Duke Kalinos lifted the magical artifact known as the <Eye of Truth>. Inside the artifact’s eyeball, Giselle’s movement path was tangled and stretched out in disorder. She said she was heading to the powder room, but… Her trail had stopped, not at the powder room, but at the cigar room.
“To the cigar room.”
At his words, the nobles couldn’t utter a single protest and arrived before the cigar room door.
I want to break the door right now. But as Giselle had instructed, he diligently pressed the <Ear of Truth> against the door. It was said to amplify the sounds from inside.
Step one: gather people. Step two: attach the magical artifact so those outside can learn and know what’s happening inside. He followed all of Giselle’s instructions. Up to this point, Vientin was still rational. But then…
“You filthy, insane b*stard. Get the hell away from me! This is sexual assault, you know.”
“Don’t misunderstand, Giselle. It’s not because I think you’re pure.”
“What?”
“It means that, though it’s dirty, it might be worth trying.”
The atmosphere inside the cigar room was anything but normal. Thanks to the voice amplification effect brought by the <Ear of Truth>, the five or six mages and nobles Vientin had brought all stood there with their mouths agape.
“W-Wasn’t that Duke Reshaniel’s voice?”
“T-That’s right. I’ve heard it often enough at the Magic Tower…”
“B-But did I hear that correctly…?”
“T-The duke is really about to commit sexual assault? Something’s got to be wrong here…”
To the world, Duke Reshaniel’s reputation was spotless, utterly immaculate, especially among the mages gathered here tonight.
At the mention of sexual assault, Vientin felt something inside him snap like a fuse. Grinding his teeth, he could no longer endure it. He lifted the sword he had brought inside his coat.
At that moment, a noble who had barely regained his senses muttered cautiously, “S-Swords are prohibited inside the ballroom…”
“It’s a sword-type magical artifact. There won’t be a problem.”
Someone tried to protest, but before he could finish, Vientin himself kicked open the door to the cigar room. Through the half-broken door, Duke Reshaniel could be seen gripping Giselle’s chin.
“Are you out of your mind?” Vientin clenched his jaw so hard it seemed his teeth might break. With a viciously twisted expression, he raised his sword and said, “Take your hands off my wife, Trash.”
“Ah, damn it.”
Duke Reshaniel looked around with an expression of misfortune. If only Vientin had been alone, he would have forcibly kissed Giselle and stolen her mana. But there were too many witnesses now.
“D-Duke Reshaniel committing a sexual assault…”
“So it was real? I didn’t just imagine it, did I?”
From the shattered doorway, the nobles’ hushed whispers could be heard.
Just then, Giselle, noticing Duke Reshaniel’s grip had loosened in his panic, slapped his hand away and flashed him a mocking smile. “Looks like the trashy things you said earlier were all heard outside.”
“You… So this was your plan.” Duke Reshaniel muttered low, staring at the five mages rolling their eyes in shock and the crowd gathering from the commotion. “How could you do something that would ruin your own reputation?”
People like Duke Reshaniel were always the same. Because they were obsessed with their own honor and reputation, they assumed everyone else was just as fixated. He must’ve thought that as a proper noble lady, I would never drag our scandal into public view. That might have been true for the old ‘Giselle’. But not anymore.
“You know, thanks to someone, my reputation’s already in the gutter. I don’t care about that stuff anymore.”
At Giselle’s words, Duke Reshaniel’s pupils trembled. She didn’t hesitate any longer. With open hostility, she jerked her chin toward Duke Kalinos, who stood there like an Asura.
“Honey.”
“Yes, Wife.” Vientin strode forward and pressed his sword to Duke Reshaniel’s throat.
“How dare you try to lay a hand on a married woman? My husband will make you pay for that.” Giselle smiled brightly, sneering as if deliberately creating a melodramatic lovers’ scandal.
The corner of Vientin’s mouth twisted into a strange smile. Raising his sword toward Duke Reshaniel, he whispered quietly. “I’d love nothing more than to cut your throat right here and now.” But he had to follow the plan Giselle had set in motion.
Clinging to the last thread of his reason, Vientin drove his sword downward. Swoosh! It was just as his blade was about to pierce Duke Reshaniel’s thigh. Thunk!
Vientin glared menacingly at the sword, which had bounced off a barrier. “Petty tricks.”
