Chapter 78

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 78

Chapter Title: Laura Elegance

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"Ah, right..."

I belatedly remembered something I'd forgotten.

The fact that the blackout curtains were made of Polleta leather.

The false rumor that tumblers and thermoses were harmful.

All of it had spread to the people through articles in magazines or newspapers.

'I never even thought to trace the source of those articles.'

Were natives really different?

I suddenly recalled that I was an outsider here and looked at him with curious eyes.

"Who is it?"

In response to my question, the Duke pulled a small portrait from his pocket and handed it over.

Inside the palm-sized paper was a woman with a stern expression.

Her eyes slanted sharply upward at the corners, her cheekbones protruding sharply, making her look incredibly ill-tempered... a woman in her fifties?

As I examined the portrait closely, the Duke's voice came.

"Laura Elegance."

"Hm...?"

A name I'd never heard before.

I tilted my head, rummaging through my memories, when his next words were something I never could have expected.

"She's the Empress's mouthpiece."

"Eek?"

It was a metaphorical expression, but I understood it immediately.

The term "mouth" was slang for someone used to spread another's will.

And the Empress Oriana's mouthpiece at that? No doubt she handled more than half the gossip in high society.

"But."

Still, I couldn't easily believe it.

'I can't imagine the Empress orchestrating this.'

And rightly so—the current Empress was the biggest fan of Safety Rules of the Haunted Duke's Castle.

Of course, I'd never met her, and I knew she was capable of schemes behind the scenes since she'd put her son on the throne.

But there was no reason for her to throw mud at the Duke of Brail's business—especially the tumbler venture she'd personally helped—at this point.

Why would someone who'd even assisted in cracking down on illegal tumbler deals just to protect her favorite comic from scandal do such a thing?

A trembling voice slipped from my lips as my face grew serious.

"I don't get it. So, Lady Elegance..."

"Lady."

"Yes?"

"She's a lady. She's never been married."

Ah, oh... I see.

In this noble society, most people in their fifties were married, so I'd assumed... She was ahead of her time.

Addressing an unmarried woman incorrectly was a grave rudeness, so I quickly corrected myself.

"Right, so it's unlikely Lady Elegance wrote the article on her own?"

"It could be."

"Then we need to look into it more. No matter how I think about it, the pieces don't fit."

The Empress's mouthpiece wouldn't suddenly pick a fight with the Duchy out of nowhere.

'No, it's hard to pin down anything for sure right now.'

Even cousins get stomachaches when you buy land—how many people would envy the Duke's family as they soared higher and higher?

Maybe investigating Laura Elegance was the way to go?

Having sorted my thoughts, I flashed a bright smile at the Duke, who had been watching me the whole time.

"Thanks for the new info, anyway."

"Princess."

As I turned to leave, the Duke's call grabbed my ankle.

"Yes?"

His face was unreadable as he slowly moved his lips.

"I know this has hit you hard."

"...Ah."

"I'm sorry. These incidents keep piling up right after you recovered."

Come to think of it, that was true.

After the kidnapping in the Duchy, days of overwork followed, and the accumulated fatigue had me bedridden.

Yet the moment I stepped back for a brief rest, all this happened.

Anyone could see it was a streak of bad luck.

'Maybe I'm just fated to live like a workaholic ant...'

I shrugged, muttering self-deprecatingly under my breath.

"Guess it's my lot in life."

"No."

Hm?

Don't say it so firmly—you're embarrassing me...

But the Duke continued regardless of my thoughts.

"Don't push yourself this time."

"Pardon? But still..."

"You saw with your own eyes how worried everyone around you was. Or did you?"

"Ah..."

His words naturally brought back the recent time I'd collapsed from motion sickness.

Bonita, Ian... and countless servants whose names I didn't even know had fretted over me.

As those memories flashed through my mind, I clamped my mouth shut like a clam.

'And this man worried about me a lot too.'

The proof was that even this Scrooge had cut my room and board fees.

A tycoon who nickel-and-dimed my debts, of all things!

If this were a romance novel, it'd be the classic cliché of a chaebol hero softening up for a poor heroine...

Glance.

I sneaked a sidelong look at him, only to snap out of it upon realizing how ridiculously handsome he was—knowing my place.

Men like the Duke always had owners, so indebted lodgers like me shouldn't get delusions.

"I'll... be more careful from now on."

I bowed once, then quickly added before the mood got awkward.

"Anyway, I've gotta stay healthy to pay my room and board on time, right? Haha, yeah?"

No real reaction came from the Duke, but I turned and hurried off before he could respond.

I had a feeling if I looked back now, I'd fall for that face again.

"Ugh..."

The crack of dawn as the sun rose.

Baroness Pavron, finally finishing her work, stretched and turned toward the rising sun.

How long had she been holed up in the study?

With deadlines looming and her focus sharpest at dawn, she'd pulled an all-nighter again.

Realizing it now, she made a troubled face.

"The sun's already up..."

"Mm, done now?"

"Oh, dear. Did I wake you?"

Baron Pavron sat up, tousling his disheveled hair at the sound of his wife rising.

Worried about his wife, who had only recently recovered, he'd been keeping vigil by sleeping uncomfortably in the study.

"Sorry. Work's all done now."

At her apologetic tone, Baron Pavron shook his head.

"Don't say that, dear. I haven't helped much... I'm just glad I can cheer you on like this."

"Thank you for saying that."

"After an all-nighter, your mouth must be dry. What do you feel like eating?"

"Hm, hot soup sounds good."

It was the kind of tender conversation any loving couple might have.

Baron Pavron gently adjusted the shawl over his wife's shoulders.

"Potato soup would be perfect. Right?"

"Ah, potato soup. Ideal for this weather."

"How about some of that rye bread we used to love?"

"Yes! Here, it's always soft white bread."

In Marquis Embrose's household, which favored only the finest, hard rye bread was even rarer than white.

Somehow, the rye bread that had bored them in poverty had become a fond memory for the young couple.

"Then I'll tell the kitchen myself, dear. The servants aren't up yet."

"Would you?"

"Of course. Oh, and I'll deliver this too."

"Thanks, dear."

Baron Pavron took the plot summary for the next installment of Safety Rules of the Haunted Duke's Castle, which his wife had been sealing.

Handing the letter to her husband, Baroness Pavron earnestly reminded him.

"You know, right? Send it to 'Bonita,' not Lady April. And change my name too."

"Of course, don't worry."

Thanks to their security measures against leaks, there hadn't been any major issues yet.

The plot summaries weren't written plainly but encoded like ciphers, decipherable only by those who knew the rules.

"Then, I'm counting on you."

Leaving his beaming wife behind, Baron Pavron hurried off.

It was the start of another peaceful, ordinary day.