So I Was the Persecuted Grand Duchess Destined to Die? Chapter 58

Chapter 58

“Where did it all go wrong…?”

Trembling with anxiety, I forced my feet to move even though they didn’t want to.

Earlier, as Lady Diana was leaving the banquet hall, she’d leaned in and whispered so only I could hear:

“After you finish your meal, rest a little, then come to my room. I’ll send Karl. And if you can, move quietly.”

It was so solemn—so secretive.

I had no idea what it meant, and after that I couldn’t even tell whether the food was going into my mouth or my nose.

And the moment I got back to my room, a sharp instinct hit me.

I’ve been found out.

Yeah. So my books didn’t grow legs and run away.

Lady Diana took them! She’s going to scold me for being an archduchess who reads trashy romance!

Aaaagh!

And with the Grand Duke gone, it would’ve been easy to quietly “take care of it” without anyone noticing.

It didn’t help that it was a full moon.

Deep into the night, beyond the corridor windows of the ducal castle, only eerie moonlight drifted in.

It looked exactly like a scene from the novel I’d been reading—
The Maid Who Was the Duke’s Illegitimate Daughter’s Older Sister Was Actually the Lost, Precious Imperial Princess.

Under moonlight like this, the heroine was about to punish the villainess…

And I still hadn’t even gotten to read that part.

Is this what a villainess feels like right before her end…?

I should’ve lived virtuously.

But I did live virtuously!

“Haaaa…”

Maybe I’d over-immersed myself in those books too hard.

At my heavy sigh, Karl—who was walking ahead—slowed down slightly.

I couldn’t see his face, but soon the old butler’s gentle voice floated back.

“Please don’t worry too much, my lady. Lady Diana may be cool-headed, but she is not cold-blooded.”

“Mm. I think so too. But being scared is a separate problem.”

Only then did I snap out of my melodramatic spiral.

Yeah… I really have been marinating in melodrama lately.

My brain kept steering everything toward the worst possible ending.

Lady Diana wouldn’t do that.

I suddenly remembered her hand from our tea time earlier—warm as the teapot we’d touched.

Still… this is so embarrassing.

Why did it have to be Lady Diana—the most aristocratic aristocrat alive—who found out?

Any tiny bit of willingness she had to accept me is probably gone now.

The thought made my shoulders droop.

Just then, as if we’d arrived, Karl stopped before a door and turned to me with a warm smile.

“Nothing you fear will happen. And if you truly wish, I will prepare an exceptionally delicious tea—enough to ease even Lady Diana’s displeasure.”

“Ka—Karl… thank you.”

My chest tightened with warmth at his kindness.

With my courage rekindled, I clenched both fists and silently mouthed, You can do this!

Karl mirrored me—fists clenched in encouragement—then knocked.

“Lady Diana, it is Karl. I have brought Her Grace.”

Gulp.

Even if I’d braced myself, I couldn’t help being nervous!

“Come in.”

Now it was really my turn.

Swallowing hard again and again, I twisted the doorknob with a face like I was marching to my execution.

Click. The door opened, then shut behind me.

“H-hello…”

I bowed immediately—deep and stiff.

With the bright moonlight behind her, Lady Diana sat in shadow, her expression hard to read.

I stayed bent at the waist, not daring to straighten, when—

Tap, tap, tap.

She approached with elegant steps, then reached out and gently lifted me by the shoulders.

And then—

“Is this yours?”

She thrust a book toward me:

The Maid Who Was the Duke’s Illegitimate Daughter’s Older Sister Was Actually the Lost, Precious Imperial Princess.

Straight to the point?!

“Yes! It is! I’m so sorry!”

All the excuses I’d rehearsed crumbled instantly against reality.

I admitted it, then clamped my mouth shut.

But that was only the beginning.

Not only my favorite, most cherished book—
The Marquis’s Wife and Her Dizzily Thrilling Seduction—
but also all the unread ones from my drawer were lined up across Lady Diana’s desk.

I’d expected it, but seeing it made my mind go blank.

And yet Lady Diana’s voice was strangely calm.

“Have you read all of these?”

“Ah… not yet…”

“And these notes—so you were the one who wrote them.”

No—she saw that too?!

My private reviews—the thing that was supposed to stay buried forever—had been exposed.

I wanted to bite my tongue and die on the spot.

“Th-th-that is… I’m sorry! But it’s just… one kind of entertainment…”

I was shaking with shame, trying to scramble out a defense—

when Lady Diana cut me off.

“Sorry? Enough of that. Which one was the most entertaining?”

“…Pardon?”

“You seem to especially like revenge stories.”

As she said it, her face looked… oddly bright.

Like she’d just found a kindred spirit.

Only then did my gaze snap to the initials on the review notebook.

D. S.

Don’t tell me…

Diana Celeste?

“…Huh?”

A few days later.

When Xavier returned to the ducal castle, he genuinely thought his eyes were malfunctioning.

“Haha! Renée, you adorable little thing! Where did you even find this?”

In the grand garden, tulips and freesias in full bloom—

Under a pavilion of white marble, Diana and Renée were sitting together, lost in their own little world.

“I went into town with Katharina. We stopped by a bookshop, and I thought of you, Grandmother, so I bought it. You liked this series, didn’t you?”

“Yes! And I only just found out there was a sequel.”

“I couldn’t help myself—I read it first. I think… you’ll really love it.”

“Hohoho! If you say that, I’m truly looking forward to it. My darling’s eyes have never been wrong.”

“Hehe! It’s all thanks to you, Grandmother!”

Diana looked like she might kiss her from sheer fondness.

Xavier—who had never seen Diana act so affectionate, even to her own grandson—stood there in stunned silence.

“…What happened while I was gone?”

Beside him, Karl watched them with quiet satisfaction.

“Haha. It seems the two of them discovered a shared interest.”

“A shared interest?”

From the side, Ternox shrugged.

“What’s the big surprise? Renée just did what Renée does.”

At that, Xavier couldn’t help letting out a small laugh.

Honestly… for that tiny woman, it probably hadn’t been difficult at all.

“Tch. Ridiculous.”

Ternox jabbed Xavier in the side and walked ahead.

“Are you enjoying your time?”

“Oh? Nox. You’re back already?”

“Already? I crossed who knows how many ridges—gulp gulp—nearly ran out of breath…”

“Oh, please. The exaggeration!”

Even as she scolded him, Renée smiled at Ternox warmly.

For some reason, Xavier’s insides twisted.

“I’m here too.”

With that, he walked over.

Karl, noticing his master’s sour mood, held back a smile.

What a peaceful afternoon.

“I have something to report,” Karl said. “Since everyone is here, now is the best time.”

“What is it, Karl?”

“A letter has arrived from the Imperial Palace.”

…The palace?

Everyone’s eyes narrowed—

Everyone except one person.

Renée Celeste.