Chapter 36 – 36
After returning hurriedly to the Dukedom, Euro was guided by Raymond to the office he would be using from now on. It was located in the opposite direction of Melione’s office on the third floor.
“It’s quite far from His Grace’s office. Even though the bedroom is right next to it.”
“That is correct. It is because there may be matters they do not wish to share. They also receive guests separately.”
“Is there a need to hide visitors from one another? They’ll find out eventually anyway.”
Euro spoke while examining the interior, which featured a desk and chair that looked luxurious at a glance. Watching him, Raymond spoke cautiously.
“There are several reasons, but I feel somewhat apologetic to speak of them so directly.”
“Hmm?”
At the strangely hesitant tone, Euro turned [stolen content]his head and stared at Raymond. Only then did the butler manage to continue.
“……Not a single Duchess has ever used this space for business purposes.”
Raymond slowly approached Euro and lowered his voice.
“They used it more for clandestine purposes.”
Though he spoke in riddles, Euro quickly grasped the meaning. In other words, the office intended for the Duchess had been used more for private affairs until now.
Simply put, it was a space used for secret trysts or for revealing a side of oneself that should not be easily seen by others.
At this, Euro narrowed his brows and said, “Even if it’s far, it’s still on the same floor, isn’t it?”
“Because no one cared.”
“…….”
“For generations, every Duke visit our siteRead on Read BL Novelshas turned a blind eye to whatever actions the Duchess took, provided she produced an heir.”
Whether they took drugs or brought in male courtesans, there were no sanctions. After all, the only thing the Duke wanted from the Duchess was a child to carry on the lineage.
In other words, it was like letting them do whatever they wanted while they lived, since they were destined to die anyway.
“In the Dukedom, it didn’t matter if the partner was a noble or a commoner, as long as they could bear a child. No duties as a Duchess were demanded of them, and simultaneously, no one volunteered to perform such duties.”
Even if they were nobles, they were practically sold off, so they likely had no will to engage in affairs related to the estate; those from commoner backgrounds simply lacked the time to learn.
It wasn’t something that could be learned in a day or two, and since their lives were short, they would have had no interest in such things.
Furthermore, their bodies would have grown weaker by the day, as if afflicted by a disease. Like the Duke, they must have suffered from severe headaches, as well as occasional hallucinations and auditory delusions.
Thus, if they could endure it by using drugs, they did so, and all sorts of gambling or debauched acts to distract their minds were simply accepted.
To be honest, this probably wasn’t limited to the Duchesses. Every Duke of Spiorene throughout history must have been the same. For some reason, Euro felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
“Moreover, every Duchess until now has wished to stay away from His Grace, the Duke.”
“It’s because of the curse.”
“Indeed. They wished to stay as far away as possible. They also rarely used the bedroom provided for them. Usually, they wished to stay in the bedroom where they first resided until the very end.”
“…….”
“It was also frequent for them to leave the Dukedom or move to a separate annex as soon as they gave birth.”
From the moment their blood mixed within the holy water, no matter how great the physical distance, they could not escape the curse.
However, once they felt the curse beginning to eat away at their lives, anyone would be desperate to flee. It was an inevitable human instinct.
Euro listened in silence to Raymond’s words, then scratched his head and spoke.
“I made a mistake.”
“Pardon?”
When Raymond asked what he meant, Euro sat in the chair in front of the desk and let out a long sigh.
“About moving rooms on the first night. I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known.”
“…….”
“It makes it look like I ran away because of the curse. That wasn’t my intention.”
It had been a choice to erase the traces of their sexual encounter, but he felt somewhat sorry for the Duke. Euro tapped the desk with his fingertips and lowered his voice, just as Raymond had done.
“You tidied up my room well, right?”
“Of course. I cleaned it immediately at dawn, as you instructed.”
Euro stared at Raymond and nodded. Besides Euro, there was one other person who knew what had happened last night. It was the butler, Raymond.
He couldn’t possibly clean up those traces alone every [visit our site]night. For that, he needed a suitable [stolen content]assistant, and Euro had chosen Raymond.
