You Said I Was a Persecuted, Terminally Ill Grand Duchess? - Chapter 72

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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 72

 

“It seems the Duchess doesn’t have a very good relationship with her family?”

 

Kalian asked with feigned interest as he crossed his legs.

 

“You know all the rumors.”

 

Jenos answered dryly.

 

His younger brother, who had somehow become an old soul, would test people like this even though he already knew everything.

 

It was probably unavoidable to survive in a place like the Imperial Palace, but Jenos didn’t find that habit particularly pleasant.

 

“Those are just rumors. But looking at your expression, it seems to be true.”

 

“What about my expression?”

 

“You look like you’re dying to crush House of Blanc.”

 

Jenos snorted and shrugged his shoulders.

 

‘Well. Unless Rene would be happy about it…’

 

Thinking this far, Jenos realized his mistake and cleared his throat awkwardly.

 

Kalian’s lips twitched as he witnessed this change of expression right before his eyes.

 

That Jenos having a first love.

 

And unrequited love at that?

 

Though he absolutely denied it, strong denial was usually strong affirmation.

 

‘What kind of person could she be?’

 

His birthday banquet, which had only been unpleasant, was somehow becoming anticipated.

 

Just then, Jenos’s face suddenly hardened as he looked over a document.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Glancing over, it was a list of food that would be served throughout the banquet.

 

“It’s nothing special.”

 

Kalian shrugged and looked at Jenos again.

 

No matter how he looked at it, the brother he saw today was strangely unfamiliar.

 

“…There’s ice cream for dessert.”

 

“Yeah, gelato is quite popular in the Capital City these days. It seems nobles serve it often as dessert too.”

 

“Remove this.”

 

“What? Why?”

 

“Just… remove it.”

 

That stiffly hardened expression.

 

‘There’s definitely something here too.’

 

To think the Duchess could change a person this much in just a few months last winter.

 

Kalian nodded for now.

 

But inwardly he chuckled and resolved to fill one entire section with nothing but ice cream.

 

* * *

 

Late at night, at the Townhouse.

 

I was rolling around haphazardly on the spacious bed, trying to summon sleep that wouldn’t come.

 

Naturally, the Duke wasn’t there.

 

He had slipped away first during dinner and still hadn’t returned.

 

Fairly bright moonlight streamed in through the window.

 

Was it because the sleeping place had changed?

 

Even though it should be the same moon I saw in the Northern Region, it somehow felt unfamiliar.

 

‘Usually in romance novels, this is when the husband goes off to have an affair.’

 

Was it because I was once immersed in popular novels?

 

Or was I bewitched by the mysteriously shining moonlight?

 

My thought process suddenly went strangely awry.

 

“No way?!”

 

I sprang up from the bed without realizing it.

 

Though no one was watching, I felt momentarily embarrassed.

 

‘Eh. Ternox went with him too.’

 

I shook my head vigorously, feeling guilty for no reason.

 

That old-fashioned dragon wouldn’t let such things slide. Yeah, yeah.

 

“….”

 

No. But wait a minute.

 

Why am I thinking like this?

 

What does it matter to me whether the Duke has an affair or not?

 

“Ah, anyway, this isn’t helping. Why isn’t he coming back until so late, causing all this fuss?”

 

Suddenly irritated, I threw enthusiastic jabs at the air.

 

Though I did picture Jenos’s face, I was the only one losing energy.

 

And after just doing that a few times, I was already dripping with sweat.

 

‘This terrible stamina doesn’t improve no matter how hard I try.’

 

Eventually, as I lay sprawled on the large bed, the empty space beside me somehow felt lonely.

 

And for good reason.

 

For the past few months, we had always slept together.

 

Since the Duke was a man who kept his word, there was no physical contact whatsoever.

 

‘But have I gotten used to it without realizing?’

 

Using Jenos’s madness as an excuse, I had fallen asleep in the same bed every night, and it seemed to have become a habit.

 

Perhaps the human sleeping pill wasn’t me, but him.

 

“Sigh, sigh!”

 

As I sighed deeply for no reason and lay on my side, various random thoughts overflowed.

 

The conversation with Lady Diana.

 

The Duke sulking after being caught liking ice cream and salt bread.

 

‘Ah, skip this one.’

 

I said I don’t want to think about Jenos!

