The Devilish Duke Can't Sleep

Proofreader: somnium

Lian said softly to Kahel, who was still looking at Lena’s back.

“Before the marriage, let’s have a drink sometime.”

“Well? It looks like you have something important to say.”

“Well, if it’s important, then it’s important.”

Kahel looked suspiciously at Lian, who had an important but oddly playful expression.

“What?”

“No, well…… I was a little worried before…… I want to pass on some skills that a man who was about to marry must know to satisfy his wife.”

“It’s getting more and more suspicious.”

“If you don’t like it, never mind. It’s not bad to learn each and every one of them. I’m just afraid you’ll disappoint Her Majesty…….”

Contrary to Lian’s relaxed attitude, Kahel’s face gradually grew more anxious.

“…… As I grew up, I learned everything I needed to know.”

“You must have learned what you needed to know. I don’t see you as a child who doesn’t even know such basic knowledge.”

“Lian is not married yet, either.”

“Instead, I am experienced. I am the prodigal son of the Santella family.”

Kahel nervously picked up the teacup. It was interesting to see Kahel’s rarely agitated appearance, so Lian laughed and teased him more.

“Looking at your outward appearance, it looks like you are good at everything, but in fact, you…… You have no experience at all. Isn’t it?”

Kahel knew he was making fun of him, but he didn’t say anything. Because that was the part he was a little worried about, though. However, his pride did not allow him to fall for Lian’s provocation.

“Isn’t it natural to have no experience before marriage? It is a shame that men are proud of their experience.”

“Ah, of course it is. I must have been nosy. Well, good luck.”

As if Lian was going to say something he shouldn’t have, he finished his words in a refreshing way and drank a moderately cold tea. On the outdoor tea table, it was quiet, not even the sound of the teacup banging, but instead the pleasant sound of a wind blowing through the leaves from somewhere.

“…… However, I had little chance to develop a personal acquaintance with Lian, so how about next Wednesday evening?”

The Kahel Luave mumbled his words, holding back his embarrassment. Rather than his pride, he seemed to be more worried about what would happen if Lena was disappointed with him. Lian grinned at his cute childhood friend, Kahel.

“You will thank me.”

The two shared a secret promise and smiled innocently at Lena, who was approaching them from afar.

* * *

Logos, which suffered an unprecedented ups and downs of an overflow of monsters, national affairs were held one after another because of that.

They welcomed a Queen with powers strong enough to annihilate a huge number of monsters at once, and soon after the predecessor Queen died, and after the mourning period, the young Queen and Kahel Luave got married.

The new Crown Prince of Hildebrunn, Luahalla, has sent great gifts as a close friend of Kahel Luave, and in the temple, where the political position has changed, they did not recklessly resist the Queen’s decision to marry a blood relative of the Luave family.

But it wasn’t without any labor at all. The new Queen, Lena Ardenia, has taken a very different course from the previous Queens, and many have expressed discomfort with the unfamiliar Queen.

The Queen, who had experienced the life of a commoner for 19 years, took a deep interest in the lives of ordinary people. Until now, it was customary for nobles to rule each estate and the Queen to only receive reports from them, but Lena sent royal officials directly to check any nobles who imposed taxes that violated the laws of the country or treated commoners like slaves. She checked thoroughly to make sure there wasn’t.

This was regarded as a significant intrusion by the aristocrats.

The seasoned nobles tried to convince the still young Queen, but the former Duke of the black faction, who was called a genius, stood by her side and made up for her lack. The noble, who at first treated Lena as ‘the Queen blinded by love’, later accused the Queen for a well-thought-out act to make Kahel Luave the Grand Duke.

The nobles were dissatisfied, but as the nobles became uncomfortable, the people’s lives improved.

The northern part of Ardenness, which had been devastated by monsters, was steadily under reconstruction, and the fashion business that Luahalla nurtured gradually grew with the cooperation from Logos and Hildebrunn. Thanks to the unprecedented good relationship between the two Duchies, who had been at odds rather than cooperating for many years, the productivity of all industries in the country improved and they earned a lot of money. Logos was slowly paving the way for prosperity under the reign of the new Queen.

But no matter what others say, Lena and Kahel were more like a good normal couple in general than between the Queen and the Grand Duke.

Kahel, who had received a strange education from Lian before the wedding, spent a hot honeymoon with Lena to the point that it was embarrassing. The funny story that the royal couple did not leave the room for a week after the wedding ceremony warmed the Ardennes socialite for a long time.

After that, Kahel Luave sent Lian Santella a precious gift, and opinions were divided over what it meant. Maybe Lian also had a crush on the Queen, and it was even rumored that it was a gift from him taunting Kahel, who eventually took over him. However, since Lian himself took the gift with pleasure, few knew what it really meant.