It was a gamble of sorts. Raymond could confess everything to Melione at any time, as he was a butler who had served the Spioren Dukedom for generations.
But that was precisely why Euro chose him. He used Raymond’s loyalty to Melione as bait for blackmail.
“He looks like he’s in a better state, doesn’t he?”
“……Yes. To be honest, I have never seen him sleep so deeply and for so long. He didn’t even look for cigars in his office.”
“Really?”
The healing effect was much better than he had expected. At this rate, it seemed he could use the love drug less than he had originally planned.
“There’s definitely an improvement. Keep this a secret. As I’ve already told you, it won’t take very long. Once the effect is clearly evident, I’ll tell him myself.”
“…….”
“I’d like to tell him quickly too, but his suspicion of me is deep. He might [stolen content]think what’s visible is only a [Read on Read BL Novels]temporary effect and that I’m using some other trick.”
In truth, this excuse was half-true and half-false. It was true that he couldn’t hastily speak of his healing ability because Melione suspected him.
However, this could be proven in any way. It was a problem that could be solved simply by making a single scratch on the Duke’s body and singing in front of him.
But there were other reasons why he couldn’t say it. First, what Euro desired was to completely remove the curse. Unless he could persuade the dragon he was currently in contact with, the healing ability was merely a temporary measure.
The problem was whether Melione would readily accept this. If he were destined to die anyway, he would surely say that something like a healing ability was unnecessary.
As time passed and the curse accelerated, the effect provided by the healing ability would inevitably diminish. Even so, Euro couldn’t just say, ‘There is a way to break your curse.’
Because if asked how he knew the location of a dragon that no one else knew about, he would have nothing to say. The fact that this was inside a novel or that he was a possessor was something he only needed to tell Kisha.
Furthermore, if he were unlucky, he might be suspected of being someone related to the dragon.
If that happened, from Melione’s perspective, it might look as if Euro was playing with him. It wouldn’t be strange for him to think that Euro was merely enjoying a game of teasing him without any intention of actually breaking the curse.
Being in pain is miserable enough, but to have that pain fluctuate—what could be more wretched [visit our site]than that? visit our siteHe had to hide everything until he successfully persuaded the dragon.
The second reason was the most important. It was because Melione was, for the time being, a man who was not sound in either mind or body.
Even if he accepted it now, if the process of breaking the curse was delayed because the dragon wasn’t properly appeased, there was no telling how he, as he was consumed by madness, would misinterpret Euro’s intentions.
Madness was, quite literally, a disease that made a person insane. As time passed, persuading him rationally became nearly impossible.
If he were unlucky, he could die at the Duke’s hands before he even got a chance to break the curse. Therefore, it was better for the Duke to receive healing without knowing anything, and for the curse to vanish without him even realizing it.
Only by curing Melione’s madness could he twist the flow of the original story and save his own life. However, while doing so, Euro’s own life was just as important.
Even though he wondered what the point of hiding things was since he had already put his life on the line, Euro didn’t want to be deeply entangled with him for now.
Even if the acts with the Duke were strictly limited to ‘healing,’ he honestly wasn’t sure about himself if they entered into a relationship where they shared intimacy while fully conscious of one another.
“Raymond, you must keep this a secret. The fact that I have healing abilities is something even Norden doesn’t know.”
“…….”
“If you reveal this to His Grace, I will announce my abilities to the world. Then, the Duke will never be able to receive healing from me.”
There was someone who desperately wished for Melione to die. It was the Emperor of this empire.
Even now, the man would be livid if he found out Euro had married in Clope’s place; if he learned this fact, he would never leave Euro alone.
“I’ve already made all the preparations before coming here in case that happens. His Grace will not be able to keep me here by any means.”
That was a lie. He had neither the ability nor the money for such a thing. But Euro was deceiving Raymond with a plausible act.
“Well, even if I’m imprisoned, I can just stop singing.”
“…….”
“His Grace will surely recover and be able to marry a good person and have children. So, please help me until then.”
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