You Said I Was a Persecuted, Terminally Ill Grand Duchess? - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 15

A mocking laugh from somewhere pierced clearly into my ears.

“How do you expect to build any muscle doing it like that?”

What followed was sneering ridicule.

‘This voice is…’

It belonged to someone somewhat familiar.

I turned around without holding back, baring my teeth.

It was the so-called ‘Cerberus Growling Expression’ that Betty had taught me.

“Oh my? I’m so scared to death.”

There, as expected.

Transparent… No, since he seems to treat it as his dark history. Not a transparent dragon, but just a dragon was standing there.

I spoke without hiding my irritation.

“What is it. Did you come here to pick a fight?”

“That’s right~”

But my attack didn’t work at all.

He was a formidable opponent.

I narrowed my eyes and launched another attack.

“You’re supposed to be a dragon. Don’t you have anything to do?”

“Nope. That’s why I was sleeping, but you woke me up.”

“I didn’t wake you up, you just happened to wake up then.”

“You terrorized my eyes with light. Blinded me. I don’t think my vision has fully recovered yet.”

Terror? Blinded? A dragon knows words like that? What is this world?

Feeling somewhat bewildered, I decided to just pretend I didn’t hear and get up to do my own thing.

“Heave-ho.”

As I tried to do jumping jacks again, the dragon who had quickly claimed the tree stump I was sitting on scratched his belly and looked at me.

Somehow I felt uncomfortable.

“What are you looking at?”

“Oh? Informal speech?”

“…What are you looking at?”

Damn it. I haven’t done anything wrong, so why do I keep getting intimidated?

I just pouted my lips.

This weak body was my downfall.

‘Should I ask Betty to beat him up for me?’

No matter how strong Betty’s arms are, it’s human versus dragon.

Even if the entire Gana-da Maid Team attacked together, they’d lose.

Though that’s an obvious assumption…

“Tch…”

I felt a bit deflated…

Regardless, the carefree dragon giggled and said.

“Hey. Jump some more. It’s funny.”

“…I’m not jumping to amuse you, you know?”

“You’re going to jump anyway, so what’s good is good. But are you tone-deaf? None of your chants match your movements?”

“…”

I really want to beat him up…

I can say with certainty that I’ve never craved strength as much as I do right now!

Was it because I was provoked by that transparent dragon?

The black flame dragon inside me went wild.

The way he suddenly came to pick a fight reminded me of an unemployed uncle who scratches his belly during holidays, teases his nephew, and eventually makes him cry.

And it was utterly frustrating that I happened to be playing the role of that annoyed, fuming nephew.

“Just shut up.”

I was really angry, but neither in strength nor in verbal sparring could I match him.

In times like this, ignoring was the answer.

I spun around and headed inside the house.

Go ahead and giggle by yourself! I’m going to read a book!

But…

“『History of the Rembrandt Empire』? Wow. They even published something like this?”

He had definitely been behind me until I opened the cottage door, but somehow he was already inside, sitting at the table.

He had even claimed the book I was going to read.

‘Cheating…’

Cheat skill! Cheat magic! Cheat dragon!

Unaware of my boiling insides, the dragon flipped through the pages.

“Please leave while I’m asking nicely? Otherwise I’ll report you for illegal trespassing.”

“Illegal… what? What’s that?”

…There’s a dragon who knows about blinding but doesn’t know about illegal trespassing?

I was so dumbfounded I could only gape, but regardless, the man who had taken interest in the book continued speaking without even glancing at me.

“By the way, why are you reading something like this? That transparent… ahem. That too. You really have peculiar tastes.”

What? He wrote it himself and now he’s saying what?

And that’s just an ordinary history book.

Suppressing my desire to be sarcastic, I replied.

“What are you talking about?”

…Actually, I couldn’t suppress it.

But perhaps completely absorbed in the book, the dragon was quiet for a while.

I was happy that peace finally came to my ears… but I wished he would just leave.

It was when I was silently glaring at him intently.

Having apparently finished reading already, the man closed the book without regret and chuckled.

“Ah, that’s funny. So that’s how it is?”

“If it’s that interesting, I’ll lend it to you. Take it and read it.”

And get the hell out! Go hole up in your cave and read that!

I barely swallowed the rest of my words.

But the dragon shook his head.

