I’m Not the One Who Seduced the Grand Duke Chapter 53

Goodness. What on earth was going on?

“This is the first time I’ve ever been confessed to by another woman.”

“……Does that mean you’ve been confessed to by men before?”

The carriage rattled along.

I looked up, cupping both cheeks, at Leon’s thoroughly displeased expression from the seat across from me.

We were on our way back to the Marquess’s residence after dropping Isabelle off at the ducal residence.

“Well, not exactly never.”

I wasn’t bragging. It was simply true.

Whether I was exceptionally beautiful or not, I was still a young, unmarried woman who had inherited a marquessate.

As a young heir who had yet to marry, it was only natural that people would take an interest in me.

Young Master Valentine was a good example of that, wasn’t he?

“Isn’t that a little too honest in front of your fiancé?”

“Even so, compared to you, that’s nothing. Leon, you must have confessed to practically every other day.”

“……”

Leon fell silent at that.

He had probably realized that there was nothing to be gained by continuing the conversation when it would only put him at a disadvantage.

“More importantly, weren’t you supposed to stop talking to me?”

It had only been three days, after all.

Leon let out a quiet sigh.

“Three days was my limit.”

“……”

“I’m sorry. I reacted childishly. I apologize.”

He added, by way of excuse, that considering how long he had lasted, he thought he had actually done pretty well.

‘Hmm. But if I think about it, I was the one who misunderstood him first.’

“It’s fine. Actually, I’m the one who should be apologizing. I’m sorry. I misunderstood you, Leon. I heard some strange rumor somewhere and……”

“Strange rumor?”

“Something about Isabelle being your tragic first love?”

“……What is that supposed to mean?”

Leon’s brow furrowed deeply.

Seeing that, I let out a small laugh.

Only now did I finally understand that reaction.

Isabelle and Leon both looked like people who had been mistaken for lovers when they were practically like real siblings.

“Who spread such nonsense? Hm? Erna. Tell me.”

“For some reason, my instincts are telling me that I absolutely must not tell you who it was.”

For the sake of peace in high society.

I decided to bury the identity of the person who had told me the rumor deep in my heart and smiled faintly.

Perhaps because I suddenly remembered my last conversation with Isabelle.

“N-no, liking you didn’t mean it like that! No, wait. It does, but anyway, that’s not what I meant!”

“Yes.”

“The way you’ve stubbornly forged your own path without being intimidated by all those grown-ups is really impressive, Erna! Ever since the Crevan Collapse Incident!”

“Ah. That incident……”

“Yes! That’s when I became your fan. And I’ve wanted to meet you in person ever since, so every single day, I kept thinking about Erna and……!”

“That’s enough, Isabelle. You’re going to be an Empress one day. What kind of spectacle are you making right now? And Erna looks uncomfortable. Don’t bother her.”

All right.

Let’s stop thinking about that.

In any case, the situation had happened entirely because of my misunderstanding, and underneath it all were malicious rumors with no clear source.

“Why do you think such rumors started in the first place?”

“Because she was getting on people’s nerves. That’s where rumors like that usually start.”

“You mean someone deliberately spread those rumors because they didn’t like Isabelle? Do you…… know who the original source was?”

“Well, it was probably Bianca Blanche. Or Lowell now, I suppose. The bad rumors about Isabelle actually started spreading after she was chosen as my brother’s fiancée.”

Leon continued calmly.

“There wasn’t much she could do. Everyone knew Bianca Blanche had been my brother’s fiancée, and it was also true that his fiancée had changed. To people who didn’t know the circumstances, what they saw was all they had to go on. And after that happened, Bianca Blanche went around very openly acting like she was the victim.”

Meanwhile, Isabelle had done nothing wrong, but because she felt unnecessarily guilty, she was constantly conscious of Bianca.

As a result, it became accepted as fact in high society that Isabelle had stolen the position of the Emperor’s fiancée.

“That incident made Isabelle reluctant to appear in public. There are still quite a few nobles who point that out to her.”

The woman who would one day become the Empress of the Empire was living in seclusion.

Some old-fashioned nobles apparently still considered that unacceptable and were constantly watching for an opportunity to take the seat beside the Emperor.

“It wasn’t Isabelle’s fault that the fiancée changed in the first place. And the so-called betrothal arranged before birth was nothing more than a verbal agreement. Duke Blanche was the one who went around making a fuss about it.”

“So it wasn’t an official betrothal?”

“Right. He probably made the first move to eliminate a competitor early. And it actually worked to some extent.”

But……

“As they grew older, my brother gradually fell in love with Isabelle, whom he had grown up with. So he told the elders of the Imperial Family, and they accepted it.”

