The Devilish Duke Can't Sleep

Proofreader: somnium

Kahel, who was returning to the mansion after separating with Luahalla, suddenly remembered his old memories of Liddell.

She was so beautiful from a young age that when he first saw Liddell, Kahel was convinced she was an angel too. The modifier ‘beautiful’ suited her much better than the modifier ‘cute’, which is usually given to young children. Even though she was only five or six years old, he thought she was dazzling when she closed her eyes and smiled.

And how pleasant was her brother, Lian? He was unaware of the relationship between the Santella and the Luave, and as a child he was the son of the same Duchy level, so she could be his best friend forever, he thought naively.

However, learning the family affair one by one from his father, Damian, made him aware of the ‘unfriendly’ relationship between the Luave and Santella families, and he heard that Santella also shared information about their people in many ways.

Thanks to that, he thought for a while that since she was from a Duchy in a similar situation, Liddell might hate him. She was a candidate for the successor to the Santella family, and she was the one to fight against Kahel in the future. There’s no way she could only have friendly feelings for the Luave family and Kahel.

However, he maintained a friendly attitude towards Liddell after that without any expression. Kahel didn’t even want to dig into it, so he acted like there was nothing wrong on the outside. He didn’t believe everything she said to him like he used to, but he didn’t want to offend Liddell, who was always kind to him.

But his relationship with the Queen was different.

The direct lineages of the two Duchies could never be disloyal to the Queen, and no matter how weak the Queen’s powers were, Liddell often committed what appeared to be disloyalty. Of course, no one believed that she did it on purpose.

So was the dress.

Pretending to be humble, she bought all of Ardennes’ most famous dressing rooms and monopolized the latest dress designs. No matter how advanced the Queen was, she always had access to the latest designs later than Liddell. That was a really great provocation. He couldn’t help but feel bad.

However, it was forgiven because it was Liddell Santella who had done it, a behavior that would have been condemned as rude, of course, if it had been done by anyone else. No, there was even a public opinion about what forgiveness was, and the attitude toward the angry Queen was, ‘She acts childish because of only a dress.’

Moreover, Liddell eagerly appealed that her own actions were out of good will. As soon as she heard the news that the Queen was upset, she went out to the party and said with a pitiful look.

“I heard that there are a lot of people who leave the tailors and don’t return for another visit, so the damage to the dressing room is huge. So, I just paid in advance for the costumes that I will entrust to them in the future. It didn’t mean anything else.”

Since only the direct blood of the two Duchies felt unconditional submission to the Queen, the other nobles believed more in Liddell, who appealed pitifully in the party, than in the angry Queen. Because Liddell looked so beautiful and pure.

Because of that, while the Queen considered it disrespectful, she could not directly retaliate against Liddell or express any displeasure. It was because there was too much room for rumors that the Queen of Logos was being fussy with only a dress.

In any case, the Queen was tormented in her heart, and this business proposal from Luahalla has aroused great interest from the Queen.

From Luahalla, he was able to obtain the exclusive supply of lyloc at an affordable price, and he gained the Queen’s trust, so he was in a mutually beneficial relationship with Luahalla.

‘But even Duke Santella is not a good enough man to just watch things go well.’

Compared to Leonard Santella, Liddell Santella was on the cute side. The former master of the Luave, Damian Luave, had also told Kahel several times to beware of Leonard. Never be fooled by his gentle attitude.

In fact, the trip to Sharden every winter was also related to Leonard. How great it would be to just go sledding without thinking, but the name ‘Luave’ that was carried on Kahel’s shoulders was too heavy for that.

However, he was looking forward to this trip to Sharden, which would have only given him a sigh in the past. Lena will accompany him.

He was also worried about what would happen if she was afraid of sledding, but if it’s just a sled, she can drive it slowly, and she’ll be so impressed as she had never seen snow-covered fields.

‘I’m sure you will like it.’

Kahel smiled secretly, imagining Lena running around like a rabbit in the snow.

* * *

Lian was carefully reading through the papers handed to him by his aide. It was the result of only a few sheets filled despite the enormous amount of money that was used to obtain the information by conducting a background check on Kahel. Kahel seemed indifferent every step of the way, but he didn’t thoroughly disclose information that was his weakness, so it was more difficult than he thought to get information about the woman sitting in the carriage at that time.

But there is no such thing as ‘perfect’ in this world. Even the seemingly perfect Kahel Luave was impossible to be completely perfect.

“So…… When considering various circumstances comprehensively, the maid…… It says that, right?”

“Yes, it is.”

