You Said I Was a Persecuted, Terminally Ill Grand Duchess? - Chapter 50
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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 50
“Wh-what do you mean by that?”
I feigned ignorance for now.
No, even so, this was too much.
Coming at me so directly all of a sudden?
I didn’t mean to be this blatant about it!
But Ternox chuckled as if he already knew everything.
“It’s not from a completely different universe either… In the end, it must be fragments of some world embedded into the existing one.”
Wh-what, talking like some fortune teller.
Those seemingly vague words were perhaps piercing right to the core.
I could only blink my eyes in surprise.
Ternox continued with a strange expression.
“But even fragments can’t escape the grand flow in the end. They can only change its direction slightly.”
No, hasn’t it already changed quite a bit?
Ternox, who smiled while saying this, was truly emanating the presence of a great being, confirming he really was a dragon.
Like the earth where all life stands on two feet, a solid and gentle energy.
I began to speak haltingly as if entranced.
“Yes, actually… lies would be meaningless to you, Nox. I’m not from this place.”
The story that began like that became quite long.
Even so, Ternox listened to my story with considerable patience.
“…This place is the world inside a book? That’s unexpected.”
Nox, who had heard the general situation from me, seemed quite interested.
I sighed deeply and answered.
“Anyway, I’m a possessor, and this body is destined to die within a time limit.”
“Is that so.”
Nox, who had been sitting on the windowsill until then, jumped down and sat on the sofa across from me.
Then he crossed his legs leisurely and replied.
“If that’s fate, accepting it is also a way.”
A vein bulged on my forehead at his complacent response.
Really, I finally opened up and what’s this reaction?
I’m being serious here!
He’s lived long enough, that’s what this is!
“I already died once and you want me to die again? Are you sane?”
“People don’t die that easily~”
“For that to be true, I died way too easily in my previous life. You’ve never died before, Nox!”
“Hmm. That’s true, isn’t it? Since you died first, you’re the senior. Should I call you senior?”
“Nox!”
Playing around with someone’s life?
At this point, the fact that this guy was a dragon became quite real to me.
Having lived for a long time, he must have become somewhat numb to death.
To a dragon, human life wouldn’t be worth more than a fly.
“Ugh…!”
And yet that kind of reaction?
He’s like a complete psychopath! So infuriating!
While I was fuming, Ternox raised both hands and waved them a few times as if telling me to calm down.
“Don’t worry, you don’t seem like you’ll die easily. First of all, you said I didn’t exist in that novel, right?”
“That’s… true.”
“That itself is likely to have become another branching point. Perhaps this place is another universe that split when your fragment got embedded.”
“Uhm…”
Professor, you’re going too fast…
“That’s too difficult to understand.”
“Well, you don’t need to understand it all right now. However…”
Ternox, who stood up with a serious face again, plopped down next to me.
“I should take a look for a moment. Excuse me briefly.”
“What?”
Bright yellow glowing eyes.
When I met Nox’s vertically narrowed eyes, my body instinctively shrank back.
“How long are you going to keep being surprised?”
Well, is it still very unfamiliar?
He muttered to himself as if it was nothing, then gently cupped my face with his large hands.
“!”
“Don’t be afraid.”
Then he brought his forehead to mine.
Like a parent checking a child’s fever, it was a very careful gesture.
Momentarily, my vision blurred and a strange sensation washed over me.
It felt like I was dreaming with my eyes open.
‘This is… from that time…’
Not long ago, when I lost consciousness after falling into the river.
It was exactly the same feeling I had before the novel’s scenes unfolded.
‘No, maybe even more…’
Much earlier, perhaps the floating sensation right before I first set foot in this world…
“What the hell is this supposed to be?”
That’s when it happened.
Crash, something seemed to shatter before my eyes with a loud noise, my vision scattered, and my head became dizzy.
Looking toward where the loud noise came from with a dazed face.
“…Jenos?”
There was the Grand Duke with a fierce expression, sword drawn.
‘Huh? But did I just call the Grand Duke Jenos?’
Everything felt like it was getting tangled up.
