The Devilish Duke Can't Sleep

Proofreader: somnium

To hold onto the successor of the next Duchy of Santella and praise the successor of the Duchy of Luave was nothing short of ridiculing Liddell in the end. It was a little revenge as she had been deprived of all the attention in the social world to Liddell.

Liddell, who nodded her head with an angelic smile in front of Fabian, turned coldly expressionless as soon as the door of the carriage back to her mansion was closed. Whether or not that was heartbreaking, the maid, Maria, the coachman, decided to slander the queen despite being improper. For the people of the Santellas, who obeyed the queen’s authority, should not dishonor her.

“It seems that Her Majesty wanted to receive more attention than His Majesty the Grand Duke, who is today’s protagonist. I feel so sorry for the Grand Duke…….”

The Grand Duke, who was being congratulated by people next to Fabian, in a flaming red dress, wore black garbs, so he seemed to be buried even more.

“Because the Grand Duke doesn’t like fancy clothes very much…….”

Although Liddell defended the queen, she didn’t seem to feel a little better. Maria decided to depreciate the queen a little bit more.

“By the way, it is a big deal that the princess who will be the successor has not yet been born. Her Majesty the Queen must be very heartbroken. There has never been a queen who never gave birth to a princess.”

The absence of a princess was a deep concern for the royal family. The Logos was a kingdom ruled by queens from generation to generation. There was always only one daughter born who would become Crown Princess, and they never had a daughter that did not become queen. So Fabian, the current queen, who was the only one who could not give birth to a daughter, was feeling a lot of pressure both internally and externally. There were rumors circulating that the Ardennes dynasty would end in this generation.

“Oh, Maria! What are you going to do if someone hears it?”

“But is there anyone in the kingdom who doesn’t know that? Besides, I was just worried. But what if the princess is not born in the end?”

“Well…… It seems that the royal family and the temple are rotting in their heads because of that problem.”

“Everyone would be delighted if our lady became queen…….”

“Maria!”

Liddell frowned and warned Maria, but as Maria saw Liddell’s face, which had been droopy by the time she got into the carriage, start to come to life again, she smiled. And in fact, Maria sincerely thought so.

Either the current dynasty collapses, or else the queen should adopt Liddell, the highest ranking unmarried woman in the kingdom, as her stepdaughter or daughter-in-law to take over the throne. The lady, she served, was well-deserved of that.

The only problem was that Liddell lacked the powers of the Queen. Because without those powers she would not have been able to subjugate the Luaves, and she could have sworn that if Liddell became queen, Kahel would also become king.

“Maria. I know how you feel, but you shouldn’t go anywhere and say that. Understand?”

“I’m not that immature, so don’t worry, Lady.”

Maria responded obediently to Liddell, who had now started to smile as usual. But Liddell’s heart was a little different from what she said with her mouth, which cracked down on Maria’s words.

‘Yes. You still have to be careful. Until everything is perfectly ready…….’

* * *

In the carriage returning to the mansion late at night, Kahel said that today’s banquet was very successful. He felt refreshed enough to say it was the first time when he had been to a place with a lot of people. It gave a thrilling pleasure whenever he experienced his plans working together without any error.

He unknowingly loosens his eyes softly, and inside he hums his favorite piano tune, and Kahel, getting off at the entrance of the mansion, enters the main lobby with a light footstep, forgetting his tiredness.

“Welcome back.”

Arder and Lena greeted him when he had returned home. They had been glancing out of the window until he returned. Kahel at first thoughtlessly took off his coat, handed it to Lena, and tried to head to his room.

But suddenly, he thought that Lena had contributed a lot to today’s refreshing feeling. Thanks to Lena, his recent diet has improved, he has more free time, and the clothes she prepared for today are much better than usual.

‘It’s a law that you shouldn’t ignore the merits of those below you as a superior.’

Kahel had already bought Lena jewelry, the hairpin, and even ordered a dress for her, but he felt like he wanted to do something more today.

“Lena. Please follow me to the office.”

As he still called Lena with a face close to an expressionless face, Lena also thought to herself, ‘Did I do something wrong?’

Kahel, who arrived at the office and sat down, put his hands in front and looked at Lena, who was standing there.

“Thanks to you, today’s work went well. So I want to reward you…… Is there anything you would like to have?”

Kahel asked, roughly thinking about jewelry or a dress. Had Lena been a little more brazen, she might have wanted money outright, but this timid maid would certainly not be able to ask him to buy a small piece of gold, let alone money.

In the meantime, Kahel had researched and learned how to get Lena’s response out, so he was trying his luck like this and gave her examples one by one, deciding Lena’s answer as the item she hesitated at.

“What do you mean, it’s thanks to me. I haven’t done anything…….”

