The Search for the Duchess’s Husband Chapter 158

There were stories about the show in the newspaper every day.

 

It was more than just a fad or popularity, it was a syndrome.

 

Naturally, the actors also received a lot of attention.

 

Mikhail and Sandra’s popularity, which had always been high, skyrocketed.

 

 

“Mikhail, look at this!”

“Sandra, I love you!”

 

 

In the presence of their overwhelming charm, the difference between nobility and commoners disappeared.

 

The nobles followed them around and looked up to them like gods.

 

Luca’s fans, who were just as popular as the two, were a different story.

 

Shine didn’t have much of a role in the play, but he was a sympathetic character.

 

The scene where he stood alone on a huge stage and confessed his heart in song touched many people’s hearts.

 

Especially the older ladies.

 

 

“Luca’s parents died when he was just a baby, so his aunt raised him alone.”

“Being a Kudran, no one treated him right, so he had a hard time growing up.”

“That’s too bad.”

 

 

The women gathered together and went to find Luca.

 

The leader of the women, the Marquise de Ferzan, handed Luca a box full of gold coins.

 

“It’s not a strange gesture,” she said, “it’s just that we want to support you.”

 

Luca bowed deeply, touched.

 

“Thank you.”

 

He turned to the women, who blushed at the sight.

 

“But could you please take the money back? Your generosity alone is a gift I cannot thank you enough for.”

 

Luca’s smile was as bright as ever.

 

It was a moment of purification for the women’s souls.

 

The women became even more enthusiastic fans of Luca.

 

So passionate, in fact, that if someone said, “He’s just a lowly Kudran,” a lightning bolt would come out of nowhere and blaze their eyes, “What did you just say to my child?”

 

Some of them were ladies from famous families.

 

They were so frightened that they didn’t dare to say anything negative about Luca.

 

It was in this atmosphere that Artia approached the Marquise de Ferzan and said,

 

“I want to use some of the profits from my business to build a school and a hospital in a poor village.”

 

“That’s a great idea.”

 

The Marquise de Ferzan gave a perfunctory nod, as this was of no interest to her.

 

But her eyes lit up at what she said next.

 

“We’ll start with the Kudran villages.”

 

The Marquise de Ferzan had never been interested in such things as Kudran villages before. But not now that she knew Luca.

 

She developed a fondness and compassion for the Kudran people.

 

“Luca was very happy when he heard the news,” Artia added, noticing her sudden change in reaction.

 

The Marquise de Ferzan took Artia’s hand.

 

“I’ll sponsor you.”

 

The Marquise de Ferzan wasn’t alone.

 

Many noblewomen who had heard the story rushed to donate.

 

“Please use it for the Kudrans.”

 

It wasn’t just a donation.

 

It was the beginning of a hope that the discriminatory perception of the Kudran people would change in the future.

 

Some time later, Luca told the women who came to her.

 

“Thanks to your support, the village now has a school and a hospital. My grandmother and the villagers are very happy. So am I.”

 

Luca’s eyes curved into crescents.

 

“Thank you so much.”

 

The ladies screamed inwardly at the sight of him.

 

“I would do anything for you, Luca, even sell my mansion!”

 

Artia, watching from a foot away, smiled wryly.

 

“Change always starts with small steps.”

 

Meanwhile, the culprit who set the theater on fire was caught.

 

Madame Tunguel.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Hunted by loan sharks and people who had a grudge against her, Tunguel sold all the gold jewelry from her mansion to buy a magic stone.

 

“You mean I can burn anything with this?”

 

The merchant smirked at Tunguel’s question.

 

“Yes. If you see something you don’t like, whether it’s an object or a person, you can cast a spell and throw it away.”

 

Tunguel did as she was told.

 

At dawn, when no one was looking, she hurled the magic stone into the Montecreux Theater.

 

As she watched the huge flame erupt, Tunguel shouted.

 

“Damn you, Artia von Edenberg!”

 

She then fled without looking back, but she didn’t last long before she was caught.

