You Said I Was a Persecuted, Terminally Ill Grand Duchess? - Chapter 54

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

Chapter 54

 

Following Cal’s guidance, Diana arrived at the vacant lot behind the Duke’s Castle.

 

The neglected area had somehow become a small vegetable garden.

 

Setting that aside for now.

 

‘What am I looking at?’

 

The scene before her eyes was truly shocking.

 

“…Who is that again? Don’t tell me that’s Katarina?”

 

“Yes, my lady.”

 

Dressed in linen work clothes she would normally never wear even if her life depended on it, Katarina was diligently digging in the vegetable garden.

 

“Lady Rene! Look at this. There are so many potatoes!”

 

“Wow, really? Ugh. Why am I getting stones instead of potatoes?”

 

Beside her was a girl with shimmering silver hair tied back tightly, her red eyes sparkling.

 

‘That child…’

 

Rene Blanche?

 

Diana deliberately opened her fan and looked Rene up and down.

 

Rene was a more beautiful and petite girl than expected.

 

Her noble appearance was completely at odds with how she was digging the ground with a hoe like a rabbit earnestly digging a burrow.

 

Somehow that contrast seemed to make her shine even brighter.

 

“Ugh…! There must be something like a rock down here?”

 

Rene’s round eyes drooped with disappointment.

 

Just then, Jenos, who had been awkwardly hovering and watching from behind, suddenly stepped forward.

 

“Move aside.”

 

Then he drew his sword without hesitation.

 

‘That’s… sword aura?!’

 

A subtle aura rippled along the blade.

 

“Gasp!”

 

He thrust the sword straight into the ground.

 

Rumble!

 

“Eek!”

 

“Ah!?”

 

For a moment, the ground shook finely as if an earthquake had occurred.

 

Looking startled, Rene clutched her chest and asked Jenos.

 

“Wh-what did you do?”

 

“There was a rock below, so I crushed it into powder. Now you should be able to dig up potatoes easily.”

 

Jenos seemed somehow triumphant as he answered.

 

But Rene’s expression was utterly bewildered.

 

“Then wouldn’t the potatoes… also have turned to powder?”

 

“!”

 

As if he hadn’t thought that far, Jenos’s eyes widened greatly.

 

Katarina, who had been frantically digging through the soil beside them, covered both her cheeks and screamed.

 

“Kyaaah! My potatoes! Your Grace is a murderer, no, a potato killer! Do you know how hard I worked to grow those potatoes!”

 

“This is a disaster…”

 

Jenos’s face instantly turned ashen.

 

‘That’s not what sword aura is meant to be used for.’

 

And yet he was only watching the reactions of a woman half his size.

 

“Hah.”

 

Diana let out an exasperated sigh.

 

Her grandson looked absolutely radiant by anyone’s standards.

 

Literally, a face that was the picture of health from eating and sleeping well.

 

“Hey! I brought water in the watering can… What? Why’s the atmosphere like this?”

 

Just then, a young man with flowing green hair walked over with steady steps.

 

He was someone she’d never seen before, with a distinctive aura about him.

 

Diana immediately asked Cal.

 

“Who is that one?”

 

“Ah, that is Lord Ternox, the new aide His Grace Jenos recently took on.”

 

“An aide?”

 

Her grandson, who had lived his entire life trusting no one and staying constantly on guard, had even taken on an aide.

 

Diana found the situation before her eyes utterly absurd.

 

She had only been away for about half a year… The Duke’s Castle she had lived in her entire life felt completely unfamiliar.

 

‘That child is at the center of all these changes.’

 

Diana narrowed her eyes and watched Rene closely.

 

And then.

 

“…Grandmother?”

 

It was Jenos, who had only just noticed Diana.

 

‘Ridiculous. So distracted by a woman that he doesn’t even notice his own grandmother arriving?’

 

Feeling somehow twisted inside, Diana snorted with displeasure.

 

Jenos, who had approached closer, straightened his appearance and asked Diana.

 

“Grandmother. Why have you come? Without even contacting us…”

 

“Do I need to give notice before coming to my own home?”

 

“Lady Diana! It’s been so long!”

 

Katarina, who had been hidden behind Jenos’s mountain-like frame, greeted her with a chirping laugh like a lark.

 

“Yes, Katarina. …You look healthy.”

 

“Hehe! Of course!”

 

But Diana’s mood was still sour.

