The Villainess Captured The Grand Duke - Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Thrown with regret, the stone made a thud, producing a heavy sound as it fell to the floor. The noise was quite substantial. Scheuer, with no one around, aimlessly glanced around the empty room with only her eyes, then used her foot to push the stone under the bed.

She carried her exhausted body, worn out from carrying and lifting the stones, and buried herself in the bed. It was ridiculous that the only flaw she could think of in Blen, painstakingly thought out, was that he had become a bit more difficult.

Even that seemed like an exaggerated expression. Instead, he resembled the dawn air after the rain had stopped. A gaze that seemed to penetrate people, a calm voice, and a personality that was always steadily grounded. It was a role that she couldn’t honestly write about.

If possible, Scheuer didn’t even know why Raygrain continued to insist on using the name Raygrain. The same applied to the part about Nettri. ‘Still, in terms of conscience, I balanced the ratio of praise and criticism for both.’ If she wanted to say it, she had the self-confidence to show an unfiltered favoritism that had tilted so much that one side of the scale had snapped.

But no matter how good something was, it was not good to overdo it. ‘Because it could be misunderstood by the North. It couldn’t be helped.’ Scheuer, exhausted from squeezing out praise for Nettri, strained her neck in agony.

It felt like she would have muscle pain as soon as she lay down and woke up. If she faced tomorrow in this state, she was worried that her already not-so-good reputation might not be damaged even further. Scheuer reached out towards the bouquet of flowers placed at the head of the bed. The distance seemed just within reach.

“Chamomile, chamomile…!” 

She reached out her arm, but the gap didn’t close. However, she didn’t want to get up, so she stretched out with all her might. In Scheuer’s eyes, the untouched empty stone plate still remained. It was the residue of what she had written. They were all things she had bought a lot of gypsum frames and materials for, under the pretext of bringing them up to the room.

Well, she couldn’t say there was no personal interest. But if you had to buy things for disguise, wouldn’t it be better to buy useful items! Save Raygrain, fill her own happiness, kill two birds with one stone! As expected, no one suspected her plaster, even Raygrain, who was sensitive to everything. As soon as she sent him to the banquet, she immediately picked densely packed flowers from the bouquet.

Afterwards, she carved words one by one on the stone that had nothing written on it. There was no need to worry about what the stone looked like; she had already seen it all. “This is why third person is good.” Scheuer muttered while pressing her face against the smooth blanket.

While the central area had never revealed the appearance of the stone plate, in the novel, the excavation process of the new stone plate had briefly appeared. The method of distinguishing between genuine and fake was also clear. On the other hand, Erina had only seen the publicly disclosed information and had never seen the actual stone plate.

“If the temple had been visited as planned, I was planning to leisurely prepare and leave for the North before coming back…”.

Thanks to the time being advanced, she had to travel around the vast palace with a piece of the stone plate in a short time. Without anyone noticing, secretly. And not just one, but several.

Due to the unexpected discovery of the first stone plate faster than expected, the last part couldn’t be done comfortably. There was no strength to send it far. The stone plates collided with each other and slid on the well-polished marble floor that the craftsmen had meticulously cleaned. The goal was twenty, but due to unexpected complications, it stopped at twelve.

In fact, there was a bigger problem. It was choosing between the flaws of Blanga and the merits of Nettri. During the time with Nettri, she hadn’t thought of anything to praise, as there were more instances of slapping with water from the flower vase rather than compliments.

Is this the pain of creation? Even if it hadn’t been done in such a hurry, she would have spread much more.

 “As expected, it’s because he’s the protagonist. It’s good to be lucky.”

Scheuer twisted her lips. Still, she was satisfied with the fact that she turned the bias towards the center instead of heading north.

As long as there was a proxy official, she would quickly identify the counterfeit stone plates. It was just a matter of time difference. Fortunately, she knew the structure of the royal palace. In the novel, most scenes with Raygrain took place in the palace. As a result, she had undergone countless repetitions of learning about the palace structure unintentionally.

If it weren’t for Raygrain, what would all of this mean? Even though it was done urgently, it ended without being caught, which was a good start. Scheuer rolled on the bed, holding her cheeks. 

“Our Duke seems to bring only luck.”

“I wonder why you thought that way.”

With a familiar low voice, she stiffened. Scheuer’s life was divided into before and after hearing Raygrain’s voice. Therefore, she could never be wrong in listening to this voice, no matter what happened.

So… As she moved her gaze, she saw Raygrain leaning against the door, looking directly at her.

 “Your, Your Grace?”

“You look tired.” 

His gaze was directed towards the floor.

Only then did Scheuer recall the stone plate with nothing written on it. The probability of him coming here before the banquet ended was high, considering the sudden increase in stone fragments. To divert his gaze, Scheuer staggered and turned over on the bed.

“Oh, it’s sore. Your Grace, my neck is so stiff. Can you take a look at it just once?” 

Unfortunately, Raygrain didn’t give her even an ounce of attention. Instead, he effortlessly crossed the scattered stone plates and approached her with his long legs.

“You were rolling so well earlier.” 

Did he see it from there? There was no evidence. He, without emotions, had no reason to doubt without evidence. But for now, it was a matter of explaining.

Scheuer looked up at him pitifully. 

“It hurts, that’s why. Your Grace, look here, look. If you see my arm closely, there seems to be a bit of irritation in the feathers.”

Scheuer hastily pointed to her empty arm. Perhaps due to her earnest plea, Raygrain’s head slowly turned towards her. Despite the vitality felt in his blue eyes, his face, without a single wrinkle, didn’t give any clues about what he was thinking. Even his unruffled breath seemed to make him appear impassive.

She didn’t express it, but the fact that he approached like this probably meant her exaggeration worked. It was difficult to meet his direct gaze when admitting she lied.

The distance gradually shortened. Blocking the light, the tips of his bangs were about to touch his forehead. Raygrain extended his arm towards her under the bed.

At the end of his gaze, the edge of the stone plate that Scheuer had laid under was peeking out. Scheuer urgently held his face to fix her gaze. Despite being forcibly confronted, Raygrain’s face remained calm.

Scheuer forcefully stared into his eyes and said firmly, 

“I said I was in pain!”

“Do you not know that you are lying?”

“No. My arms and legs really feel numb.”

“The cause is probably…”

Scheuer, with great effort, pushed the stone plate she had barely managed to insert with her foot. Raygrain effortlessly lifted it with one hand after she struggled to push it in.

With a satisfied look, he pushed the stone plate towards her and said, 

“This is probably it.” 

After quickly scanning the contents, he read aloud in a subdued voice, 

“Who can resist following Blen, who believes in the path he has chosen and advances?”

Feeling that it leaned too much towards the North and not having the heart to discard it, Scheuer had left it without spreading it.

“Smile Love”