DSDD 02

Chapter 2

No, this couldn’t possibly be true. This was absolutely ridiculous!

“Laura, Laura!”

“Yes! What is it?! A headache? Dizziness?”

At my shout, Laura burst through the door.

“You know…… why. Last week, when I didn’t come home…….”

I glanced at Laura and spoke carefully.

I wanted to ask, “Did I happen to spend the night somewhere last week?” but I had no idea what kind of misunderstanding that might cause.

So instead, I deliberately tried to sound as though I was merely fishing for information.

“Ahhh, that day.”

Damn it. So something really had happened.

“I was actually wondering whether I should ask you about what happened that day.”

“Of course you should have asked. You mean you didn’t ask anything at all? Isn’t it strange that the head of the family didn’t come home without even sending a message?”

“We thought the Marquess had a secret lover. You came back first thing the next morning, after all. And also…… ahem.”

Also what?

Laura suddenly cleared her throat awkwardly, then continued with a flushed face.

“Also, the corset laces I tied for you the night before were different the next morning……. Ahem.”

Oh, God.

My vision went dizzy.

For some reason, that meant I had apparently had a reason to undress outside the house.

Damn it.

“But, Marquess, why have you been asking about these things since earlier? Did you really lose your memory? I’m worried about you.”

“Ah, no. It’s nothing. I just couldn’t remember the exact date.”

“Oh, I see…….”

Laura nodded, but she continued looking at me suspiciously.

Feeling as though she might catch me in a contradiction if I let things continue, I hurriedly sent her out.

Now, back to the main issue.

“Leon Obsidian, huh……. I, with the Grand Duke of Bernstein…… haha.”

The more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t help laughing hollowly.

It was that absurd.

The man in question was the commander of the Holy Knights, a man who had sworn purity to God.

He was someone no one could—or dared to—lay a hand on.

And yet, there were countless women who would strip off their dresses and run straight to him at the slightest beckoning of his hand.

But what connection could he possibly have with me?

The only connection we had was that we were alumni of the academy.

And perhaps that we had crossed paths a few times because we were both academic scholarship students.

In other words, we were practically complete strangers.

“Besides, the Grand Duke didn’t join the Holy Knights until around the time I graduated from the academy. I haven’t even seen him since then.”

The Grand Duke was famously devout.

When he finally chose to take up a position within the temple, high society was thrown into an uproar.

Countless young ladies who had secretly been in love with him lamented the even greater distance between them, while even proud noblewomen pined after him, causing quite a commotion.

But that only lasted for a while.

Unexpectedly, even after he became a holy knight, the advances from young ladies and noblewomen did not stop.

They seemed to think, “Well, we can’t have him anyway, so we might as well take a shot.”

And mixed into it all was the forbidden thrill of craving something sacred that no one was allowed to touch.

Still, it was quite something to see even married noblewomen following him around and fawning over him…….

As in any era, adultery was an especially unforgivable act in Orden’s high society.

However, in a society where arranged marriages were common, there were quite a few people who enjoyed dangerous little affairs.

And to them, Leon Obsidian was the perfect target.

A handsome face and a well-trained body.

The excellent status of a Grand Duke, along with a legitimate imperial bloodline despite being an illegitimate son.

And on top of that, he was a holy knight trusted by the Grand Temple.

But what good were golden veins running through his blood and a handsome face if he couldn’t make use of the one thing a man was supposed to make use of?

In other words, when all of this was taken together, Leon Obsidian was officially a man who could never become someone’s affair partner.

A so-called “safe” man.

Because of that, most nobles turned a blind eye to their wives’ one-sided crushes on him, and the noblewomen became even bolder in their pursuit.

And yet, despite all that, the Grand Duke had never once kept a woman by his side.

Even though he could have lived surrounded by the hems of women’s dresses if he wanted to, he spent most of his time at a temple located in southern Orden.

