The Villainess Duke Lady Hides Her Identity - Chapter 78

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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 78

Was the Academy really this enormous?
She’d never set foot in the Imperial Palace, but if someone called this place by that name, she wouldn’t have been shocked—it was that vast. When she’d first glimpsed the Craitan Estate, she’d been taken aback by its size too.
As Reponya gaped upward at the Academy, her mouth hanging open, Duke Craitan chuckled softly and ran a hand over her head.
“Ponya. If you wish to study here when you’re older, I’ll arrange it.”
“No, Father.”
Havelian stepped to Reponya’s side and shook his head firmly.
“I cannot send Ponya to a mere Academy like this. She’s already learning under my instruction—the Academy’s lessons would bore her.”
“Havelian. The professors are glaring.”
Listening to Duke Craitan and Havelian bicker back and forth, Reponya rolled her eyes left and right.
Because today was the Graduation Exam, there were many nobles present who seemed to have received invitations. All of them had been focused on this direction ever since the House of Craitan’s carriage had stopped.
In particular, they were staring with wide, surprised eyes at the sight of Duke Craitan and Havelian arguing over Reponya—a sight wholly unfamiliar to them.
‘Both of you, stop.’
Rudeuum, who stood beside her, should have already attended the Academy as the Heir to the Billemen Ducal House, but danger lurked in every corner, and besides, he lacked the permission of the Billemen Duchess.
What was she to say in front of Rudeuum, of all people?
Reponya considered climbing back into the carriage to hide. Just then, Rudeuum beside her gently took her hand as though to escort her.
“Ponya. Let’s go inside. I’ve already confirmed where the Graduation Exam will be held. Tell those two to find their own way there.”
If she kept hearing such remarks, it was certain Rudeuum would feel worse. It seemed better to slip inside the Academy quickly.
“All right.”
Reponya nodded, and Rudeuum took her hand and led her into the Academy.
The moment Reponya began walking, Duke Craitan and Havelian stopped their bickering and naturally followed behind her.
As the four of them entered the Academy, every noble gathered there dropped their jaw.
“W-was that just… was that just the Duke of Billemen?”
“The Duke of Billemen and the young lady of Craitan seem to have been acquainted since that heir succession celebration—”
“Wait. Just now, was that the eldest young master of Craitan? It’s been how long since he’s shown himself in public?”
“I’ve heard he returned to the Estate and devoted himself to heir studies—it seems to be true after all.”
“But more than that, did you notice… the eldest young master seems to hold the young lady in remarkably high regard?”
“More than I’d have expected… yes, that’s so.”
According to the rumors, the eldest young master purchased every building in the Capital that’s called the land where gold flows. And they say those properties are registered under the young lady’s name.”
“Even in the Capital’s tailoring district, there was gossip for a while. They said the Duke of Craitan was pouring money onto the young lady.”
“That was all just… rumor, wasn’t it? Surely it wasn’t true?”
“Just what is that adopted child…?”
They all stared at Reponya’s small figure retreating before them, mouths agape. But soon they had no choice but to look away.
Havelian and Duke Craitan, following behind Reponya, had stopped in their tracks and were now radiating a cold, penetrating Aura.
Everyone hastily averted their eyes.
“Duke of Billemen. Go inside with Ponya first.”
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen so many people—perhaps that’s why they’re all so talkative. Ponya, go ahead inside.”
Duke Craitan and Havelian spoke with a smile. Reponya swept a glance across the loudly chattering crowd around her and nodded.

