I’m Not the One Who Seduced the Grand Duke – Chapter 40

Author: isuzuuy

At the chillingly cold voice, Servando’s eyes slowly blinked.

Why… would he say something like that?

And what exactly was it that he had in his grasp?

“Cough. In any case, I’m afraid I cannot approve it. Everything must proceed fairly under the regulations.”

“So you mean to stop my engagement until the very end.”

“Ha ha. You’ve been saying some rather strange things since earlier. I have no intention of stopping Priest Leon’s marriage. I merely mean that we cannot set a precedent in which someone appointed as a priest treats his priesthood lightly because of a personal relationship.”

“……”

“The marriage of a priest is not a simple matter. Especially for someone like you, who possesses the qualifications of a guide priest. The faithful seek the will of God through priests. If such a person becomes entangled in worldly interests, then where would the authority of the Temple stand?”

Servando gently added,

“I am concerned about your future. If you make a hasty choice in the heat of youth and come to deeply regret it later… Who will take responsibility then? I am only doing this because I worry about that out of good intentions, so please don’t take it too much to heart…”

“I understand.”

Huh? He understands?

Leon nodded and simply began walking away.

At how readily he backed down, the corners of Servando’s mouth twitched.

Good. My words got through to him.

See? It was that simple!

‘Of course. If my gift for persuasion can sway hundreds, no, thousands of believers, surely I can convince one young priest. This is the sort of thing befitting a High Priest.’

Servando continued praising himself inwardly, rejoicing at his own success.

“I’m truly relieved that you understand what I meant. Then, please stop wandering any further and return to your rightful place, Priest Leon.”

“I understand that as well, for now. Then I’ll be going.”

For now, he understands?

‘How insolent. This is exactly what’s wrong with young people these days.’

He should have been bowing his head and admitting his mistake right then and there, if anything.

But there was plenty of time for him to repent.

If the Grand Duke resumed his duties as a priest.

If he became Servando’s excellent card once again.

‘So there’s no need to pressure him unnecessarily and ruin everything.’

A kind expression to the very end. A magnanimous expression.

Servando smiled gently and encouraged him to think it over carefully.

In any case, as long as he refused to accept the resignation papers, the Grand Duke was practically his.

With that thought, the corners of Servando’s mouth rose sky-high as he prematurely celebrated his victory.

Without realizing that he had just overlooked something very important…

***

As soon as Leon came out, Vincent, who had been waiting outside, approached him.

“Cough, Your Grace…”

He kept sneaking anxious glances at his master before carefully speaking.

“Surely… no, right? Hm? That thing you’re thinking about right now… You’re not, right?”

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb! I heard your entire conversation with him!”

Indeed.

Vincent had actually been standing with his ear pressed firmly against the door, eavesdropping on the conversation inside the entire time.

And right now, he was horrified.

The foolish High Priest might not have noticed, but Vincent certainly had.

He had been Leon’s aide for a very long time, after all.

“Even if High Priest Servando succeeds in securing another term, he won’t let you go.”

“He probably won’t.”

“And there’s no way you would do nothing after confirming that.”

Vincent asked, subtly probing for an answer.

The corners of Leon’s mouth slowly lifted.

I knew it!

“So… how are you going to deal with him?”

“I suppose so. I never thought I’d end up using that like this.”

At Leon’s words, Vincent nodded.

The ‘that’ they were talking about was none other than the collection of documents containing evidence of High Priest Servando’s corruption.

The reason Leon had gathered them was simple.

Because Servando seemed to be gradually crossing the line.

‘How dare he.’

In truth, Leon had no particular complaints about his life as a priest.

The man sitting up there seemed to enjoy some sort of satisfaction from freely manipulating Leon, lost in his own little world.

But the person being manipulated didn’t see it that way.

In fact, Leon found it amusing that Servando acted as though he were some kind of king.

But there was a limit to everything.

The Temple was, by nature, a place that should not take a political position.

Yet this particular High Priest seemed to have lost his mind and had gone so far as to attempt to interfere in the central government by using Leon.

So Leon had stayed by his side and gathered evidence, just in case.

He had thought that after leaving the priesthood due to an unexpected turn of events, he would never have to use it…

But now.

“It’s the most straightforward and effective method. My concern is this, though. Given High Priest Servando’s personality, he’ll never simply step down.”

