CH 24

The shame was also disgraceful, but the Emperor’s wrath was great because the opponent was the fiancé of the princess.

Edna was able to save her life by quickly lying flat on the floor. Of course, it was also embellished that the princess’ fiancé was the one who seduced her.

Originally, the Emperor, who disliked the first princess’ fiancé, punished him and expelled Edna from the capital for several years. It was practically a permanent expulsion from the social circle.

Her father was enraged because he had planned to use Edna to enter the capital’s political circles. After much thought and consideration, he made an offer to Edna.

Become a maid of Duke Cardian.

“Duke Cardian is not interested in social circles. So… Neither your name nor your face will be known.”

“And then?”

“What do you mean by ‘and then’? Try to seduce him to take over the position of the mistress.”

“I don’t want to! I heard that Duke Cardian is a terrible monster, how could you….”

Edna was slapped on the shoulder as her father yelled when she refused.

“Even if Duke Cardian is a monster, you can be a Duchess!”

Despite Edna’s cries and begs that she was terrified of Duke Cardian, the Baron did not listen. He believed that was the only way to sell his daughter at her own price, who had been expelled from the aristocratic society because of the rumors that had been widely spread.

Edna was forced to get a job in the Cardian mansion at the Baron’s torch [1]. She had no choice but to become a maid after the Baron threatened to expel her from the family if she did not follow his orders.

However, the Cardian family was also formidable.

“…Your eyes are full of vanity. It would be inappropriate for you to work in the main building.”

After a brief conversation with Edna, the servant comes to this conclusion. As a result, Edna had to work as a maid of the annex building for three years.

In her fourth year, she was able to enter the main building, but the treatment did not improve. It was only natural for her to remain as a maid.

At this point, Edna was determined to do anything to relinquish her job as a maid. She was different from the half-blood nobles who worked here. She had a proper family.

‘What’s the point of being a Duke? He’s just a cursed monster.’

On the other side of her heart, there was a feeling of ignoring Leonis like this. All the nobles in the capital’s social circle were like that. But!

“Th-that man….. No, is that man Duke Cardian?”

She finally met Leonis Cardian, a handsome man beyond Edna’s expectations. None of the men she had ever seen had a better appearance than him.

It didn’t matter if he was cursed. But if he has a handsome face like that!

That was Edna’s thought until she ran into Leonis the next morning.

“You woke up early today, Duke.”

“….It was not in good condition. It’ll be ready, right?”

“Of course.”

With a pounding heart, Edna looked at Leonis as he walked while conversing with the servant. She couldn’t figure out what ‘it’ they were talking about, but it didn’t matter to her now.

It was an opportunity that came a few weeks after seeing Leonis’ face. She had to appeal to him in some way.

Then she hurriedly tried to approach Leonis, but he turned his head first. The moment Edna met his piercing bloody eyes, her body hardened. She had noticed his eyes were red before, but they were no longer the same as they had been in the morning.

‘What….’

The crimson red eyes made her neck numb. Edna would do anything if she could get out of that look.

‘Did my father mean to embrace a man like that? Me?’

She appeared to have lowered her head unconsciously to avoid his gaze. Meanwhile, Leonis had taken his servant and walked right past Edna as she stood in the hallway.

Then….

‘It’s a waste!’

Edna clenched her teeth as she moved the silk dress upstairs.

Celia Montague.

Even if she did not come to this cursed Duke’s family, she was in a position to go whenever she pleased. Marquis Montague was a venerable family with a long history of producing the famous Holy Knight.

Marquis Montague’s connection is well-known, and since it was a family protected by the temple, every family wanted to establish a relationship with the Montague family’s daughter.

‘How could such a woman marry a cursed Duke!’

She had seen Leonis like that and thought that if that high-ranking woman came, she would despise and hate Leonis.

“Ahh, yes! Ah! Ah, ah… If you do that….. Oh, nghh!”

Edna was jealous of the lewd moans she heard from time to time. Leonis was as great in bed as his handsome appearance, completely melting Celia.

Even Celia, who seemed hesitant at first, had obviously fallen for it. No, she didn’t seem hostile from the beginning, maybe because she fell in love with Leonis’ appearance at the wedding hall.

It was completely different from what the rumors had spread that she had a fiancé and loved him.

Because the Duke frequently visited the Duchess and cared for her, all the servants were extremely careful with the Duchess. Everyone was afraid of the Duke, although they were different to some extent.

Duke Cardian was hiding his aristocratic attitude and courtesy, but he was hiding the instinct of a murderer in it.

Who wouldn’t be afraid of a monster that doesn’t mind killing people with his bare hands and if he didn’t get blood on his hands for a day, he’d go crazy!

Because the monster, their owner, cared about the Duchess, they were afraid they would die if they disobeyed her even slightly.