“No, it’s really thanks to you. So if there is something you would like to have, please feel free to tell me. Would you like jewelry?”

“I don’t need jewels for my subject. No, there is nothing that I lack object-wise, be it jewelry or anything. Everything is already too abundant.”

“If there is nothing lacking object-wise, it seems that there is something lacking that is not an object?”

Kahel asked, a little surprised that a girl who was a country maid who had lived in poverty refused a monetary reward.

However, as usual, this maid Lena was beyond his expectations. She shook her head and seemed to be contemplating something, then she slowly came to meet his eyes, and she carefully made an unexpected request.

“Pardon me…… Well, nothing else, and in case you are okay with it, the news of those who have been like my family in Barony Fidelia…… I want to know.”

It was something Kahel couldn’t even imagine. Because he had never seriously wondered about Lena’s personal history.

“People who were like family? Of course, it wouldn’t be from Baron Fidelia’s side…….”

“This is Baron Fidelia’s stable keeper family.”

“Hmm…… They seem to have been special.”

“Yes. They were the only people in that castle who treated me well. Sid and I grew up like siblings.”

Lena smiled a little, remembering the people in the neighborhood who asked her if they were siblings when they saw her walking with Sid, who looked like a man.

But Kahel was strangely annoyed by that part.

‘‘Like siblings’…… But not siblings. Right?”

“What? Yes…….”

Kahel turned his gaze away from Lena and looked out of the dark window, immersed in thoughts, and Lena swallowed a gulp, wondering if she had made a rude request. After such an uncomfortable silence for a long time, Kahel asked abruptly when Lena decided to withdraw her request.

“That Sid…… How old is this person?”

“How old is Sid? Twenty this year.”

“And how old are you?”

“I am eighteen years old.”

“Hmm…… You grew up like siblings of the same age, but aren’t real siblings…….”

Kahel’s mouth clenched again as he mumbled words that Lena couldn’t understand. Now Lena had reached a point where she could hardly stand the nervousness.

“I…… It seems I dared to ask a presumptuous request. Oh, even if you don’t listen…….”

“No. I’m not saying I won’t listen…… I’m just curious, how did that stable keeper family get to know you?”

“I have been working as an errand runner in the village inn since I was seven years old. But when I was ten, my mother died and I was left alone, so Uncle Theo recommended me to Baron Fidelia as a maid in the castle. Even though I was shunned upon in the castle, Uncle Theo and Aunt Layla cared for me like their daughter. Aunt Layla died when I was fifteen.”

“The person named Sid, who had to share their parents’ love with you, must have hated you…… ?”

“Si, Sid is an angel! Sid cares more about me than I do, and if I starve, Sid is more than happy to give me Sid’s share of bread. Seriously, how I would have survived that life without Sid…….”

Kahel started to feel bad for some reason when Lena praised Sid hard. The refreshing feeling of before disappeared suddenly and he was struck by an unpleasant feeling that he did not know what caused it.

“You seem to like them a lot.”

“Yes! Sid is my favorite person in the world. From Uncle Theo and Sid, I have received a favor that I will never be able to repay, even if I pay it back for the rest of my lifetime.”

The person Kahel referred to was Sid, but the indifferent Lena came up with her answer, including Theo.

Anyway, Kahel was in a bad mood again. It was clear this time what made him feel bad. Whatever they had done to Lena, he wondered if it would only be comparable to his own grace for saving her mortal life and for granting her a status as the close maid of the duke.

There was a slight wrinkle on Kahel’s forehead. And Lena, who looked at him, noticed that he was in a bad mood.

“Sorry, I’m sorry. I, I, I was wrong…….”

But when Lena apologized, Kahel’s mood worsened. No matter who the identity was, he liked this maid quite a bit and thought he was treating her as much as she appreciated it in her own way. But he thought if he moved a little closer, she would quickly move away.

Like a rabbit, who had just pricked the tips of its cute ears in front of him, seemed startled by a hand outstretched to touch it a little and seemed to run away. How much better should he do to be able to stroke that round crown? He has now made up his mind that he will buy Lena’s favor when it comes.

“What did you do wrong? Don’t worry. I’ll send someone to find out their news. No, I’d rather bring them here too. After all, there are always not enough people in the stables.”

“Yes? Re, really?”

The frightened eyes widened open, and it quickly glowed with joy. Kahel glanced at Lena’s lively purple eyes and smiled a little, thinking, ‘Oh, that was the right answer.’

He was somehow concerned about the existence of the person named Sid, but on the other hand, he also wanted to show the difference between them by inviting them to the Duchy. He didn’t know what difference he wanted to show, but for now he was content to just get the answer that Lena wanted.