The Devilish Duke Can't Sleep

Proofreader: somnium

Additionally, Kahel’s scent, which she smelled up close, added warmth to the subtle scent that was usually by his side, and it seemed that she would fall for it. She had smelled the fragrance of the perfume he used while preparing the bath water, but his scent was different from that of any other perfume.

‘Those who are tall seem to smell good even only from the bare skin.’

She lifted her arm and sniffed it for something, but she couldn’t smell anything. After all, even when she was working at the baron’s castle and didn’t wash properly in the winter, she couldn’t figure out what her body smelled like. That’s why she didn’t know if it was still smelling strange.

‘What if the Duke also thinks that my body has a strange smell?’

When she was working at the Barony, she had never thought of that. Her thought had nothing to do with Lena’s body odor or whatever the Baron’s family or other maids said. But if they didn’t call her because she smells, she would be even more grateful…….

In fact, even now, whatever the Duke felt, it had nothing to do with her. Still, she was worried because he had frowned. After thinking for a long time, Lena finally went to the bathroom to wash her body with a small bottle of perfume given to all the maids. Tomorrow, she hopes that Kahel will smell a good scent from her.

The shared bathroom used by the employees was in the corner on the first floor. Tired of working all day, the workers used to wash their bodies with hot water at night to relieve the fatigue of the day, but usually the youngest maids took turns boiling water with the fire pit in the bathroom.

Lena was the youngest, but because of her status as a close maid to the Duke, no one gave her such chores. However, because she came a little early today, the fire hadn’t been lit yet. If it was a normal maid, they would have looked for another maid to prepare hot water first, but Lena, who thought of herself more like a maid than a close maid, naturally rolled up her arm sleeves.

‘That’s better. I felt sorry that I just used the hot water every time.’

She put a basket of clothes to change into and perfume oil on one side of the bathroom, and hurriedly carried the firewood piled outside the bathroom and placed it in the fire pit. And in the middle, dried leaves and bark were mixed well and set on fire.

There were also a few pieces of paper in the pile of bonfires. Of course, it was paper that caught fire well, but the paper wasn’t a lot, and she had to save it because she had to use it when the fire didn’t burn well.

“Foo! Foo!”

Blowing air into the red glowing embers with her mouth, and when the embers grew a little, she swung a fan next to it and set it on fire. However, the embers seemed to be extinguished soon since the leaves had not completely dried up.

“I can’t. I have to put in more scrap paper.”

Lena gently waved the fan with one hand, and with the other she grabbed a few pieces of paper by her side and gently laid it over the embers. The embers began to devour the white paper, as if they had met a delicacy. And it was then. Some letters on the paper caught Lena’s attention.

“Oh, oh!”

Lena hurriedly pulled out the paper from which the elongated fire was hanging, then smashed it with the fan to put out the fire. The paper was half burnt, but Lena took it in her hands, not caring about it. The fire that had just transferred to the paper slowly burned the straw and thin, dry branches, giving off heat and light, and with that faint light, Lena could read the writing on the paper. Actually, it wasn’t much.

“Lena…….”

It was her name. Written in Kahel’s handwriting, numerous times…….

A single sheet of paper was covered with Lena’s name. Lena, who stood by his side all the time, couldn’t be ignorant of his handwriting. In his handwriting, the slanting lines are powerful and lively, and the curved lines draw beautiful curves. She was able to look at the documents he was writing all day without getting bored just by looking at the handwriting.

Her name has been written so many times in such handwriting. She rushed through the other scrap paper, but this was the only paper that had someone’s name written on it.

‘Why did he write so many of my names? Seeing that in a piece of paper…… doodling?’

She felt strange imagining Kahel alone writing her name on a piece of paper. And at the same time, there was a little curiosity.

‘Did he say my name while writing down my name? Did he even think of my face?’

Just imagining it makes her chest tickle, and a smile keeps coming out. As she remembered Kahel’s soft lips muttering her name, her heart suddenly pounded.

“You must not commit blasphemy! If you do, your head will be cut off!”

Lena said aloud as if admonishing someone in an empty bathroom. She then shook her head, and scattered the strange delusions that had been filling her mind.

But she couldn’t just burn the paper full of her name on it. Lena roughly removed the charred part, folded the remaining half of the paper, and put it at the bottom of the basket she was carrying. Then she put more leaves and twigs into the burning furnace again.

