The Devilish Duke Can't Sleep

Proofreader: somnium

It was a moment of reunion full of joy and emotion, but as the tears flowed, the three of them came to their senses and realized who they were in front of.

As soon as Lena came to her senses, she knelt down on her knees in front of Kahel and continued to bow her head.

“Thank you, Duke! I will never forget this grace for the rest of my life. Thank you! Thank you!”

They were more precious than her own life. As a loner in this world, they were the only people she could call family. She was very grateful to Kahel for bringing these people here. No matter what he asked her to do, it seemed like she would be willing to do it at the cost of her life.

And Theo and Sid, who realized that Lena, whom they thought was dead, was alive thanks to Kahel, also fell on their knees next to her.

“Thank you so much for saving Lena! I will serve you with allegiance for the rest of my life!”

However, Kahel, who suddenly received Lena’s bow, was a little perplexed. No, he was actually a little too embarrassed.

If he had been embraced by her as she had done with Theo or Sid, he would have been less embarrassed than this. He swears he didn’t expect such an appreciation. No, he thought he would get a thank you, but it wasn’t like this. He was hoping for something a little more intimate than this.

“Ha…… Everyone, get up. I didn’t mean to receive such a greeting.”

The three of them, lying on the floor, barely sat across from Kahel, with Arder’s push.

“You seem to have calmed down a little now. First of all, Theo and Sid. It’s Lena, not me, whom you should thank. Lena said that as a reward for a job well done, she refused to earn jewelry and she wanted to know how you guys are doing. So every time Lena was given a reward, it’s just more economical and efficient to have you guys work in the mansion’s stables rather than have someone go out to see how you guys live every time.”

Even though Kahel said so, the three people sitting in front of Kahel couldn’t have not known that it was a great grace. Wouldn’t any nobleman in this world hesitate to take the trouble of bringing the lowly things into account?

Moreover, the position of a Duchy’s employee was a great career no matter which the position was. Even if they later left the Duchy, they would not starve to death if they had a letter of recommendation from this place.

Kahel, who became burdened by their twinkling eyes, got up from his seat, left Arder for the details.

After returning to his office and working again, Kahel went through a few papers before falling into a different thought.

‘She knew how to show such intense emotions…….’

It was a side of Lena he had never seen before. He saw only tears from fear, but Lena, who was crying with joy, was so pretty, sad, and pathetic that the hearts of those who saw her were hurting.

He kept thinking of the person who was careful to even move her finger in front of him, hugging the stable keeper like a child. He had never thought that Lena was so small, and when she held Theo in her arms she looked like a really small, fragile baby.

There is Theo’s decent build, but he was a little taller than Theo, so he thought Lena would look really slender if he held her in his arms. He thought that if Lena rolled her body a little round, she would fit in his arms. He wondered if she would have looped her arms around him, so he smiled in vain.

But the smile faded away as he recalled the scene where Lena hugged Sid.

‘No matter how they grew up like siblings, they’re not really blood relatives, isn’t she overly intimate? They’re both over the age of adulthood……’

Recalling the memories, he remembered that Sid hugged Lena’s waist as Lena hugged Sid’s neck. Sid, who buried their face in Lena’s slender shoulder and hugged her waist as she wept, felt very shameful for some reason.

‘I think that person has a dark heart for Lena. No matter how uneducated he may be, he knows that he shouldn’t touch the body of a woman who is not even his lover or wife like that. Hmm…… I’ll have to pay special attention.’

Although they may have lived together in the stables in the past, now Lena is the duke’s maid. She couldn’t marry the stable keeper, even for her own sake.

‘Yes. She needs to get a good match…….’

Before he could finish his thoughts, he imagined Lena running at him like at Sid. Her fine brown hair fluttered, and she hugged him tightly with a delightful smile …….

He hates women who rush, but if, really, if Lena accidentally rushes at him like that, he’ll forgive her at least once. Because she was a maid with a rare condition that can’t be obtained anywhere, at least once.

Well, he might be able to give her a light hug so that she doesn’t embarrass herself for embracing him, by showing his patience. After imagining it, he couldn’t figure out why he swallowed a gulp down his throat.

* * *

After the stable keeper and the family came to the Duke’s house, Lena’s attitude changed a bit. At first, the murder of Baron Fidelia was so grotesque and terrifying that Kahel was just terrifying, but now she doesn’t care about the memories of that time.

