The Devilish Duke Can't Sleep

Proofreader: somnium

That was unexpected even for Luahalla. It was a political incident that occurred while he was trying to convince the nobles and make contact with the powerful ones behind the scenes to attack Ragdrill.

“There is a mistress called Cassandra that he loved. People were openly saying that the Crown Princess of Hildebrunn was Cassandra. She was quite smart and had a good appearance, but…….”

“I don’t really care what she was like.”

“It’s a long story. But the case itself is absurdly simple. The mistress, who was so favored and in power, felt betrayed by my brother. My brother recently brought in a different mistress.”

“Even so, it’s too sudden.”

“Brother’s new mistress ripped Cassandra’s self-esteem to shreds while clinging to him. She had had a few drinks too, and Cassandra was dancing a sword dance to cheer up Brother. With a sword in her hand and another flirtatious lover flirting in front of her, he was perfectly setting himself up for what was going to happen. She surrendered herself immediately after killing Brother.”

“It’s a really futile ending.”

“It is said that love can set people on fire.”

Kahel snorted lowly. It was the same way with Lena, even a woman who was nothing more than a dancer risked her life for her love. He wondered if the word ‘love’ was a word that came up so often.

“Anyway, that’s it, so don’t worry too much about Hildebrunn. I don’t know what kind of deal Brother made with the Santella family, but we’re constantly looking for and eliminating people still on his side. And I will continue to use my agent for business in Logos. I request Sir Kahel’s help to keep the business going.”

“Absolutely. The Luave family is also benefiting from that business.”

“By the way, what are you really doing? Sir Kahel is in the worst condition since I met you.”

Luahalla asked as he felt a crisis even after drinking the potion of purification, and opened the lid of a new potion that was next to him.

“Because of love.”

“Pfftt!”

Luahalla unwittingly spewed the potion of purification. This was irresistible.

“Cough, cough! Sorry, sorry.”

After coughing for a while, Luahalla finally calmed down and asked again,

“Did you just say it was because of love? Did I hear it wrong?”

But Kahel didn’t reply. Luahalla opened his mouth wide and emptied the potion of purification that was still in the bottle at once.

“Is…… Is it because of love?”

“Lena has been kidnapped.”

“Lena…… ? Who is Lena…… ah! That maid girl!”

Luahalla was proud of his memory, but his complexion immediately turned pale again.

“That …… That girl…… is Sir Kahel’s……?”

Kahel didn’t answer, but that was the answer. Kahel spoke in a gloomy voice to Luahalla, who was smirking,

“Liddell is a strong mastermind.”

“Ohh…… Lady Santella’s wits are like a ghost. How did she know what I didn’t know?”

“Whether it’s because she knows I love Lena, or if there’s another reason, I don’t know yet. We haven’t had any contact since the kidnapping.”

“Have you sent someone to Santella?”

“Sure. In finding Duke Luave’s close maid, we have only received the reply that Duchy Santella will also help.”

“Well, they can’t just admit it.”

Luahalla looked at Kahel with a pitiful expression, and he was so mortified by his rattling heart. It was difficult to drink the potion of purification anymore because his stomach was full of water, so he thought he had to get up now.

“I’m sorry, but if I spend any more time with Sir Kahel, I think I’ll get weird. I’ll just go back today.”

“I’m sorry for being like this. Next time we meet, I hope it will be okay.”

“You will definitely find her. Oh! A wizard named Dashar asked me to deliver this letter to Sir Kahel. He lives in the Sage’s village…….”

“I remember him.”

“It seemed a little urgent. I think it would be better to not ignore it and read it.”

“All right.”

After seeing Luahalla off helplessly, Kahel sat back down and ripped open the envelope without the paper knife. The letter inside the envelope looked like a blank piece of paper at first glance. But as Kahel spilled his magic on the paper, the writing slowly came to light.

-What’s going on in Logos? A large amount of magic that was staying in the northeast of Logos until yesterday is moving towards Central Logos this morning. It was several times, no, several dozen times the magic that the hordes of monsters that attacked our village emitted. I don’t think it’s arrived at Ardennes, but it’s fast, so you’ll have to prepare quickly. Call us anytime if you need help.

Kahel took his eyes off his letter and shone a cold look at his enemy.

The Queen’s successor, found by the Santella family, the missing Lena, the fallen Queen, the monster marching on the capital…… Events that were too big to happen at the same time were taking place one after another, as if they were organically related. Kahel slowly tried to fit all the events.

Liddell longed for absolute power.

But she found the Queen’s blood and brought her back. If it was Liddell, she should have killed the Queen’s blood as soon as she was found.

And she kidnapped Lena, who was suspected of being the Queen’s successor, and as soon as the Queen collapsed, she began to move as if it had signaled something.

From Liddell’s point of view, the current Queen’s seat was vacant. If the Queen successor they brought is a fake.

So what will be the last thing that will stand in the way when Liddell takes her place as Queen?

