I Have A Terminally Ill Duke As My Husband - Chapter 21

“Lu. Lucy, are you alright? My goodness. Why hasn’t the doctor arrived even after an hour?”

Lucienne regained consciousness at the sound of Penelope sobbing beside her.

What on earth happened?

“Mo, Mother.”

“Lucy. Are you awake? Sob sob. Do you know how shocked I was thinking something had happened to you? My goodness, Lucy, there’s no need to stay here any longer. Let’s go back now.”

Hearing Penelope’s words, Mercian grabbed her hand with a surprised expression and said urgently,

“Mother, the tea party hasn’t even started yet.”

At Mercian’s words, Penelope shook off her hand and shouted,

“Enough! Just seeing you dressed up like this is enough to know how well you’re living in this duke’s household. I don’t need to see any more, so we’ll be leaving now. Lucy almost died because of you, and you’re worried about some tea party?”

Some tea party? And now you’re saying it’s my fault that elder sister got hurt?

Mercian looked at Penelope, who was blaming her for Lucienne’s mistake of ignoring her warning and grabbing the door, and said,

“Mother, elder sister came to see me yesterday and insisted we have this tea party, so I hurriedly prepared it. And Lucy collapsed because she ignored my warning, so why are you saying it’s my fault?”

Mercian said with an aggrieved expression at Penelope’s words.

“No, Lucy fainting is all your fault.”

Penelope made sure no one was around and whispered to Mercian,

“You really are a child who doesn’t know gratitude. After all we’ve done for you, how can you treat us like this?”

“You say I don’t know gratitude?”

“Yes, your sister said last time she came that your husband is planning a rebellion! Your sister begged His Highness the Crown Prince to let the wedding proceed as planned instead of arresting the duke at the ceremony venue on your wedding day. Knowing that, shouldn’t you repay your sister? At the very least, you avoided being humiliated in front of everyone.”

Right, this is the mother I know.

Mercian wanted to laugh at Penelope’s appearance, blaming her unlike when she first came to the duke’s household, but she held it in and replied,

“Mother, I sent a gift to elder sister last time to thank her for the warning. That dress she wanted so badly.”

“Ha! Just three dresses?”

“Just three dresses? Mother, those three dresses cost enough to live on for 6 months when I was at the viscount’s house.”

“Mer, you foolish thing. Just because you wear these expensive dresses and people call you duchess, do you think you’ve actually become a real duchess? Wake up. You’re only a 6-month temporary duchess. When the duke dies in 6 months, you’ll be nothing!”

“Mother, I’ve never deluded myself into thinking I’m a real duchess.”

“Well, if that’s what you think, then open that duke’s door right now while no one is here.”

As Penelope pointed to Ruan’s room, Mercian replied with a resolute expression,

“Mother, I can’t open that door. As I said before, Ruan has personally placed magic on that room and the study.”

You foolish thing. If Lucy gave a hint that the duke is planning a rebellion, you should have prepared in advance.

Penelope, anxious at the thought that if she didn’t gain anything today there might not be another chance, shouted at Mercian.

“Mer! If you truly cared about your sister and our family, you should have found such evidence and prepared it in advance. You foolish thing. Don’t you know that if the duke attempts rebellion and fails later, not just you but our whole family will be in danger? You should have had enough sense to think of that!”

Do you really believe Ruan is planning a rebellion?

No, how could someone who’s about to die plan a rebellion?

Mercian looked at Penelope with frustration and said,

“Mother, I’m sorry, but I have no intention of giving you, elder sister, or His Highness the Crown Prince any evidence of Ruan’s rebellion, for whatever reason.”

“What? Wh-what are you saying? Do you want your husband to commit treason and for us to be branded as traitors and killed later?”

“Then just disown me from the family instead. That will do, won’t it? Disown me from the family and tell the Crown Prince that I abandoned you and elder sister and sided with the duke. If the Crown Prince still meets with elder sister after that, then he truly likes her. But if not, then he doesn’t really like elder sister, he’s just using her…”

Slap!

Before Mercian could finish speaking, her face was turned to the left.

“You wicked girl! Just you wait! I will surely become the Crown Princess and then Empress. Fine, evidence of the duke’s treason? I don’t need such things. From now on, you are no longer my sister. As you wish, I will permanently disown you from our family. Mother, let’s go back now. That stupid and foolish girl is no longer my sister!”

Lucienne, who had barely regained consciousness, couldn’t stand Mercian’s words and suddenly stood up, slapping Mercian’s cheek as she shouted.

“My goodness, Lucy, are you alright? Do you know how shocked I was? What are you doing? Mer, quickly apologize to your elder sister. Now!”

Mother, I’m the one who just got slapped.

Shouldn’t you and elder sister apologize to me for coming to the duke’s house demanding nonexistent evidence based solely on the Crown Prince’s words without any clear proof?

Mercian wanted to shout these words, but she didn’t want to cause unnecessary commotion.

“Mer, I said apologize to Lucy right now!!”

At Penelope’s insistence, Mercian raised her head straight and looked at Penelope, saying,

“I’m sorry, Mother. But I’ve done nothing wrong. Rather, elder sister should apologize to me for trying to enter my husband’s room against my warnings. Isn’t that right, elder sister?”

