The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living - Chapter 264

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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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Part 2, Episode 69
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Jerdian’s insides were churning.
His first task as Brisa’s adjutant was proving far more difficult than expected. “Bring Gillab to the Cardipol Residence”—what kind of mission was that?
Of course, the carrot had been simple enough: just say those few words, and they’d tell him which crops suited Behila perfectly.
But the process itself was grueling.
[Of course it’ll take longer than expected, but I’ll drag things out as much as possible.]
Brisa seemed to have anticipated everything.
To begin with, she’d made a show of demanding that he warm the conference room because it was cold—really, it was a stalling tactic. By the time the warmth spread through that cavernous space, a considerable amount of time would have passed. That was when Gillab needed to arrive.
In the meantime, Jerdian had managed to fetch Gillab, though he remained convinced that Brisa’s plan would fail.
‘That coward is definitely going to mess this up.’
From the brief time they’d spent together, he’d already sized up Gillab.
‘He probably won’t be able to move a single step.’
Gillab gasped for breath, then shouted loudly.
“You know, right? I’ve already severed ties with Mother and Alpheus!”
It was the first task Brisa had assigned him.
“It’s been quite a while since I set foot in the Duke’s Estate, hasn’t it? I even reported the Vampire Food Flowers myself—”
Specifically: “Draw a clear line between yourself, the Duchess, and the Young Duke.”
That much wasn’t difficult. All it took was running his mouth.
“N-no, no, no, that’s enough!”
Everyone watched Gillab trembling as he cried out, then turned their gazes away once more.
It was a perfect dismissal.
Even by Jerdian’s reckoning, Gillab didn’t seem capable of anything much.
‘Let’s just hope he doesn’t wet himself.’
Meanwhile, Ethan shouted at the vampire.
“What are you doing? Kill that woman first! Don’t let her get away!”
His voice toward his father’s mistress burned with hatred.
“You vile wretch—I’ll tear you apart painfully, leaving not a trace!”
Jerdian thought it was ‘the obvious progression.’ If it were him, he wouldn’t go down alone either.
Inwardly, he cheered Ethan on.
‘I’m too ambivalent about villainy to commit murder, but the Young Duke is wicked enough to do it. And his grudge runs even deeper than mine!’
But Ethan’s internal cheering meant nothing to Odrey.
According to the information about the Western Region that Brisa had gathered, this mansion could collapse anywhere at Odrey’s command.
Likely, the moment Odrey gave a hand signal, servants positioned like background fixtures against the walls would collapse the floor wherever she desired. Which meant now was truly the moment for Gillab to step forward.
Gillab’s second and final task was Garlic Throwing against the vampire. The garlic was already sufficiently prepared and tucked into his clothes.
The only person who could approach that vampire and scatter the garlic was Gillab—a direct heir of Divostan’s line.
Brisa’s plan was for the vampire to falter briefly, giving Alpheus and the others time to subdue it.
The goal was for “their side” to finish the creature before Odrey could use the mansion to capture it.
‘So that’s how the succession rivalry between Marcel and Gillab becomes established,’ Jerdian thought.
Gillab was the offspring of the Duchess, who was entangled with Dark Magic. But if he drew a clear line in front of the Duke himself—
Then instead of being a mere appendage to the Duchess and Ethan, he could stand as a proud heir of Divostan’s bloodline.
‘So all he has to do is walk over and throw it from a distance! Just that!’
Even Valerie, who was old and lacked the Nullify skill, had managed it.
But Gillab remained frozen, trembling, unable to move at all.
‘This won’t work! I have to do something!’
Jerdian’s mind roiled as he thought this.
‘If I don’t, everything will go according to Odrey’s plan!’
The floor would definitely collapse before the vampire could attack!
If it fell into the room below—the one they’d prepared ahead of time, packed full of garlic—the vampire would become useless.
‘The vampire’s defeat can’t become Odrey’s achievement!’
Odrey’s achievements would become Marcel’s achievements.
Jerdian despised the idea of Odrey and Marcel gaining advantage. He couldn’t stomach watching them swagger around as leaders of the Eastern Region.
‘Why is he hesitating so much?’
In the end, he shoved Gillab’s back hard.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
Three things happened simultaneously.
