I Wasn't Trying to Seduce with the Male Lead - Episode 37

“Lian.”

The Duchess of Floyd slowly approached her son.

The two dukes who were standing nearby seemed to sense the atmosphere and stepped back after a light greeting.

The Duchess looked at her son, who had grown a head taller than her, with proud and emotional eyes.

“I’m glad you arrived safely after such a long journey. Is everything comfortable?”

“Most things are fine, but…”

The Duchess narrowed her purple eyes, which were the only feature she shared with her son.

“It would have been better if you had said something before making a life-or-death decision.”

Instead of apologizing, Lian smiled sheepishly.

The Duchess’s expression became more strained.

“I heard it’s a dangerous demon beast. Do you really have to go?”

“I think it’s for the best.”

“Why?”

“Because once I return, everything will be clear.”

He gently caressed his mother’s cheek, whose usually impassive expression had a rare hint of worry.

“Everything will be alright. But this time, I’ll need your help, Mother.”

Because he was a son who never asked anyone for a favor, his request felt paradoxically special to her. Even when she couldn’t agree with his decision.

“Of course. I will provide everything you need for the subjugation.”

“The subjugation will be fine,” Lian said, shaking his head at the Duchess’s ready offer.

“Instead, please protect her.”

The Duchess, who had been looking at him with affection, hardened her expression.

“I can do anything for you. Because I am your mother.”

She knew that Lian never changed his mind once it was made and that he never revealed his true feelings unless it was something he truly valued. That’s why she had never opposed his decisions before.

But this time was different.

“How can I look favorably on that woman when you are going into a life-threatening situation?”

She couldn’t stop him, so she would stand by, but she didn’t want to be part of his plan.

At her cold words, Lian spoke again.

“I am not going into a life-threatening situation, and you don’t have to force yourself to see her in a good light.”

“So you’re asking me to protect her while I dislike her?”

“Just keep Eleonora by your side while I’m gone. Then you will grow to like her.”

The Duchess wrinkled her high nose.

“Why are you so confident?”

Lian just smiled, but she had no intention of accepting a daughter-in-law who was weak, dependent, self-indulgent, and had a complicated history with men. However, she was not so foolish as to upset her son by saying such things when he was about to leave on a dangerous expedition.

“I’ll just redecorate your mansion until you return. You have no talent for that kind of thing. I won’t concern myself with that woman.”

Lian seemed satisfied with that and didn’t press her further.

“When are you leaving?”

“There’s no point in delaying, so I plan to leave tomorrow.”

A farewell right after meeting. The Duchess sighed deeply and said plainly, “You must return safely.”

“If I couldn’t, I wouldn’t leave.”

She had never even considered the possibility of her proud son failing.

“I’ll go prepare for the expedition now. We’ll talk again later.”

With those words, Lian left for the Imperial Supply Office.

Watching his retreating figure, the Duchess was lost in thought.

‘Is he really leaving like this?’

She had sent a servant to summon him.

“Lian was not with the knights.”

“I’ve already met him.”

“Then…?”

Blaine looked at the Duchess with hopeful eyes, but she shook her head. It meant she hadn’t been able to stop the expedition.

Blaine’s disappointment was palpable, but he didn’t show it in front of the Duchess, who was sending her son away.

“…Will you return to the mansion?”

“Yes.”

At least she had seen his face before he left, so it wasn’t a wasted trip.

Inside the carriage heading back to the mansion, the Duchess complained to Blaine.

“I can’t believe it. Lian likes a woman like that.”

“When I first found out, I also thought she wasn’t good enough for Rian, but…”

Blaine agreed, but his words trailed off strangely.

“She may have a pretty face, but that’s not all a woman is. You don’t pick a socialite’s flower that blooms in everyone’s hands.”

There were many reasons, but what irked the Duchess the most was that she seemed so flighty. The fact that she had been married once was a problem, but she was a woman who spent every night at parties, surrounded by men. With so many women who were devoted to Lian, why would he get involved with a woman like that and cause himself a headache?

But this time, Blaine subtly rebutted her.

“I looked into it, and it seems she’s not a flower that blooms in everyone’s hands.”

“What do you mean?”

“Her husband died after a marriage in prison, and since then, she hasn’t had a single rumor with any man.”

In fact, her own investigation had yielded the same results. But she couldn’t believe it. It must be because she hadn’t investigated enough.

“That’s impossible. She must be hiding it well.”

“She is highly visible in social circles. Could she hide it so perfectly for so long?”

“But there’s already a clear case, isn’t there?” The Duchess frowned. “You can’t deny her relationship with Duke Phaedra.”

