I Didn't Seduce the Dark Grand Duke — Episode 9

"R-Run away, you say?"

What was this? How did this man know about my perfect plan to retreat to the estate and hole myself up there?

Flustered, my eyes darted around frantically as I racked my brain.

Meanwhile, he took a calm sip of his tea, then broke into a grin.

"It was a joke. You seem awfully rattled. Don't tell me it was actually true?"

A joke.

It was a relief, truly — but my heart had already taken the blow, as if it had been sliced to ribbons.

Calm down. Calm down, Erna.

"……You can speak casually with me."

"Pardon?"

"We agreed we'd act like sunbae and hoobae anyway. All the formalities feel strange, honestly."

"If you say so."

What on earth. That was far too smooth.

The informal speech slipped out of him as if he'd been waiting for the invitation, and for a moment my mind went blank — but he stood at the very apex of society, so I decided to let it slide.

"So, what brings you here today?"

"Ah, right. The matter at hand. Well, I told you I'd give you time, and then I realized I never actually set a deadline."

"A…… deadline?"

The Grand Duke smiled and nodded at my words.

"I have to make it official. Otherwise, you might just stall indefinitely and hope the whole thing quietly fades away."

"……"

"Not that I think you would."

Ahem.

Pointedly stung, I bit my lip hard.

The image of my packed luggage bags, still sitting in my room this very moment, flashed through my mind — I banished it immediately.

At this rate, there was only one way forward.

"Fine. I'll be completely honest with you. I'm sorry, but I don't remember anything that happened that day. So this whole situation is rather… bewildering to me."

There. No more beating around the bush. Full frontal assault. Just tell the truth.

"When you brought it up before, I was too flustered to say anything definite — I said I'd think about it — but even now, I honestly don't know what's what."

"I'm on the verge of being dismissed from my post, so 'I don't remember' isn't going to cut it."

"Exactly my point. If we'd both just kept our mouths shut and pretended nothing happened, we'd all be living happily ever after. Why on earth did you have to be so uselessly honest…"

"Ah-ha. So this is all my fault, then?"

"Honesty is a virtue, of course. Absolutely. The finest quality a person can have."

My, what an impatient personality. When did I ever say it was entirely your fault? Ho-ho.

"Of course, I'm not saying I'll dodge responsibility just because I don't remember. I'm fully prepared to own up to it, whatever 'it' is. I simply can't wrap my head around it, that's all."

"Good. Then let's settle that first."

"Yes. First… the woman you met that day was me, right?"

Given the contents of the letter and how the timing lined up, I'd simply assumed it was me and moved on — but this needed to be confirmed properly.

He fell into brief thought at my question before speaking.

"Last Wednesday. I was stepping out of my carriage when you came rushing up, shouting. 'Oh! Leon Obsidian. It's Obsidian!' And, ah — you seemed to have been drinking, come to think of it."

"How…… mortifying that must have been."

Shouting the Grand Duke's name at the top of one's lungs in a drunken stupor. Wonderful.

"And then you grabbed my face like this."

"Gah."

"'You're so ridiculously handsome. Do you know that? You're my ultimate bias!' — that's what you said."

"……"

"By the way, what exactly is an 'ultimate bias'? It's such a bizarre word — I'd never heard it in my life — so it stuck with me."

At that, I dropped my head into my hands.

That recklessness. That complete and utter lack of situational awareness. And all that nonsense about "ultimate biases" — words no sane person had ever spoken in this world.

This alone was more than enough to finish verifying my identity beyond all doubt.

"Hold on. But how on earth did that end with us spending the night together…?"

"You seemed drunk, and I couldn't just leave you alone, so I put you in the carriage. When I tried to take you to your marquisate, you clung to me for dear life, insisting you refused to go home."

"I… see…"

"You also said something like, 'When else am I supposed to spend quality time with my ultimate bias?' And that I had nothing to worry about because you'd take full responsibility for everything."

There it was again. That cursed word.

What in the world was an ultimate bias?

In any case, it seemed the young lady Park Sumin who had worn my body had, of all things, spotted her "ultimate bias" on the street and thrown herself at him without a shred of hesitation.

"So we headed for the ducal residence first. And after that… well, as I mentioned before…"

"Ahem. I get the picture. You don't need to elaborate."

