The Devilish Duke Can’t Sleep

Proofreader: somnium

She’s mine

“The child Kahel introduced yesterday had purple eyes. I checked with Elliot again, so it’s certain. As Brother said, purple eyes are rare. Are there two such maids in the Duchy of Luave? Besides, she’s nineteen. Her hair was dark. She almost fits what Brother remembers.”

Lian nodded his head, remembering the young lady in the carriage looking out the window with an innocent face.

“She certainly is.”.

“And, crucially, that Kahel was deliberately pretending to be ignorant of such a maid.”

“Kahel must have been unable to do anything. He would have to show the maid to stop your attack, and he wouldn’t want to expose the fact that she was his close maid.”

The two exchanged a relaxed smile.

“Even Kahel wouldn’t think that such a secret would last. He must have been just trying to delay the timing. This morning, he sent a few people to Kerouac to investigate the maid’s past. Aren’t you excited to see what news they’ll bring?”

“I wish I could meet the maid in person and ask her story.”

“Kahel is not going to give up easily. You could have used an apology as an excuse if Elliot hadn’t been reckless yesterday.”

When Elliot was talked about, Lian shook his head.

“She was a girl I didn’t like at all. Her head is empty, and she is greedy.”

“That’s why she is convenient. I’ll make sure she doesn’t bother you.”

“I think you should do it a little faster. Look over there.”

Where Lian pointed with his chin, Elliot was acting coy, surrounded by young men. She seemed to be trying to pretend she wasn’t like that, but it was a shallow move that was obvious to those who had grown up as the center of the social world from birth.

 

“Elliot must have been in a hurry, too. But she’s not going to connect with any of them. Do not worry.”

“What else do you mean?”

“Elliot already has a great husband.”

“What?”

“Ah, there, Kahel has arrived.”

Liddell turned around, and Lian quickly forgot his thoughts about Elliot. Because it wasn’t a topic he wanted to talk about anyway.

Kahel entered the banquet hall with Damien today. Mariela, the organizer of yesterday’s tea party, also followed them in an elegant manner. Although she had lost her maiden name of Luave a long time ago, the Duchess, suffering from a chronic illness, was unable to appear in public, so Mariela was half regarded as the Mistress of the Duchy of Luave.

“She is a difficult person to deal with, Countess Delroot. She knows too many people, so I guess I’m nervous for no reason.”

“Because she almost became a jurist. We should be grateful to Count Delroot, whom she fell in love with.”

“What would be good to love such a blunt person? He wasn’t even handsome.”

“It’s not a family that will be obsessed with looks. She’s Madam Delroot. She must have been someone who had become accustomed to the looks of her younger brother from a young age.”

“I’m used to Lian’s looks, but I still like handsome men? What if I marry an ugly man and my child looks like the husband and is ugly? That’s something you can’t do to a child.”

At that, Lian shrugged his shoulders and laughed for a long time. Thanks to that, no one thought that Liddell had been hit by yesterday’s incident.

Mariela glanced at Liddell and Lian, and then she whispered to Kahel,

“It’s as you say. Either shameless or innocent, she acted as if she had forgotten yesterday.”

 

“She is definitely an opponent to be vigilant about. I know how smart and capable she is, I have seen her since childhood. You don’t even know what plans she has in her mind right now.”

Kahel sincerely thought so. Kahel, after seeing her for so long, could somewhat discern the nuances of her smile, and today her smile showed nothing but uncanny triumph.

Although it must have been Liddell who was hit by yesterday’s events, Kahel became a little nervous. After revealing Lena’s existence in front of her, he had to think of several possibilities. The possibility that Liddell knew everything including that Lena was his close maid, and that she did not respond to his devilish powers.

‘She’s mine. She won’t be taken away.’

Kahel clenched his fists as he chewed on her promise to inadvertently cut the back and front.

The last day of the ceremony was more modest. This is because the nobles who have been busy showing their faces at large and small parties and gatherings over the past week are quite tired. However, it was an important week that they had to deal with even though they were busy enough to pass out in exhaustion. Information that had been buried for a year was traded, and small powers were redeployed, and trends changed.

The biggest change among them would be people’s view of the Queen.

“Her Majesty enters!”

At the sound of the attendant’s announcement, everyone retreated to the edge of the hall, waiting for the Queen to enter. In everyone’s eyes, curiosity and anticipation of ‘what kind of dress would the Queen wear today?’ Liddell’s dress was no longer a concern.

In such a tense atmosphere, the door to the banquet hall opened and Fabian entered.

“Wow!”

“My God…… !”

The sound of breathing was heard from all over the place. Following the golden dress of the first day, which was extremely splendid, and the silver dress of the second day, which was the pinnacle of elegance, today, the Queen was showing her dignity by wrapping a dark blue velvet cloak like the dark night sky over a cream dress with fine patterns. A small diamond was studded like a star on the cloak, but the dress itself had no decorations to the extent that it was flat compared to other days’. But it was rather dignified.

