The Villainess Duke Lady Hides Her Identity - Chapter 3

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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 3

Leponya lifted her head from where she’d been looking down.
“Your Grace the Duke, I greet you!”
The Knight who had been holding Leponya in his arms stiffened into a rigid salute.
“There’s been quite a commotion out here.”
With the sunlight at his back, his face remained obscured, but his frame—considerably taller than the Knight’s—sent a wave of pressure through her body that made her flinch.
“What have we here?”
“A report came in of a child wandering without a guardian, Your Grace. I was in the process of bringing her to the Orphanage.”
A Duke.
The Knight had distinctly called him “Your Grace the Duke.”
In this Empire, there was only one person who could be addressed by such a title……
When she met those eyes—as pale and crystalline as frozen ice—she found herself holding her breath without quite meaning to.
Soft silver hair caught the light, tumbling gently. It was the same shade as Leponya’s own, yet where hers was tangled and dull, his gleamed with the luminous clarity of moonlight.
A righteous guardian who preserved peace and safety for all.
Kraytan, Duke of the House of Kraytan.
As an Aura user, his appearance had not aged; he looked far too young to be the father of two sons and a lost daughter, almost unbelievably so.
‘So he was a Knight of House Kraytan all along.’
Leponya fixed her gaze on the Knight’s uniform. The blue coat was one worn only by Knights of House Kraytan within the Empire.
‘I should have recognized it from the start.’
Being a child hadn’t dulled her mind—panic had simply prevented her from noticing such details.
“And this child?”
Kraytan turned his gaze toward Leponya, whom the Knight was still holding.
Their eyes met. In that instant, those eyes that seemed as if they would never waver under any circumstance trembled for the very first time.
“…Layla?”
The Duke spoke the name in a hollow voice, as if to himself.
‘Layla? What is that?’
Leponya’s eyes narrowed. At the same moment, he advanced toward her with a dazed expression. He had been frightening enough when she’d known him as an adult; meeting him now, while she was only five years old, made him seem even more imposing.
“What is your name?”
The Duke asked with some urgency.
“Le, Leponya.”
Pressed by his intensity, Leponya answered with her true name before she could stop herself.
“How old are you?”
“Five years old.”
“Your parents?”
Leponya shook her head firmly. Kraytan signaled to the Knight with a look, as if asking him to elaborate.
“Ah. When I questioned her, she said she had none. That is, she… appears to have been abandoned. She seems to have lived alone in an empty house.”
My house, she thought.
“Abandoned?”
Kraytan’s brow furrowed as he studied Leponya. She, sensing the weight of his gaze, quietly lowered her eyes.
“…You were on your way to bring her to the Orphanage?”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“And what happens after that?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“After you bring her to the Orphanage—what becomes of her then?”
“Well, first we confirm her identity and search for her parents—”
“The child has already told you her name and stated plainly that she was abandoned. What comes next?”
“That is… she would remain at the Orphanage until someone comes seeking to adopt her or offer patronage.”
“Is that so?”
Before the Knight could finish speaking, Kraytan reached out toward Leponya, who was still in the Knight’s arms.
‘What—?’
Large hands wedged themselves beneath her armpits, and suddenly she was lifted clear into the air.
‘Huh?’
Leponya blinked, her eyes following the Duke who now held her aloft.
That was when it happened. Suddenly, a thick, formless current of Aura poured forth from Kraytan’s body toward Leponya.
“Oh!”
She cried out in surprise. Yet it did not hurt.
‘Is this… an Aura?’
The Duke of Kraytan narrowed his eyes as if gauging something, and released his Aura into the air.
‘Did he somehow figure out that I’m a criminal?’
Leponya swallowed hard, her throat dry.
“…No, that doesn’t seem right. But there’s something odd about it.”
Fortunately, it appeared he hadn’t seen through her, as the Duke withdrew his Aura.
The Knight beside them, watching in confusion, called out to the Duke.
“Your Grace?”
“There’s no need.”
“Sir?”
“No need to take her to the Orphanage.”
Their eyes met. In the Duke’s blue irises, an unfathomable emotion swirled like a whirlpool.
“I’ll take this child myself.”
“Sir?”
“What?”
What on earth was happening?