“The very same Kahel Luave who gave up on having a general servant by his side because of his devilish power…….”

“…….”

“A close maid.”

Although Lian checked several times, he couldn’t believe it and kept laughing.

It was strange that she was fine even in the same carriage as Kahel, but thanks to the holy relic Calia, he was able to suppress almost all of his devilish powers, so it was not impossible to contact ordinary people at all. So, he wondered if Kahel had decided to break the distance from others little by little.

But she’s a ‘close’ maid…….

If it’s just a one-time maid, it’s a different story. She could not be free from Kahel’s devilish power if she was a close maid who had to spend much of the day with her master. She had to be something, whether she had a powerful aura, a blood relative of two Duchies, or a priestess with strong magic power.

‘Or she can be from the Queen.’

Lian scans the papers once more.

It was interesting to know what the woman was, not only in relation to Kahel’s devilish powers, but also how Kahel accepted her.

Kahel made her do things which seemed more like a maid’s job, which he could understand considering Kahel’s situation. But on the other hand, he even gave her that expensive fur coat.

It was surprisingly common for the master to give jewelry to their maid, but the fur coat was a bit different. The item itself is a great luxury, so it was a very favored gift to the mistresses of the powerful. Because there was nothing as good as showing off the affection from the powerful. After all, wouldn’t it be fashionable to draw a portrait in a fur coat?

Thanks to the bribe, the fur dealer mistook her as Kahel’s mistress.

‘She can’t be a mistress. Because he’s not brazen enough to have a mistress.’

Lian chuckled, remembering Kahel, the handsome face and body, but Kahel must have always been a virgin. Because of his devilish power, he didn’t want anybody to be close, so he wouldn’t know what to do with that.

Lian wanted to teach him like when they were a child and getting along innocently, but now he has no choice but to pity Kahel.

Anyway, the question came back to the beginning again.

‘Who the hell is she?’

He tapped the corner of the paper in his hand on the table next to him.

It wouldn’t be a great weakness as she is a close maid at best. She’s a maid who doesn’t respond to his devilish power. She’s rare, but Kahel has always been good on his own. But he couldn’t take it lightly, his sixth sense whispered that she was ‘something’.

“Keep watching. It seems that she is immune to Kahel’s devilish power. And ask the temples to see if any female priestesses of her age have ever been laicized.”

“Understand.”

Lian looked at the back of his aide who quietly retreated and patted his chin. His eyes were gleaming with interest that he had not had in a long time.

* * *

“Lena. Again, you’re going to follow and serve the Duke to the end. Don’t get too excited and forget your mission.”

Arder kept telling Lena to be vigilant until the morning when she left for Sharden. As to what was so disturbing, Lena had to show her will by nodding her head to the point where her hair fluttered.

However, Arder was quite anxious. The sable coat, winter hat and muffler, leather gloves and fur shoes carried in Lena’s luggage bag were quite expensive even for an average noble to buy. When Kahel, who was stingy in buying his own things, called the fur merchant for some reason, he ordered a lot of things only for Lena.

He wanted Lena to get a little closer to Kahel, but he felt like Kahel was falling for her helplessly, not Lena, but Kahel, and he panicked.

‘If Lena really has a bad heart, at this rate …….’

Although he knew that the maid, who was not swayed by the devilish powers, was strange and willing to be with Kahel, he could not help but worry when Kahel, who was always cold and sharp, reacted differently only to Lena.

Arder also cared for Lena. She is such an innocent and kind child that it is rare to see, and from what he had observed her working so far, she is a very sincere child. So he hoped that Lena would cherish Kahel’s affection and that she would stay here for a long, long time.

However, there is no end to human greed, and it is common in the world for people to sell their consciences for a few pennies. Then if Lena got a bad heart, she could have taken advantage of Kahel, and she could have run away, saying she was afraid of Kahel trying to hold her. Then what will happen to Kahel, who gave away his heart?

However, Lena, who was not aware of Arder’s inside thoughts, was smiling innocently, not knowing that he did not completely trust her.

“I’m sure Butler may be worried about my work skills, but I also want to take care of the Duke at least a little more comfortably. I’m not good at it, but I’ll do my best. It’s my first time visiting a place called Sharden, so I’m a little worried……Well…… I should pay the most attention to His Excellency, right?”

“It’s also a winter break, but it’s very dry there, so the skin can get dry very quickly. Every time His Excellency goes out, and every evening, make sure His Excellency is applying the cream properly, and make sure he’s staying hydrated.”

“Yes! I will not forget.”