Her forehead was sweating from lighting the fire, and her hands were soaked in soot, but she kept smiling. It was quite laborious to draw cold water from a large pail on the other side of the bathroom and pour it into a large pot on the stove, but it was also done with a smile. All of a sudden, she even thought that living seems like a pretty fun thing to do.

* * *

Even while Kahel made preparations to go to Sharden, he did not neglect to support Luahalla’s business. He had to take care of it, especially since the Queen had shown great interest in Luahalla’s business.

“Yesterday, Madame Luise also visited.”

Luahalla, who is busy finishing up the recent renovation of the building, gleaned in vigor, told Kahel. When he first envisioned his fashion business, he thought he would be happy if the Queen gave permission, let alone be interested in his business.

But now, even the Queen has stepped forward to invest in his business. Of course, it’s been a long time since she put a character named ‘Madame Luise’ as a proxy.

“There must be a lot of things that you’ve been hiding in the meantime.”

Kahel said, recalling Liddell, who had a pure, delicate face and monopolized the attention of others. People thought it was only her appearance that had allowed her to overtake the Queen and rise to the top of the social circle, but Kahel knew that it was also the result of her meticulous planning.

All the people saw her as young and innocent, but Kahel had never seen her as easy. She was only hiding her own sharp claws under that saintly look. Whenever he felt that way, it was bittersweet because both him and Liddell seemed to have lost all of their childhood innocence.

“The nobles of Logos had an adventurous and trendy temperament, but now those virtues have been killed off by Lady Santella. All the girls were outraged because they couldn’t become Lady Santella, so the fashion became standardized. Everyone has a different look, body type, and skin color, so I don’t understand how everyone could idolize the same person.”

Luahalla has always been interested in fashion, and he himself was a famous fashionista in the social world. Thanks to this, he was also close with clothes makers from countries other than Hildebrunn and Logos, and he was trying to attract people with abilities and skills that could not be properly demonstrated due to their social status or social environment.

To Luahalla, the existence of Liddell Santella was not desirable at all. A fashion-leading Lady was naturally present in social circles in any country, but in Liddell’s case, the influence was too much. It was absurd to see everyone appearing in the same dress, the same accessories, the same hairstyle, and the same makeup.

Besides, Liddell was holding all the famous dressing rooms of Ardennes. As a result, the Queen had to always wear clothes made by the royal tailors. No matter which dressing room they invite, the Queen won’t be their muse.

“Oh, and the Lady, as Sir Kahel had expected, tried to ruin my business. I don’t know how she could think of hitting a man in the back with a face like that.”

Luahalla grinded his teeth as he remembered it.

Before they started business, Kahel was given a list of those Luahalla wanted to contact and he moved secretly, making an irrevocable contract with them beforehand. At first, Luahalla was suspicious of that action, but now fully admits that Kahel was wise.

When his business plan came to the surface and he started discussing business with foreign clothes makers, how the heck did Liddell reach out to those clothes makers?

If Kahel hadn’t signed a secret deal first, Luahalla would have bitten his fingers, having only the business idea in hand.

“I will do my best to help you, so all you need to do is come up with your business idea properly, Sir Luahalla.”

“It must be the only way for me to repay Sir Kahel and the Queen. As a first step, we have created a new year’s banquet costume for the Queen. There are a total of three outfits, each of which has been entrusted to great talented people, and rumors of them are also known in the social circles, so I think it might be quite a topic of discussion. Well, Lady Santella must also sharpen her sword.”

“Of course. In the noble world, beautiful or trendsetting dresses are great powers. She must have been sabotaging Ardennes’ dressing rooms by now.”

At the end of the discussion, Luahalla seemed to be a little worried, and then cautiously asked about it.

“So, I mean, may I ask you to escort the three clothes makers? I’d like to think I am over-paranoid, but there might be threats to them or attempts to damage the clothes they’re making.”

His concerns were understandable enough for Kahel. Especially for Kahel, who knows Liddell Santella better than anyone else.

“It’s not ‘might be’. That’s quite possible. Hmm…… I’d rather have it crafted in the Luave mansion.”

“Yes? Bu, but…… Can I cause that much trouble…….”

“It’s not trouble. Rather, Sir Luahalla and I are in the same boat. I have good reasons to help Sir Luahalla. Send the clothes makers secretly to the Luave mansion.”

With Kahel’s full support, Luahalla was convinced that he had the proper backing.