* * *

The sound of carriage wheels rolling broke through the heavy silence.
‘What exactly is going on right now?’
Leponya hugged her knees tightly to her chest, her eyes full of caution as she watched the Duke seated across from her.
The Duke of Kraytan.
For reasons she couldn’t fathom, he was sitting right there in front of her.
‘Where is he taking me?’
The Duke, noticing Leponya’s piercing gaze, turned his head away from looking out the carriage window.
His eyes, gleaming with a brilliant blue, felt cold enough to freeze a person just by looking at them. Leponya, her tense hands clenched tight, asked boldly.
“Where am I going?”
Despite her stern expression, a small child’s soft voice spilled out.
The Duke regarded Leponya with a languid gaze, his chin resting on his hand, before speaking.
“You’re five years old, then?”
The Duke stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“Small for your age.”
At the abrupt remark about her size, Leponya’s brow furrowed. It was true—even at the Orphanage, she’d been smaller than her peers, so she couldn’t deny it.
“…I heard that if you’re small when you’re young, you grow taller later as an adult.”
Though, even after becoming an adult, she hadn’t grown much taller than others.
“Is that so? Then you should work hard.”
The Duke smiled lightly.
‘Well, at least he’s not dismissing me outright.’
Leponya cast a wary glance at the Duke.
“Your name is Leponya?”
At being called by her name, Leponya flinched.
“…Yes.”
Startled at having given her real name, Leponya nevertheless began to assess the situation calmly.
“Are you planning to sell me off?”
“Does it seem that way to you?”
To Leponya’s question, the Duke answered with a question of his own.
“…I’m not sure.”
The director of the Orphanage, reputed for his kindness and care for the children, had been secretly selling off the older children for profit behind closed doors.
Even the holy, revered Pope was little different.
So what would make the virtuous Duke of Kraytan any different?
Even if she succeeded in jumping from the moving carriage, with the body of a five-year-old, she wouldn’t get far before being caught.
The limitations of being five years old were just that severe.
So it would be faster to try and convince the Duke of Kraytan right here instead.
“You won’t get much money selling me, anyway.”
Leponya muttered as a warning, still clutching her knees.
“Who would pay a high price for me? I look so gaunt and sickly that I probably wouldn’t even make it to the auction block. I don’t look healthy, so even those perverts who buy children’s blood won’t show any interest in me now. You’d get nothing.”
As Leponya’s words poured out without hesitation, the Duke’s face grew rigid.
It seemed the talk of worthlessness had put him in a foul mood.
“Do you even know what an auction is?”
“Buying and selling things.”
Leponya answered without hesitation.
“Knowing that, you’d go to an auction house… no, never mind. Let that go. But you know such things?”
“I heard the Knight call you Duke just now. I thought you wouldn’t know, so I was telling you.”
After speaking at such length, her pronunciation had grown slurred. A five-year-old’s tongue really was a humiliation.
“Who told you such a thing?”
“I’ve heard it here and there. It’s not a lie—it’s the truth. You can investigate directly if you like. I wouldn’t fetch much if you sold me.”
“Should I say thank you for telling me? I’m grateful, then.”
The Duke’s face as he spoke those thanks darkened with killing intent, sharp and chilling.
Fear locked her jaw, yet still she had to speak.
“Just hire me as a maid.”
“A maid?”
“I work well.”
This had been Leponya’s original plan all along—to find employment as a maid in House of Kraytan and steal the family heirlooms.
The plan had taken a different turn, and she hadn’t even confirmed the heirlooms’ location yet, but this was still an opportunity.
“I’m good at cleaning, good at laundry. Organization is my strongest skill.”
She’d studied everything from noble etiquette to cleaning, laundry, and organizing. Leponya was confident in all of it.
“Didn’t you just say yourself that you looked so starved and wasted you wouldn’t be able to do even the simplest tasks properly?”
“I said I looked that way, but not that I actually was. Everyone overlooks talented people when they appear weak, but I’m giving you the chance to recognize a talent like me. A talent as—ah.”
Mid-sentence, a large hand seized her wrist and stopped her words. The Duke rolled up her sleeve slightly.
Beneath the loose fabric, a thin handful of a wrist was revealed.
“You don’t seem suited for housework, not for someone you call talented.”
“…I can work and eat little because I’m young. It won’t cost much in food, and the wages can be small, so it’s good value.”
“Hah.”
The Duke released her wrist carefully and exhaled a long breath.
Had she misjudged? This was her best plan at the moment.
Leponya, her lips pressed tightly together, made one more pitch for her worth.
“When you’re young, bones break less easily, and even if they do, they heal fast. Even if heavy work breaks my bones, they’ll heal quickly, so you can use me however you—”
“Stop.”
The Duke cut her off sharply.
“You’ve misunderstood. I have no intention of selling you, nor of hiring you as a maid.”
“……What?”
Leponya blinked. At the same moment, the carriage came to a halt, as though they’d reached their destination.
As the Duke rose, the carriage door opened as if servants had been waiting for exactly this moment.
‘Where is this?’
Leponya peeked cautiously outside the carriage.
“Gasp!”
She drew in a sharp, audible breath. Outside the carriage stood numerous servants bowing their heads in greeting to the Duke.
Beyond them rose a residence so vast it could scarcely be called anything less than a castle.
‘This is……’
Leponya’s eyes wavered.
‘The Kraytan Duke’s Residence!’
Why am I here?
I was planning to infiltrate, but… is this infiltration, then?
Through the open carriage door, the voices of servants offering their greetings could be heard.
“Welcome back, Duke.”
The Duke.
Hearing his title confirmed by her own ears, her body trembled. Right now, Leponya stood alone and unarmed in the heart of enemy territory.
‘What if he’s figured out who I am and brought me here to catch me?’
In the current circumstances, that seemed most likely. Otherwise, there was no way the Duke would bring an outsider to a residence with such strict security.
‘I didn’t even realize I was being dragged into enemy territory.’
Leponya wrapped her small hands around her head. The residence would be full of House of Kraytan’s Knights, so escape was impossible.
So how would she survive?
“What are you doing?”
As Leponya’s mind raced furiously, a large hand came into view.
The Duke’s hand.
Leponya blinked, staring at the offered hand.
What was she supposed to do with this hand?
Confess willingly, is that it?
“Sigh.”
Above Leponya’s head, lost in serious thought, the Duke let out a weary sigh.
Then he gently took her small hand in his.
“Come here.”

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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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