The Search for the Duchess’s Husband - Chapter 151

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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 151

Susan, the head Maid, spoke with a worried expression.
“Yes, I inquired among the servants, and they say a grandmother came by during the day and he left the mansion with her, but he hasn’t been seen since.”
I looked toward the window.
It was far too late in the evening, and to make matters worse, rain was pouring down heavily.
Bibi, reading my expression, spoke up.
“Shall I go to Luka’s house?”
I started to nod, then said instead.
“I’ll come with you.”
Bibi and I left the mansion together.
The sound of raindrops striking the carriage roof only deepened my worry.
‘Could he have met his grandmother and gotten held up because of the heavy rain? Or could something have happened to him?’
But the carriage had barely left the mansion when it suddenly stopped, and the coachman’s voice rang out.
“M-Madam! I found Luka!”
Startled by the cry, I jolted up and rushed out of the carriage.
In that brief moment, Bibi grabbed an umbrella and held it over my head.
Standing outside the carriage, my eyes widened.
The dark silhouette standing in the driving rain was unmistakably Luka. But his appearance was a complete mess.
His clothes were torn in several places, and his face was covered in scattered wounds.
Upon seeing me, Luka’s eyes widened, and he limped toward me as fast as he could.
“Madam!”
“Luka!”
Standing before me in an instant, Luka cried out with his scarred face.
“I ran away!”
“…?!”
“I told her I didn’t want to stay there—that the place I want to be is by your side, Madam Artia.”
Luka’s face as he spoke was utterly innocent.
In those violet eyes, the only emotions reflected were pride in himself and a desire to be praised.
I gazed at Luka with complicated feelings in my eyes, then reached out my hand toward his red hair.
Stroking his rain-soaked locks, I spoke with a trembling voice.
“You did well, Luka.”
Luka broke into a radiant smile.

* * *

Luka’s room.
Artia and the Doctor stood beside Luka, who lay upon the bed.
Artia asked with concern etched across her face.
“How is his condition?”
“The wounds are severe, but not life-threatening. With proper medication, he should recover quickly. However, he’s caught a fever from being exposed to the rain, and it may worsen throughout the night. Please monitor his temperature carefully to ensure it doesn’t rise too dangerously.”
After the Doctor departed, Luka spoke restlessly.
“My lady, I’m fine.”
Luka was utterly uncomfortable.
That the Doctor had treated him as though he were gravely ill over mere wounds, that he lay in bed while his mistress stood—both situations tormented him.
Yet Artia, observing Luka’s scattered wounds and rising fever, spoke with quiet firmness.
“When you’re in this state, you don’t say you’re fine, Luka.”
There was no reproach in her tone—only kindness and gentleness.
Bibi extended a steaming teacup toward Luka, whose face had flushed deeper than before.
It was warm milk, generously sweetened with honey.
Artia spoke to Luka, who held the cup in both hands and waited.
“Drink it.”
Only then did Luka begin to sip the milk, blowing gently across its surface.
As Luka finished the milk, Artia asked.
“What happened to you today?”
Luka’s violet eyes wavered.
A nervous swallow. Luka spoke carefully, as though treading on thin ice.
“I was kidnapped by Madame Tungguel.”

* * *

A few hours earlier, after finishing rehearsals, Luka had been pulling weeds in the Garden.
Though the contract specified my duties as acting, whenever I wasn’t rehearsing, I sought out chores around the Mansion.
Everyone—the master and all the servants—treated me so kindly that I felt compelled to contribute more.
The servants took a liking to Luka for this attitude.
The distance that had once separated him—a Kudran, an actor brought here by Artia for the performance—had long since vanished.
“Luka, once you finish over there, could you help with the Warehouse repairs? We need someone strong.”
Luka answered the Maid’s request cheerfully.
“Of course!”
The Maids laughed at the sight of him.
“He’s such a good boy.”
“A handsome lad like some foreign prince—it just makes him even more endearing.”
Without sparing a thought for their chatter, Luka wiped the beads of sweat from his brow and gazed upward as he diligently pulled the weeds.
Dark clouds hung heavily overhead.
‘Rain will come soon. The master shouldn’t be inconvenienced upon arrival….’
Just then, a servant approached Luka and whispered.
“Luka, someone’s come looking for you outside the Mansion.”
“Who?”
“They said they’re your grandmother?”
Luka was startled.
Until now, Noma had never sought him out at his workplace.
‘The master must have told her she could visit whenever she wished.’
Anticipation at seeing his grandmother after so long quickened his pace.
In principle, it was forbidden for workers’ visitors to come to the Mansion. Allowing it would mean all manner of people coming and going.
So workers typically met their guests quietly outside the Mansion.
But the moment Luka saw the old woman standing before the gates, his face went rigid.
It wasn’t his grandmother.
“Who….”
Before he could finish speaking, the Carriage door beside the old woman burst open, and several burly men emerged, seizing and dragging Luka.
Even with his impressive physique, Luka stood no chance against men larger than himself.
After taking several blows to the abdomen, Luka was dragged into the Carriage.
The Carriage’s destination was a place far too familiar to him.
Madame Tungguel’s Estate.
Lavishly decorated yet dark and oppressive, Madame Tungguel sat within, her expression terrible with rage.
Anyone could see the fury etched across her face.
Forced to his knees by the men, Luka looked up as Madame Tungguel approached.
She seized his red hair and yanked it violently.
“Ungrateful wretch! Wagging your tail for another master!”
Yet the moment Madame Tungguel saw Luka’s face, her demonic expression softened instantly.
‘I was so furious I meant to beat him senseless the moment I had him brought here….’
It had been so long since she’d seen him—he looked even more handsome than before.
‘Sigh… I’m far too weak when it comes to him.’
Madame Tungguel exhaled deeply and tilted Luka’s chin upward with her fan, forcing him to meet her gaze.
“That bastard claimed you chose her, but I never believed it. You wouldn’t dare abandon me for another master.”
Luka knew Madame Tungguel’s nature all too well.
This was a rare mercy from someone who typically treated servants with brutality.
If he simply said, “Yes, mistress, you are my only master,”
she would forgive him.
Otherwise, cruel punishment would follow.
The vivid image of servants beaten senseless by Madame Tungguel and cast out beyond the estate flashed before his eyes.
His entire body trembled.
‘Still hasn’t forgotten his fear of his mistress. How adorable.’
As Madame Tungguel’s lips curved upward, Luka spoke.
“I chose to go to Lady Artia of my own will.”
“…?!”
Madame Tungguel’s eyes widened in shock.
Luka gathered his courage and spoke again.
“I will stay by Lady Artia’s side. Please let me go.”
For a moment, she stood speechless in utter disbelief, but then Madame Tungguel’s face twisted into an expression far more vicious than before.
“That bitch showed you kindness and now you forget who your master is!”
Madame Tungguel brought the fan down hard across Luka’s face.

For hours, Madame Tungguel beat Luka with savage fury.
She slapped him, trampled him, clawed at him, and pummeled him with her fists.
Her rage was so intense that she even scarred the face she had cherished so dearly.
Every inch of Luka’s body screamed in agony.
‘But I can still move… I’m not completely incapacitated.’
Luka lifted his head and surveyed the room.
Madame Tungguel, exhausted from her relentless rampage, had left to rest, leaving only two servants in the chamber.
They were the ones who had brought him here—rough-faced men with imposing builds.
And his hands remained bound.
The old Luka would never have even considered escape, knowing it would only earn him more blows.
But now, Luka’s eyes burned with an unbreakable resolve.
Moments later, Luka let out a scream while curling his body inward.
“Aaahhh!”

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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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