Chapter 80

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Translator: Vine

Chapter: 80

Chapter Title: The Worn-Out Male Lead Picked the Wrong Opponent

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‘What kind of relationship do they have that the duke is here with Anna?’

The market alleys were dotted with family homes where villagers lived.

The Lecanosa Duke and Anna stood in front of one of them, engaged in conversation.

“Um, Makia. Why don’t you go buy the cake first? I need to meet someone I know.”

Makia, who had been looking in the same direction as Cynthia, smiled gently and nodded.

“Don’t worry, I won’t eat it on the way.”

‘How did she figure out my anxiety?’

After Makia left, Cynthia hid with the soldiers and watched Anna and the duke.

The soldiers, who always trailed her unobtrusively, were faithful to orders and followed without question.

‘So this is Anna’s house.’

The Lecanosa Duke left first, and Anna went inside.

Cynthia instructed the soldiers to stand by nearby and knocked on the door of the house Anna had entered.

“Duke, did you forget someth…… Ahh!”

Anna, who had opened the door brightly, recoiled as if she’d seen a grim reaper.

Cynthia quickly stepped inside, slammed the door shut, and faced Anna.

“Anna! You’re safe!”

“Cindy? No, Miss Cyn, Cynthia?”

“It’s the first time seeing you since you tailored my dress at the mansion, right? Don’t worry, I won’t kill you.”

Cynthia had no particular good memories of Anna, regardless of her relationship with Anita.

‘She was full of vanity and a pro at framing others.’

Anna had once stolen leftover silk scraps from dressmaking and, when caught, pinned it on Cynthia.

“Skip the pleasantries. Why were you with the Lecanosa Duke? Tell me.”

Her face was innocently bright, like gossiping about romance with a friend, but her tone wasn’t friendly.

Anna, sensing she wouldn’t be killed, relaxed her tense shoulders.

“Why do you think? It’s exactly what you’re imagining.”

“What I’m imagining is that you’ve suddenly gotten bold.”

Anna smiled leisurely.

What else could it mean for a man to save a woman’s life, provide her a house and funds, and visit every weekend?

“And why are you asking about my relationship with him? Because he’s your sister’s husband, the one who treated her like a maid her whole life?”

Cynthia looked baffled.

“Huh? I thought maybe you were being used or threatened.”

Anna bristled in response.

“No? The duke helps me and visits every weekend. Who knows, maybe I could become the duchess instead of Miss Helen?”

Cynthia pondered as she watched Anna act arrogantly, as if she’d found a backer.

‘How on earth did they meet? I can’t find any connection……’

“Why hide the future duchess in this backwater and sneak visits?”

Anna’s face flushed beet red at Cynthia’s piercing question.

In a class-based society, upward marriages were the natural aspiration for all. Marriage here was a transaction for a better life.

‘But destroying a family is unforgivable.’

Cynthia sighed and rubbed her forehead.

No point lecturing about the outrage of adultery.

The one cunningly stringing her along with false hope was the problem too. She was disappointed in the duke for a second time.

“If you’re doing well despite the affair, no need to worry. But if it’s not right, it’s not—better sort it out soon. If trouble arises, I can’t help you.”

Anna stared, trying to read Cynthia’s intentions, her face gradually filling with bewilderment.

She recalled Cynthia helping Anita in the market.

Realizing Cynthia had no intent to harm her and was actually concerned, Anna asked awkwardly.

“By the way, did you take Anita with you? I saw her in the market before.”

So Anna had seen Anita that day too.

It was trouble if Anita’s survival leaked, but Anna had no reason to spread it.

Cynthia shook her head and turned to leave.

“Don’t know. I’m going.”

No point holding Anna; she’d ask the duke directly.

How he met Anna and why he hid her here.

“Someone comes to this neighborhood every week to meet her, right?”

Cynthia asked the Lecanosa Duke point-blank.

He felt disconcerted by her eyes, thick with disappointment.

‘She must have seen me with the maid by chance. Chance seems to be her daily life, this princess.’

At this rate, he’d be seen not as respectable but as a lecherous womanizer.

The duke nodded to the soldiers to give them space.

“……”

Seeing no reaction, he asked Cynthia directly.

“I’d prefer no listening ears.”

“Sergeant Chat, Corporal Petty. She says we’re about to have a secret talk, so don’t listen! No, not cover your ears while standing there……”

After the soldiers, needing clearer orders, stepped away, the duke scanned around and spoke reluctantly.

“I have no intent to trouble you, Princess. Please don’t misunderstand.”

“……Trouble me how?”

After a moment’s hesitation, the duke faced her seriously.

“I know your past. A servant with bloodlust stole you as a newborn, forcing you to live as a maid.”

He knew she was a fake but held back the full truth.

The duke’s eyes shifted as if recalling.

“The maid you saw, Princess, her name was…… Maximilia, was it?”

‘Who’s that? Completely wrong! Not a single detail matches!’

The duke not even remembering Anna’s name clashed in her mind with Anna’s excited dreams of duchess-hood.

‘What’s going on here?’

Confusion and doubt rose on Cynthia’s face.

“So, what happened?”

Cynthia asked sternly.

The duke didn’t want to miss this chance for her gratitude.

“There was a servant purge at the count’s estate. Afraid she’d be killed if discovered alive or used as your weakness, I hid her here—she happened to volunteer weekends.”

“Why?”

Cynthia looked more puzzled than moved.

The duke cleared his throat unnecessarily and averted his gaze.

“I didn’t want you troubled.”

“Why really?”

“I don’t know the reason.”

He couldn’t beg her not to withdraw her respect. Nor understand why he clung to such trivial acknowledgment.

Then Cynthia yanked his arm.

“Ah, watch out!”

As Cynthia warned, soldiers on skis for patrol sped toward them incredibly fast.

“Aaaah! Can’t stop!”

“Me neither!”

They streaked past, leaving only screams and afterimages.

“……”

The duke turned to Cynthia, who had pulled him from collision.

She looked like a princess on a white horse saving a prince from a fairy tale.

Snow crystals scattered by the passing soldiers sparkled around her—perfectly timed.

‘Goddess of Luck……’

Cynthia peered closely at the dazed duke with a worried expression.

“Duke, are you okay?”

The Lecanosa Duke’s face flushed red in an instant.

An emotion he’d never felt crashed over him like an unexpected accident.