I’m Not A Saint Though?

chapter13

A woman with luscious blonde hair and blue eyes appeared, adorned with a dazzling red dress and glittering jewels. It was Madam Magda, the Duke’s mistress.

The Duke’s expression instantly hardened. Wasn’t she the one who always greeted him with sweet nothings when he returned home?

But to see her in such a state of urgency…

As he looked at her with puzzled eyes, a sudden thought crossed his mind.

“D-Did the charity already come? Did they come to take the things that wench handed over?”

“What? Charity?”

“Ah, I guess not.”

Breathing a sigh of relief at his mistress’s questioning look, the Duke slapped her on the bottom.

“Then why are you running around in such a hurry? What if you fall and break your delicate ankle?!”

He even went as far as to grope her firm buttocks; it was truly vulgar.

Most servants would have been flustered, not knowing where to look.

But the Duke’s coachman simply watched with an impassive expression.

It wasn’t the first time the Duke had molested his mistress’s body.

It was to the point where he could even picture her reaction.

She would surely say, “Oh my, there are so many people watching, why are you doing this?”, while pushing her buttocks closer to the Duke.

‘So vulgar.’

But what was this?

A completely different scene unfolded.

“You! This isn’t the time for this!”

Madam Magda snapped, swatting away the Duke’s hand that was groping her buttocks.

‘What’s gotten into her?’

The Duke was also puzzled.

“M-Magda. Why are you acting so unlike yourself today?”

“Because you’re fooling around in this serious situation!  I’m worried sick!”

“Worried sick? Why? What’s wrong?”

“Do you really not know? It’s because of the Lady, of course!”

“Shaen?”

“Yes, I heard she returned alive! And she’s even become the Saintess! Ha, how can such a ridiculous thing happen?”

Fanning her flushed face in disbelief, she glared at the Duke and demanded, “What are we going to do now? She was pushed to become the Beloved instead of our Melina, so she must be furious. She’ll try to get revenge somehow, what should we do…”

Madam Magda wrung her hands, her face pale.

But unlike her, who was terrified of the repercussions, the Duke simply chuckled.

“What was I so worried about?  You were so anxious because you fell for that wench’s lies?”

“Lies?”

“Yes, it’s all a lie. Think about it. If she were the Saintess, wouldn’t we, who lived in the same house, have known?  She made it all up to save her own life.”

Scoffing, the Duke pinched and shook his mistress’s powdered cheek.

“Why do you even have this head? Is it just a pretty decoration? Hmm?”

It was a gesture filled with affection for his beloved mistress.

But his touch was rejected once again.

*Slap!*

“You…”

The Duke was dumbfounded, his hand swatted away twice by his beloved mistress.

But before he could protest, Madam Magda continued with even more bewildering words.

“Lies? What lies! She even passed the Pope’s verification!”

“What? The Pope acknowledged it? That Shaen is the Saintess?”

“Yes, the rumor has already spread throughout the capital! Didn’t you hear it on the way here?”

The Duke was speechless at Madam Magda’s rebuke.

‘N-No way. How did that wench pass the Pope’s verification?’

Blinking blankly with a dumbfounded look, he suddenly hardened his expression.

‘Wait, then my assets…?’

He had planned to file a lawsuit to cancel the donation on the grounds that he hadn’t given his consent as the head of the family, but now things had become complicated.

Shaen was the Saintess who had appeared after 13 long years, and it was obvious whose side the judge would take.

Panicked, he yelled, “This isn’t the time to be standing around!  Go inside and pack your things!”

“P-Pack? What things all of a sudden?”

“Anything! Pack everything that’s worth money!”

“What… Why are you acting like this all of a sudden, Master? Tell me the reason so I can understand.”

The Duke furrowed his brows.

Why was she clinging to him when time was of the essence?

“That bitch Shaen donated all our assets!”

“D-Donated? How much?”

“Everything!”

“…What?”

“She handed over everything, from the mines and businesses to this very house we’re living in!”

“N-No way. How could the Lady donate all our assets? Without your permission?”

“Ah, she has the seal!”