 

In the dungeon, Tunguel gripped the bars and screamed.

 

“Artia, she took mine first, and I did nothing wrong!”

 

Artia, who had heard the news from Vivi, muttered.

 

“Where have I heard that before?”

 

She remembered Count Elysium and her Uncle Crank.

 

“Count Elysium sends letters to Freesia every day telling her she’s done wrong. And Uncle Crank’s temper is worse than ever.”

 

‘The guilty must be punished to come to their senses.’

 

That was the extent of Artia’s feelings.

 

She didn’t want to exhaust anything else with Tunguel.

 

Except for one thing: Luca.

 

“You promised me once that you would accept Tunguel’s apology. What do you want to do, Luca?”

 

Luca shook his head at Artia’s words.

 

“No, my lady. I don’t need an apology from her. Instead, I’d like to settle this matter with Tunguel on my own. Is that okay with you?”

 

Luca’s eyes showed no sign of fear.

 

Artia answered with a sense of pride.

 

“Of course.”

 

The next day, Luca went to see Tunguel.

 

Tunguel was cursing Artia, and when she saw Luca, her eyes widened.

 

It was a face she hated to kill, and missed just as much.

 

But she couldn’t bring herself to call his name.

 

Luca slipped his hand through the grate and grabbed her by the throat.

 

“Kerr, kerr…”

 

Luca looked down at her, gasping for breath.

 

“If you touch Artia one more time, I swear to God, I’ll make sure you never breathe again.”

 

His purple eyes were eerie.

 

The man before her was no longer a tail-wagging dog.

 

He was a wolf who would bite his enemies to death.

 

Terrified, Tunguel nodded, tears streaming down her face.

 

Luca threw her roughly to the ground and left the prison.

 

But as soon as he left the prison, he returned to his normal demeanor.

 

He’d only mimicked Mikhail’s facial expressions and lines from the Northern Grand Duke earlier, but his heart was still in the right place.

 

Luca rubbed his trembling hands together and muttered.

 

“If I’ve said that much, I’ll never be seen in your presence again, will I?”

 

A few days later, Tunguel’s news broke.

 

Artia didn’t bother to stop it.

 

Luca wanted it.

 

Luca, a new actor who had recently become extremely popular.

 

Stories of a wicked woman who had enslaved him and set the theater on fire out of spite spread around the world.

 

“Someone is going to say something bad about you listening to Tunguel’s poetry.”

 

Artia was worried, but Luca didn’t care.

 

As a Kudran, he had no honor to defend.

 

It was as Artia had expected.

 

Most of them were tongue-in-cheek about Luca’s troubles with the mad woman, but some were not.

 

“You were her puppet, you filthy bastard, and now you’re acting all learned and smug…”

 

The giggling man stopped talking.

 

A group of ladies rushed over and surrounded him.

 

Their eyes widened and they said,

 

“Don’t run your mouth about things you don’t know much about, unless you want to pay a dear price.”

 

Luca’s fans didn’t stop there.

 

Their anger was directed at the jailed Tunguel.

 

“How dare you bully our Luca like that, we will never forgive you!”

 

They went to the judge in charge of Tunguel’s case and pressured him to impose a severe sentence.

 

On the day of the trial, the judge turned white and said, 

 

“You will rot in prison for the rest of your life, or you will be dragged outside by angry ladies and done to death.”

 

Either way, Tunguel’s face twisted at the prospect of a hopeless future.

 

She looks decades older, her graying hair exposed by the inability to dye it during her flight and imprisonment.

 

Tunguel was sentenced to 20 years of labor.

 

She had never cleaned a thing in her life and was forced to spend her days cleaning up the accumulated feces of the pig farm.

 

Artia, who had long since stopped paying attention to her, heard the news and muttered grimly.

 

“Good for her.”

 

And that was the last she ever said of Tunguel.

 

 

* * *

 

 

One month into the show.

 

Today, Killian came again.

 

The people who were surprised to see him were no longer so surprised.

 

There was a look on their faces that said, “There’s something to this.”