The Devilish Duke Can’t Sleep

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That’s a relief

He glanced at Lena, who was sleeping quietly, and carefully tucked the hair that flowed down her forehead behind her ear. Come to think of it, Lena’s ears were also pretty and cute. He wouldn’t be too surprised if those cute little ears turned elongated like bunny ears. There may be a sense of ‘Oh, as expected, she must have been a rabbit.’

“Uu, uhh…….”

A thin moan echoed from Lena’s neck. Only then did Kahel realize that he was fiddling with Lena’s ears. Astonished by this fact, he jumped up from his seat without realizing it and took a couple of steps back. The momentum caused the chair he was sitting on to topple over, making a stinging noise.

“My…… !”

As he hurriedly put the chair back, he suddenly felt as if someone was calling him. No, he must have felt a gaze rather than a sound.

When Kahel raised his head, there, pale purple eyes were looking at him.

“Lena?”

“…….”

He was sure she was looking at him, but Lena didn’t answer. Frightened at the moment, he hurriedly approached Lena’s side and made eye contact with her.

“Lena. Are you awake? Do you know who I am?”

“Your…… Excel…… lency…….”

The lips, which had lost their color, moved slightly and answered as if in a whisper. But, as if her mind had not yet returned, Lena said earnestly, the lips trembling with messy motion.

“Ru…… run…… away……mon…… ster is…….”

Kahel’s heart pounded at that small voice. From the moment Lena lost her consciousness until now, she was only worried about him.

 

“Lena…… It’s okay. This is Sharden Castle.”

“Castle…….”

“Yes. I was caught off guard. There is no set date for the monsters to appear, but I took you there and made you go through such a difficult thing. I’m sorry, Lena.”

“Your…… Excellency…… are you…… safe?”

The only concern that flashed in those murky purple eyes was about him, so Kahel couldn’t utter a word as if his throat was caught.

“Are you…… unharmed…….”

Lena struggled and asked again at Kahel, who couldn’t say anything as if his mouth was blocked. So Kahel had no choice but to squeeze his voice out.

“I, I am fine. You worry about yourself. I don’t know if you remember, but your back…….”

“That’s a …….relief…..”

Lena smiled slightly with a peaceful face and she fell asleep again. However, unlike Lena, who slept peacefully, Kahel hardened his face as if he had been struck by lightning.

“Relief…… ? A relief…… ?”

She was captured by the monsters, and she was severely wounded by Sevchek, but he did not know what was a relief about it. Because he was unharmed? It was a brief moment, but Kahel questioned whether Lena had any reason to put his life ahead of her own.

It’s been half a year since she was by his side with the pretext that she inherited Baron Fidelia’s blood. She said it was better than Kerouac’s life, but that shouldn’t make her value his life more than hers. No matter how much he thought about it, he didn’t do anything good enough to exchange her life for.

Even his devilish powers didn’t work for Lena, so there’s no way Lena would fall for him.

Yes. She couldn’t have loved him…….

 

He couldn’t understand Lena at all. But if there’s one thing he’d realized for sure, it’s that Lena has become very special to him. From the moment he first took Lena as his maid, he thought she would never be taken away by others, but now he added that he will somehow protect this precious maid, and she will live the happiest life than any other noble maid.

Then, suddenly, he realized that this was a bit different from the feelings he would feel for a servant or pet.

‘Isn’t this the kind of heart that parents should have for their children? Am I treating Lena like a child?’

Kahel narrowed his eyes and pondered the tender feelings he had felt for the first time in his life, when he suddenly came back to reality to the sound of someone knocking on the door.

“Who is it?”

“Your Excellency, this is Jeter.”

Jeter’s voice wasn’t very good. Kahel was about to tell him to come in involuntarily, but when he saw Lena’s bare shoulders peeking out of the blanket, he got up and left her.

“What’s going on?”

“The appearance of the monsters this year is definitely strange. The commander of the 1st Knights, who left to defend the village, sent an emergency messenger, and there were several small monsters crawling at the entrance of the village. I don’t know how they got over the barrier, but it is said that they were in a fairly weakened state. What is going on…….”

As Jeter said, it’s never been like this. However, it had only been less than 15 years since the monsters appeared in Sharden. He trusted only 15 years of information and went out with ease, but Lena was hurt, albeit not seriously. So, there was no need to be surprised that there was something different from the past.

“Certainly, the Duke of Santella seems to be working hard this year.”

“Some of the monsters were wearing strange necklaces, but where the hell did they come from…….”

“Wait. Necklace?”

Kahel interrupted Jeter. It was because he suddenly remembered the words Lena had told him before she lost consciousness in the cave.

‘On the neck of the monster…… a necklace…….’