‘Argh, that could have been me!’

Edna wished she hadn’t imagined the head servant Albert, who regarded her with contempt, crawling under her feet.

Duke Cardian was still terrifying, but the Duchess’s privileges were insanely coveted. If only she could become Duchess Cardian, she could hold all of this in her hands… She felt like she could handle Duke Cardian’s dirty blood madness.

‘What’s so special about that girl?’

Although she was the daughter of Marquis Montague, Edna was also a noble. She was also a young girl from a noble family, and it seemed surreal that she had to honor her as her Duchess and was in the position of serving her.

However, Leonis never hired a woman to serve him. Sometimes madness appears, and when it does, the weak person is unable to bear it and may faint.

It hasn’t happened after he had sex with Celia but he was already used to having only men by his side, so he didn’t feel the need to reshuffle his servants.

That wouldn’t be the case if Celia was accompanied by Edna. Edna was not among the maids who first served her. The maid didn’t like Edna as much as the butler.

She tried to become Celia’s exclusive maid even after that, but Celia seemed hesitant to Edna.

When she introduced herself with the other maids to Celia, the Duchess seemed to look carefully but Celia chose the other maids instead of Edna, and were placed by her side. Edna was enraged.

‘Did you notice anything about the stupid subject?’

Edna had no intention of changing her mind, though. The Duchess Cardian position was exactly what she needed.

‘I have to be Duchess! Leonis and everything…I’m going to make it mine.’ 

While looking at the gifts of Leonis that filled the Duchess’s room, Edna was determined.

✦ ✦ ✦

‘She’s doing that again.’

Celia stayed away from Edna because she remembered the original story. Lily kept Edna close despite knowing she was about to become Leonis’ mistress.

Edna wanted Leonis to be a little distant from Lily, because Lily hated him from the beginning. That was why Edna’s behavior allowed her to narrow her position within the Duke family.

Because she had no feelings for Leonis, nor did she dislike Duke Cardian.

On the other hand, Celia’s position was different.

She liked Leonis and remembered the original story, so she thought it was quite useful, even if not everyone liked the Duke.

There was no reason to let Edna have her way. Celia doesn’t want to be in a difficult situation.

‘I’m not going to give up because she’s the second original villain. I wish the Duke could send her outside in moderation.’

It would have been easy if she had taken advantage of the Duchess’ status, but the groundless expulsion can cause slander. It will be a good excuse for the main villain who hasn’t appeared yet.

Celia did not stand by Edna and simply observed. Thankfully, Celia wasn’t the only one who disliked Edna. Her servant, Albert, was also keeping an eye on her, and her maid, Marie, seemed to irritate Edna.

It wasn’t like she was being bullied or anything.

‘I think she’ll bully me, but as long as she doesn’t kill me… Should I send her to the house of the main villain or the third villain?’

I don’t want to let it go if she was going to hurt me, but I couldn’t hurt anyone just by guessing that she might do something bad.

But, as if having an ominous presence in the house wasn’t enough, Celia wanted Edna to leave the Duke’s estate.

‘It’s a self-indulgent act. Even though ​​it has yet to be decided whether or not to live in this family.’

Leonis embraced Celia with tenacity, as if he had noticed her concerns. He lusted after Celia’s body several times during the day, especially at night, as if she had never had sex.

It was a unique experience to be trapped in a huge, hard body and to feel a mind-blowing pleasure. After it was over, she was so calm that she found herself strange.

‘Is that because power only flows through the Montague family’s women?’

Leonis simply wrapped his arms around Celia and didn’t let her out.

The pleasure was sweet and ecstatic, as if it had been given in exchange for allowing him to lock her in. Celia cries out that she will die at that moment, but she will be held in his arms again the next day.

‘Leonis… What does Leon think of me?’

It took a long time for the original Leonis to realize his feelings for Lily. She had only been a partner for consensual relations until then, in order to alleviate the curse. Leonis seemed to respect Celia. He doesn’t act harshly to her, and if Celia said no, he would stop.

It was annoying when he pretended to be calming a child, but otherwise everything was fine. He also had a kind expression on his face when he looked at her. He looked at her with honey-dripping eyes, to be precise.

‘But that can’t be… I’m not Lily.’

Leonis knows Lily hates him in the original novel, but he eventually falls in love with her. Celia thought it was loneliness that made him that way. He was cursed, and in the end he was alone.

It was noticed by Lily, who had been left alone in Marquis Montague’s mansion after losing Celia. As the story digs into that point, Leonis falls in love with Lily, even though he knows her attitude is false.

This was because Lily has an irresistible ‘power to soften the curse.’

On the other hand, what does Leonis think about her in reality like now? Celia suddenly became curious about his mind.

Notes:

[1] Torch means someone pushes a person to do something quite hard.