Right. So she'd flung her clothes off, rolled around in the bed, and had a grand old time. Fantastic.

"Fine. Understood. I'll accept that we slept together. On to the second issue."

Determined not to let my guard down on the possibility that this was still far from over, I snapped my slackening nerves taut.

"You claimed I took your… first, Your Highness. But frankly, I don't believe that's plausible either."

"……You mean you find it hard to believe I've been chaste until now?"

"No, that's not what I meant!"

The air had sunk into something faintly heavy, and I hurriedly shook my head.

"Just look at my build! A woman this skinny — do you really think I could have overpowered you like this, just like — like that — like— Right?!"

The words were so mortifying to say aloud that I couldn't get a single one of them out properly — but regardless, to my question of whether that would even have been possible, the Grand Duke gave a small smirk.

"Force isn't the only way to make someone do something."

"…I suppose not."

"What I need to explain is simply how irresistibly charming you were that night. Since you claim not to remember, allow me to describe it in more… specific terms—"

"That's— that's enough! I get it!"

"Good. So what's the next thing you can't believe?"

What else can't I believe?

Everything, obviously. The entire situation.

But between the two culprits involved, the letter the woman had left behind, and the Grand Duke's unwavering account, it seemed I had no choice but to face reality at this point.

"You don't mean to tell me you still don't believe it?"

"I believe it. I do. It's just… I can't quite make myself believe it."

"Which part, specifically?"

"Me and you, Your Highness. Surely there are far more wonderful, remarkable women you could be with — and the fact that it was me… Honestly, every citizen in the empire would be scratching their heads over it."

"Well, I'm afraid I can't agree with that."

Oh, here we go again.

His brow furrowed slightly, as if mildly displeased.

Leaning back until his spine pressed against the chair's backrest, he fixed me with his characteristically stubborn expression and said:

"To my eyes, Marquess, you are a remarkably attractive woman."

"…I'm sorry, what? Are you… feeling unwell somewhere?"

"How did the conversation end up there?"

"Because no one in their right mind would say something like that."

It wasn't that I'd never been called beautiful before.

It was that the person saying it was that man — Leon Obsidian.

A face that would command attention even buried in a crowd of thousands. An aura that reached you even from a distance, and the blinding halo that seemed to follow him everywhere.

A being praised as chosen by God himself — praise so lavish it fully buried the circumstances of his birth.

Nearly every epithet attached to him glittered like polished gemstones.

You could place the famed beauty of the century beside him and people would still say she was the lucky one.

And that man, entangled with someone as ordinary as me?

The entire social season of Orden would have detonated on the spot.

And yet the Grand Duke was telling me I was beautiful.

Almost as if he actually has feelings for me.

The moment the insolent thought surfaced, I shook my head hard.

Get a grip, Erna Zacherete. That's pure self-importance talking.

It's probably just courtesy toward someone he spent a night with — or simple resignation. It has to be one of the two.

For whatever reason, the Grand Duke seemed to attach tremendous meaning to his first night — and since the spilled water could hardly be gathered up again, he had clearly decided it was best to look on the bright side.

"Fine. Understood. I won't doubt what happened that day any longer. So — we did consummate a relationship that night, and now you're demanding I take responsibility for it. Correct?"

"Correct."

"……Is there truly no chance you'd let it slide? Say, keeping that day strictly between us while you court some other woman?"

The words had barely left my mouth before the Grand Duke's eyebrows shot up.

"Again. Slipping out of your responsibility under the pretense of—"

"N-no! That's not what I meant! I only asked because it's a possibility that ought to be considered. You mentioned marriage, but you might prefer another woman as your bride, no? So I just… thought I'd check, purely hypothetically."

At my question — wouldn't you feel wronged later on? — something hardened in his eyes.

Right. That's the face of a man fully confident he won't feel wronged.

Still, honestly — isn't marriage a bit much for this? Betting your entire remaining life on one single night. The math doesn't add up, Erna. The math!

As if he'd read my mind—

"Don't worry. I have no intention of forcing a marriage on you right now."

"Pardon? Then…"

"In exchange, you and I are going to do something other than marry."

Something other than marriage?

So there was still a sliver of room to negotiate after all!

A fragile sprig of hope took root in my chest.

When I stared at him with eyes that plainly demanded and that would be?, the Grand Duke's eyes curved into a smile, and from inside his coat he drew out something.