The Search for the Duchess’s Husband - Chapter 110

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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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In Search of the Duke’s Husband – Episode 110

Crank von Edenberg’s voice thundered through the room.
“Whenever the nobility gather, they speak ill of you. As if your divorce weren’t enough, you’ve seduced Lady Elysium and made her husband out to be a criminal. Do you have any idea how humiliating it is to hear such things? You’ve brought tremendous shame upon the House of Edenberg!”
Since he had always been the type to say, “A mere girl has brought the House of Edenberg to this state,” Artia was hardly surprised.
What could I do about it?
Crank’s thunderous voice continued, directed at Artia’s indifferent expression.
“Send Lady Elysium back home at once and apologize to Count Elysium on your knees! Tell him you’re sorry for deceiving an innocent lady and causing her such disgrace!”
Artia, who had been standing quietly and listening to his words, finally spoke.
“I refuse.”
Crank’s eyes widened in shock at such a bold response.
Artia spoke in a calm, measured tone.
“An apology should come from the person who did wrong, shouldn’t it? So it should be Count Elysium—the one who struck his wife—who apologizes, not me.”
“What, what on earth—”
“If you’ve said all you have to say, I’ll take my leave now.”
Artia offered a light bow and turned to leave when a desolate voice reached her from behind.
“That’s precisely why I said it—she’s beyond redemption through mere words.”
“…!”
Artia’s eyes widened as she turned around.
Standing in the room, which she had thought held only her uncle, was an unexpected man. It was Count Elysium.
“How did you—”
Count Elysium, who had grown hollow-eyed and gaunt over the past few days, lifted the corners of his thin lips into a smile.
“Now it’s time you pay the price for your reckless behavior, Artia.”
“…!”
With those words, Count Elysium covered Artia’s mouth with a white cloth. She struggled against him, but it was futile.
Moments later, Artia lost consciousness and her eyes closed.

* * *

Bibi’s dark brows furrowed slightly as she sat in the reception room reserved for outsiders.
‘This conversation is taking far too long….’
A maid should wait faithfully, no matter how long her mistress’s business takes. Under normal circumstances, Bibi would have done exactly that without complaint.
But something felt terribly wrong.
There was no rational reason for it. It was merely intuition.
A premonition that something had happened to Artia.
And her instincts were always frighteningly accurate.
Without hesitation, Bibi left the reception room and made her way toward the chamber Artia had entered. A servant stood before the door—the same one she’d seen earlier.
Sensing Bibi’s ominous presence, the servant spoke with a tense expression.
“What is it?”
“I have something urgent to tell my mistress. Please let me inside.”
“Tell me, and I’ll relay it to her.”
“No, I must tell her directly.”
The conversation ended there. Bibi struck the servant’s solar plexus in an instant, knocking him unconscious. Before his body even hit the ground, she yanked the door open.
Crank von Edenberg stood in the spacious chamber with a startled expression. Artia was nowhere to be seen.
Bibi’s chestnut eyes gleamed with lethal sharpness.
‘Emergency situation.’
“How dare a mere maid enter….”
Crank von Edenberg never finished his sentence. Bibi closed the distance in a single stride and unwound the leather cord binding her hair, wrapping it around his neck.
With the efficiency of one capturing prey, Bibi spoke.
“Where is my mistress?”
“W-what are you doing….”
Instead of answering, Bibi pulled the cord taut, strangling him.
“Gack, gack.”
Crank von Edenberg gasped in agony, his face darkening. Just before he lost consciousness, Bibi loosened the cord slightly.
“Next time, I’ll strangle you until you stop breathing.”
“Gasp, gasp.”
“Answer me. Where is my mistress?”
Her monotone voice was chilling.
If he didn’t answer this time, this girl would surely kill him.
Instinctively sensing her sincerity, Crank von Edenberg felt overwhelming terror. His face drained of all color as he opened his mouth.
“C-Count Elysium took her.”
“…?!”
In that instant, Bibi’s grip tightened. As the cord constricted around his neck, the terrified Crank von Edenberg spilled words without being asked.
“C-Count Elysium threatened that if we didn’t cooperate, he’d form an alliance with other nobles and declare war on our house. I couldn’t risk the family for one girl… Gack!”
Bibi strangled him again. The tremendous force nearly broke his neck, and Crank von Edenberg’s eyes bulged from their sockets.
Bibi asked coldly.
“Where did Count Elysium take my mistress?”
“I-I d-don’t know… Gack….”
Crank von Edenberg barely managed to force out a response through his constricted throat.
Solely to survive.
Bibi’s keen instincts told her he was speaking the truth. If that was the case, there was no reason to hold him back any longer.
Bibi whispered in a low voice.
“If anything happens to my mistress, I’ll kill you. I’ll flay the skin from your body, tear out your entrails, and carve the flesh from your bones.”
“…!”
“So go find my mistress right now and protect her. That’s your job.”
Bibi left a chilling threat hanging in the air before vanishing from the room.
Once outside the Edenberg Mansion, Bibi considered her options.
‘Should I go to House of Elisium?’
But even for someone like Bibi, searching through the grand estate of a noble house alone would take far too long. That wouldn’t do. She needed to find Artia as quickly as possible.
Bibi made her decision in an instant.

* * *

The Imperial Palace.
In a vast chamber, Killian sat with arrogant composure, his legs crossed. He muttered as he flipped through documents.
“It’s been a while since the vermin came calling.”
The moment those words left his lips, Bibi appeared. A flicker of surprise crossed Killian’s golden eyes—eyes that had expected nothing more than an ordinary assassin.
“You are….”
Bibi skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point.
“Your Highness, please find my missing mistress!”
“…!”
Killian didn’t ask Bibi what had happened. Instead, he simply stared at her with an eerie, expressionless gaze.
Moments later, his golden eyes began to flicker like flames.
Bibi’s eyes widened as she stood before him.
‘This is….’
Magic. Unmistakably magic.
The omnipotent power that Emperor Orpheus, the founder of the Empire, had possessed. A rare ability born only to a select few of the Imperial Family.
‘Yet I’ve heard that Killian Your Highness cannot use magic at all?’
Bibi concluded that what she’d been told might not be true.
The strange aura emanating from Killian’s golden eyes was so chilling that her entire body trembled. An ordinary person would surely have fainted.
Moments later, Killian’s voice emerged, hollow and desolate.
“Found her.”
Before Bibi could even ask what he’d found, Killian transformed into a black panther. The beast moved like lightning, disappearing beyond the window in an instant.
Bibi’s eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the spot where Killian had been, then let out a resentful complaint.
“You could have at least told me where my mistress is before leaving.”

* * *

I opened my eyes.
Count Elysium stood in the dark room.
Hollow eyes, a dark stubble shadow, and a reek of alcohol so potent it was suffocating.
Count Elysium, transformed into someone entirely unrecognizable from before, looked down at me and spoke.
“I thought a woman without a husband would be easy prey, but you’ve proven difficult to reach.”
The security at the Edenberg Estate was impeccable. More than anything, Bibi’s constant presence at my side made even approaching me nearly impossible.
“So I sought help from House of Edenberg. Crank von Edenberg was all too eager to assist, as if he’d been waiting for this opportunity.”
Count Elysium let out a snide chuckle.
“To be despised so thoroughly by your own blood—you must be quite the despicable creature.”
Unable to remain silent any longer, I refuted him.
“I’m not the despicable one—you’re the one who’s absolutely vile. Selling off your niece to a man from another house simply because she displeases you? It’s utterly repugnant.”

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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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