I Thought It Was the Monster Duke's Fake Sedative - Chapter 88

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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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Episode 88
Rumble.
Edward pulled out his Wings and soared upward as the cliff beneath him crumbled.
“That’s cheating! Wings—what in the—!”
“Edward!”
The Second Prince and Tepe cried out in shock the same instant.
Tremor.
The Duke’s Castle swayed.
In Edward’s mind, only a single name blazed across his consciousness.
“…Luciana!”
He shot toward the Duke’s Castle like an arrow loosed from a bow.
* * *
“My lady, my lady!”
“You must get to safety!”
Rozendale and Gorgo’s voices echoed as though muffled underwater.
Luciana stood rigid, gasping for breath.
Screech.
Tinnitus continued to ring in her ears.
“Help me! It hurts! It hurts so much!”
“I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die….”
“Mother, mother….”
When the sudden cries of monsters pierced the air like a bell struck hard,
all the groans she’d heard in her past life washed over Luciana without warning.
The groans of people crushed beneath the rubble of the collapsed Evacuation Shelter, dying.
“I don’t want to die like this….”
And within that chorus of voices,
“Sister, can you hear….”
was her own.
“Gasp….”
The pain of that moment, the terror—it all came vividly rushing back.
Though she thought considerable time had passed, she had never truly escaped the shock of that day.
‘This can’t happen.’
Even biting the inside of her cheek to steady herself, she couldn’t shake the echo.
‘No.’
The truth was, back then,
she hadn’t wanted to die.
Despite the pain, the wretchedness, the exhaustion—she’d wanted to live.
She wanted to survive, to see her sisters again, to watch the world return to the shape she knew.
But that life had ended.
Without ever knowing if her sisters lived or died.
Without ever meeting those she held dear.
‘Will I die again this time?’
In the same terrible, agonizing way.
Without meeting the person she longed to see.
Then there came a flash—
“Luciana.”
That arrogant whisper.
A man with soft hands that had held her, careful touches that had tended to her—yet wore arrogance like a mask.
With hair that gleamed gold….
“Waaaah!”
Bang.
A cry that split through her ears like thunder severed her thoughts, dragging her wavering mind back to the present.
“Mommy… mommy!”
Luciana’s head snapped up.
Among the fleeing crowd, she saw children.
The young ones she had called—the children gathered to perform at the facility.
“…Rozendale.”
The sight of them pulled her hazy mind back, barely anchoring her.
The fear still gripped her, still clawed at her….
“Big sister, I’m scared….”
The thought of the child she had cradled in her past life, the one who had died in her arms, surged through her—and she found she could not simply remain still.
‘Not this time.’
This time, she would not allow that fate to unfold.
She would not sit here regretting those she had failed to save, sinking into despair forever.
Luciana pushed herself to her feet, though her body wavered.
And she took a step forward.
“My lady?”
“…The evacuation shelter?”
Luciana gripped Rozendale’s shoulder, forcing the words out with effort.
“There must be an evacuation shelter… for the monster outbreak!”
She was certain of it.
‘The original work mentioned it in passing, I’m sure.’
The monster evacuation shelters in Teseron Castle.
Built in the early days when the Teseron Family had settled in this place.
Back when the land still teemed with monsters—long since converted to storage or left forgotten.
Rozendale, seeing the sudden flash in Luciana’s eyes, momentarily lost the power of speech.
Then he felt her grip tighten on his shoulder.
“…Of course, they exist!”
“You must evacuate all the guests there. Can you do it?”
“I’ll begin at once.”
He was reaching for her hand, intending to guide her out first, when—
Luciana calmly pushed his hand aside and spoke.
“Then I’m counting on you.”
“Pardon? You, my lady—”
“I need to help with the evacuation here.”
“My lady!”
“When a ship founders, the captain is always the last to leave.”
Luciana drew her chest up as if steadying herself, hiding her trembling hands behind her back.
A piercing shriek tore through the air.
At the same moment, the massive shadow of another monster swept past the window.
Luciana felt the cold sweat on her skin, yet her hands clenched with determination.
‘…I can’t retreat. Not now.’
She would not allow history to repeat itself as it had in that shelter.
Besides, whether she wished it or not, she was the duchess who had hosted this gathering, and everyone here was her responsibility.
‘Surely he didn’t make me duchess in anticipation of a disaster like this.’
Edward rose again in her mind.
The man who had made her duchess without warning.
The man who had always faced monsters like these.
‘…Did he always feel like this?’
Did he endure, even as the weight of responsibility nearly broke him?
Was he never afraid? Never exhausted?
Others might laugh if they heard such thoughts of a man so strong—but Luciana considered it seriously.
After all, hadn’t he been hunting monsters since childhood?
But he was only a child then, no matter how much he was Edward.
‘How did he bear this terror?’
Did he still carry that burden now?
Was that why he disliked it when she said she would make him a true avatar?
Was that why he had reacted so…
A lump rose in her throat.
An indescribable emotion struck her solar plexus and surged upward.
The grievance, the sense of betrayal—that he had not even spoken to her.
Yet if he too had felt the same terror she felt now, how much must he have suffered?
And…
“…I won’t ruin it.”
“I know how hard you worked preparing today. So…”
In that moment of crisis, the way he had lifted his head to encourage her, the warmth and steadiness she had felt—the longing and urgency for that man flooded through her.
‘I miss him.’
The instant she thought it, her eyes grew hot without warning.
‘I miss him so much.’
If only he would come soon, come here soon…
“…Sigh.”
The moment that thought crossed her mind, Luciana’s head snapped up.
‘No.’
And she shook her head sharply, forcing herself back to clarity.
She’d just been thinking he might have been frightened too—and now she wanted him to be her hero again?
Besides….
‘…Monsters might have appeared where he is as well.’
If so, then perhaps she should finish things here and go to him instead.
The Purification she’d cast earlier had been incomplete, failing to sweep away all the Corruption.
If a Monster that large had emerged there too, Edward would struggle without Purification.
‘He might even be in danger right now….’
The moment she thought that, Luciana’s resolve hardened.
She had to settle things here first….
‘This time, I’ll go to him.’
She couldn’t simply wait for him to come, helpless as she’d been in that old dream.
So—she had to do what she could, right now.
“Rozendale, this is an order from the Duchess. Take everyone to that shelter at once!”
“…Yes, my lady!”
Rozendale, who’d been about to try dissuading her again, saw the steely resolve in Luciana’s face, bit his lip, and began to run.
“This way! Come this way!”
“Children and the elderly first! Hurry!”
Fortunately, the others had regained their wits and began moving with purpose.
Soon, only an injured child unable to move and a few other children who’d stayed behind remained at Luciana’s side.
“Waahhh, Sister, Sister!”
“P-please, my lady Duchess….”
“…It’s all right.”
By cruel chance, the injured child was the one who’d sold flowers to Luciana before.
The flower-seller trembled as she cried out to the other children near her.
“What are you doing? The director and the others have evacuated! You go too!”
“B-but….”
“How can we leave Sister….”
The children looked as though fear might make them faint, yet they didn’t move.
The flower-seller’s own face wavered on the edge of tears, but her voice remained firm.
“You’ll be no use staying! Go, I said!”
Watching them, Luciana bit the inside of her cheek.
Now she understood what those older sisters had meant when they’d said she was in the way.
…Why they’d had to be like that.
“Gorgo!”
“Yes, my lady!”
Luciana turned to Gorgo, who still remained at her side.
“Can you carry all these children and move? You can do that, can’t you?”
“I can, my lady.”
“Then carry them to the Evacuation Shelter right now.”

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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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