The Villainess Duke Lady Hides Her Identity - Chapter 34

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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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Episode 34

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Leponya had a lovely dream—the sort she rarely indulged in anymore.
In the dream, she nestled in the arms of a tender father and a gentle mother, laughing with pure delight.
An older brother who yielded everything to her, and a younger brother who grumbled playfully while still keeping her company, stroked her cheeks and clasped her small fingers tight.
Her laughter never ceased—there was too much joy in it.
She laughed beneath bright sunlight, beneath a warmth so complete it felt like the world itself was smiling down on her.
Father. Mother. Big brother. Little brother.
At each name she called, they answered with gentle voices.
“Yes, my darling? What is it?”
She laughed harder.
“You didn’t abandon me.”
The dazzling sunlight receded, and gradually their faces became clear—her father’s, her mother’s, her two brothers’.
Leponya’s breath caught in alarm.
The members of House Kraitan stared down at her, their eyes heavy with resentment.

“Gasp!”
Leponya’s eyes flew open. The familiar canopy hung above her, the chandelier caught the morning light, and a few cute dolls that Buddy had carefully sewn and hung for her lay in her line of sight.
‘Kraitan Manor.’
Every one of those dolls had been handmade from yarn by Canwell, Buddy, and Becky themselves.
But that wasn’t all—there was a new doll beside her bed.
‘The Pink Rabbit Doll that Felrence bought yesterday.’
Without thinking, Leponya reached out and pulled the doll close to her chest. Its plush softness, the way it yielded gently under her grip, chased the anxiety away in moments.
Leponya drew a shaky breath and lifted her hand. Before her lay the small five-year-old hand that had never returned.
‘It was a dream.’
Of course it was—a moment’s reflection made that obvious. A father. A mother. Brothers. Such things couldn’t exist anymore.
They couldn’t happen in reality unless the past itself could be rewritten.
‘That bastard Pope Pretes put me through such a dream.’
Leponya’s teeth ground together.
Yesterday, the shock had been too great to think of anything else; fear had consumed her. But now, waking, rage filled the hollow spaces fear had left behind.
‘I’ve been groveling for years. And he won’t wait a few more days? He’s ready to brand me a Traitor and have me disposed of?’
Leponya clutched the rabbit doll tighter.
‘Stealing the Family Heirloom is postponed.’
There was no point in stealing it—all that would do was play directly into the Pope’s hands.
She would discard his command.
Either she would meet the Pope face to face, clear up the misunderstanding, secure her safety, steal the Heirloom, and disappear cleanly. Or—
If that proved impossible, she would be branded a Traitor and hunted by brothers sworn to execute treachery. In that case, she would remain here safely under the protection of Dissolution of Adoption until Duke Kraitan formally severed their ties, then slip away quietly.
One or the other.
‘Would it be wisest to stay in this child’s body for the next few years?’
With a five-year-old’s form, her brothers wouldn’t recognize her true self—safety lay in that obscurity.
Of course, it carried its own dangers. What if it became known that this body belonged to the Traitor Leponya?
In a five-year-old frame, she couldn’t fight back. Death would come swiftly.
‘I need to think this through more carefully before I decide.’
Leponya lowered the hand that had stretched into empty air.
‘Since I’ve failed, he’ll send someone else soon to steal the Heirloom.’
Fire kindled in Leponya’s eyes.
‘He threatens to kill me and then expects to claim whatever he wants? I don’t think so.’
House Kraitan’s Family Heirloom was leverage—a bargaining chip she could use with the Pope, now or in the future.
The Pope had sworn an Oath of God to complete this task, after all.
‘No one is taking it from me.’
Until then, her job wasn’t to steal the Heirloom—it was to protect it.
As Leponya sorted through these thoughts in her mind’s eye—
“Cottontail. How long are you going to just think?”
A face suddenly loomed into her field of vision. The boy who had been gazing blankly into space moments before now stared back with wide, startled eyes.
“B-big brother?”
It was Felrence. Why was Felrence here? Since when?
“S-since when…”
“Since before you woke up.”
So he’d been there from the start.
Wait.
What happened yesterday, anyway?