He led an excessively chaste and pure life there, praying and occasionally setting out to hunt monsters at the Grand Temple’s command.

Rumors even circulated that there might be something wrong with his reproductive functions, but perhaps because of his handsome appearance, everyone seemed reluctant to talk about it openly.

They simply resented the fact that he had given his heart to God.

And yet, a man like that—

“He slept with me?”

I sat blankly in my seat and discreetly examined various parts of my body.

Then I suddenly wondered what on earth I was doing.

“No, no. Of course not. It’s already been several days. There’s no way there’d still be any traces.”

Still, just in case, I went through all sorts of ridiculous contortions in front of the mirror.

But there wasn’t a single scratch or bruise anywhere on my body.

Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean nothing had happened that day.

The woman who had taken over my body had clearly claimed that she slept with Leon Obsidian.

And according to Laura, I had actually spent the night away from home under circumstances suggesting that I had undressed.

So it seemed difficult to deny that the incident itself had happened.

“Still, it absolutely wasn’t Leon Obsidian.”

It wasn’t simply because it was difficult to believe.

The timing, the circumstances—none of it made sense.

Then the only remaining possibility was—

“This woman…… got scammed, didn’t she?”

She must have been deceived by someone impersonating the Grand Duke.

Yes.

There was no other way to make sense of it.

“There’s no way someone who came from another world would have recognized the Grand Duke in the first place. She simply believed some scammer’s story and assumed the man was the Grand Duke. That stupid woman! How dare she use my body!”

I had no memory of it, so I didn’t feel particularly uncomfortable or have any strange sensations.

But the fact that someone had shared my body with another person still made my blood boil.

And I didn’t even know who the other person was!

“I thought it didn’t make sense from the beginning. There’s no way the Grand Duke would be in the capital. If he had come up here, there would’ve been an uproar long before now…….”

Knock, knock, knock!

“Marquess!”

Almost simultaneously with the knocking, the door flew open and Laura rushed inside, her face deathly pale.

“What is it? What happened?”

“Th-There’s been a huge problem! Downstairs!”

Downstairs what?

I told her to calm down and explain slowly.

Still gasping for breath, Laura shouted,

“The Grand Duke of Bernstein is here!”

“What? Who is here?”

The Grand Duke.

There was only one Grand Duke in the empire, but I wondered if I had heard her incorrectly, so I asked again.

Laura nodded.

“Leon Obsidian! His Highness wants to see the Marquess! He’s waiting downstairs right now…… Hurry and get ready. Hurry!”

The final confirmation left me completely numb.

No.

Why was the man who was supposed to be at a remote temple here?

And why was he at my house?

Why was he looking for me?

And why…… now of all times?

Could it be? No, that can’t be. Absolutely not. No, it can’t be!

Countless questions and anxiety began to surge through my mind.

The things I had repeatedly dismissed as impossible now transformed into an ominous feeling that perhaps they were all true after all.

I jumped to my feet and anxiously asked,

“Laura. What kind of condition was the Grand Duke in?”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

“I mean, did he look angry? Or perhaps wronged? Something like that…….”

“Ah!”

Laura seemed to think for a moment when I asked whether there had been any particularly noticeable features.

Then she suddenly said,

“He was holding a huge bouquet of flowers!”

Good heavens.

I silently swallowed a scream.

A bouquet of flowers.

For some reason, that makes me even more nervous.

Wow, my heart feels like it’s about to explode.

Standing in front of the reception room, I clenched my fists.

The entire way downstairs, my mind had been filled with only one thought.

Why is the Grand Duke here? Why on earth?

As if I wasn’t already confused enough, the very person responsible for all this had personally shown up.

At this point, there was no avoiding him.

“Phew.”

All right.

Forcing down my trembling nerves, I took a deep breath and stepped inside.

And the first thing to greet me was—

“Ah, Erna.”

A breathtakingly dazzling face, wearing a smile as warm as sunlight.