“Uh, urgh… What is the meaning of this…”
Still, the blade had grazed Duke Reshaniel’s thigh. Blood spurted out like a fountain, and he staggered. Thanks to his skill, he managed to defend himself in time. Otherwise, he could have lost his leg. He fixed his gaze on the sword, which once again hovered dangerously close to his throat.
“Are you challenging me to a duel?”
“A duel?” Vientin frowned, looking utterly incredulous. “A mere duel won’t suffice. I’m tempted to demand a full-blown territory war between our families.” Whether or not the nobles behind him turned pale at those words, Vientin’s expression remained cold and menacing.
Gritting his teeth, Duke Reshaniel clutched his thigh and muttered, “A territory war, huh… Not a bad idea.”
A faint divine light glimmered from his hand as he healed his thigh. A scar remained, but it was barely noticeable that he’d even been wounded by a blade.
“I won’t forget today’s debt.” Even as he limped away, unable to fully heal himself, Duke Reshaniel’s face was still shrouded in darkness.
Giselle’s eyes, watching the whole scene unfold, sparkled with a keen intelligence sharper than anyone else’s. Amid the chaos, it was all thanks to the ‘lucky stone’ she’d been secretly clutching in her hand.
When Duke Kalinos attacked the mosquito, and when the mosquito used his divine power, I pretended to stumble, brushed against him, and managed to drain a huge amount of mana!
At last, today, Giselle had completely figured out how the lucky stone worked. First, you have to inflict a physical or emotional wound on someone, then make contact with them. After that, you just had to press the lucky stone against them and absorb their mana.
So that’s why that b*stard was so desperate to hurt me. Watching Duke Reshaniel’s cowardly retreat, Giselle clenched her fist tight.
Wow, the mana inside me is seriously going wild. It’s like a live fish flopping around! Despite having been choked and enduring countless events, her entire body felt incredibly refreshed. This is way better than when I drank the Kalinos family potion. It’s like I instantly recovered more than 70% of my original abilities! She felt as if she could properly use any kind of magic now. Her confidence boosted up to the point she thought she could even fight a dragon if one showed up.
With a tingling thrill, Giselle’s lips curled into a bright, victorious smile. She had definitely stolen a chunk of Duke Reshaniel’s mana. From now on, I’ll suck your mana dry, Mosquito.
Today’s mission was complete.
* * *
Leaving Duke Reshaniel behind, the nobles and mages who had witnessed the incident were all herded into carriages and forced to write statements about what had happened.
Seeing some of them rushing off to the pub, that mosquito b*stard’s scandal will probably spread through the capital by tomorrow. Just like what happened to me in the past, juicy gossip would spread like wildfire, leaving no time for anyone to react.
Chuckling with satisfaction, I rode back to the mansion with Duke Kalinos. It was already getting dark, and dawn seemed just around the corner. The ordeal was over, but why did the air feel so awkward? After our emotional reunion, Duke Kalinos and I ended up sharing a carriage. That part was fine, but the mood had completely tanked.
I kept sneaking glances at Duke Kalinos, who looked dead serious, and finally asked him, cautiously, “Did you know, Your Grace?” I raised my hand. The lucky stone trembled in my palm, then stilled. “I managed to steal his mana! That means we’ve found a way to deal with Duke Reshaniel, right?”
But Duke Kalinos’s face was still murderous.
“Your neck.”
“Pardon?”
“There’s a bruise on your neck.” Just then, Duke Kalinos muttered in a low, pained voice, as if he were being strangled. “I never said you had to go this far.”
“Right. Y-You didn’t.”
Because he wouldn’t have allowed it otherwise…
“You said… we’d just pretend to be a loving couple, and you wouldn’t get hurt.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
His rough fingertips unexpectedly brushed my neck with surprising gentleness. “Judging by the color, this bruise will last at least two weeks.”
I tried to joke, to say something like it was impressive that he could diagnose bruises by color. But right at that moment,
“Why did you do it?”
Duke Kalinos met my eyes, and I saw his eyes grow red. Seeing him avert his gaze, I stiffened. T-Those at the corners of his eyes… are those tears? That was even more shocking than finding a way to deal with that b*stard Duke Reshaniel.
I stared at him, dumbfounded. Then, he gripped my shoulders and, in a voice tinged with a faint sob, whispered softly, “You already have so little time left to live. Why would you do something so foolish?”
…Excuse me?
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