Leponya searched her memory. Yesterday she’d confirmed that she’d been branded a traitor, and the shock had been overwhelming.
Terrified and trembling, she’d met Felrence and returned to the manor.
Back at the manor, she’d shut herself alone in her bedroom to collect her thoughts…
After that, nothing.
‘I must have just fallen asleep.’
Looking at how peacefully she lay in bed without any obvious disturbance, it seemed she’d drifted off quietly enough.
‘The way I bolted out of the General Store yesterday probably just made their suspicions worse.’
Leponya glanced around cautiously, then slowly raised her upper body. Felrence helped by taking her hand.
‘I’ve got my excuse ready.’
If he asked why she’d suddenly run out, she’d say she’d spotted someone she knew from before the adoption and rushed out in excitement to greet them.
“Cottontail.”
Felrence called her by that name, his expression serious.
“Yesterday.”
“Yeah?”
Leponya nodded, all her excuses primed and ready.
“The Head Chef made a really delicious Dessert in the evening, and you missed it. What a shame.”
“Someone I… what?”
Leponya started to answer that she’d run out because she saw someone, then stopped short, tilting her head in confusion.
Felrence grinned.
“Thanks to that, I got to enjoy your portion too.”
…This guy?
“The Head Chef made this Dessert they’d been perfecting. The Pastry Chef had a brilliant idea, and they teamed up to create it—wow.”
Felrence shook his head in wonder, reminiscing about yesterday. Leponya’s brow furrowed gradually.
“Honestly, it was the best Dessert I’ve ever tasted. The flavor was beyond words.”
A Dessert. A delicious Dessert.
“How could you miss this, Cottontail? Unbelievable.”
A delicious Dessert she wouldn’t normally get to taste. After the Dissolution of Adoption, a Dessert she’d never taste again for the rest of her life!
Leponya’s chest tightened, and she squeezed the cushion beside her.
“M-my Dessert! Why did you…! Brother, why did you eat it!”
When he could eat whatever he wanted whenever he pleased! She was so angry her words came out garbled.
“I kept calling you down yesterday to eat it, but you didn’t come.”
“Still, it was mine! You should’ve saved it!”
“A Dessert can’t sit around. It has to be eaten fresh. That’s respect for whoever made it.”
It made sense, and Leponya had nothing to say back. Still fuming, she hurled the innocent cushion to the floor.
Felrence laughed.
“Throwing it on the ground? Wasn’t it me you wanted to throw it at?”
“Jerk.”
Leponya had forgotten all about her cover story somewhere along the way, glaring at Felrence with accusing eyes.
“Stealing a five-year-old’s Dessert.”
Felrence picked up the cushion from the floor with a smile and handed it back to her.
This time coming closer, as if inviting her to throw it properly.
“A brother who couldn’t even graduate from the Academy.”
“If I’d known I’d be teased about that for the rest of my life by my younger sister, I’d have graduated long ago.”
Felrence gently stroked Leponya’s hair, smiling.
The turmoil in her chest settled.
“Are you upset I took your Dessert? Ponya.”
“…”
“Good.”
Leponya blinked at the sudden praise.
What had she done to deserve praise? All she’d done since waking was lie in bed, throw a cushion, and pout.
“From now on, if anyone tries to take what’s yours, cry out like that and throw it—just like now. Except throw it at whoever took it, not the floor.”
“…”
“I’ll handle what comes after. Understood?”
She’d heard words like these before—that if someone tried to hit her, she should go hit them first, and he’d take care of the rest.
That was what Duke Kraitan had said.
Hearing them both say the exact same thing, their father-and-son bond was unmistakable.
She felt irritated that “her” dessert had been taken away.
Leponya’s face went blank. Now that she thought about it, when had she started assuming it was naturally “hers”?
“And Leponya. You still don’t seem to understand who you really are.”
“Huh?”
“A mere dessert.”
Felrence flicked his fingers, and as Buddy and Becky opened the bedroom door, the Head Chef and Pastry Chef appeared, bowing at the waist as they waited.
“If you say just one word that you want to eat something, they could make dozens of them today and have them brought before you right now.”