* * *

The Academy Graduation Exam was held over three days.
There was a written examination and a practical examination assessing everything the students had learned, and then the Specialty Exam, where students chose their strongest field and displayed their talents.
During the Specialty Exam period, the Academy invited the students’ families to showcase how much the young people had learned.
It was a long-standing tradition of the Academy.
The nobles who visited during this period observed not just their own children, but which students excelled in which disciplines.
“Impressive.”
Over the previous two days, Fellens had completed both the written and practical examinations. Today was the day of his Specialty Exam.
In the Specialty Exam, one had to exceed a certain score to graduate; no matter how well one performed in the written and practical tests, if the Specialty Exam score didn’t meet the threshold, graduation was postponed.
‘So Fellens has been postponing his graduation for years now.’
Fellens’s Specialty Exam was in Swordsmanship, held at the Academy’s Training Ground.
‘An Aura Master taking a Swordsmanship test.’
Wasn’t that outright unfair? The Academy itself deserved credit for having repeatedly postponed his graduation on the grounds that he couldn’t exceed the passing score.
“Ponya. Sit here.”
Rudeuum led Reponya to the topmost seat in the Training Ground and sat beside her.
Then a carefree voice came from the side.
“What? I was about to sit there!”
Reponya turned at the voice. A boy in a uniform that all but screamed ‘I’m somebody important’ stood with his hands on his hips, glaring down at her.
‘I’ve never seen this face before.’
A stranger—someone whose features and voice Reponya never forgot once she’d heard them.
He hadn’t been at Rudeuum’s succession celebration party.
‘There were a few nobles who couldn’t bring their sons that day.’
Reponya’s mind instantly flipped through her mental files. Months seemed to collapse into a single moment—the succession celebration playing out in vivid detail, catalogued somewhere in the neat recesses of her memory.
“What? Why won’t you move? I said move—aren’t you listening?”
The boy’s tone grew rougher, more menacing as he continued to stare her down.
Most students at the Capital’s Academy were children of high-ranking nobility, whether Reponya knew them or not.
But to approach her with such disdain without even asking who she was…
Reponya narrowed her mental list to the elite families—the upper echelon nobles who’d claimed they couldn’t bring their sons to the party.
“The second son of House Delcon.”
The moment she named him, his shoulders tensed. His contorted face betrayed the question plainly: ‘How did you know?’
It wasn’t difficult. Few nobles had skipped Rudeuum’s succession celebration, and among the upper crust, even fewer still.
Someone carrying himself with that much arrogance? Impossible to miss.
“I was here first. You’d do well to find another seat.”
“What? Hey. I came to watch my brother’s Graduation Exam. This spot has a good view. You get up and go somewhere else.”
“Throwing your family name around to steal a seat? That’s something a ruffian would do. If you’re here as a son of House Delcon, you shouldn’t shame your house with such behavior.”
Reponya’s words came crisp and measured, each syllable deliberate.
“What, what?”
“Your brother takes his Graduation Exam today. If he saw you now, do you think he could concentrate? Either you’re here to support him or you’re not—either way, you should sit somewhere else before I ask you again.”
The boy’s face went crimson, as ripe as a tomato left too long in the sun.
“You—how dare you speak to me like—”
His hands clenched into fists. His lips pressed into a thin line as he glared at her.
“You’re not even a true Craitan—just an adopted child. People call you the Craitan princess, and suddenly you think you’re someone?”
“Excuse me?”
“The moment you’re cast out, you’re nothing. Nothing! How dare an adopted child speak to me like—”
Reponya’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. She’d thought perhaps he didn’t know who she was, that the seat dispute was all—
‘But he knew the whole time.’
He’d come anyway. He’d started this knowing exactly who she was.
‘True courage is ignorance.’
No noble bound by webs of interest and obligation would ever dare such a thing.
They all knew she wasn’t a true Craitan princess, that she was an adopted child, yet not a single one had ever said it to her face—precisely because of those tangled threads of power.
Reponya was, formally speaking, adopted by Duke Craitan and approved by the Emperor himself.
To deny that, to challenge it to her face, was to challenge the judgment of both the Duke and the throne.
And this brave little boy had just done exactly that.
Reponya stared at him, her eyes wide and genuinely astonished.
Of course, everything he’d said was true—it couldn’t have wounded her deeply.
It was only his audacity she admired.
That was when—
“Hey.”
A bleak voice came from beside her. The boy’s gaze snapped toward the sound.
“You’re awake. So, what now?”
It was Rudeuum, sitting in the seat next to hers.
“Eek. B-Billemen Duke—”
“Say that again with that mouth of yours.”
Rudeuum’s voice dropped to a hollow murmur.
“Go on. Say it again, and I’ll sew your lips shut so they never open again.”

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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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