The Male Lead isn't Following the Script!
Chapter 93: His Place

Chapter 93: His Place

The bump on the carpet... It was raised oddly. She turned to lift it up, she could feel something under it and there it was! A stash of letters!

She grabbed the letters, smoothing the carpet back in place, and quickly opened one of them. Skimming through, her eyes widened. These letters were from the Duchess!

’That lying son of a-’ She knew he was up to no good. He was trying to take over the estate from within! So the Duchess has been inside the estate, just in a remote building she didn’t know of.

Before she could read more, she thought she heard approaching footsteps and froze. Her heart pounded in her chest as she quietly crept to the door, peeking through the crack to check the hallway.

Thankfully, no one was there, and without further hesitation, she slipped out and closed the study door behind her. She didn’t waste a second as she made a beeline for her room, clutching the letters tightly against her chest.

Once she was safely in her room she could breathe a sigh of relief. She hadn’t felt this much stress since she took her final exams in her past life.

That did not end well for her, but luckily this did. She looked at her hands, they were trembling uncontrollably. She made her way to her bed and collapsed.

She was trying to calm herself down with happy thoughts.

"You did it, child!" The Goddess chimed in.

"You are such an unreliable Goddess. You could’ve kept watch when I was looking through his study but you left it all up to me." Adeline humphed.

"If I didn’t believe you were capable, I would have never entrusted you with the task" The Goddess spoke with a divine voice.

Adeline shook her head. This Goddess just came and left as she pleased. After carefully going through the letters she discovered where the Duchess was. She also discovered that the Duchess had contracted an illness.

Adeline quickly knew that it had to be the illness that was spreading through the Empire. Well, it wasn’t anything that she couldn’t cure.

She hid the letters carefully and walked out of the room in search of Dimitri, she hoped he didn’t get into too much trouble.

He didn’t tell her what he was going to do, he only told her to not worry about it. When he says things like that she couldn’t help but worry more!

Dimitri stood tall in the garden, his expression calm and confident as he faced Everett. The Duke’s son had been simmering with resentment ever since Dimitri had arrived.

This was the tipping point for a full-on confrontation.

"You have no right to be here," Everett sneered, crossing his arms with a smug look. "You’re just some charity case my mother picked up out of pity. You should know your place."

Dimitri didn’t flinch. "And what place would that be?" He folded his hands and raised his head.

He slowly continued with a mocking tone. "If the Duchess chose to bring me here, I’d say it’s her choice who belongs and who doesn’t. Or are you questioning her judgment?"

Whatever Everett might say, he decided that he would stand his ground and stay firm.

Everett stepped closer until they were nose to nose. "You think you’re something special because you have powers?" His voice was dripping with disdain. "I’ll be the future Duke of this estate, and when I am, you’ll be the first one I send packing."

Dimitri smiled provocatively, "The future Duke? Aren’t you some orphan kid the Duke brought? Heh. Delusional. I on the other hand am the Duchess’ personal guest and I have the Western Marquess behind me."

The mention of the Western Marquess only seemed to rile Everett more, "This is the Eastern Duchy, not the Western lands. And I don’t care what the Duchess thinks. My father is the true authority here."

This earned a few stares from the servants around. They knew very well who their true Master was. It will always be the Duchess. Just as the Duchess gave importance to bloodlines, so did they.

In the original story, there was no plague, the Duke wasn’t desperate. He slowly introduced Everett to the Duchess and made sure to get him adopted.

A twist which was far less expected was how Everett quickly changed his allegiances. Seeing how the Duchess held the most authority, he quickly abandoned his father and stayed ’loyal’ to the Duchess.

Once he got rid of his father, the next was the Duchess. Slowly he started poisoning her and eventually, she too died. Because he earned her recognition, everyone in the estate acknowledged him.

He easily became the new Eastern Duke.

But now, he was still a child. He publicly shouted that his father was the absolute authority earning dissatisfaction from everyone around.

As if on cue, the Duke himself emerged, his imposing presence radiating authority and disdain as he took in the scene unfolding before him. His eyes narrowed at Dimitri, silently assessing the situation.

"Everett," he said, a low reprimand in his voice as he turned to his son. "What’s going on here?"

He heard the end of the conversation. He knew that his image would plummet if he didn’t step in as soon as possible. He can’t let anyone know about his ambitions until his son is successfully adopted.

Everett, encouraged by his father’s presence, straightened his posture. "This... outsider is trying to challenge me, F- Your Grace." He couldn’t call him father, at least not in front of anyone.

The Duke shifted his gaze to Dimitri, his expression stony. "Dimitri, was it?" Taking one step forward, "Perhaps you forgot your place in the household?"

Dimitri met the Duke’s gaze without a hint of hesitation. "With all due respect, Your Grace, I know my place well," he replied, his voice steady and unwavering.

"I was invited here by the Duchess herself, and I serve under the name of the Western Marquess, who has given me his blessing to represent his interests here. My duty, therefore, is to ensure that the Duchess’s wishes are respected."

The Duke’s smirk faded as Dimitri’s words sank in. He was clearly unused to someone, especially a young outsider, speaking with such confidence in his presence. But Dimitri didn’t falter.

"Be careful, boy," the Duke finally said, his voice as sharp as a dagger’s edge. "You might represent the Marquess, but in my lands, my word is law."

"And what is his place? Your Grace?" Adeline interrupted. She strutted towards Dimitri and stood before him with confidence. Her arms were crossed.

She was overjoyed to see Dimitri standing up for himself. He spoke with confidence and didn’t falter. The Western Marquess took him in, he didn’t need to bow his head in front of anyone.

Seeing him come out of his shell and become a confident young boy was all that Adeline wanted. His quiet, cold personality was the result of his past in the original story.

But now, he didn’t have to endure all that. He could be mischevious, he could be bright and bubbly, he could be anything, and that would be his true self. Unblemished by his traumatic past.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.