You Said I Was a Persecuted, Terminally Ill Grand Duchess? - Chapter 19

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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 19

Unlike earlier, the Duke was quite quiet.

‘What’s this?’

Just as I was puzzled by his unprecedented attitude.

The Duke pulled down his cloak’s hood with a somewhat irritated gesture.

Only then did I realize the reason.

Under the hood, the Duke’s face was pale as a sheet.

‘This person… is definitely drained.’

Looking at him like this, the Duke was definitely a confirmed introvert.

Those empty, lifeless eyes—I could instantly recognize the look of an ‘I’ whose mind had gone hazy from the crowd of people.

Honestly, he probably wouldn’t even notice if I secretly slipped away while he was spaced out.

I was seriously considering making a plan when it happened.

I suddenly realized something.

‘Wait. Come to think of it, I…’

I was broke.

“…”

I fidgeted with the hem of my dress for no reason.

The dress that Garnet had beautifully made for me naturally had no pockets.

And naturally, unfortunately, the duchess in name only didn’t have a single penny to her name.

I couldn’t even think of buying anything to eat, just a racehorse that had blindly rushed here, blinded by the thought of watching the festival.

Once again, I quickly faced reality.

‘I don’t have money, but that person does.’

Then there was only one answer.

And so I stared… directly at the Duke.

“Hmm?”

Did he feel my intense gaze?

His eyes looked down at me from his height.

Arrogant and exasperated… an expression I had somehow already grown accustomed to.

“What?”

He still had that gruff tone.

So annoying! I didn’t really want to talk to him either, you know?

But one must willingly bow their head to the money holder.

That was just how the damn world worked.

I had left my pride behind in my previous life anyway, hadn’t I?

Swallowing my retorts internally, I tried my best to appear respectful as I spoke.

“…Do you have some money?”

* * *

“…”

Zenos looked at Rene with a somewhat incredulous expression as she held different skewers in each hand with the happiest face in the world.

“This is chicken skewer. Wow, so delicious. Is this gizzard?”

She should be eating meat without any shortage every day.

What was so different about cheap street skewers that made her so happy?

Rene, muttering incomprehensible words to herself, had the brightest expression he’d seen since she came to the Duke’s Castle.

Zenos’s feelings became complicated.

‘What kind of person is she really?’

No matter how much he tried to figure her out, she always, without fail, went against Zenos’s expectations.

Completely different from the rumors, she was more lively and energetic than he thought.

Even though she was treated almost like she was being persecuted at the Duke’s Castle.

‘Should I call this spirited? Or is she gritting her teeth and pretending otherwise?’

In fact, today’s outing was also a frontal assault for Zenos.

He had heard countless things about her reputation from others’ mouths.

Yet he couldn’t get a grasp on her, so he intended to confront her directly.

But instead, he had fallen into an even deeper maze.

She was someone who had been called a dirty bastard child at House of Blanche and grew up suffering harsh persecution.

So she should be small and gaunt like that…

Not only was she not intimidated by him, who would be far more threatening than the people from the House of Marquis, but she boldly extorted money from him to buy the skewers she wanted?

“Ha.”

The strangest thing in all this was Zenos himself.

While he clearly hated Blanche, why did he end up helplessly following Rene Blanche’s words?

“…Why?”

Then, sensing his gaze, Rene narrowed her eyes and asked.

Zenos didn’t give any answer.

Then, as if she had reached her own conclusion, Rene made an “Ah” sound and slowly held out the new skewer she had been holding in her other hand.

“You’re upset because I bought two and was going to eat them both myself, right? Then you should buy one more… Anyway, I’m not such a conscienceless person.”

Even though she said that, her outstretched hand wavered so much that she clearly didn’t want to give one away.

“…No need.”

“Yes.”

When Zenos flatly refused, Rene answered as if she had been waiting for it and quickly put the skewer she had offered into her mouth.

“…”

Just as Zenos was at a loss for words again at that heartless action.

Then, the woman’s eyes became round like a rabbit’s.

“Cough, cough!”