Gillab tumbled forward, scattering garlic as he fell.
The vampire lunged toward Odrey, who stood behind the Duke, extending its claws to attack.
And Odrey swiftly ducked behind the Duke.
‘Huh?’
In that instant, Jerdian blinked.
‘Something’s wrong.’
Everything that unfolded in rapid succession didn’t match the situation Brisa had described.
‘Why hasn’t Odrey collapsed the floor where the vampire was?’
Brisa, cradling the fierce-looking dog, wore an expression of genuine shock in that moment.
‘Has the Young Lady’s prediction gone awry?’
Surely this space had been designed so that Odrey could collapse any section she wished. So she should have been able to protect herself before the vampire even touched her—but—
‘Something’s definitely wrong here, isn’t it?’
Anxiety began to surge in Jerdian’s easily suspicious mind.
‘The Young Lady’s never even been to this mansion. She only said the information came from the Western Region.’
His scattered thoughts tangled further into confusion.
‘Could that information have been incorrect? Did Odrey lure the vampire here without any backup plan, somehow accepting her own death?’
But Odrey couldn’t possibly be that foolish!
Then something even more shocking happened. The floor where Odrey and the Duke stood split open with a crack.
“Kyaaaahhhhh!”
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Odrey, the Duke, and the vampire all plummeted to the lower level.
Fortunately, the floor beneath the rest of them remained intact.
Maximus shouted through the hole.
“Are you all right down there?”
Just as Brisa had predicted, the lower level was carpeted entirely with garlic.
The vampire writhed in agony, flailing helplessly.
Jerdian peered down through the opening.
“I’m going down!”
Maximus and Alpheus leaped into the lower level first.
‘Are you all insane? Am I the only sane one here?’
Jerdian gripped his pink hair, breathing hard. And with sharp eyes, he turned to blame Alpheus.
“The Young Duke Ethan is here! But if you just leave the Young Lady unguarded, what will you do?”
Even if Maximus went down to assess the situation, Alpheus—who was supposed to protect Brisa—absolutely shouldn’t have done this!
Did he trust Jerdian that much?
But Jerdian had Gillab attached to him like a tumor.
“Young Lady, it’s dangerous! Come over here! I’ll protect you!”
Just then, the small dog in Brisa’s arms bared its teeth at him. Even without words, Jerdian felt the dog’s pointed look: ‘And who are you?’
“I’ve been wondering since earlier—what is that fierce-looking dog?”
He pointed and bounced on his heels.
“How can you worry about a dog at a time like this?”
Brisa, who had been watching him quietly, issued an order with a rigid expression.
“Jerdian, take Gillab down below.”
Gillab lay where he’d fallen, trembling.
Jerdian finally snapped.
“No—is the world mocking me right now? Why is everyone like this?”
“Jerdian.”
“You want me to leave the Young Lady alone with that man? It’s dangerous!”
Of course Ethan was just an ordinary person, but there was no way Brisa could overcome an adult male! Moreover, there was no doubt in Jerdian’s mind that Ethan wasn’t on Brisa’s side.
“Moreover, leaving a male and female adult alone indoors violates etiquette. And if that man harms the Young Lady, what then?”
But Brisa’s eyes narrowed in determination as she commanded:
“Go. Now.”
The order was genuinely difficult to accept, but Jerdian was, after all, Brisa’s adjutant.
Reluctantly, he dragged the sprawled Gillab and jumped down. Gillab screamed as he fell.
‘This seems dangerous. That dog alone won’t help at all—’
Would Ethan really leave Brisa unharmed?
Why did Alpheus abandon his sister and jump down first?
But at the same time, from above came Ethan’s scream.
‘What is it?’
For a moment, he could’ve sworn he heard a growling sound from the dog.
‘Did that dog bite him somewhere vital? Though it doesn’t even seem to know how to bark—’
While Jerdian looked up, Alpheus immediately drove his Mechanical Arm into the vampire’s heart.
The sharp Mechanical Claws were even more effective than a decent dagger. Watching this, Jerdian silently thought: ‘Your sister is insane. Leaving her alone with him like that.’
But then—
“This is…”
Maximus, cradling the blood-soaked Duke, muttered grimly.
“The Duke of Divostan appears to be dead.”

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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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