Duke, Is This Your First Time?

“Hmmm. So that’s how Veramus works.”

Lulien’s eyes, which had been looking at the documents carefully, narrowed.

Perhaps due to the rapid expansion of Helios, Veramus’ movement was also changing little by little.

Veramus.

They controlled the back streets of the empire and was the largest dark organization, secretly carrying out illegal businesses such as smuggling and drugs.

The problem was that all of their profits went to the Duke of Russet.

This was because the actual master of the Veramus organization was the Duke of Russet.

When Lulien had first learned of this fact three years ago, she had honestly felt more delight than surprise. It was joy at having finally found the source of the Duke of Russet’s income that she just couldn’t solve.

Honestly, it was outrageous that they would spend so much money just on the southern island of Orte and its small ruby mines. Unless they had a diamond mine hidden in the Orte territory.

So she talked it over with Hal and created Helios with Elysia’s support. Helios was a new dark organization to devour the power of Veramus and instill power in Elysia.

It took a huge amount of money to create and raise Helios, and the recovery of the Marquess of Camellia.

It took three years longer than expected, but she didn’t regret it.

Thanks to Hal’s better-than-expected leadership of Helios, Veramus was now too established to be ignored.

 ‘It’s going strong. It’s only worthwhile if we rise at least as high as Veramus, if not higher.’

Lulien’s mouth twisted in a cold stare as she remembered the traps that the second Prince and the Duke of Russet had thrown to get Elysia so far, including this one.

Lulien wasn’t going to sit back and watch the hands of such filthy people reach her best friend. It would be the same for Hal.

When the Marquis and his wife died in an accident and Elysia inherited the Marquis’s title, Lulien and Hal made a firm vow in front of the Marquis and his wife’s plaque to protect Elysia and the Camellia family no matter what and restore it to its original position. 

Elysia’s small, white hands, which had rescued them from the darkness and made them live as humans, was something they would never forget even if they were born again. 

So somehow Helios had to grow up to be able to hold Veramus at bay. If the Camellia family could overcome the financial pressure of the Duke of Russet and regain its former power, the second Prince would not be able to touch Elysia easily, even if he became emperor. 

‘So we have to hurry, so it can proceed as quickly as possible.’

Lulien, who had been making the next plan to move Helios in her head, slowly raised her head when she suddenly heard the door to the office open. 

There was no need to check to know who it was. Because the only person who could open the door like that without knocking and enter without permission was Elysia, the master of this mansion and her friend. 

As she expected, she saw her friend walking to her desk. Her face was sullen and she looked annoyed. 

“Great job.” 

“Yeah.”

Elysia, who briefly answered Lulien’s greeting, stretched as soon as she sat on the desk chair . It was also an expression of the fact that the time spent alone with the second Prince was very tiring.

“How was it?”

“One poor case and some boring chit-chat.”

Elysia stood up, remembering the last question Dustin had asked her.

“Oh, and he asked me where I was that night.”

“If it was that night, was it the night of the imperial banquet?”

“Yes. He looked for me to have a talk, but he couldn’t see me. was so speechless and I cursed inside.”

“Good job. Did you make a good excuse as we discussed?”

“Of course. I had to leave the hall because of the side effects of Helis, but then I woke up in the garden. I said that I was dressed like a crazy woman, so I went back to the residence quietly so that people wouldn’t notice it.”

“And what did he say?

“He said even if I looked messy, I would still be attractive. It was a pity that he couldn’t see it.”

“Crazy b*stard.”

Elysia’s lips lifted softly as the swear words immediately came out of Lulien’s mouth.

“You told me to use beautiful words.”

“You don’t have to use them at a time like this. More than that…………..”

Lulien’s eyes narrowed a little as she looked at Elysia and stopped talking.

She didn’t notice when Elysia first came in, but she had changed her shirt to a new one.

“You changed your clothes. Did that person flirt with you again?”

Elysia replied in a grumpy voice to Lulien’s keen question. She never missed even a small change.

“He pretended to be encouraging and grabbed my shoulders. He seems to think that my shoulders are also his. I didn’t feel well, so I changed my clothes.”

“He still has that bad habit. Did you burn the shirt?”

“Of course, how could I let it go?”

Elysia reached for the teapot on the desk, filled her empty cup with tea, took a sip and continued.

“I need to get a new one sooner.”

“What is it?”

“A man. He’s not here, so it seems like I’m an easy target.”

“A man. …… Not bad. What style are you going to choose this time?”

“It’s the same. A good guy to put up in front of others. Appearance and status.”

“Like Duke Deimos?”

Cough. Cough.

