Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 78

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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 78
Ashelon barely managed to suppress the twitch of his eyebrows before opening his mouth.
“That’s right. I have a question I’d like to ask you, New Maid.”
“What is it?”
“I heard the Duchess is currently seeing someone separately. Is that true?”
Tania immediately grasped that Ashelon had rejected him because the Duchess was dating someone.
And she also realized this might be a heaven-sent opportunity.
“Ah, you mean Aiden?”
At the name Tania uttered as if it were obvious, the Duchess’s eyes widened in surprise as well.
Ashelon was so shocked that he bolted upright from his seat.
“W-who exactly is Aiden?!”
“Just a moment. He’s my escort knight, waiting outside the reception room. I’ll bring him in.”
Tania slipped out of the Duchess’s embrace and hurried away, returning with someone.
And when Ashelon saw Aiden, who had been led in by Tania’s hand without understanding what was happening, his face turned to stone.
His appearance matched exactly the ideal type the Duchess had described earlier.
The reason Ashelon had been able to obsess over Viviana all this time was because she had never dated anyone.
He had believed that as the period without her taking a husband grew longer, his opportunity would come….
That someday she would recognize his unwavering devotion.
But.
What in the world was this situation?
Ashelon trembled violently and cried out as if it were absurd.
“You reject me, the second son of the Marquis Blendi Family, and meet with just such a man?”
“Ashelon, watch your tongue.”
Displeasure appeared on the Duchess’s face.
But Ashelon, who hadn’t yet noticed the Duchess’s expression, continued speaking.
“What am I inferior to him in?”
“Your face.”
Ashelon was momentarily at a loss for words.
It was true that Aiden’s face was handsome.
He himself had never been made to feel inferior about his appearance anywhere.
But his face was like a masterpiece carved by an artisan, stitch by stitch.
Yet losing in mere facial features was enough to prick his pride.
“It seems he’s not even a knight of noble birth. You simply appointed a man who suits your taste as a Papiope Knight, didn’t you?”
“He defeated the Blue Knight Commander through pure skill and entered the Papiope Knights.”
“But commoners lack education…!”
“I rule Papiope, so what does education matter? I’ve raised clever children too, so I needn’t worry about the territory even without me.”
“Don’t you need someone to strengthen the foundation?”
“I’ve lived well without such a person all this time, so why bother? I just need someone who pleases my eyes and ears.”
The Duchess’s emotionless gaze swept over Ashelon from top to bottom.
“But you… don’t seem capable of pleasing my eyes and ears, let alone being useful at night.”
Ashelon, who had been treated as worthless by the Duchess, finally began to pout with reddened cheeks.
“Are they even lovers in the first place? Show me evidence that the two of you are actually dating!”
“Ashelon, how much longer must I endure your insolence?”
“Look at this! You can’t produce any evidence, can you? Aren’t you just spinning a convenient lie to drive me away?”
“We have evidence.”
It wasn’t the Duchess who answered. Tania raised her hand confidently and spoke up.
“We have matching couple rings.”
“Tania, that’s….”
The Duchess, who didn’t have a ring to match with Aiden’s, tried to stop Tania in panic, but it was impossible to silence a child once her mouth had opened.
“The one on your desk, Your Grace, and the one Mr. Aiden always carries in his pocket!”
Tania urged Aiden to show her the ring quickly.
Dragged into the Reception Room without understanding what was happening, Aiden—now the Duchess’s secret lover—quickly grasped the situation and pulled the ring from his pocket.
It was a flower ring Tania had made for me in the garden a year ago.
Since it was the first gift the child had ever given me, I couldn’t bear to watch it decay, so I entrusted it to the Magic Tower to have a preservation spell cast on it.
After that, I always kept it in my pocket and carried it around like a lucky charm….
I never expected it to be used like this.
Meanwhile, watching Aiden pull out the flower ring, Ashelon was on the verge of madness.
“You accepted someone who couldn’t even afford to buy a proper ring and offered you a flower ring instead…?”
Aiden, who had suddenly become a poor romantic, laughed dryly.
I hadn’t actually proposed with a flower ring, yet somehow my face felt hot with embarrassment.
Whether he knew this or not, Ashelon stared at the Duchess with a deeply disappointed expression.
“I never knew you had such low standards, Your Grace.”
“That’s right. But you don’t even measure up to that level.”
Ashelon gazed at the Duchess and Aiden with eyes full of betrayal, as if he had just discovered his spouse’s infidelity.
“…I’ll wait and see how long you two can sustain this love.”

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After that day, rumors spread throughout the Empire that Duke Papiope had a hidden lover and would soon marry.
Since I had lied to only one person about being in a relationship, it was obvious who had spread the rumor.
The Duchess summoned Aiden and me to her office to discuss the situation.
“They’re even saying that Duke Papiope has lost her mind to a commoner’s beauty and is taking him as a husband….”
“I’m so sorry. I never expected things to escalate this far.”
I bowed my head deeply and apologized for how the situation had spiraled.
In truth, I had wanted rumors of the Duchess and Aiden dating to spread.
But I hadn’t anticipated them facing such harsh criticism.
That the Duchess had lost her senses to a commoner man’s beauty.
That Aiden had seduced the Duchess to climb the social ladder.
Yet the Duchess and Aiden, who were the subjects of these rumors, appeared perfectly composed and unbothered.
“No. That’s not really a problem. You know well enough how I’ve lived all these years.”
Duke Papiope had long been famous for employing talented individuals equally, regardless of social status.
Even her adopted children had been commoners.
The Duchess slowly crossed her legs and spoke.
“The real problem is that the rumors have spread so far they’ve reached the Emperor’s ears.”
The nobles had sent flower bouquets to Duke Papiope to congratulate her on the engagement, and among them was a congratulatory bouquet from the Emperor himself.
“Lately, he keeps pestering me through letters to show him my fiancée. He seems determined not to stop until he sees her with his own eyes.”
The Duchess let out a small sigh as if exhausted.
Her expression suggested she had already been troubled by the Emperor once.
“If we say the rumor is false, Ashelon will come looking again. But if we admit the rumor, it seems like it would put you in a difficult position.”
“I don’t mind at all. If you wish it, Duchess, I’m willing to present myself to the Emperor.”
“…Really?”
The Duchess paused thoughtfully for a moment, then rested her chin on her interlaced fingers and asked with a serious expression.
“Then, Aiden. Since things have come to this, would you consider becoming my lover for real?”

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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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