 

Because Rene, who had awkwardly stood up, was just staring with wide eyes while covered in dirt.

 

“Ah, this is your first time meeting.”

 

Jenos gestured to Rene, who had been standing there blankly behind him, and positioned her in front of Diana.

 

“This is Diana Celeste, the Previous Duchess, my grandmother.”

 

“Oh! H-hello…!”

 

Only then did Rene suddenly bow at a 90-degree angle.

 

Just from her awkward greeting that looked more like something you’d give to street thugs, it was easy to tell she was greatly flustered.

 

Diana’s brow furrowed once again.

 

‘So this is what the Duchess of Celeste looks like.’

 

What a disgraceful state for the family!

 

“Grandmother, this is Duchess Rene…”

 

“No.”

 

Diana cut off Jenos’s words and replied coldly.

 

“I have no granddaughter-in-law.”

 

My feelings won’t change, so conduct yourself accordingly.

 

Leaving only those frosty words behind, Diana turned around sharply and walked away.

 

Only Rene, who had awkwardly raised her head, looked back and forth between people with a question mark on her face.

 

Jenos, who had been quietly watching her, offered what comfort he could.

 

“She’s just still angry, but she’s a good person. She’ll open her heart soon.”

 

However… such a thing didn’t happen easily.

 

* * *

 

“Haah.”

 

I let out a deep sigh looking at Jenos, who showed no signs of mounting his horse for the past ten minutes.

 

“At this rate, dawn will break.”

 

“We could just go another time.”

 

For some reason, his face showed genuine concern.

 

After Ternox came in as an aide.

 

Through consistent treatment sessions, it seemed a subtle bond had formed between the Grand Duke and Ternox.

 

The Grand Duke said he would receive reports about magical beasts and revisit the vacant lot he had visited alone last time, this time together with Ternox.

 

It was while this schedule was set that Lady Diana unexpectedly returned.

 

Well, naturally, Lady Diana was someone who had disliked the House of Blanche her entire life.

 

She had strongly opposed the marriage and even left for recuperation in the south.

 

Literally leaving me alone in the middle of in-law hell, so he seemed concerned.

 

But….

 

‘That’s that, and this is this!’

 

I shook my head reluctantly and argued back.

 

“Is it really necessary?”

 

“If you put it that way, there’s no real need to go on reconnaissance either….”

 

“Why postpone it! Our lives are on the line right now!”

 

And to be more honest, having him by my side with his poor way with words would only upset Lady Diana.

 

Since he wouldn’t be particularly helpful, just get lost!

 

…I wanted to say that, but mustering my patience once more, I opened my mouth to get him on his horse.

 

“Your Grace.”

 

“Jenos.”

 

Ah, right. He told me to call him by name.

 

Last time when I called Ternox ‘Nox,’ he made a fuss about whether it was a nickname or what.

 

If that was the case, the Grand Duke had insisted I just call him Jenos too.

 

“Ahem, Jenos.”

 

“Yes, Rene.”

 

Anyway, after that the Grand Duke had been somewhat obsessively correcting the way I addressed him.

 

It just wasn’t natural to me yet.

 

Setting aside the matter of how to address him, I spoke up again.

 

“Why don’t you get going now?”

 

“Yeah, you bastard. Just how long do I have to wait for you two to finish your loving farewell? This is elder abuse.”

 

When even Ternox’s sarcasm flew over, Jenos finally reluctantly mounted his horse.

 

He bowed his head once more to give me a final reminder.

 

“If anything happens, send a messenger bird.”

 

“Yes, yes, I got it.”

 

And so the two of them left.

 

“…Yes! Freedom!”

 

I felt the liberation of a child left alone at home when their parents go on a trip and hurriedly ran into the Duke’s Castle.

 

Of course! Lady Diana seemed strict, but.

 

I just needed to stay out of her sight, right?

 

‘I’m busy. Busy trying to figure out why the lady secretly gave meat only to that servant!’

 

Rather, it was nice to have time to hole up in my room and read popular novels without worrying about anyone’s attention.

 

Hehe, let me show you what a shut-in otaku really is.

 

Until Jenos and Ternox returned.

 

I planned to enjoy my alone time reading books I’d brought by the armful from the secret library, stacked up in piles.

 

“You have no table manners at all. That’s dessert cutlery! Don’t you even know when to use which cutlery?”

 

…As expected, the situation didn’t go as I had hoped.

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