Elysia, who was sipping her tea, suddenly choked up by Lulien’s words. Why is the man suddenly mentioned here?

Whether Elysia coughed her with a red face or not, her friend didn’t stop talking.

 “If you’re going to one, get one at that level.That way, the second Prince cannot act carelessly.” 

Elysia, who was speechless, immediately launched a counterattack as soon as her cough stopped.

“Do you think that makes sense? Do you think it’s easy to find a man like that?”

‘’I don’t think it’s difficult. There’s Marquis of Kentler, as well as Count Solvayk and the Marquis of Luimann. All three families stand neutral, and their appearances and personalities are fine to that extent… Of course, they’re not as good as Duke Deimos, but…”

“No, that’s…..!”

Elysia was again at a loss for words as the names of the men who had shown interest in her came out of Lulien’s mouth one after another. 

Lurien was right, it was impossible to compare the men to Duke Deimos, but all three men were not bad by that standard. Except for one shortcoming….

Her mouth was agape, and she frowned and mumbled.

“Yes, but it means that any man above the rank of Count would find it difficult to handle. It is not easy to remove it.”

“It’s also an ability, and if you see eye to eye, you can just marry him. To be honest, you can meet men of low rank so you don’t have to be bothered.”

“…..”

“You can’t do that much after you got the nickname of Imperial Flirt because of the second Prince?”

D*mn it!

Elysia, who was at a loss for words due to Lulien’s words, distorted her face.

She had no words to refute. It was true that her friend’s words about meeting low-ranking men because she was too lazy to deal with them.

‘This is not the way to go.’

Elysia moved her head quickly as she felt like Lulien was going to nag. She needed something else to talk about.

Just then she saw the papers still clutched in her hands.

It was the document that she had gotten from the second Prince.

Thinking this was it, Elysia quickly got up from her seat.

As she approached Lulien, she held out the document in her hand.

“I’ll get the men myself, don’t worry about it, you can have a look at this.”

Perhaps her intentions were obvious, but smiling, her friend reached out and took the document.

“What is it?”

“It’s the lame agenda that I’ll present to the Council.”

“Hmm.”

The document was slowly moved in Lulien’s hands.

Elysia sat down on the sofa next to her and waited for her to finish reading before she opened her mouth.

“I don’t know if they will be able to notice the pitfalls hidden in this agenda, but if this passes, the power of the second Prince will be even greater.”

“Wait. Let me read some more.”

Raising her hand gently as if to tell Elysia to wait, Lulien concentrated on the document. After a moment, her lips twisted.

“Yes, I see. It’s a very clever trap he had set. I wonder where he buries all the people. But this is it.”

“He added some key positions in this agenda. He wants to fill the spots with his own people.”

Lulien, who had read the document methodically to the last page, closed it and asked.

“’Interesting. You’ve done a good job. Who prepared this?”

“The Marquis of Berten.”

“I knew it. There is no one here other than him and the second Prince who can create a case of this magnitude. The Council won’t notice it if they haven’t been watching carefully.”

“Then it’s difficult.”

Lulien’s lips lifted meaningfully as she saw Elysia’s frustrated expression.

“You can do it so it’s not difficult.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure the Council doesn’t get on your nerves. Just go and do your accumulated work.”

Elysia scratched her head and turned her body as she watched Lulien take a blank sheet of paper out of a drawer and begin to write something down.

‘That is, as long as the inside doesn’t explode.’

Elysia had a pretty good idea what Lulien was going to do, but she didn’t feel the need to ask.

Whatever she was going to do, it would be for her.

As she walked to her desk, her steps were very light, unlike when she entered the office.

***

A fine silver paper knife, crafted with a bird with its beak lowered and wings folded, gracefully tore open the envelope.

After removing the contents from the open envelope and checking it, Iker set the letter with a nonchalant expression.

There were over thirty letters stacked on his desk, though he only selected the ones he needed to check through his aide.

After checking five envelopes, his eyebrows furrowed faintly as he reached for the sixth.

The plain white envelope had the words “Your Highness Duke Iker Deimos” inscribed on the front and the initials “H” on the back.

After checking the front and back of the envelope, Iker casually murmured.

‘’Long time no see. It’s already been eight months?”

After looking at the letter for a while, Iker took the paper knife and slowly opened the envelope.

Inside the envelope was a sheet of pure white paper.

Long, thick, masculine fingers took the paper out in a leisurely motion.

Judging from the fact that it was an ordinary piece of paper without any patterns or markings, it showed a will to leave no traces.

An interesting look appeared in Iker’s golden eyes as he unfolded the paper and checked the contents.