Duke, Is This Your First Time?

There was no fear or hesitation in Hal’s eyes, even as he spoke profanely against the royal family. He had an attitude that if Elysia wanted, he would cut off the Prince’s wrist or neck.

A light smile appeared on Elysia’s lips at Hal’s  brief but heavy comfort.

“It’s okay.”

“Don’t regret it.”

“What then do you think will happen to you for the murder of the royal family? Even if you give me his head, it wouldn’t change anything.”

Elysia shrugged her shoulders, feeling better.

If she were to choose between the whole world and her friends, she would choose her friends without hesitation.

Seeing a smile appear on Elysia’s face, Hal lowered his hand, which was holding the handle of his sword. With a click, the blade disappeared into the scabbard.

Hal, who had lowered his word, looked at Elysia and asked.

“Are you going back to the mansion?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

When Hal delivered the words to the driver through the window, the carriage began to move.

Looking out the window in the moving carriage, Elysia fell into thoughts.

The attitude Dustin showed her today was exactly what LuLien had told her on the day the scandal broke out.

[The 2nd prince will surely threaten you. Instead of maintaining your position as the head of the aristocratic faction, he will tell you to become his own woman.]

Elysia bit her lower lip slightly. The thought of her being Dustin’s woman was terrifying.

He was not modest either, so, despite his lavish personal life, how could she put up with the filthy and selfish nature?

‘I’d rather die. He’s such a crazy man.’

Elysia, biting her lips, remembered Lulien’s words. It was an answer to what to do now.

[For now, there is only one possible way. To be Duke Deimos’s lover.]

[!]

[Like a scandal, if you become Duke Deimos’s lover, you can avoid the hand of the second prince even if you step down from the position. The second prince and the Duke of Russet would try to avoid anything that provokes Duke Deimos, the head of the imperial faction and the head of the Bureau of Investigation. It will take longer than it is now to build up your power, but it’ll be safer.]

Although she was surprised by Lulien’s method, Elysia had no choice but to admit it. That’s the only way right now. Was her expression dark, Lulien relaxed her expression and added in a soft voice.

[Just because there is only one method doesn’t mean you have to choose it. Don’t worry too much and do whatever your heart feels like. Elly, no matter what happens, we’ll protect you until the end.]

They will protect me till the end….

She pondered Lurien’s last words.

It was the word she heard the most since her close friends returned to her side after losing her parents.

Since then, her friends have been watching over her. 

But…

Elysia felt the wind coming through the window and quietly closed her eyes. Now she wasn’t the girl who lost her place to lean on at her parents’ funeral and only shed tears. As her mother did, she stood in the lead. So she had to somehow overcome this adversity. As Lulien said, even using Duke Deimos.

‘Because I have to protect myself and my people.’

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at Hal.

“Hal.”

“Contact Duke Deimos secretly. I have something to discuss about this scandal.”

Elysia’s dark purple eyes were filled with the light of firm determination.

****

After Elysia left, Dustin, who had been sitting for a while, got up and headed straight for Duke Russet’s mansion.

When he arrived in front of his mansion, the butler, who was contacted belatedly, hurriedly jumped out and bowed his head.

“Where’s the Duke?”

“He’s in the office. I’ll tell him Your Highness is here.”

“It’s okay. I’ll go there myself.”

Dustin cut off the butler’s words and hurriedly moved on.

An intense displeasure at Duke Deimos was raging like lava, and he was on the verge of exploding.

‘You dare touch mine?’

Watching Elysia play with other men, he was annoyed, but she could still ignore it. It was nothing special.

But Duke Deimos was a different story.

Despite the fact that Iker was only two years apart, he was a man rated as better than Dustin in every way.

The only thing Dustin had better than him was his status as a royalty.

Such a person reached out to Elysia.

He didn’t know if Iker really helped her or if they just mixed their bodies, but just the fact that there was a connection between the two made him feel extremely unhappy.

Dustin arrived at Duke Russet’s office and immediately slammed the door open without knocking. The butler seemed to be saying something, but he couldn’t hear him.

Without hesitation, he went inside and found Duke Russet and Marquis Berten sitting on the sofa and raised one corner of his lips.

“Everyone has gathered here.”

“I see the little sun of the empire.”