‘For the true Queen’s bloodline…… to come out..….’

And the existence of ‘Lena’ that Liddell was holding could be the real Queen’s successor, but at the same time, it was a weakness that could strangle Kahel.

‘Shit…….’

It felt like blood was draining from his body. Blinded by his desire to keep Lena by his side, he fell for Liddell’s shallow tricks and put Lena at risk. But he couldn’t be dazed like this. Kahel hastily wrote a letter to Luahalla and Dashar.

* * *

Liddell’s steps walking through her room were light and relaxed, but Maria and the two knights in her room swallowed tense, dry saliva. Because their young lady was very rarely expressionless.

Breaking the tense silence, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

The door opened at Liddell’s low, emotionless voice, and one of a familiar man came in, captured by two knights.

“I see you again.”

“La, La, Lady…….”

“What about Viscount Lucenwein?”

“Ah, that, the, the Miss I took with me was a little hard, so there was a bit of a problem, but she will be fine now. She became obedient when she saw the maid she went with being beaten to death right in front of her eyes.”

“Really? I’m glad. By the way…… You said you stopped by somewhere before leaving for the Lucenwein estate?”

The man was a coachman from the Lucenwein family who had recently come to pick up Elliot. Liddell, exhausting all her possible lead in search for the missing Lena, secured an eyewitness account of how they saw the Lucenwein’s carriage near the Ayur forest. Thanks to this, the coachman was caught in a hurry, and his complexion was pale as if the motion sickness had not subsided yet.

“I, I didn’t mean to go! The Miss I took, said that I only need to take a noble woman whoever she is…… She said there’s a better woman than her…….”

“What …… Did Elliot know that? Where the hell did it leak?”

Liddell, who had never dreamed that Elliot had heard her and had noticed, clicked her tongue.

“So where is she?”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“You said you took the woman who was being held there?”

“No! Of, of course, I tried to take her instead, but a high-ranking person from the Santella came and I failed.”

“A high-ranking person from the Santella?”

There was little anticipation in Liddell’s eyes.

“What kind of person were they?”

“Huh…… A blonde, girlish, light blonde, with blue eyes…… He was a very handsome man. That girl, Miss Elliot, I took? She seemed to know him, too.”

With the simple description of the man, everyone in the room realized the identity of the man. But the reaction was different. The knights standing next to Liddell and Maria took a short breath, but Liddell gave a short laugh and said, ‘Ha!’ and then shook her head softly.

“Haa, Lian…… Because there is no one to compare when it comes to doing funny things.”

She thought that her older brother, who used to say, ‘I’m here!’ if she ever forgot him, was genuinely cute. Liddell regarded this as a mere prank because Lian had no use in securing Lena. After all, he didn’t seem to want to betray his family, seeing that he didn’t send Lena straight back to Duchy Luave.

“Come to think of it, I heard that he overheard my conversation with Father…… Was he upset that I was the only one talking to him?”

Perhaps it was because her father and her had been talking to each other for a long time, and she wondered if he was expressing dissatisfaction with it.

After they learned that Liddell doesn’t feel submissiveness to the Queen, the Santella Ducal couple’s love and interest has been blatantly biased towards her. Although Lian, who was still young, could not have been comfortable with being deprived of the affection, was also a proud Santella, so he did not directly reveal such feelings.

Instead, he occasionally tried to get attention by playing these pranks or causing minor troubles. Although it seems that he does not know it, it was only a sign of lack of affection, and Liddell, who felt a bit of guilt towards Lian for taking away his parents’ affection, was always tolerant of Lian’s pranks.

But this time the timing was bad. Normally, she would have watched what Lian would do, but unfortunately, now was not the time.

“I like Young Master Lian’s pleasant jokes, but this time, it’s a little too far.”

Maria said with a trained smile. Unlike Liddell, who thought he was only joking around, Maria didn’t feel very well for Lian. Because her master was disappointed in Lian.

“Give him a little time, and I will take that girl back in front of him.”

“No, no. We’re running out of time, Maria only needs to find the approximate location. Then, I will do the rest.”

The blood of the Duchies, which is rich in magic, is sensitive to the flow of magic. It was far more advantageous for Liddell than ordinary people to find her blood relatives. In addition, no matter how light Lian appears, he is also the direct line of the Santella family, and if only Liddell had not been born, he would have been the next head of the family. There was no way ordinary people could resist Lian’s magic.

“Maybe my brother really started coveting the heir position. If that’s the case, it’s polite to deal with that person directly.”

It is unlikely, however, even if Lian defeated Liddell in this case, he would not be able to become the heir to Duchy Santella. Santella will soon establish a new dynasty in the Kingdom of Logos.

Instead, he will be granted a new surname as the blood of the great Queen and ascend as the Duke. If Liddell had known Lian had such greed, she wished he would have informed her of his plans in advance, and she felt a little sorry for him.