The Devilish Duke Can't Sleep

Proofreader: somnium

“Duke! I am good at massages!”

“What?”

“Uncle Theo and Sid got aches here and there every day. So, I have been doing massages since I was young, so my skills have improved. If it’s okay with you, I can give you a massage…….”

For some reason, Kahel was embarrassed because Lena wanted to give him a massage with her eyes twinkling. He was first doubting that she had come and suddenly wanted to touch his body. But for that, her eyes were too clear.

‘You…… really mean you just want to give me a massage?’

He didn’t quite understand it, but looking at Lena’s face now, it seemed that it was true. If so, it is now Kahel’s own choice that remains.

In fact, as he had been wielding the sword for the first time in a long time, the muscles in his right arm and shoulder seemed to be startled. He didn’t want to show pain in front of the knights, so he kept practicing and endured it, so it seemed that the pain would last a long time if he left it alone.

At times like this, there was no particular remedy. He sits in the hot tub, relaxes his muscles, and massages them with his hands. Of course, there was a limit to what he could reach, so he couldn’t even touch a place near his shoulder blades. However, those with strong magical powers recover quickly from their wounds, so his muscle pain heals quickly, and he has endured the discomfort of not being able to receive a massage.

But to be honest, his body aches, so it was natural to want someone’s massage right away. The reason that his wish could not come true was because there was no employee who could overcome the devilish power when touching his bare skin.

Lena had no reaction when measuring his body, but it wasn’t quite a large area of ​​contact compared to a massage.

More than anything else, he was most worried about whether she would be able to overcome the rejection. Whenever someone touched his bare skin, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to suppress the nightmare memories of his childhood or if he would be able to shake off those hands violently.

However, Kahel, who looked down at Lena’s bright eyes, changed his mind a bit. He wanted to test how far this rare maid would be okay. She has had no reaction so far, so she might be okay with it this time as well. If she couldn’t stand it, then he could have stopped Lena.

“If you’re confident…… Then, please.”

With Kahel’s permission, Lena clenched her fists, believing that she had come to be of use this time.

“Yes! I will also attend the bathing service. It works better if you massage it while relaxing your muscles in a hot tub.”

“Bath service…… ?”

“Yes!”

“Uh…… Okay. I get it.”

Kahel’s face, much larger than Lena’s, hardened with tension, and a bright smile appeared on the much smaller Lena’s.

‘Finally, I’ve found something to please the Duke!’

She had been doing everything since she was young, so her hands were strong, and since she gave Uncle Theo and Sid a massage whenever they were hurting, she was also quick to know where and how to tap and massage them to relieve it.

She was worried that it would look cocky to the master to step out, but fortunately he didn’t seem to think so. It must have been very painful.

Lena, asking him to soak in warm water first, took Kahel first into the bathroom and then she ran to another room, changed into comfy clothes, and wrapped her hair meticulously with a towel. After the bathing service was over, she would definitely get all wet, so taking off the complicated underskirt in advance was the way to reduce laundry.

Then she rolled up her arms, and trotted her feet into Kahel’s bathroom.

“Is the water temperature okay?”

When someone else appeared where he was always alone, Kahel involuntarily tensed. But he didn’t want Lena to find out that he was nervous.

“Hmm. It’s perfect.”

“I will wash your hair first.”

“Hair? Uh…… How can you do that?”

Until now, he’d been sitting outside the bathtub and doing it himself, and he didn’t know what to do when someone else would do it for him.

And it was only surprising to Lena that he was so different from the Baron Fidelia family, who took the service from the employees very naturally. Lena spread the towel thickly on the edge of the bathtub, as she explained kindly.

“You just have to lie down on this. Like you’re tilting your upper body back…….”

“This…… like this…… you mean?”

“Yes. Please wait.”

Lena scooped up hot water with a small bowl she had and poured it over his hair. When his hair was wet enough, she lathered it up with a fragrant soap and then rubbed his scalp first with her fingertips.

With her fingertips, much smaller than Kahel’s, she rubbed the scalp and washed the hair. As his body was immersed in the warm bath water and only his head was tilted back to receive a scalp massage, a moan of satisfaction flowed from Kahel’s throat.

“Uhhmm…….”

“Tell me if it’s too strong or too weak.”

“Oh, no. Just…… Feels nice”

When Kahel said he liked it, Lena was even more excited. She didn’t even think about the labor, because it was so much fun to watch the black, wet, shiny hair, washed thoroughly with soap bubbles.

Lena lightly squeezed the moisture out of Kahel’s hair, which had been wrapped around.