Then she coughed severely as if something had gone down the wrong way.

But her gaze remained fixed on one spot.

At the end of it was someone even more extreme than Rene.

“Wow, give me everything from here to here.”

“All of this?”

“Yes!”

The man who had swept away all the skewers the woman had been diligently grilling was threading skewers one by one between his fingers like hook weapons.

With long green straight hair, he laughed with a very pleased “hehe.”

“Crazy bas…”

Rene’s expression twisted sharply as a small curse slipped out before trailing off.

Her attitude was far too fierce for someone who had just encountered a skewer competitor(?).

‘…Wait.’

A certain scene flashed through Zenos’s mind for a moment.

“I saw it clearly with my own eyes. Rene Blanche was standing in front of the annex with a mysterious man!”

“Wasn’t it a servant from the Duke’s Castle running an errand?”

“No way! If there had been such a handsome servant, I couldn’t have not known about it.”

“…?”

“Ahem, ahem! No! That’s not the important part! The man unusually had green hair. Long straight hair that reached his waist. As far as I remember, there’s no servant with that hair color in this Duke’s Castle.”

Surprisingly, it was exactly as Katarina had said.

A fairly handsome face with long green straight hair—a mysterious man.

Zenos’s eyes instantly narrowed.

And he quickly observed Rene.

Rene was frozen like a statue with the skewer still in her mouth.

‘So what she said was true?’

It was hard to completely believe Katarina’s words.

But Rene’s reaction was definitely strange too.

It was particularly odd that the woman who had been acting so boldly was suddenly watching his reaction.

Just as Zenos was looking at the man with eyes sharp as a honed blade.

“!”

Our eyes met.

It was definitely not a mistake.

“Oho.”

The man with bright yellow eyes as unusual as his green hair let out an exclamation of interest.

Then he smiled and waved his hand lightly.

Even though his face was hidden by a hat, he clearly seemed to recognize Zenos’s face.

But Zenos had never met him before.

If he had ever encountered someone with such distinctive appearance even once… it would be foolish not to remember.

And then.

‘…! What is this?’

For an instant, the man’s round pupils narrowed vertically.

It was only for a brief moment, and in the blink of an eye they returned to their original round shape, but…

‘I didn’t see things.’

Zenos’s keen senses were certain.

At the same time, all his nerves stood on edge.

Now the situation had become serious.

Zenos was one of the Empire’s finest Sword Masters.

Yet even he could feel this tremendous sense of intimidation.

This was a sensation that couldn’t be felt from a human.

So that man was more like…

‘A natural disaster.’

The overwhelming difference in power that could only be felt from natural disasters that arrive without warning and render humans helpless.

‘He’s no ordinary person.’

At some point, his tightly clenched fists began to tremble.

But Zenos never averted his eyes from the mysterious man.

Perhaps it was stubbornness.

Zenos Celeste was that kind of man.

One who would break rather than bend.

So naturally, this time too he chose to face it head-on.

Zenos walked unhesitatingly toward the suspicious man before him.

Rene, standing beside him, followed in apparent confusion.

“Wh-where are you going?”

Again, there was no answer from Zenos.

Strangely, even the crowd didn’t block his path.

Standing before the man in a straight line, Zenos still maintained eye contact with him.

Up close, his build was slightly smaller than Zenos’s, but his presence was in no way inferior.

No, in terms of composure, it was practically a complete victory for the unknown man.

“Who are you?”

As if chewing on curses, Zenos muttered in a low voice.

But the man just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

Rene, who had hurriedly followed with quick small steps, grabbed the edge of Zenos’s cloak.

“Why are you doing this? To just some passerby?”

“Do you know this person too?”

Zenos finally turned to look at Rene and asked.

It was quite an aggressive tone for a question.

As if frightened for a moment, Rene’s mouth snapped shut.

Her small hands clasped tightly together were trembling finely.

The green-haired man watching this scene let out a sneer.

“A lord and grand duke no less, frightening his wife first? You get called a wise ruler outside, but you’re quite the scoundrel at home, I see.”

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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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