I Reincarnated As An Evil Duchess - Chapter 122
Translator: Nabi
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Chapter 122
“Kyaak!”
“Ugh, d*mn it!”
“The door’s open! Everyone, charge in!”
Rupert and Morgan, who were near the impact, lost their balance and staggered amidst that collision.
At that moment, beyond the torn-down door, Persen knights and paladins armed with swords and spears, along with the imperial guards, leaped into the room. As if a tide surging into the room, at the forefront of their advance stood Captain Oliver and Seth Persen, the man whom she had been longing for.
Seth was the first to look around the room with his sharp eyes as though searching for someone. The moment when his gaze fell upon Min-ha standing in the corner of the bedroom, his expression softened.
‘Ah…’
The moment their eyes met, she felt her heart warming with endless relief and happiness.
Meeting Seth’s tender gaze as he looked at her with warmth, Min-ha asked about his well-being with her eyes.
‘You haven’t been eating properly all this time, have you? Why have you lost so much weight?’
‘You’re one to talk, my dear. Your face has been spoiled.’
She wanted to rush over and embrace him, sharing many words. However, with the knights rushing into the room and the sight of the Emperor behind them, Min-ha weakly smiled, lifted a hand slightly, and gestured towards Rupert’s direction.
‘There are so many questions and things I want to say, but let’s resolve everything first.’
‘Yes… Just wait for me a little.’
Seeing that, Seth smiled slightly as if thinking her response was really like her.
In truth, as long as the Emperor was present here, he couldn’t simply gaze at her without a plan. Despite his heart’s desire, he wanted to embrace her right away, though there was something he had to deal with before that.
Soon after, as if aligning with his intentions, his expression turned cold and devoid of emotion, and he turned to Rupert and Morgan with a piercing gaze.
“By the order of His Majesty the Emperor, arrest Rupert Guinivis and Grand Duchess Blaine, who cooperated with him, along with the witch who dared to impersonate a recluse nun.”
“Yes, leader!”
“D*mn it! Let go of me!”
“Let go! I can’t get captured like this!”
Seth watched with a cold gaze as the dozens of knights he led forcefully subdued Rupert and Morgan, knocking them down and binding their bodies with ropes. During this process, although Morgan used her magic to keep the knights from approaching her, she was helpless against the movements of the paladins, who were the complete opposite of witches.
Of course, Rupert, too, was captured without much resistance, as he faced a large number of knights he couldn’t possibly contend with alone. Held down by the rough knights, his sword was taken away and he was bound with ropes.
Rupert struggled incessantly, shouting.
“D*mn it, where are my knights! What the hell are they doing?!”
“I’m not sure which knights you’re talking about, but the order you were nurturing at the borderlands must have been annihilated by now. Just like the knights who were guarding this mansion.”
“…What?”
“I was wondering what you were scheming behind my back, but you were audaciously dreaming of rebellion. Viscount Rupert Guinivis… no, should I call you the ‘grand duke’?”
“….!”
“Of course, you’ve never been officially recognized, and even if you were, this incident would strip you of your titles. It’s a pity, really. You must have longed to hear the title of grand duke, and yet the first and last person to call you by that title happens to be me.”
“D*mit, d*mn it all! I don’t need sympathy from a lowly scum like you! I, I’m the descendant of noble blood from a position you dare not even look upon!”
Seth looked down at Rupert, who protested vehemently with his voice strained as he raised his voice, with a cold sneer.
It was truly a ridiculous sight to see a man who had been shunned by his own father due to his low status and hating that fact, though he wasn’t hesitating to make discriminatory remarks about others based on birth and status.
As Seth glared at Rupert with such thoughts in mind, the Emperor, draped in a purple cloak, approached from behind him.
“Your Majesty…”
“Step aside for a moment, Duke Persen.”
Turning to Rupert, who glared at him with eyes full of hatred, the Emperor averted his gaze from Grand Duchess Blaine, who seemed to have just regained her senses after collapsing against a wall a while ago.
“You sound just like the father you’ve always loathed so much.”
“…Cut the nonsense. Don’t blabber recklessly about what you think you know.”
“Captain Oliver, take the Grand Duchess and escort her to the carriage outside the mansion. I’ll personally interrogate her.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Shut up! Who said anyone’s interrogating anyone?! Do you think I would confess anything to you!”
“And the same goes for that witch, Sir Gallahed. Ensure that the witch is silenced to prevent her from using magic again.”
“I’ll accept your orders, Your Majesty.”
After issuing all the orders, the Emperor once again turned to support Grand Duchess Blaine, who was partially nestled in his embrace. He gazed at the Grand Duchess, who was staring off into space with a half-dazed expression on her face, with a gaze that mixed pity and resentment.
But soon, he turned his head away.
Then, after being led out by Captain Oliver along with the paladins, Seth silently observed Rupert had his mouth gagged and was firmly restrained and Morgan, who was following behind them, as the Emperor opened his mouth in a weary voice.
“… I’m tired. I’ll return to the palace with Grand Duchess Blaine.”
