Translator: Nox

While Others Became Female Leads In Romantic Fantasy Novels, I Became A Closet Monster

Chapter 20

I immediately moved through the Wardrobe to the Grand Duchess’s room.

It was quiet; perhaps she hadn’t arrived yet.

I cautiously stepped out of the room and scanned the surroundings. In the distance, I spotted the Grand Duchess.

She was about to enter a nearby drawing room, and I hurried through the gap in the door just before it snapped shut.

“This matter must be concluded here.”

“Mother!”

“Is there any other way? The fact that the Prince’s belongings were found in that fellow’s room proves he ruined everything because he was blinded by greed.”

The Grand Duchess clicked her tongue in disapproval.

“Now that the Prince’s items have been discovered, His Highness will surely ask to handle the servant’s punishment himself. I must deal with him first before he gets the chance to say a word.”

If the Prince took the servant, Delaney’s scheme would be exposed.

She intended to silence him before that could happen.

Somerset sat restlessly, his legs shaking with anxiety.

How distracting.

As I frowned at the sight, the Grand Duchess, also displeased, rebuked him.

“Somerset, a head of the family who will lead the house must know how to govern and hide his emotions. That behavior is unseemly, so you had best correct it.”

“But Mother! Anyone can see that His Highness has taken a liking to Dedrick! And it’s not as if we can side with the concubine’s child either….”

“Just because the Prince likes him doesn’t mean Dedrick can be made Grand Duke. Everything is intertwined with interests, and friendship or love has no influence on such matters.”

She spoke as if soothing Somerset.

“We were unlucky and failed this time, but there will be many opportunities.”

“Surely that wretch Dedrick didn’t…!”

“It wasn’t that child’s doing.”

“But the servant keeps insisting he’s innocent, doesn’t he?”

“Lowborn things are always full of grievances. There’s no need to pay him any mind.”

Seeing the Grand Duchess’s composed attitude, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She didn’t suspect Dedrick.

To her, he was a child who trembled at her mere presence, so she couldn’t even imagine him daring to make a move.

I thought it was quite fortunate that such prejudice blinded her.

Though whether that would last remains to be seen….

For now, I could breathe a little easier.

“Somerset, if you become the successor, the Prince will naturally follow. Whether His Highness likes you or not won’t matter.”

“Pardon? But you told me to serve him well….”

“I had hoped to foster a closer relationship with Her Majesty the Empress, but there will be plenty of other chances.”

“I should have worked harder…. I’m sorry, Mother.”

Looking at her apologizing son, the Grand Duchess spoke benevolently.

“Somerset, there is no need to apologize. You are fine just as you are. This mother of yours will handle everything else. If all else fails, contacting the concubine wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“But Mother!”

As Somerset cried out in disgust, Delaney looked at her son as if he were adorable and added.

“Indeed, I have no desire to hold hands with such a vulgar woman either. However, one cannot simply ignore the Emperor’s favor.”

That much was true.

Still, in the current Imperial Family, the Empress’s influence was slightly stronger than the Emperor’s.

Mainly because the Emperor was a man much like Somerset.

“We cannot bow to the Empress forever. We have many cards, and we only need to choose.”

Nodding reluctantly, Somerset suddenly asked as if he didn’t understand.

“In your case, Mother, you wouldn’t necessarily need to meet Her Majesty through the 2nd Prince. You could interact with her directly.”

“Her Majesty doesn’t particularly like me.”

As Delaney said, the relationship between the Empress and the Grand Duchess could hardly be called good.

In their youth, the two were the most noble women in the Empire, and because of that, they clashed every single day.

But that was a story from their younger years.

Now older and more driven by self-interest, the Grand Duchess sought to build a friendship with the Empress to give Somerset more power.

‘In the novel, she actually succeeded.’

It won’t turn out that way now.

Once Perez returns to the Imperial Palace, he will report this incident to his mother in detail, and the Empress, who already disliked her, will draw a hard line because of this.

“Then what do you plan to do with that servant?”

“I must handle him as usual. Before he falls into the Prince’s hands….”

The Grand Duchess’s lips curled into a soft smile.

“Frame him for another crime and kill him immediately.”

Hmm….

I stroked my chin as I listened quietly.

Death is indeed the best way to silence someone. He was destined to die by Delaney’s hand anyway, and so he goes.

‘The only disappointing part is killing the servant right away.’

If the Prince had interrogated him directly, he could have seen Delaney’s intentions with his own eyes.

And he wouldn’t have stood idly by after the crime of having someone steal his belongings.

But to kill him before that….

‘What if I secretly let the servant go?’

However, I soon shook my head.

If I let the servant go, he would just run away; he would never go to the Prince of his own accord.

‘It’s a shame. But I should be satisfied with this much.’

I felt no sympathy for the servant. He had tormented Dedrick all this time, and as if that weren’t enough, he tried to frame him by stealing the Prince’s belongings on the Grand Duchess’s orders.

Why else would the Grand Duchess have sought him out specifically?

It was likely because he enjoyed bullying Dedrick and was willing to do anything for money.

‘It’s his own karma.’

I followed behind Gemma as she left the drawing room.

I had to tell Dedrick this news as soon as possible.

---

Two days had passed since the theft.

The Grand Duchess expressed her regrets to the Prince, claiming that the servant’s crimes were so numerous and that he had attacked a knight in retaliation, leaving them no choice but to execute him on the spot.

She even shamelessly acted out an apology, saying she would have kept him alive by any means had she known Perez intended to handle the punishment.

And as a gesture of apology, she offered Perez an expensive jewel, but he politely declined.

Instead, when he pointed out that Dedrick lacked a proper formal outfit, the Grand Duchess sent one as a gift for Dedrick just for show.

“You really have a good friend.”

As I looked at Perez with satisfaction, Dedrick blocked my view of him with a grumpy face.

Perez looked at him curiously.

“Dedrick?”

“It is nothing. More importantly, when are you returning?”

“Haha, do you wish for me to return so soon?”

“It does feel like you have stayed a bit long.”

After the theft incident, Dedrick and Perez had grown close very quickly. I thought he would be awkward since it was his first friend, but he treated the Prince with surprising ease.

Even now, he was being so blunt that a listener might feel hurt, but once Perez took a liking to someone, he wouldn’t dislike them for almost anything they did.

Just look at him grinning like an idiot.

If anything, he seemed to quite like Dedrick’s honest personality.

It was the same in the novel. Even after they became close, whenever Dedrick acted coldly, it was always Perez who approached him first.

He was quite the affable second male lead.

“Your Highness, a message has arrived from Her Majesty the Empress.”

“She must be contacting me because I’ve stayed too long.”

Perez laughed awkwardly and stood up.

“I shall be back after a quick call.”

“You may take your time.”

“When you say it like that, it only makes me want to return faster.”

Perez laughed heartily and stepped outside.

Dedrick let out a long sigh and lightly bumped his head against the table.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?”

As I gently stroked his hair, Dedrick suddenly grabbed my wrist. He turned only his face to look at me, pouting with a hurt expression.

“Finally, it’s just the two of us….”

“We’ll be together all the time from now on anyway.”

“……That is true, but still.”

I stood up and sat in front of his desk.

“It’s still a shame. I was gaining momentum with my studies.”

“Shall I teach you a little bit now?”

“Who knows when he will return.”

“Even just one word.”

As Dedrick pulled out a notebook and opened it, something fluttered out.

I quickly caught the scrap of paper as it drifted toward me.

“Look! I caught it!”

Hehe, how’s my agility?

But why is there so much written on this?

Looking at the densely packed paper, I focused to read the letters.

“But what is this? Lil… lian? No, Liliana?”