Pretending to be ignorant of their admiration, the Queen nodded or smiled at the nobles who bowed their heads to greet her. However, the first person she spoke to was Luahalla, who had won the Queen’s victory at this New Year’s Celebration.

“You look good today, Marquis Rognac.”

“Thanks to Your Majesty’s care. Your Majesty is the most dazzling and most beautiful under the Logos sky today.”

“It’s overrated, but it’s not bad to hear.”

Fabian shared a few more words with Luahalla, joking around. It seemed clear which way the Queen’s favourites were headed due to this Celebration. In the meantime, Luahalla, who had been regarded as just a handsome and pleasant prince from a neighboring country, emerged as a new power in the social world within ten days of the New Year’s Celebration. Of course, the fact that Duke Luave is standing behind him was also an attractive point.

As the banquet to mark the end of the ceremony began and the hall was filled with dancing couples, Luahalla, who was busy greeting people, came to Kahel with two glasses of champagne.

“Whoa. Greetings is also a work.”

While Kahel only wet his lips with the champagne he had received from Luahalla, Luahalla emptied the glass at once, as if he was thirsty.

“In the future, this will become a daily routine. Perhaps, the office on Rivella Street alone will not be able to handle it.”

“I’m still looking for a building in which to open a second office. The amount of investment has increased a lot, and there is a plan to hold a contest in early summer.”

“I am proud that the business is going well.”

“Yes. The business side is no problem. On the business side.”

“Are you saying there is a problem on the other side?”

Luahalla was silent for a moment. There was an attendant passing by, so he handed him the empty glass, picked up a new glass of champagne, and drank it again in one gulp.

“It seems that my good performance has touched my brother’s heart.”

“He can’t relax, Crown Prince of Hildebrunn. You said his name was Ragdrill?”

“Yes. Ragdrill Elpheoso. He is named after a god who rules over all things.”

“In order to rule all things, patience is essential.”

“Because he is suspicious. He seems to be suspicious that I will borrow the army of Logos to attack him. Where the hell did such a nonsensical idea come from?”

Luahalla clicked his tongue as he recalled the assassin who had just come to his mansion. There was no major threat thanks to the knights provided by the Luaves, but when he sees that they committed suicide by chewing poison in their mouth as soon as they were caught, it must have been an elite agent raised by the royal family. Who sent the royal assassin?

Kahel rolled the champagne in his mouth while Luahalla thought of his skeptical and heartless brother, chewing on what Luahalla had just said.

“Well …… It’s not impossible at all.”

“Yes?”

“Sir Luahalla. Sometimes, we don’t choose the future, the future chooses us. It is not something that can be solved by running away.”

“Sir Kahel! what are you saying now……!”

Luahalla rolled his bewildered eyes from side to side to see if anyone was eavesdropping. If even a little leaks, the number of assassins who will come to his mansion will increase.

But Kahel was calm, as if looking ahead.

“Ragdrill would not have had any intention of keeping you alive in the first place. No matter how sincere you are, greedy and suspicious people cannot trust others. So what should you do? Would you like to sit still?”

The empty glass in Luahalla’s hand trembled slightly.

“You have to be quiet and prepare. Attract people and power. Find allies in Hildebrunn. Buy foreign mercenaries and prepare your weapons. Ragdrill seems to have a quick temper, so you should hurry.”

“But I am still very busy.”

“Of course, I will help you.”

Hearing Kahel’s added words as if waiting, Luahalla narrowed his eyes and asked,

“Did you choose me with this in mind from the beginning?”

“It was not my choice. It was only Sir Luahalla that all the circumstances pointed to.”

Luahalla snorted a little. In a way, Kahel was right. It was a coincidence that the results of the reaction between the bloodstone and lylok were published at that time. Moreover, for Kahel, who had to persuade the Hildebrunn royal family to make the most profit, it could not be denied that he was the person who would bring him the greatest benefit.

However, Kahel had no intention of using him, only to reduce the price of lylok, and then throwing him away. He was moved because Kahel acted with sincerity, but Luahalla did not think that Kahel was an altruistic person without calculation.

“What does Sir Kahel gain by helping me this far?”

“A strong ally.”

Luahalla tried to understand Kahel’s true meaning with a look that didn’t quite understand. But even after waiting for a long time, no other answer came out of Kahel’s mouth.

“You, who are already the supreme power of Logos, why do you want a strong ally?”

“I am also preparing for any chance. I hope I don’t end up asking allies for help, but things don’t always go as I wish.”

Kahel took another sip of the cool champagne and looked at Liddell smiling in the distance.