“Then it can’t be helped.”

“When you say it can’t be helped…?”

Those words should have sounded helpless.

So why did they sound so frightening?

Vincent swallowed nervously as he stared at his master.

The soft smile that had been on Leon’s lips earlier was gone.

In its place was a meaningful curve of his lips.

And that was, with a very high probability, a bad sign.

“If someone won’t listen no matter how many times you talk to them, there’s no point in continuing to talk.”

“Gasp!”

Vincent hurriedly covered his scream.

So this man… no, his master…!

“If he gets in the way, then there’s no choice. We’ll have to remove him physically. That would be much simpler and easier.”

“Your Grace, if the Marquess finds out…”

“Just in case.”

At Vincent’s cautious objection, Leon warned him in a cold voice.

“It would be better not to go running to Erna and tell her. She’ll only worry unnecessarily.”

Is that really the problem right now?

Remove him.

The meaning behind those words was painfully obvious.

What was even more frightening was how bright and clear his master’s expression was as he said it, like a cloudless sky.

Completely unaware that Vincent’s mind was already filled with dark storm clouds.

‘Damn it, you made a promise to the Marquess only a few days ago. Is this really okay?’

What if things went wrong because of this?

What if rumors spread throughout the Empire that the Grand Duke of Bernstein was actually a completely unhinged man?

All sorts of terrible thoughts raced through Vincent’s head.

‘Wouldn’t it be better to tell the Marquess? Tell her that His Grace seems like he’s about to do something!’

No.

That wouldn’t do.

If he said that, his fiancée might get frightened and run away.

The Marquess had probably accepted His Grace nine-tenths because of his character.

If it turned out that there was actually even the slightest flaw in his character…

‘That absolutely cannot happen.’

That might be even worse than having the High Priest quietly murdered somewhere no one knew about.

Vincent’s head began to feel hot, and he made a miserable face.

‘No, seriously! Why is having a simple engagement like everyone else so damn difficult?!’

If even an engagement was this complicated, how many people were going to have to bleed before they actually made it to the wedding?

He didn’t even want to imagine it.

***

“Wow, the weather is really nice.”

I leisurely looked up at the sky and murmured.

“…How dare he kick me out.”

My irritation surged all over again.

They were going to have some important conversation between themselves without me.

But there was no way I could stubbornly sit there after Leon had told me to leave.

So in the end, I had been practically chased out.

“You can look around by yourself from here, right?”

The chief priest whom the High Priest had assigned to guide me had also disappeared, saying he was busy and had to go.

Thanks to that, I was now completely abandoned alone in the middle of this enormous Temple.

“Am I getting paid back for never donating to the Temple?”

But even if I got lost, I was still inside the Temple.

With nothing else to do, I decided to walk around for the time being.

“Huh? Isn’t that a work by Rivarne? I think I heard it sold for ten thousand gold coins at the last auction. Why is it here…? Gasp, that one too! The Sengjarge Collection! That one is really valuable.”

The paintings filling the corridors were all extraordinary.

They were all familiar pieces, and not just familiar—they were extremely expensive works.

“With just a few of these, you could easily build a small Temple.”

But why were paintings like these here?

Could these be the things the nobles donated?

Thinking that something was strange, I carefully looked around.

I was in the middle of conducting my own little investigation when—

“Hey, that lady over there!”

Ah, that startled me.

Surprised by the sudden shout, I turned around.

In the distance, I saw a group of men in familiar-looking, pure-white uniforms rushing toward me.

That uniform was…

“You’re Marquess Zaherette, aren’t you?”

“Ah, I’m…”

A group of sturdy men who all looked terribly excited surrounded me at once.

Among them, a red-haired man who looked the most excited shouted with sparkling eyes,

“The peerless beauty who managed to bring even our commander, who treated women like rocks, to his knees at first sight! The most popular woman in the Orden Empire!”

“I heard that one blink from her and your heart stops.”

“Wasn’t there also a rumor that when she smiles, light pours down from every direction?”

“I heard she’s almost as tall as our commander, too…”

“…She’s smaller than I expected.”

“Shh! She’ll hear you!”

Yes.

I could hear everything.

The sentences that had begun with such confident declarations somehow became increasingly uncertain.

I spoke as expressionlessly as I could.

“You’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

That’s not me.

Everything except the name is wrong.