No, that’s not what’s important right now!
Before I could properly assess the situation.
The Grand Duke strode over and roughly hid me behind his back.
“Rene, are you alright?”
“What? Oh, I’m fine…”
The Grand Duke glanced at my flustered face and immediately pointed his sword at Ternox’s throat.
“How dare you lay hands on the Duchess.”
An extremely low voice flowed out like the angry cry of a beast.
His presence alone was so overwhelming that I couldn’t take any action.
But Ternox himself was completely carefree.
As if nothing was wrong, Ternox casually shrugged his shoulders and stood up, dusting himself off.
Then he strode right up to the Grand Duke and whispered in his ear.
“Have you been sleeping well lately?”
“!”
The Grand Duke jumped back in shock, unlike his usual self.
His brow furrowed deeply and showed no signs of relaxing.
Well, I’d probably get major goosebumps too.
Has that dragon really gone crazy? Has he gone senile?!
“Hehe. How cute. You’re quite fun to tease too. You really look just like Lucas.”
Tap.
Ternox lightly touched the Grand Duke’s cheek with his thumb and stepped back, giggling.
“What are you doing? Get lost!”
“Hehehe!”
Jenos Celeste swung his sword without hesitation.
But Ternox, who had disappeared with that annoying laughter, had already moved behind him.
“!”
“Now, why don’t you obediently offer up your body.”
Then he smiled sinisterly and embraced Jenos Celeste from behind.
‘Heek!’
Nox’s hand went straight for Jenos Celeste’s chest.
More precisely, his left chest—right where his heart was beating.
‘Th-this is dangerous in many ways, isn’t it?’
I wondered if this novel’s genre was about to change again, making me feel dizzy.
Jenos Celeste’s eyes widened before losing their usual light and dimming.
“What, what are you doing! What did you just do?”
Just like during the festival before, this dragon steals people’s souls every time he appears!
Even with my frantic protests, Nox didn’t even glance my way.
“Stay still. I need to examine this properly.”
Unlike before, his voice was completely devoid of laughter.
At the same time, golden light burst from Nox’s hand, illuminating the entire room.
“Ugh!”
When I raised my arm to shield my eyes in surprise, Nox glanced at me with a look of surprise.
“You can see this too? Hmm. There really is something about you.”
Then he began pouring all his strength into sending that light into Jenos Celeste’s heart.
As if it required considerable effort, sweat trickled down beside Nox’s slightly furrowed brow.
But that was only for a moment.
“Ugh!”
The mass of light that had been clashing violently and crackling soon bounced back like a rebound and disappeared like smoke.
Thud.
At the same time, Jenos Celeste collapsed helplessly to his knees.
“Jenos!”
Startled, I grabbed his shoulders and first checked his expression.
His face, which had looked agonized, gradually found stability as soon as my hand touched him.
The moment his half-opened blue-violet eyes wandered around before meeting mine clearly.
“Ugh…”
Jenos Celeste let out a death rattle and collapsed into my arms.
“Whoa!”
With a little exaggeration, his massive frame was two or three times my size, so naturally my body fell backward when he leaned on me!
“Heave-ho.”
Then Ternox lightly lifted Jenos Celeste and roughly laid him on the sofa.
Meanwhile, Jenos Celeste’s hand was still firmly gripping the hem of my skirt.
Having no choice but to sit beside him, I quietly observed his condition.
“He’ll wake up soon. Don’t worry too much.”
Ternox’s still calm voice came from behind me.
And before long, Jenos Celeste drowsily opened his eyes.
As if something had changed within him, the hostility from before seemed to have disappeared.
But separately from that, Jenos Celeste still spoke with sharp eyes.
“What did you do to me?”
“Why? You’re quite a bit more comfortable than before, aren’t you?”
“That’s not necessarily because of you.”
Having said that, Jenos Celeste once again hid me, who had been sitting quietly beside him, behind his back.
“Who are you, and why do you keep hovering around the Duchess?”
Even though I couldn’t see him behind that broad back, he was undoubtedly wearing an extremely fierce expression.
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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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