Marquis Berten, startled by Dustin’s sudden visit, got up and bowed his head. However, Duke Russet stood up slowly without showing any signs of surprise and pointed to the empty chair.

“Please have a seat.”

Dustin sat down in the seat, arrogantly crossed his legs, looked at the two men, and opened his mouth.

“Looking at your expression, it looks like you were talking about something interesting.”

“Nevertheless, we were talking about the Marquess of Camellia. Let’s have a cup of tea first.” 

Duke Russet reached out and took the teapot on the table, and poured the tea into the teacup in front of Dustin.

As he watched the empty teacup being filled with tea, Dustin furrowed his dark eyebrows.

The Duke seemed to have guessed that he was coming. Otherwise, the extra teacup could not have been placed in advance.

Duke Russet put down the teapot and smiled as if he had read his thoughts.

“Since such an article was published in the newspaper, Your Highness will not be happy. I knew you’d come after meeting Marquess Camillia. So, what did Marquess Camellia say?”

“She said nothing had happened. She said she was just getting help.”

“I don’t know if it was someone else, but it could be true because it was the Duke of Deimos. But what does that matter? She will soon be in your hands. You can embrace her to your heart’s content then.”

At Duke Russet’s soothing words, Dustin’s wrinkled forehead slowly relaxed.

As the Duke said, thinking of Elysia lying in his bed, his mood improved dramatically.

Just imagining her looking up at him with alluring purple eyes with her gorgeous red hair scattered across the white blanket made his lower abdomen tingle.

How ecstatic it would be to grab her long and slender legs and dig her deeply inside.

Imagine her eyes that became reddish with pleasure, and her thick and pretty lips, which always uttered only official words, Dustin licked his lower lip.

An unquenchable thirst grew, and he took a sip of his tea. Then he looked at Marquis Berten and asked.

“Is it going to be well prepared?”

“Of course. Those who follow the Marquess of Camellia will oppose it, but since we have more than half of them, there is no problem with a majority vote.”

“It should be.”

Dustin nodded satisfactorily at the confident Marquis Berten’s answer, then raised one dark eyebrow at the Marquis’s next words.

“But there is something I want to confirm by Your Highness.”

“What is it?”

“I have heard the story from the Duke. About the proposal Your Highness made to Marquess Camellia.”

“But?”

“Can I trust that I’ll be the head of the aristocratic faction no matter what Marquess Camillia chooses?”

At Marquis Berten’s careful question, Dustin grinned, as if he was asking for the obvious.

“Of course, Marquis. I have no intention of abandoning my woman. So there is no need to worry about that.”

“I believe you, Your Highness.”

Looking at Marquis Berten, who lowered his head deeply as if to show allegiance, Dustin took the teacup back to his mouth. A satisfied smile appeared on his lips.

It was finally time to fill the position of the Crown Princess, which had been vacant for a long time.

***

The heavy long sword cut through the air without a sharp sound. It was so fast that it was hard to see. Every time the sword drew a trajectory, the tightly woven muscles of his arms moved along with the movements. The golden eyes shining through the hair drenched in sweat shone sharply as if stabbing the opponent. The sword, which had cut through the air hundreds of times, fell silently down at some point.

The man’s lips, which had been tightly shut, opened and his deep breath flowed out.

“Ha… .”

Finishing the last breath was as important as wielding a sword, so Iker stood for a moment and took a rough breath.

Wielding a sword to shake off miscellaneous thoughts would pass more time than usual. Like now.

“Are you late again?”

It was time for Iker, who sighed as he recalled the pile of work papers, and brushed away the flowing hair.

His eyes, which had been relaxed suddenly narrowed sharply at the presence he felt. 

“….”

Iker pondered for a moment and approached the scabbard on the floor of the training hall.

He lifted the scabbard and put the sword in, and with the sword in one hand he exited the hall.

His footsteps were not toward the mansion, but toward the backyard located at the back of the training hall. It was the place where he felt a presence.

As Iker walked slowly inside, he found a young man with dark blue hair standing leaning against a huge old tree, and his mouth slightly bent.

“I would have welcomed you through the front door, Sir Tesque.”

As Iker spoke with a smiley voice, Hal, who had his arms crossed and his eyes closed, straightened his body and faced him.