I’m Not the One Who Seduced the Grand Duke Chapter 13

There must be some kind of curse on me. Otherwise, there was no way all these things could keep happening to me over the past few days.

Who would have thought that one day I would receive an invitation to tea from the Sun of the Empire himself, the Emperor…

“W-What should we do?! His Majesty is definitely going to punish you. You know how much His Majesty cherishes the Grand Duke!”

Laura’s anxious voice echoed in my head.

Just as she said, despite being half-brothers, the Emperor and Leon were famously close.

More precisely, the Emperor was known for doting on the Grand Duke.

But then.

“And you just went and snatched away the chastity of the younger brother His Majesty cherishes so much!”

Of course he would be dumbfounded. He would be speechless. And he would be angry.

‘Of course, it wasn’t actually me who did it.’

At this point, I had reached a state of resignation rather than anger.

Having barely managed to settle my mind, I slowly raised my head.

Right. I could worry about resentment and all that later. For now, the important thing was…

“You must be very busy with work, so thank you for accepting such a sudden invitation, Marquis.”

“Not at all, Your Majesty.”

I shook my head and looked at the man sitting before me.

Inside the dazzlingly splendid reception room of the Imperial Palace.

Among the countless reception rooms in the palace, this one had apparently been designed specifically for receiving distinguished guests, and it was truly magnificent.

A glittering crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling, while soft velvet curtains filtered the light pouring in from three sides, letting it gently illuminate the room.

One wall was adorned with an intricately embroidered Imperial flag, along with decorations made of gold and jewels.

And now, the owner of everything that made up this space was the blond man sitting before me.

‘Kael Obsidian.’

He was the young and handsome Emperor who had ascended the throne at the mere age of twenty after the sudden death of the previous emperor.

‘Now that I look at him, he does resemble Leon a little.’

If Leon Obsidian had the appearance of a finely carved sculpture, this man had more of a doll-like impression, with softer and gentler features.

Of course, that didn’t mean I could ever let my guard down.

“Hmm. Is the tea not to your taste? You haven’t had any more since earlier.”

“No, Your Majesty. It’s very delicious.”

I quickly shook my head and took another sip of tea.

But…

Huh?

Until just moments ago, I had been too busy trying to understand the situation to notice, but the scent brushing against the tip of my nose and the subtle spiciness lingering on my tongue…

They felt strangely familiar.

“This is… the tea leaves our trading company recently released, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. I knew you would recognize it, Marquis. I already tend to favor Roar’s products, but the latest release is particularly to my taste. I’ve been enjoying it quite often lately.”

“I’m honored that you like it, Your Majesty.”

I slipped in a little appeal about enjoying our products in the future as well, then smiled sweetly.

Perhaps because we were talking about something I knew well, I felt some of my tension ease.

Just as I was about to leisurely take another sip of tea—

“So, Marquis.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What exactly is your relationship with Leon?”

“Cough!”

Correction.

Where had that warm and pleasant atmosphere gone?

The sudden question caught me completely off guard.

I barely managed to catch my plummeting heart and quickly raised my head.

There, I saw the Emperor smiling brightly.

Of course.

‘There was no way he was going to let me off that easily!’

“You may not know this, Marquis, but lately I find myself eagerly waiting for morning to come. With one incident after another happening practically every day, I’ve become quite excited to see what happens next. Hahaha. Thanks to you, my otherwise boring life has become so much more interesting.”

“Ah, yes…”

“When I heard that Leon had violated the Temple’s rules and been stripped of his priestly robes, I was quite surprised. I know his devotion to his faith very well.”

Oh dear.

“And then, for that younger brother of mine to even be dishonorably dismissed…! Pfft.”

The Emperor hurriedly covered his face and turned away.

I could faintly see his shoulders trembling, but I assumed it was simply because he was too dumbfounded by the situation.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

Whatever. I didn’t know what else to do.

I might as well apologize.

There was no point denying it. My opponent was none other than the Emperor of this country.

Rather than making some ridiculous excuse and earning myself another offense for insolence, I figured it would be better to bow my head and apologize as sincerely as possible.

So I was busy apologizing when—

“My, calm down, Marquis. I think there has been some misunderstanding. I didn’t summon you here today to scold you.”