He was not a murderer, but a savior who saved her and the people she loved the most. It was like a dream to be able to check on Uncle Theo and Sid every evening.

What’s even better is that their lives are much better than in Kerouac. Uncle Theo, who was older, had a hard time with the barony’s hard work, and Sid, who took on a lot of work to give Uncle Theo a little more rest, lived with pain all over her body every day.

But when they came to Duchy, there wasn’t as much work as before, and the place to eat, sleep, clothes, and everything got so good that they didn’t get sick as much as before. How glad it was, Lena wanted to somehow repay this favor in any way.

Not only was she not flinching as often as before, but rather, seeing Lena full of motivation and spirit, it was more satisfying. Arder, who at first thought Lena was suspicious, has been forced to admit that Kahel has been positively changing since Lena has been with him.

No one knew how the master, who had matured too quickly for his age, had festered. He did not tell his anguish or fear, even to his father, former Duke Damien Luave. He has always shown impeccable manners in public, and his work skills are astonishingly prodigious, but sometimes his eyes sink like an abyss, reminding him that Kahel has passed through a nightmare of his past. Moreover, the abyss in those eyes was so dark that even Arder, who had been by his side for a long time, could not look into it.

But he has changed recently. Although Kahel himself seems completely unaware, he has a startlingly natural smile and, very rarely, hums.

He was eating with Lena, which was impossible according to the rules, but Arder didn’t say anything because Kahel’s food intake increased.

It wasn’t just that. He was someone who had never previously been interested in decorating himself, including getting dressed, but recently started buying catalogs from several dressing rooms. He was surprised the last time Kahel bought a new brooch without saying a word, and even though he knew Kahel didn’t like to talk twice, Arder asked twice if he really wanted to use it.

All these changes meant that Kahel was becoming more human.

Before even when he went down to the estate, he had no choice but to deliver only mediocre news to the former Master who was worried about his son.

“Lena.”

“Yes, butler!”

Lena, who has become much brighter because of having people like her family by her side, Arder urges her to grab a snack the chef made fresh for afternoon tea.

Kahel liked tea biscuits that were unexpectedly sweet, but at some point he began to reject the biscuits and desserts he liked. That was probably around the time the Duchess became ill and she could no longer eat such food.

The Duchess’ illness began when she gave birth to Kahel. Until then, the Duchess was not very sickly compared to the wives of other noble families, but after giving birth to Kahel, who possessed tremendous magical power, she was sickly like a person whose energy was all sucked out of her body. She slept more than half the day, she couldn’t walk on her own, and she was ill for nearly a week from just getting a brief air.

She didn’t have any particular disease, so there was no cure for it. Moreover, she had difficulty taking in food that was said to be good for energy, the amount passed through her throat was very small, and she often vomited when something didn’t go well.

However, it was when she ate sweet dessert that she felt the greatest joy, and one day the doctor, who was examining her, diagnosed that she needed to adjust the sweet food. It was because there was only pleasant food on her tongue, and she was not eating what she really should eat. So from that day on, the Duchess was not allowed to eat her sweets, which she liked.

Kahel felt a great sense of guilt that his mother was unable to do even the last thing she loved. Because he thought it was his own fault that she had to lie down like that. So Kahel said he didn’t deserve the pleasure of sweet food, either, and he stopped tea and dessert.

It was heartbreaking to see the still young boy deliberately cut off all joy due to the guilt over his mother. Not only the Duke but also the Duchess who was in her bed tried to convince him that he didn’t have to, but Kahel stood his ground.

But what if it was carried by Lena? Arder had a small hope.

Knock, knock.

As always, after the clean knocking sound, ‘Your Excellency. It’s Lena.’ came a sweet voice.

“Come in.”

Kahel didn’t take his eyes off of the papers, but he felt her come in cautiously, and shut the door quietly, and Lena gently sneaking in her cart. Of course, Lena didn’t know that Kahel’s field of view was so wide.

Teatime at 3 PM is now Kahel’s favorite time of the day. Twice a day he liked to eat with Lena in the dining room, but Lena always insisted on sitting at the very edge of the table, so he couldn’t see her well, and he didn’t know what she liked or disliked.

However, during tea time, which used to take place alone in his office, now seemed to calm his mood and relieve the stress of the day. In particular, the biggest reason was that Lena had been talking quite a bit during teatime recently. Lena was useless by his side, but she said something like an ‘ordinary person’, and he felt happy because it felt like he had become an ordinary person, too.