The Villainess Captured The Grand Duke - Chapter 158

Chapter 158

***

trying to find someone, but there wasn’t a single servant or knight to be seen in the vast Blenga mansion.

As she anxiously dashed through the expansive interior, she finally spotted someone. A pale face with ashen hair—Jess, whose dry expression showed no sign of passion or vigor.

Scheuer called out his name loudly as she ran towards him. 

“Jess! Has the High Priest already left for the center? ”

“Yes, His Grace. He departed just a little while ago.”

“That’s impossible. Without even saying goodbye? ”

She looked up at him with drooping eyes. 

‘Today, everything seems so black and white.’

She thought it was just her imagination since he always wore a uniform mixed with grey and black.

In disbelief, she asked again,

 “Lord Leilda really let him go that easily? ”

“Yes. The priest Koa asked, and he graciously allowed it.”

The word “graciously” felt particularly out of place. Knowing how dedicated he was to the research on the black magic stone, Scheuer couldn’t believe it and asked again, 

“Did Lord Leilda really say that? ”

‘What about the monsters…? ’

As she fidgeted anxiously, something large and dark moved outside the mansion, making a thud. Startled, Scheuer turned her head to see a pair of red eyes glinting in the light.

It was a monster.

“…?”

For a moment, her mind went blank. The monster, whose gaze met hers, let out a low growl that seemed to resonate from deep within.

Scheuer instinctively raised her hand in greeting. 

“Hello? Are you a monster? ”

With a guttural sound, the monster responded. 

“I’ve heard a lot about you. I’ve been wanting to talk to you! ”

Clapping her hands together cheerfully, Scheuer smiled, but the monster shook its head.

She didn’t know how the monster had heard what she said in the corridor, but she didn’t think it was strange. The monster approached the statue of Raygrain in the garden, shaking its head.

Scheuer slowly shook her head. 

“No. Stay calm. Friend, don’t do that. No! ”

With its dark, claw-like fingers, the monster poked the statue’s head.

Scheuer pressed against the glass window in the corridor and said seriously, 

“Think carefully. Don’t make an irreversible mistake. No matter what, you can’t touch the Duke.”

Despite her warning, the monster uprooted the statue as if pulling a radish.

Scheuer urgently called out to Jessica. 

“Where is Lord Leilda? I need to request that he take care of it! And why is that thing even at the Duke’s residence?!”

“If it’s Lord Leilda, he won’t listen to you.”

“Why not? ”

“Monsters are living beings too.”

Has Jess finally gone mad? With a perplexed expression that was neither frowning nor angry, he looked her over and continued, 

“So from now on, the monster goes, ‘woof, woof, woof! Woof, grr! ’”

“Jess…?”

As soon as Jess started barking, Scheuer gasped, her eyes flying open. It dawned on her that it had all been a dream. 

‘No wonder it felt strange.’

It seemed that the news Jess had given her last night had left quite an impression.

‘By the way, didn’t Sevi say he was leaving in the morning?’

She remembered that Koa had mentioned something like that. As she slowly blinks her eyes, the bright light fills the room. Scheuer immediately threw off the covers and got up.

“Sevi!”

“He hasn’t left yet.”

The calm voice came from beside her. As she threw off the covers, Raygrain was there. Unlike yesterday, he was already dressed neatly, as if he had finished preparing.

Her recent dream made her feel uneasy.

Recalling the dream made her feel uneasy. Raygrain looked at her with a somewhat disapproving expression as she hurriedly tossed aside the blanket.

“So, the first thing you do upon waking is call out the High Priest’s name,” he remarked.

At that moment, she remembered what he had said the night before. Scheuer closed her mouth awkwardly. He didn’t seem to intend to scold her, but given the urgency of the situation, he appeared surprisingly relaxed.

In fact, she even wondered if the news Jess had given her last night had been a dream. Hesitantly, she began, 

“Did Jess say anything last night…? ”

However, she had to stop as Raygrain reached out his hand. The memory of the previous night made her instinctively shiver. He calmly grabbed her waist with both hands and sat her in front of him.

He adjusted her disheveled hair and the straps of her slip that had slipped down to her shoulders, then gently stroked the back of her neck with his thumb.

Raygrain slowly lowered his head and placed a brief kiss where he had touched, saying, 

“Get ready and come out. The High Priest will be held up by Leilda.”

The movement of his whispering lips was felt directly on her skin. As he lifted his bowed head, he lightly tapped Scheuer’s cheek with his fingers and then stood up.

As soon as the door opened, Celi’s familiar face was the first to appear. After receiving his instructions, Celi nodded decisively. Normally, Scheuer would have been thrilled by his minor actions, but today, she felt a strange sensation.

The tension brought on a slight shiver and itchiness.

‘Why is this happening? ’

Scheuer lightly rubbed her cheeks, which felt feverish from the morning’s heat.

***

“Are you crazy? Why are you letting him go after all the trouble of catching him?”

As expected, Leilda was firm in his stance. Sevi, who was tightly bound to the chair like a criminal, burst into loud laughter as soon as he heard about the tablet.

“Hahaha, I knew this would happen! ”

His bloodshot eyes, probably from lack of sleep, gleamed with a hint of smugness.

“Truly, the god Lapel cherishes me so much. How worried must he have been about my beauty getting damaged!”

“Shut up, you wretched scoundrel.”

“Oh ho! How dare you speak so disrespectfully to the High Priest! ”

Leilda pressed his temple with an irritated hand gesture, clearly worn out from Sevi’s incessant yelling through the early hours.

Watching them, Koa hesitantly offered, 

“Given that there was a forged tablet in the past, it’s hard to fully trust this, but… If it’s real, we need to move quickly.”

At this, Raygrain gestured toward the window. Leilda, now with his short hair tousled, flung it open wide. Outside, the Blenga Knights were already assembled, fully prepared to depart at a moment’s notice, just waiting for Sevi.

Leilda, pointing angrily at them, shouted, “Get out from in front of my room immediately! ”

But who could argue with matters related to the gods? The knights remained in formation, silent and unmoved, like statues. Huffing, Leilda stormed back to her desk and grabbed a handful of scattered black stones.

Returning to her desk with a huff, Leilda grabbed a handful of the scattered black magic stones and said, 

“This is all we managed to achieve after all night.”

The black magic stones, which only emitted a red aura when exposed to sunlight, were different now. The stones glowed with a bright red light that seemed to pull her in just by looking at them.

It was definitely not a pleasant feeling. Leilda glared at Sevi and muttered, 

“If that damn fool hadn’t complained about being hungry, thirsty, needing the bathroom, and asking for a carriage, we would have gotten more!”

“And yet, you drained my divine power! How dare you complain when you’ve stolen from a delicate little me! ”

“Delicate? With those vocal cords still intact after all that screaming? Yeah, right.”

Despite his disheveled and pitiful appearance, Sevi’s bound figure was still rather pitiable. Raygrain stepped in to halt their argument.

“We’ll send the High Priest. We can’t defy the temple’s rules.”

The reactions were mixed. Leilda cursed under her breath in frustration, while Sevi, still tied to the chair, scooted closer with a face full of triumph.

However, Raygrain’s words didn’t end there. 

“High Priest, Blenga will accompany you.”

When Scheuer turned to look at him in surprise, he calmly continued, 

“Scheuer will also be joining.”

“Smile Love”