‘The monster…… some woman’s…… voice…….’

At that time, he was so busy moving the injured Lena to the castle that there was no time to look at the dead Sevcheks, and even Lena had said it was obviously a necklace. As he searched for his memories, it seemed that a purple stone was hanging from the neck of a Sevchek, who seemed to be the leader.

However, no matter how clever the monsters were, they could not make tools like humans. Even more so when it comes to jewelry, such as necklaces.

Then, it was not seen from a monster, but something that a human somewhere near them had. Of course, it would not be a necklace that was just hung to be pretty.

“Come to think of it…… The monsters were using magic.”

The afterimage of the cave where the monster protruded from beyond the magic barrier came to mind. It was definitely magic. Otherwise, there would be no way that the magic barrier could have been breached. If they could use magic, it was understandable that they could quietly kidnap Lena. It’s sound isolation magic, and it wasn’t even a difficult level of magic.

However, magic was not an easy thing. Because they had to understand high-level formulas and know the ancient language used only for magic, they were usually able to be used by sorcerers and warlocks who were born with magical powers and had studied magic for a long time. Not just a ferocious, stupid monster.

‘But if they use a magic stone as a medium, they might be able to control the body of a monster and perform magic in their stead. It’ll need a fairly skilled warlock, though.’

When he reached that point, laughter burst out at the crude trick. They dare to use magic against this Kahel Luave.

If it had been nothing more than a joke, he could have passed it over, but from the moment Lena was injured, they were only going to regret it. Kahel smiled coldly.

“Yo, Your…… Excellency?”

Jeter couldn’t fathom Kahel’s mind, but his smile gave him goosebumps. His lips were obviously twisted, yet his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

“When attacking monsters, first defeat the one wearing the magic stone necklace. That is the leader of the group. And bring me the necklace.”

“Ah…… ! Yes! Understood.”

It was the moment Jeter saluted in front of Kahel and was about to turn around.

“Your Excellency!”

One of the Knights of the 2nd Knights Order hurriedly ran in.

“A large amount of monsters are pouring out of Kalahan Mountain!”

Even Jeter’s complexion turned pale at the cry, but Kahel’s expression did not change. He went straight down towards the castle gate as if he had been waiting.

“As of now, the 1st Knights Order will defend the village and the 2nd Knights Order will defend the castle, and the butler and maid should prepare the emergency medicines stored in the castle for any possible wounded. Hayern. Bring my sword.”

The people quickly erased their surprise at Kahel’s appearance, who was as gentle as a person going to catch a fox, and moved as he instructed. The servants rushed to the warehouse following the butler, and the maids began to empty the dining hall on the first floor to create a temporary treatment center for the wounded.

And Kahel, who was just about to leave, grabbed Phil’s arm as he passed and whispered.

“Check Lena’s condition from time to time.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Phil smiled and patted Kahel’s hand. There, Kahel frowned, but he didn’t seem to care. Kahel couldn’t afford to care more about that.

“If possible, I will make sure that no monsters come this way, but don’t weaken your vigilance. This year’s monsters seem to be using tricks.”

Kahel, who got on his horse and made the last request, ran straight to Kalahan Mountain. He was careful about the devilish power coming out in the castle, but from now on, he was going to pour out all of the magic and murderous energy that ran wild inside him. Still, he regretted that he couldn’t kill the monster that hurt Lena more painfully.

His ruby ​​eyes began to gleam a red glare, and his hand holding the reins slowly turned black.

* * *

“Well, our Duke of Luave must have left for Kalahan Mountain by now, right?”

Margella, who had released a bunch of monsters on Kalahan Mountain, hummed and walked towards the huge mirror hanging on one wall. The mirror, which had been polished several times, had several ominous purple magic stones embedded in it. And the dagger in Margella’s hand shone even more ominously.

“Don’t procrastinate just because it’s fun, just kill it right away. Anxious elements need to be pruned out quickly.”

Leonard, who looked at the joyful Margella from behind her, urged once again. He was reluctant to look at the owner of the ‘unknown power’ that Margella discovered no matter how much he thought about it. The fact that she stopped the magic circle just by shouting into the magic circle meant that she had a considerable amount of magical power comparable to that of wizards.

The Duke of Santella did not welcome such a woman on the Kahel’s side.

“Unfortunately, since the master’s orders are like that, there’s nothing I can do about it. Instead, can I take the body?”

“Do whatever you want.”

After all, Margella’s research results all belong to Leonard, so there was no point in stopping her from doing any experiments with the body.

Smiling at Leonard’s permission, Margella stood straight in front of the mirror, waving the dagger’s handle lightly. Then she soon mumbled a strange incomprehensible spell.