The other party was a ducal family, after all.

The Imperial Family hadn’t particularly cared who Kael married. If anything, they wanted the Crown Prince to be with the person he wanted, the person he loved, so they approved.

“So, in truth, the people involved and those close to them all know. They know that neither Isabelle nor my brother did anything wrong. They’re just pretending not to know by keeping their eyes tightly shut.”

All to diminish Isabelle as much as possible before she became Empress.

“Isabelle gradually became more timid because she suffered for no reason due to the circumstances among the adults. My brother tried to stop it somehow from the middle, but there was only so much he could do.”

Of course.

No matter how powerful the Emperor was, it would be difficult for him to interfere with high society as a whole.

“Isabelle knew my brother was worrying because of her, so she decided it would be better to retreat to her territory for a while. That’s why she stayed in the Mercier territory.”

“Wouldn’t it have been better to simply hold the wedding as soon as possible?”

“I think so, too. The problem is that far more time passed than expected after Isabelle went to her territory. She went down there to clear her head, but the rumors just wouldn’t die down, so she gradually became unable to return to the capital. And now she’s finally returned. Thanks to you, Erna.”

Returning to the point, Leon clicked his tongue softly as he indicated to me.

“Of course, I refused.”

“Why did you refuse?”

“I didn’t want to waste your time for no reason. You’re already short on time as it is, and now you have to deal with another distraction on top of that. Especially since she likes you, too.”

Leon paused to catch his breath before adding,

“I just wanted you to spend whatever free time you had with me.”

His voice became a little gloomy.

“Still, now that I know everything, I feel much better.”

When I said that I felt relieved despite everything being rather overwhelming, he looked at me.

His expression clearly asked what I meant.

“I didn’t realize it myself, but I guess it was bothering me. Even when I met Isabelle, I knew she was a good person, but there was still this weight in the back of my mind the entire time.”

At those words, Leon, who had been resting his chin on his hand with a strange expression, widened his eyes.

“That…… isn’t bad.”

“What isn’t?”

“What you just said means you were worried that I might develop feelings for someone else, doesn’t it?”

His body leaned forward.

As he moved closer, I watched the corners of his lips slowly curl upward.

“It wasn’t exactly a worry. I was just a little uncomfortable.”

“That’s the same thing.”

Is it……?

I thought about it for a moment before answering.

“You’re right. I suppose it is.”

The moment I finished answering, he smiled as brightly as sunlight.

Like someone who had finally heard the answer he had wanted most.

“To be honest, I was hoping you’d be a little jealous.”

“Wait. You did that on purpose?”

“No.”

Leon shook his head.

“I wasn’t trying to hurt you on purpose. It’s just that you said it so casually that I felt a little disappointed. I like knowing that you care about me. I like feeling that you’re conscious of me.”

Leon said it with an incredibly happy smile.

I briefly reflected on it, thinking that from his perspective, perhaps being misunderstood like this really could have been unpleasant.

“Fine. I understand now that Isabelle definitely isn’t your first love.”

“Right. I’m glad you finally understand.”

“But that doesn’t mean all my questions have been answered.”

An apology was an apology.

But unfortunately, there was still something I needed to confirm.

Leon tilted his head slightly at my words.

He looked curious about what was about to come out of my mouth.

“If it isn’t Isabelle, then who is the person you were talking about? The one you had an unrequited love for?”

“……”

“Is it someone I know?”

At the follow-up question, Leon froze.

Only then did the vague question that had always followed the word surely become a little clearer.

But I still couldn’t be certain, so I had no choice but to tread carefully.

Because it seemed almost certain who that person was.

But the circumstances that could have led to it were something I simply couldn’t predict.

That was why I asked.

“I can tell you, but I don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“Because if you can’t remember that either, I might actually get so hurt that I cry. It would mean confirming that something that was incredibly meaningful to me was nothing special at all to that person.”

“……”

“So think about it carefully. Who knows? If you try hard enough, maybe even a forgotten memory will come back.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the carriage came to a stop.

We had already arrived at the Marquess’s residence.

After leaving me with that strange, riddle-like statement, Leon smiled faintly and turned his upper body away.

A memory. A forgotten memory……

At a glance, it seemed like he was talking about the conversation we had on graduation day.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember it. There was no way simply trying harder would make something suddenly come back to me……

Gasp, wait!

“Just because you try doesn’t mean you’ll be good at everything. That’s why you’re even more amazing, Senior.”

“Hearing you say that makes me feel strangely embarrassed, Junior.”

That conversation!