 

Anyway, what else was there before that?

 

After looking at the clothes….

 

“Ah!”

 

“Going to the Northern Region and trying to play the role of Duchess? Do you think you can erase your lowly bloodline with that?”

 

The day felt so long that I almost forgot for a moment.

 

The girl who spat venom with a more beautiful face than anyone.

 

Was her name Bianca?

 

The setting that was dismissed in one line in the original story as being persecuted by family members felt quite unpleasant when it actually hit me as reality.

 

Most of all….

 

“Just like your lowly servant mother seduced our father with her body, you seduced the Duke the same way, didn’t you?”

 

“So I was the daughter of a servant….”

 

This was also the first time I learned this.

 

Damn this original story. It’s not helpful at all!

 

Settings I didn’t even know kept popping up, making this ordeal unbearable.

 

“I need to remember something. Even I wouldn’t believe the nonsense about losing my memory….”

 

Since they were in the Capital City, it was obvious that House of Blanc would also participate in the imperial banquet to be held in a few days.

 

“Ha. What should I do?”

 

After racking my brain and overworking it for a long time, drowsiness finally began to pour over me.

 

In the end, the solution I came up with was just one.

 

‘It’s a masquerade ball anyway. Let’s avoid them as much as possible. If they act like they know me, I’ll just insist they don’t….’

 

With that thought as my last, I fell into a deep sleep.

 

* * *

 

I had a dream.

 

How could I tell this was a dream?

 

“Sob… *sniff*, Mom….”

 

I was standing there crying miserably while holding a half-melted necklace.

 

A locket necklace that was stuck shut and wouldn’t open.

 

Inside it was a portrait of my mother.

 

I fumbled with it for the first time in my life, sobbing quietly.

 

My room was a storage room located right under the stairs.

 

The thin boards crudely patched together didn’t serve as walls at all and provided no soundproofing.

 

If any sound leaked out.

 

I’d obviously get beaten for being a noisy little rat crying.

 

‘Ah, right. This is…’

 

Once again it was me, but it wasn’t me.

 

This is the real female protagonist.

 

This is ‘Rene Blanche’s’ memory.

 

It seemed the time period was Rene’s childhood spent at House Blanche.

 

And the one word that defined this period was…

 

‘Persecution.’

 

Sadly, that word fit perfectly.

 

In the dream, I feared Bianca the most, who smiled brightly like a doll.

 

Whenever her blue eyes flashed, something bad always happened.

 

I rolled down the stairs.

 

My mother’s keepsakes were thrown into the fire pit.

 

Once I woke up from a creepy feeling and saw a sewer rat gnawing at my fingertips.

 

When I screamed in surprise, they said the little rat wasn’t getting along well with its friend and threw me out all night in that cold winter.

 

But no one cared about me.

 

That bastard of a father was intimidated by his legitimate wife and let Bianca do whatever she wanted.

 

‘If this is how it was going to be, why did you give birth to me?’

 

You should have just let me die with mom.

 

Duchess Blanche was even worse than Bianca.

 

It was obvious she was keeping me alive knowing that a persecuted, lonely life was more painful than death for me.

 

Even when I tried to die, it wasn’t easy because of the servants watching everywhere.

 

‘It’s painful.’

 

Every night, I listened to the sounds of people creaking as they passed up the stairs beyond the old boards.

 

Trampled.

 

Trampled.

 

Trampled.

 

Living in a place where it was natural for someone to trample on me.

 

I held my breath.

 

And every night I prayed.

 

‘Anyone is fine.’

 

Please get me out of here.

 

Please save me…

 

Then.

 

A ray of light that entered through the cracks of my completely dark world was…

 

* * *

 

“Rene!”

 

Gasp.

 

I opened my eyes with a start as I felt strong, firm arms embracing me tightly.

 

The room was still dark.

 

Had I sweated a lot while sleeping?

 

Sweat had stuck to my eyelashes, making my vision blurry.

 

No, it seemed like I had a fever.

 

My whole body was hot and cold.

 

Sleep and fever mixed together, making my mind hazy.

 

But this much I saw clearly.

 

“Rene, are you okay?”

 

Blue-violet eyes that shimmered brilliantly in the moonlight.

 

Careful touch as if embracing something precious.

 

A sorrowful expression as if he was suffering even more.

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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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