“Your Majesty, Grand Duchess Blaine…”
“It’s not too late to interrogate after she regains her senses properly… By any chance, do you think I would be lenient with Grand Duchess Blaine?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
As the Emperor asked with a wry smile, Seth responded with a bitter smile of his own. He could understand just a little of the Emperor’s feelings to have a loved one suddenly become a sinner and to have to pursue that person down, so he refrained from further questioning and fell silent.
Seeing him like that, the Emperor let out a brief sigh before lowering his head and speaking with a tired expression.
“… I’ll leave the rest of the cleanup to Duke Seth Persen and your order of knights. You can return to your territory once everything is settled… with your wife.”
“… I’ll take your order, Your Majesty.”
Bowing his head deeply towards the Emperor, he then gazed at Captain Oliver and Sir Gallahed as they slowly moved away.
In contrast to Oliver, who was escorting Rupert with a countenance mirroring their lord’s, Gallahed, responsible for guiding the witch, and the Persen knights, had cheerful expressions. Gawin, in particular, seemed to have cast aside any worries about the well-being of his younger brother and friend, sporting an exceptionally radiant countenance.
Just before slipping out of the room, he whispered towards Seth in a subdued voice.
“…Have a nice talk with the Duchess and come down, Captain.”
At that remark, Seth, who had been smiling silently, turned his head as they all exited the room. He spread his arms wide open as Min-ha approached him.
“…Min-ha.”
“Seth.”
Then, her steps, which were initially slow, quickened. As if he was waiting for her, he pulled her into a tight embrace as she ran toward him.
It was the warmth and scent she had longed for.
Min-ha nestled her face in the warmth of his clasp, wrapping her arms around his waist with both of her hands. Even though it had only been a short separation, when she saw Seth in front of her, she felt so happy and relieved that she held back the tears that threatened to fall.
She finally let out those pent-up emotions and spoke to Seth, who rested his face on her long hair.
“…I missed you.”
“So do I.”
“Why did you become so thin?”
“You’re one to talk, why did you become so thin?”
“What’s wrong with having a handsome face? It’s becoming haggard now.”
“Your cute cheeks have become more hollow, too.”
“…Huu―”
“Haha.”
With a slight welling of tears and the worries they couldn’t convey in their earlier words, the two of them simultaneously let out soft laughter. The two of them cried and laughed while gazing into each other’s eyes with affectionate expressions.
Min-ha gently reached out and stroked Seth’s face, so full of love for her, before she parted her lips.
“…We were only apart for a few days, but I felt so lonely and missed you so much that I thought I would die.”
“I felt the same way.”
“…You did, too?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I guess there’s no helping it. From now on, we should be together for the rest of our lives… will you do that?”
“That’s something I want to ask. Can you really spend your life with someone as blunt and boring as me?”
“Of course. It has to be you… It can’t be anyone else.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, she answered his question. Now that her soul was bound to this world for a lifetime, if she had to be by someone’s side, it was naturally by Seth’s. As she thought that his feelings were likely the same, Min-ha gently held his face in her hands, looking into his eyes with affection.
At the same time, Seth’s slightly smiling face descended slowly to her face.
Feeling the warm breath of the person she loved tickling her face, she responded with a faint smile and willingly accepted his lips, which descended upon hers.
‘Oh, dear.’
In the meanwhile, there was an observer watching over those two.
It was none other than Merlin, who had been by Min-ha’s side until the end. He smiled wryly as he watched the lovers with their gazes locked onto each other, expressing the love they hadn’t been able to share until now.
‘Regardless of age, humans become fools in the face of love.’
Perhaps it was due to being born as a half-demon. Having lived for one thousand five hundred years, he had witnessed and experienced many things, but human love was something he simply couldn’t comprehend.
In situations requiring rational and cold-hearted judgment, there were those who, blinded by love, made foolish choices, those who, blinded by love, drove themselves towards their own downfall, and even those who, after encountering true love, healed the deep wounds they had inflicted upon themselves.
To him, it was truly fascinating how the emotion represented by the word ‘love’ could manifest in thousands, hundreds, or even countless different types.
‘…If only it were just those two, it would have been fine.’
Merlin briefly gazed at the two people sharing a tender kiss, before turning away abruptly with a stern expression, flicking his fingers and casting a spell.
Then, in an instant, the surroundings enveloping him transformed. He was no longer within the confines of the room with the loving couple, but instead, he stood between the fence guarding the estate and the main entrance to Rupert Guinivis’s mansion.
Merlin, who narrowed the distance in an instant, cast his sharp gaze upon Rupert and the knights being led away, upon Morgan being held by the knights, and Grand Duchess Blaine, who leaned against the Emperor’s embrace as they approached in an ornate carriage.
In particular, he fixed his attention on Morgan, whose eyes were shining brightly despite being led away with little resistance.
‘…I don’t have a good feeling.’
Merlin licked his dry lips and pulled the hood on his robe.
Hoping that his foolish disciple wouldn’t ruin everything out of greed, he fervently wished as he quietly erased his presence and slowly trailed behind them.
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Translator’s Note: Hello, it’s Nabi! I’m the translator of this novel ପ( ๑•ᴗ•๑ )ଓ♡ If you like the novel and would like to support me, please feel free to click the button below to go to my kofi~! Thank you so much for always supporting the novels I work on, even if you don’t buy me a coffee, I really do appreciate it a lot. ❤︎
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