The Royal Couple were still on their honeymoon phase even a year after marriage. Not to mention, the two didn’t have much time to be together.

It was natural for the Queen to be busy with many things, and Kahel acted as the Queen’s assistant, unlike the Grand Dukes who had been docile. Thanks to this, the country returned to its vibrancy, but the young couple did not have much time to spend in private. Instead, it was an advantage to be able to be more affectionate and hot when they were together.

“What are you looking at?”

Lena barely got up from the bed, rubbed her eyes, walked over to Kahel, and leaned softly on him. Lena looked exhausted, as Kahel had been pushing too hard last night, and she woke up much later than usual. Kahel hugged his beautiful wife tightly and kissed her lightly on the forehead and showed her what he was reading.

“This is the <Melike’s Prophecy> that the Santella family has been hiding so much. I got what Lian sent this morning from the chief attendant.”

“I’ve heard of Melike before. A very good fortune teller?”

Kahel bursts into laughter at Lena, who lowered Melike, who was revered as a prophet, to a mere fortune teller. He thought, indeed, that the existence of a prophet would seem ridiculous in the eyes of a descendant of the Queen who came down to this land as a representative of God.

“This sentence here seems to have been very attractive to the head of Santella in the old days.”

Lena read the sentence that Kahel’s fingertips were pointing to.

-…… When the old sun sets and the second cold moon rises, Deneb and Altair will turn to Spica, and the chosen wing will raise the eternal sun.

“What does this mean?”

Lena tilted her head and digested the sentence several times, but it was difficult for her to understand what it meant.

“Deneb means the Santella family, and Altair means the Luave family. And Spica means the Queen. It means that two families will face the Queen, and one of them will be chosen, which Santella seems to have interpreted as two Duchies fighting for the throne of the Queen. And they saw that the chosen single-wing, the victor in that war, would be crowned eternally.”

As a result, the interpretation of the Santella family was wrong. It was true that the Santella family and the Luave family showed greed for the Queen, but what the two families wanted to achieve was different. The Santella coveted the throne itself, and the Luave coveted the woman who would sit on the throne.

However, since humans only see what they want to see, they never doubted that their interpretation would be wrong. And blinded by that greed, they jeopardized the dignity of the family and corrupted the angelic descendants.

“In the end, the chosen single wing must be the Luave family, right? But what does it mean to make the eternal sun rise?”

“It may mean that the Ardenian dynasty will be consolidated, or it may mean that Logos itself will be strengthened through your union with me. Of course, what was the exact meaning, you’ll only find out after a long time.”

“Are there any other writings about this time in the prophecy?”

Lena asked with curious eyes, but Kahel flipped over the old prophetic book.

“Didn’t Santella show that it is dangerous to foretell the future by believing only the words of a very good fortune teller?”

“Um, that’s right.”

Lena didn’t feel too bad about it, either. The two knew already that the thought of knowing the future made them arrogant, and that arrogance could ruin the future.

“Besides, to be honest, I don’t really care about other people’s futures. I’ll be busy enjoying the person you are today, so I don’t have time to worry about it.”

Kahel sat Lena, dressed in a sheer cloak, on his thighs, craving her lips for a long time. He did his best in the present, as if it was a reward for the past years he had endured. He doesn’t know what the ‘eternal sun’ mentioned in the prophecy means, but he would definitely regret it if he believed such vague words and postponed enjoying happiness.

“You are right. It is important to predict and prepare for the future, but it is more important to live faithfully in the present.”

Kahel, whom Lena also thought she would never see again, was precious. The black body that was stabbed by Liddell’s sword and the red eyes that were gradually losing their warmth appeared in her dream. She’ll probably never forget it until she dies.

“It will be summer soon.”

“Yes. It was around this time that I became Kahel’s close maid.”

“It’s not that long ago, but somehow it seems like a very long time ago.”

“I know.”

The two looked out the window with the blue sky unfolding. White puffy clouds near the horizon and roses in full bloom in the gardens of the Royal Palace. Birds sang and butterflies flew. It was a splendid moment that could not be enjoyed other than at this moment.

“I love you.”

Kahel whispered his love out of nowhere.

But Lena didn’t think it was out of nowhere.

“I love you more. I am so blinded by love, I am recorded as the Queen who won the beautiful Duke with power.”

Kahel burst out laughing again and kissed the corner of Lena’s eye, which was full of smiles.

Because of his devilish power, because of the curse, but because of knowing Lena, Kahel who used to have sleepless nights, in the end, met a new morning that was full of happiness.