“Now I will help you wash your body.”

At those words, Kahel’s body hardened again.

There were a lot of white petals floating on the bathtub, so Kahel’s body, which was submerged under the water, was invisible to Lena. However, it was a little difficult for Kahel because it was probably only possible to get his body washed up while he was out of the water. He was embarrassed because he didn’t know how far to pull himself out, or how much she would touch him when helping him wash.

Lena once again urged Kahel, who was still hesitating in the bathtub even though she offered to wash his body.

“It may be a little cold, but if you cover your lower body with a towel and sit outside the bathtub…….”

“No, no. I do the washing myself.”

Kahel refused with a straight face. He couldn’t bear to expose his naked body in front of Lena with only a thin towel on his lower body.

“Uh…… Then, I will help you only up to the wingbone area. It’s good to apply perfume before giving a massage.”

“Oh okay. Please do that.”

Kahel sighed in relief inside and stood up slowly. The white petals that had rested on his tight bulging pectoral muscles fluttered above the water surface. He took a slow, deep breath to hide his nervous look, deliberately not looking at Lena.

Lena didn’t notice his embarrassment at all, and she put a few drops of peppermint oil on the soft sponge before she lathered it up. And she carefully rubbed his arm, which he took out hesitantly, with a sponge.

As the soap bubble mixed with peppermint oil gently brushed past, his skin instantly felt refreshed and cooled. The sponge that had passed by rubbing his arm all over came up to the nape of his neck and wiped his neck, shoulders, and back. Without realizing it, Kahel thought, ‘How luxurious.’

But it was still too early.

“I’ll give you a massage. You may feel cold, so put on this robe.”

With his eyes half-closed, Kahel became more at ease when a thin robe covered his upper body that was pulled out of the water, and he put himself in Lena’s hands. When it got wet, his bare skin was exposed, but at least Lena’s hands didn’t touch it directly.

Kahel thought that Lena’s words, ‘If it hurts, tell me.’ was cute. But when Lena’s massage began, he changed his mind. This lady’s hands were considerably spicier than it looked.

“Ah…… !”

“Does it hurt? It looks like your muscles are very stiff. I’ll be a little gentler.”

Although his pride was hurt by the expression ‘gentler’, it was foolish to pretend to be fine even in such a situation, so Kahel just let Lena do what she wanted to do.

Lena massaged Kahel’s stiff neck and shoulders to loosen it up. When she pressed hard on the muscle at the back of his neck, it hurt so much that he made a sound like ‘Ouch!’, but when Lena took her hand off, his head, which seemed to have a strong headache, felt clear.

As she rubbed the stiff right arm that held the sword, he was so busy watching her hand rubbing, he completely forgot his reluctance to have someone rub his body. He was startled only when her hand, which had gone down all over his arm, interlocked and clasped his hand to loosen his wrist.

However, Lena, unaware that he was surprised, lightly pushed the clasped hands outward, shook them from side to side, and then released them without any regrets. Then, straight away, she pressed the muscles under the shoulder blades with her elbows.

The hand that was caught for a moment and then released felt as if something was missing so he just clenched and opened it himself.

In this series of processes, Kahel was only repeatedly ‘surprised and bewildered’, but failed to give instructions to Lena what to do or how to do it. However, even without such instructions, Lena gave a massage by pricking only Kahel’s painful area. There were places where the tip of his head was stiff, but as Lena continued massaging, pressing, and tapping it several times, the pain gradually diminished.

“Haa, haa…… Now dip your neck back in the bathtub.”

After the massage was over, Lena encouraged Kahel to dip his body. It was so cool and good that he didn’t care, but when he turned to look at her, Lena’s cheeks were red and sweat was dripping from her forehead and her nose. It would have been difficult to massage for such a long time with such a small body. It was then that Kahel realized that he was too shameless.

“This…… You must have pushed yourself too hard.”

“No! I’m really fine! I have good stamina.”

She had rubbed her bare skin with Kahel, but her eyes that had no passion for him smiled brightly. As he gazed into those eyes that only shined with pure kindness to repay the gratitude, Kahel felt an indescribable deep emotion.

“There were a lot of tense muscles. You should sleep with a warm blanket, as long-term massage may cause body aches.”

A smile leaked out at the words of concern from Lena who treated him like a child. Who in the world could do this to me?

“You are really good at massages. Thanks to you, a lot of pain has gone away.”

“Really?”

Glad she was able to do something for Kahel, Lena asked back with a more happy face than when she received the gift. She had a lovely expression like a child who heard praise. So Kahel could not stop the impulsive behavior.