“Never mind. Well, there’s nothing much to see. I can guess the rest without reading it.”

But you were concentrating and enjoying it so much while reading.

I sat across from him with dead fish eyes.

At this point, I gave up.

I quietly accepted my fate as his ‘entertainment vending machine.’

“That Albert kid wasn’t worth gilding like that. He was a snotty crybaby who barely became human. Lucas was more… Well, what’s the point of weighing them now.”

“Huh? Albert? You mean the founding emperor Albert Rembrandt?”

“Yeah.”

Talking about the founding emperor like he’s the boy next door…

But it was quite an interesting story.

I recalled the contents of the book I had been half-reading, 『History of the Rembrandt Empire』.

The Rembrandt Empire.

This was a country founded by the first emperor Albert Rembrandt with the help of founding contributor Lucas Celeste and a dragon.

Amidst fierce power struggles, the emperor and dragon formed a powerful pact.

The contents of that pact were strictly secret, but through it, Albert Rembrandt gained the tremendous backing of a dragon.

The empire prospered with the dragon’s blessing, and that bloodline continued generation after generation to the present day… that was the story in summary.

But wait, a dragon?

I looked at the man sitting blankly in front of me.

“Come to think of it, you.”

“Address me properly. What kind of address is ‘you’?”

“But you don’t even know his name, right? Then choose instead. Mister, uncle, hey you, invisible drag…”

“Ternox! Just call me Nox for short.”

Well, well. How quickly he tells me.

I held back my urge to argue fiercely and continued what I was going to say.

“Anyway, Nox. Come to think of it, you’re a dragon, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t tell me…”

“That ‘don’t tell me’ is probably right?”

He had an attitude like he knew what I was going to say.

“The dragon in that book is me.”

Ternox grinned confidently.

I was so surprised that my eyes went wide.

“So you really weren’t an invisible dragon?”

“Watch your mouth…”

“Yes. Wow. But then how old are you exactly? You’re an incredible grandfather.”

“This little thing keeps finding ways to piss me off?”

Haha. Did I do that? Then it’s a success!

When I showed a triumphant smile, Ternox’s expression soured.

I felt a bit better thinking I’d gotten one over on him.

Just then.

“My lady! We’re here! We’re coming in!”

“Gasp!”

Unexpected voices came from beyond the front gate.

Click, click.

Along with the call, there was the sound of the door handle turning halfway.

In sync with that sound, my heart also sank with a thud.

“Huh? The door is locked.”

“Really? That’s strange. Is the door handle broken?”

The first words were definitely Garnet’s voice.

And from the murmuring sounds I could hear beside her, some of the Gana-da Maid Team were definitely standing at the door.

I hurriedly looked out the window.

Roughly judging by the sun hanging beyond the mountainside… it was mealtime.

The problem was that the dragon sitting upright at the table showed no signs of going home.

I gritted my teeth and whispered.

“Hurry up and go back! We’re going to get caught at this rate.”

“Why? Is it bad if we get caught? What did we do?”

“We? Being lumped together with you is also terrible.”

“You’re really talking rudely now, aren’t you?”

Ternox spoke without hiding his bewildered expression.

But I was serious too.

My husband was off somewhere with cold winds blowing, and except for accidentally running into each other after the wedding, he hadn’t shown hide nor hair of himself… but I was still a proper Grand Duchess.

What does that mean? I’m a married woman!

No matter how close to a grandfather that dragon might be in age, his appearance was that of a handsome young man.

Of course, it wasn’t that I didn’t trust the Gana-da Maid Team, but in the end, they were also people of the Duke’s Castle.

Setting everything else aside, creating unnecessary misunderstandings was burdensome in itself.

Ternox had no intention of budging, but even in this situation, the maids who brought warm food wouldn’t wait.

I’m Korean, so why are you all so desperate to feed me!

“My lady~ You’re inside, right? The soup will get cold.”

I glared fiercely and bared my teeth at Ternox.

But the dragon before me just shrugged his shoulders and still kept his seat with a mischievous face.

“You only live once. Being misunderstood as a secret lover would be interesting too.”

You’ve probably lived twice as long as an ordinary human, yet you’re so shameless!

That’s when it happened.

“Are you not here?”

“You’re not in danger, are you?! Gasp, my lady!”

Crack- Bang!

With a terrifying sound, the door opened… no, it broke…

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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