“Mer!”

Penelope was at a loss, unsure how to handle Mercian’s uncharacteristic refusal to back down. Seeing this, Lucienne stood up and practically dragged Penelope out of the duke’s house.

“Mother, I’ll explain things well to His Highness the Crown Prince, so don’t worry. Now please go back.”

“Lucy, but…”

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“Mother, wait a moment.”

Although Mercian wanted to cut ties with the two, she didn’t wish for them to come to harm, so she hurriedly followed after them.

Seeing Mercian rushing out, Lucienne spoke to Penelope as if bestowing alms,

“I’ll wait in the carriage first, so Mother, say your final greetings.”

“Mer, why have you changed so much? You may be a duchess now, but that’s only for 5 months. If your sister becomes Empress…”

As Penelope spoke with a regretful look, Mercian grabbed her hand tightly and said with a serious expression,

“Mother, listen to me carefully. This is the first and last time I’m saying this for you, who gave birth to me and raised me, not for elder sister. Be careful of the Crown Prince.”

“What?”

“He’s not a very good person. Last time I overheard Ruan and someone else talking, they said the Crown Prince brings women to spend the night and even kills them. So please, keep your distance from the Crown Prince.”

“What nonsense is this!”

“Mother, I mean don’t believe everything the Crown Prince says. Think about it. Why would His Highness the Crown Prince approach elder sister from our mere viscount family?”

At Mercian’s words, Penelope frowned and said,

“Do you hate the idea of your sister becoming Crown Princess that much? Even knowing that you can live as a duchess for 5 months thanks to your sister,”

Seeing Penelope only believing Lucienne’s words despite her sincere advice, Mercian had nothing more to say.

Right, I didn’t expect you to believe me anyway.

I’ve done what I needed to do, the rest is up to those two to choose.

Mercian looked straight at Penelope and said,

“Haah, I’ve told you clearly. Don’t blame me later no matter what happens!”

“Mer, I understand your feelings of envy towards Lucy. But just this once, help your sister. Bring evidence of treason from your husband. This is your mother’s first and last request.”

Seeing Penelope speaking as if to soothe her, Mercian shook off her hand and said,

“Mother. I’m sorry. As you said, I’m someone who will leave both the duke’s and viscount’s houses in 5 months. So I don’t want to be involved in this matter.”

Seeing Mercian firmly refuse despite her plea, Penelope burst out angrily,

“Fine. I thought you came out to say you’d bring the evidence, but… Well, what could I expect from you.”

The carriage door opened and Lucienne glared at Mercian, saying,

“Mother. Come now. She’s no longer of any concern to us.”

“Mer, if you change your mind even tomorrow, contact us. Listen well. Your sister will surely become Crown Princess. So don’t regret it later.”

Even as she turned to the carriage at Lucienne’s words, Penelope kept telling Mercian to bring the evidence until the end before boarding.

***

At first, I thought about giving the evidence as Tablo said.

Ruan said he deliberately left evidence in the study, and Lucy wants so badly to become Crown Princess, so how hard could it be to hand over one piece of evidence…

But after hearing about the Crown Prince from Tablo, Mercian had a lot to think about.

If he really was someone who brought women to spend the night and even killed those he didn’t like, as Ruan said…

Would this end with just once?

No. Once I start handing over evidence, they would probably keep wanting more and more.

Then it’s better not to give anything at all.

Even if I’m cursed for not providing evidence…

Even if the worst case scenario of cutting ties with Mother and elder sister happens because of this

Once I start getting dragged along, I’ll have to keep being dragged along.

That was the conclusion Mercian reached after agonizing all night.

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Early dawn, Mercian urgently asked Edward to get her defensive magic tools, then placed defensive magic on Ruan’s room and study.

She knew very well that Lucy would never believe she had placed defensive magic herself.

The only thing she didn’t expect was that the defensive magic was stronger than anticipated, causing Lucy to faint for about an hour.

Perhaps that made things resolve more easily, but…

Mercian touched her swollen cheek and smiled sadly.

Actually, she had planned not to say anything about the Crown Prince until the end.

But seeing Penelope turn to leave, she became worried without realizing and ran to tell her…

To say I slandered the Crown Prince out of jealousy towards Lucy…

Well, even when Lucy said she would disown me from the family, she didn’t say that couldn’t be done until the end.

Rather, she only worried about her sister’s health.

I guess I do know those two well.

How everything fits perfectly into my plan without the slightest deviation.

Mercian felt more sad than happy that her plan had succeeded so flawlessly.

Given Lucienne’s personality, she would most likely really disown me from the family.

From now on, she’ll probably work hard to find a way to erase me from the family without getting cursed herself.

Yes, with this I’m really cutting ties with them now!

From now on, I’m truly alone.

Now there are 5 months left, so I just need to stay quiet and then go down to the countryside.

Mercian watched the carriage disappear in the distance, touching her swollen cheek as she muttered,

“It will probably be more swollen tomorrow. I should have asked Charles to bring an ice pack.”