Perhaps she was just a woman who specialized in meeting handsome, high-ranking nobles like Rian and Sky.

But she was soon met with an unexpected counterpoint.

“They were together, but I was told nothing happened between them.”

Ha. What am I going to do with this naive fellow?

The Duchess looked at Blaine with pity and clicked her tongue. “You believe a woman like that?”

“I didn’t hear it from Baroness Eleonora.”

“Then who told you such nonsense?”

“Duke Sky Phaedra told me himself.”

The Duchess, who had been looking disinterested, raised her eyebrows slightly. “Duke Phaedra? Is that true?”

“It is.”

The Duchess was half in doubt, then her expression shifted to one of disbelief.

“Duke Phaedra is a man who never declines a woman. And he took a woman and sent her back untouched?”

Even though she disliked her, she couldn’t deny that Eleonora was very beautiful. It made no sense for a man to have such a woman by his side and exercise restraint.

“He said he couldn’t.”

“Why couldn’t he? Did someone tie him up?”

At her scoffing remark, Blaine flinched oddly.

“I think you don’t need to know that much.” Blaine hesitated, then said in a firm voice, “But I believe my story is the truth.”

She wanted to pry further, but Blaine was so resolute that she couldn’t. He looked as if he was keeping a secret from the Imperial Palace.

Instead of asking him, the Duchess recalled the Eleonora she had seen last night.

‘She doesn’t have a complicated history with men, huh…’

Eleonora had looked straight at the Duchess with eyes that didn’t flatter. The Duchess had almost never seen such a look, given her status. It was an expression only a person who lived with a clear conscience could have.

‘It must be her social skills,’ the Duchess thought, shaking her head as if to refuse to trust her.

She would thoroughly dig up any dirt and shove it in her face the day Lian returned. That would be the last day of her life.

With her mind made up, the Duchess looked at the enormous building in the distance. The windows of the old Shancarn Hotel, now the mansion of Count Calabria, glittered, reflecting the beautiful, colorful clouds.

Eleonora stopped the handcart she was pulling and gently knocked on the door.

A faint, mosquito-like voice soon came from within.

“Did you sleep well?”

When she greeted her, Biancasta responded in a voice that was barely audible. She seemed very anxious and awkward, as if she was not used to the sunlit room.

“Are you feeling a little better?”

When she asked worriedly, Biancasta nodded.

“I wondered if it was a dream, but it doesn’t seem to be.”

As she approached, she heard Biancasta’s dazed murmur. She hesitated for a moment, then clenched her fists on her lap and quickly bent at the waist.

“Th-thank you.”

“For what?”

“For believing me. I poisoned the Baroness’s cup, and the Princess…”

Biancasta couldn’t continue, her face twitching. It seemed something was blocked by a spell.

“The Princess… is a really good person.” Biancasta finished in a dejected voice.

So that she wouldn’t suffer anymore, Eleanor spoke the words she wanted to say.

“If everything a person wished for came true, there would be no reason for them not to be a good person.”

Thanks to her past experiences, Eleanor knew all too well what even much more innocent and powerless people than the Princess could plot behind the scenes.

“People should be judged by their actions. What she did to you makes her a clear ‘villain.'”

Biancasta had a very complex expression on her face.

“Now, first of all, you need to eat something.”

Eleanor placed the handcart beside the bed and opened the silver lid. She scooped some oatmeal into a bowl with a ladle and spoke to Biancasta.

“You’ll be safe here for a while. You can’t stay forever, though. Before you leave, I’ll find a hiding place and a way to break the spell on you.”

Biancasta’s eyes lit up at the mention of the spell. “Is that possible?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I know someone who might be able to help.”

Biancasta was so moved that she couldn’t speak for a while. She mouthed words for a long time, then finally stammered out her thanks.

“Is it okay for me to receive such a great favor…?”

“The Young Lady was a great help to me, too.”

Besides Biancasta, the Princess would have many people she could use. If Biancasta hadn’t stopped her then, she would have drunk it all and might have died without even suspecting anything. Even if she had avoided the danger, it would have taken her much longer to learn the Princess’s true nature.

“Young Lady? No, please call me Biancasta.”

Biancasta, the daughter of a Marquis, had a much higher status than Eleanor, a commoner-born Baroness. But since Biancasta had offered it herself, Eleanor decided to accept.

“Alright. I will.”

When she answered coolly, Biancasta’s expression was ecstatic.

“It feels like a dream.”

‘She must be really happy that someone understands her,’ Eleanor thought. But then, an unexpected remark came from Biancasta’s lips.

“To be able to talk like this, just the two of us, with a Baroness I’ve always idolized…”

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