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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Caught in the Act
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“What is...”
Helen nearly collapsed, feeling as if all the blood had drained from her body.
Her husband was kissing another woman.
It was the moment she confirmed with her own eyes that her choice had been wrong.
Over the duke's shoulder, immersed in the moment, the woman who met Helen's gaze flinched in surprise. It was that woman who had given her a strangely unpleasant smile before.
“Oh dear, my apologies.”
The woman pulled away from the duke, picked up the coat that had fallen to the floor, and left the room.
The duke rubbed his mouth and slowly turned to face Helen.
Helen, who had witnessed it all, asked with trembling lips.
“...What do you think you're doing?”
“You've already seen it all, so you know, don't you?”
Far from being flustered, he brazenly shot back. His calm expression showed no hint of remorse.
Helen's eyes fell on his disheveled shirt and the marks etched into his collarbone.
“So you've been cheating all this time?”
To think the husband she had chosen was such a repulsive man. Helen barely suppressed her nausea and stood her ground.
“Cheating?”
The duke sneered as he straightened his rumpled clothes.
“That's a word you use when there's betrayal involved. We're not in love, are we?”
Arguing or raging would only earn her mockery.
She couldn't demand a divorce or publicly shame him. Her power didn't come from royal blood but from the authority of the duke's family, which required it.
The duke sat on the edge of the bed, poured wine into a glass, and smiled.
“Are you curious why I meet other women? Because I can't find pleasure in a purely dutiful relationship aimed only at producing an heir. That's how political marriages are.”
She felt bewildered watching him speak as if it were the most natural thing in the world, without a shred of guilt.
“Everyone does it?”
“There are exceptions, sure. Like Brigadier General Vicente. Oh, maybe because his wife isn't as stony as mine.”
To her, being compared to others was the worst insult.
Especially to a lowly maid who couldn't even reach her ankles.
He's deliberately provoking me. Does he think I'll break down pathetically?
Helen, with her strong pride, clenched her fists until her nails drew blood and endured. She tried to maintain her unwavering dignity.
“I'm just surprised. I've only heard rumors of crude men fooling around with strangers in someone else's house, but this is the first time I've seen it myself.”
“If the problem is that it's someone else's house, I'll make sure to do it at home from now on.”
He lifted the corner of his mouth and glanced behind her, as if telling her to look.
Helen turned around, and her face paled.
“Cynthia...”
Beyond the open door, Cynthia stood watching them.
Why of all people her...
Helen's fingertips, now ice-cold, trembled.
As the duke had said, what she felt wasn't betrayal toward her husband.
It was anger toward the duke for making her feel so miserable, and shame at having her pathetic state exposed to another.
And to the person she despised the most, no less.
“...”
Cynthia looked at the two of them with flustered eyes.
Still recovering from a cold, she had been on her way back from the infirmary when she saw a disheveled woman throw on a coat and emerge.
“Having a good time?”
At Cynthia's question, the woman gave a shy smile and nodded.
“Almost.”
Cynthia noticed the woman's buttons were fastened oddly, as if done in haste.
Anyone could tell she had just spent some intimate time.
In someone else's house? For real?
She had seen the woman's face, so now she just needed to confirm the man's and ban them for life.
Cynthia followed the path the woman had taken and, through the open door, overheard the entire conversation between the duke and Helen.
Helen, mortified to the point of fainting, stormed out, slammed the door shut, and snapped at Cynthia.
“Where did you learn manners like eavesdropping like a rat?”
“Can't I walk freely in my own house? At least close the door if you're going to fight.”
Cynthia sighed and took hold of her hand.
I thought she was living well as the duchess's wife, but she's actually the tragic heroine of some melodrama romance.
It was out of human compassion.
For some reason, the duke's glass-shard words reminded her of Masera's cold expression, making her own heart ache unexpectedly.
“If you're going to tell the dowager duchess, I'll go with you as a witness.”
But Helen shook off her hand with an incredulous look.
Not only was advice from a fake insufferable, but telling her mother-in-law would just earn her a rebuke: 'It's because you failed as a wife.'
“What do you even know...”
About surviving in an environment where no one could be trusted, constantly competing.
Helen licked her lips and spoke.
“Trying to treat me like some pitiful soul? You only help others to console yourself by looking down on those even worse off than you.”
“What are you talking about? I'm the most pitiful person in the world.”
Cynthia, surrounded by death flags like landmines everywhere, looked aggrieved.
Helen warned her in a low voice.
“Don't you dare think of using this as leverage against me.”
“Don't worry about that.”
Cynthia smiled kindly and added,
“As long as you don't commit any more sins, sis.”
At the meaningful words, Helen—who had plenty of her own guilt—frowned.
“Who's your sister? You think you can negotiate with me now? How long do you think I'll keep your secrets quiet?”
She had botched the negotiations with the Dies residents over relocation compensation. Now Cynthia understood why. No way negotiations would succeed with that attitude. Cynthia sighed.
“I'm saying this for your sake. You'll end up completely alone.”
Helen glared at Cynthia wordlessly and stormed off.
Cynthia watched her retreating back and thought of those who had treated her poorly in her past life.
Back then, when they met gruesome ends, she had thought it fitting for villains.
But after dozens of repetitions, she realized no ending was as unsatisfying as that.
No one ever repented their sins.
She had come to believe the best conclusion was for villains to repent, regret, and atone.
At that moment, the duke emerged from the room, now properly dressed.
“Did you see it all? Quite the coincidence.”
What were the odds of stumbling upon a situation perfect for exploiting someone's weakness? Of course, it wouldn't be his own weakness.
Of all people, caught by that fake princess. Even self-righteous Helen will behave for a while.
Cynthia looked at him with a gloomy expression.
“I can't exactly orchestrate situations like that.”
“This must be the will of the gods.”
He uttered something sacred after engaging in impure acts.
To a man of power like him, this must be as natural as breathing.
Cynthia sighed inwardly.
“I always thought you were such a gentlemanly and impressive figure, Your Grace.”
Cynthia didn't blindly condemn him. Nor did she take pleasure in Helen's misfortune, despite her malice.
“I've been very interested in the welfare benefits you've implemented in the territory and your regional development strategies. I've admired you greatly without showing it, seeing you and the dowager duchess as my role models...”
But she knew words that would strike hard at the prideful and high-status.
“...I'm really disappointed.”
Seeing Cynthia bow her head weakly, Duke Lecanosa felt his heart sink.
