble of Magical Items hanging from her chest? Bedecking yourself with such things to flaunt wealth—isn’t that a fashion from two hundred years ago when Magical Items were rare?”
“…What are you saying! What’s fastened to this breast is made from the feathers of a Brightness-Eye Bird, no less…!”
“Ah. Once precious, but now that the population has exploded, it’s just become a common sparrow?”
“Do you have any idea how difficult a hunt it is to catch that bird!”
“That may be true by the traditional, primitive hunting methods Erendia insists upon.”
“I cannot bear such an insult!”
So declared the Second Prince of Erendia, and he eventually demanded a hunting competition for the Brightness-Eye Bird—the kind practiced in Teseron as well.
Edward agreed cleanly.
“Bring a gun or a sword. You’re welcome to call upon servants as well.”
“You won’t be able to boast for much longer!”
“We’ll see.”
He wanted to break the man’s legs, truth be told….
But venting his anger his way and overturning the banquet Luciana had worked so hard to prepare seemed worse than crushing the prince’s spirit through this competition instead.
His gaze rolled back toward Luciana, who was now openly flustered.
Caught in his gaze, Luciana flinched—but unlike before, she couldn’t look away.
‘Why?’
Something strange stirred in her chest, a peculiar tenderness that—
It wasn’t until Edward withdrew his gaze first that she released a shallow breath.

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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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