The Duke yelled in frustration, and Madam Magda, finally realizing the reality, collapsed weakly onto the ground.

“N-No way. How could this…”

“Save the lamentations for later and move!  We have to salvage whatever we can!”

The Duke roughly pulled her up and rushed into the house.

Magda and Melina hurriedly followed him.

“Vincent! Where are you, Vincent!”

“You’ve arrived, Your Grace.”

The butler, summoned by the Duke, came out to the entrance.

But his behavior was a bit strange.

His tone was as polite as ever, but his stiff posture didn’t seem respectful at all.

Although his behavior was clearly different from usual, the Duke, in his haste, didn’t notice the difference.

“Pack anything that’s worth money and move it to the carriage immediately!  Cash, jewels, art pieces, everything that can be converted to cash!”

The Duke yelled, his face red, urging him on.

But what was this?

The butler, who would normally have followed his orders immediately, didn’t move an inch.

And the same went for the other servants standing behind him.

The Duke, finally noticing something strange as they just stood there blankly, furrowed his brows.

“What are you doing! Can’t you hear my instruc…”

“Your Grace, we are hereby ceasing all duties at the Dukedom, effective immediately.”

Just as the Duke, feeling a strange sense of unease, raised his voice, the butler spoke in a calm voice.

It was the first time the butler, from a family that had served the Dukedom for three generations, had dared to interrupt his master.

“Wh-What did you say, Vincent? What are you ceasing?”

The Duke was quite flustered, but compared to what the butler said next, interrupting him was nothing.

“I said we’re ceasing all duties at the Dukedom, Your Grace.”

“So, you’re saying you’re going on strike?”

“No, I’m saying we’re leaving this Dukedom.”

“Wh-What?”

The Duke’s jaw dropped.

“What do you mean? Why are you suddenly quitting?”

“Because we have no confidence in serving you, Your Grace.”

The butler’s tone remained calm.

“We have no confidence in serving you, Your Grace, as you are capricious, incompetent, and don’t value people.”

“Ha, what?  Is that something a butler should say to his master?”

“I’m telling you the truth. Reflect on your life, Your Grace. Have you truly been a master worthy of our respect?”

The Duke was a man whose life revolved around alcohol and gambling, and he sometimes even indulged in hallucinogenic drugs.

As soon as his wife died in a carriage accident, he brought his mistress and bastard child into the annex, and after the previous Duke’s death, he even gave them the Duchess’s room.

That alone was enough to erode the servants’ respect for him, but he also treated them with contempt.

It was common for him to fire servants who had worked for years on a whim, and several maids had been forced to serve his drinking buddies overnight.

When the maids, angered by being treated like prostitutes, protested, he would slap them and insult them, saying, “A maid or a prostitute, they’re both lowlifes, putting on airs with their misplaced pride.”

It was always Shaen who cleaned up the mess and soothed the servants’ feelings.

“We endured and stayed because Lady Shaen was here, but now that she’s gone, there’s no reason for us to stay any longer. We’re leaving the Dukedom as of this moment.”

“Huh.  After all the years of feeding you, housing you, and paying you generously, you’re betraying your master like this? You’re truly ungrateful.”

The Duke gritted his teeth and sneered.

“So, where will you go once you leave my house? It won’t be easy to find a job without a letter of recommendation.”

“Don’t worry about us.  The fact that we served you is proof enough of our abilities.”

“Wh-What?”

“And besides, you can no longer afford to employ us anyway, can you, Your Grace?”

It was already common knowledge that the Duke was penniless.

Even though she had no authority, Shaen was still the head of the family.

The reason she was able to dispose of all the assets without his knowledge was because of the servants’ tacit consent.

“You insolent bastard! I can’t believe you’re saying such…!”

Just as the Duke, trembling with rage at being mocked by someone he had treated like a servant all his life, was about to yell,

*Bang!*

The front door burst open, and a group of knights barged in.

“Wh-What’s this!”

As the Duke stared in bewilderment at the unexpected situation, the knight who appeared to be the leader stepped forward and presented him with a piece of paper.

“By order of His Imperial Majesty, we are conducting a search of the Veloce Dukedom.”