You still don’t understand the power of House Kraitan.
Felrence laughed.

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“Mmm.”
Delicious.
“Yum yum.”
Really delicious.
Leponya had finally gotten her hands on the dessert she wanted. Whether it was truly the same one from yesterday evening, she couldn’t say, but in any case it was absolutely delicious.
The overwhelming sweetness filled her entire body, and with it came such happiness that her mood only kept improving.
Though she tried to appear composed, her short legs dangled back and forth with excitement from where she sat in the chair.
Moreover, as Leponya ate the dessert, she found herself unconsciously humming.
“Mmm-hmm, hmm.”
It was an odd little hum, the rhythm and pitch nowhere near aligned, but everyone fought to suppress the smiles that threatened to bloom at the sight of her.
It was an unconscious gesture, and if she realized they were watching, she’d surely stop.
The Duke, Felrence, and all the servants held their breath, stealing glances at Leponya.
A tense silent standoff continued until Leponya set down her fork.
And when the odd humming finally ceased and her happily swinging legs stilled, the Duke opened his lips.
“Leponya.”
“Yes?”
Leponya looked up. Clearly it had been fantastically delicious—her mouth was ringed with chocolate cream.
“…Ahem. Messy, heh, little one.”
Felrence barely managed to suppress the laughter that threatened to burst from him, pressing his palm to his mouth.
The Duke’s situation was little different. Having barely contained himself, he cleared his throat with a soft cough.
“I’m thinking of showing you off soon.”
“What?”
“After you visited the General Store yesterday with Felrence, quite a bit of talk seems to have spread about it.”
Now that she thought about it, there had been quite a few nobility in the store that day.
“Felrence, that fool, seems to have deliberately aimed for that.”
“We should announce that the Duke’s daughter of House Kraitan has been born.”
“Listen. Your first party is important. It will be your debut as the Duke’s daughter.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Since your existence hasn’t become completely public yet, I plan to attend a party that I or Felrence have been invited to, bringing you along. There, I’ll make sure everyone understands exactly who you are.”
“So you want me to steal the spotlight at someone else’s party?”
At Leponya’s question, Duke Kraitan let out a soft laugh.
“That works too.”
“Even so?”
Leponya asked with concern. Once you made me known so widely, what would you do about the Dissolution of Adoption later?
“Worried about stealing the spotlight?”
“No. I meant—is it really all right to show me to people?”
Duke Kraitan raised an eyebrow.
“Of course it doesn’t matter.”
His tone suggested there was nothing to hesitate about.
‘Then what about me after the Dissolution? After I’m cast out, what about my life?’ she wondered.
Then again, she’d seen it plenty of times at the Orphanage.
Nobility never thought about the future of children once their adoption game was over. As if what came after was no longer their concern, since it was already finished.
Leponya exhaled a trembling breath.
“That was my plan, Leponya.”
“Mm-hmm?”
Duke Kraitan gestured. Leponya’s attendant came forward and handed her something.
“An invitation has arrived for you.”
“An invitation? But I don’t know anyone.”
“I wondered the same thing, which is why I wanted to ask you about it, Ponya.”
Leponya accepted the invitation from the attendant’s hands. Beside her, Felrence took up a letter opener and carefully slit it open before handing it back.
“Do you happen to know Prince Bilemon, Ponya?”
“…Who?”
“Prince Bilemon… ah, no—he’s inherited the dukedom now, so I should ask if you know Duke Bilemon. He’s invited you to his succession celebration. The first guest he’s invited in the entire Empire, apparently.”
The Duke gestured with his eyes toward the invitation in Leponya’s hands.
She had learned about House Bilemon when Pope Pretes taught her the affairs of state in the Empire.
They possessed military might rivaling that of House Kraitan, and theirs was a lineage that had, generation after generation, produced the Empire’s mightiest knights.
There was no reason she should know anyone from such a house.
“He invited me to his succession celebration?”
“And you’re the first guest he’s invited in the entire Empire.”
“…What?”
Leponya’s gaze fell to the invitation in her hands. And there she read a name she recognized.
“Lieu, Daeum… Bilemon?”
What in the world is he doing 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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