“Pardon? Then why did you summon me…?”

“I was simply curious. I wanted to know when exactly you and the Grand Duke became that kind of couple. You see, I really had no idea about any of this.”

The Emperor’s eyes sparkled as he spoke.

Meanwhile, I became even more confused.

What was this?

He said I needn’t worry because he wasn’t angry, and he seemed genuinely sincere.

After carefully gauging his mood for a moment, I swallowed nervously.

“If you’re asking when I became involved with the Grand Duke…”

“Yes. Tell me. Last month? No, that can’t be it. The Grand Duke was away the entire month dealing with magical beasts. Then last year? Ah, no, that doesn’t seem right either. As I recall, you didn’t attend the Holy Light Festival last year because you were busy with work. Hmm. Then when could it possibly have been…?”

‘Last week.’

…Would that sound strange if I said it?

‘But what can I do when that’s actually the truth?’

“It really is strange. When the very first article came out, I made my own guesses, but you weren’t among them, Marquis.”

“Yes…”

“It’s not that I dislike you or anything, so please don’t misunderstand. It’s simply that there was no connection whatsoever between you and that boy. As far as I knew, you’d never even had a proper conversation…”

“That isn’t quite true. I have met His Grace before.”

I had been listening quietly, but I carefully corrected him.

To tell the truth, Leon Obsidian and I weren’t complete strangers, nor was it true that we had never even exchanged a word.

“We crossed paths several times during our academy days. Both His Grace and I were the top students of our respective years, so we would occasionally greet each other at social gatherings for scholarship students. Ah, and on the day of His Grace’s graduation, we definitely…”

…Huh?

I suddenly stopped.

‘What? Why do I remember this now?’

Come to think of it, we had done more than simply pass each other by.

More precisely, on the day of his graduation.

As the student representative, I and he, as the representative of the graduating class, had been waiting in a small room beside the stage to deliver our speeches.

I definitely remembered having some kind of conversation with him then…

‘But… what did we talk about?’

Strangely, I couldn’t remember.

“Academy? Top student? Wait, academy. Hmm… Ah, could it be!”

At the word ‘academy,’ the Emperor fell into thought for a moment before snapping his fingers.

“Ah! Now I remember! Erna Zaherette! That name was definitely there during my academy days. I forgot because you were two years below me!”

The Emperor suddenly looked excited and began clapping his hands repeatedly.

“The legendary top student who was always ranked first in the entire academy! That name that occupied the very top of the bulletin board every exam period! To think that was you!”

“Yes, that’s right. I was two years below Your Majesty. And I was one year below His Grace.”

“So that’s how it was! That’s right. Hahaha!”

The Emperor slapped his knees and laughed heartily.

He looked like a man who had finally arrived at the answer to some great mystery.

“Right. So that’s what it was. Now all the pieces finally fit together. Why has that boy been acting so recklessly?”

“Pardon? What do you mean by that?”

The reason Leon Obsidian had been acting recklessly?

That was certainly not something I could ignore. My ears immediately perked up.

But the Emperor, who clearly had no intention of explaining, merely continued clapping his hands and laughing to himself.

After some time had passed—

“Be careful, Marquis.”

“……”

“He is not nearly as gentle a man as he appears to be.”

The Emperor finally stopped laughing and spoke in a warning tone.

Be careful?

It was already too late?

For someone saying things like that, his expression was suspiciously cheerful.

Almost as if he were teasing someone who had already fallen into a trap they could never escape.

“Well, of course, I suppose it’s already too late. Hahaha!”

…Now that I thought about it, perhaps that hadn’t been a warning at all.

He was just teasing me.

I was beginning to get irritated, and just as I was about to forget all about etiquette and press him to explain what exactly he meant—

Bang!

“Your Grace, His Majesty is currently with a guest, so…!”

The reception room door flew open with a loud noise, and a man entered with a servant trailing behind him.

Startled by the sudden intrusion, I looked toward the entrance.

Then I was shocked once again by the identity of the man who had entered.

“G-Grand Duke?”

Leon Obsidian?

Why was that man here?

No, more importantly—

As I stared into his blazing blue eyes, I swallowed nervously.

‘He looks absolutely furious!’