The Devilish Duke Can't Sleep

Proofreader: somnium

“This year is especially good. I think we will be able to fill the troops of the demon corps sufficiently.”

“How many troops have you prepared so far?”

“There are 50 large monsters, 163 medium monsters, and 255 small monsters. However, the 30 or so small monsters summoned in the early days have weakened a lot recently, so it is likely that they will disappear soon.”

The number of summoned monsters was increasing as the magic circle continued to run, so it was enough even if a few of the low-level monsters that were initially summoned started to disappear.

“Hmm…… I hope there will be a lot of large monsters in this summoning.”

“Don’t worry. It will be so. Besides, from this year, it seems like we can start experimenting with giving special powers to monsters.”

“Send small monsters that are likely to disappear or monsters that have failed the experiments to Sharden. We should give Kahel a chance to use his magic.”

Leonard smiled and ordered. It was quite interesting to see the Luave family, who could not do anything even though they had guessed that the monsters appearing in Sharden were related to Levanas. Although there were so few troops in Levanas that it seemed to be excessive, an army of monsters worthy of being called the strongest in the world was being nurtured in the basement of the cave at the foot of Kalahan Mountain.

Monsters summoned with black magic, and among them, those who run wild enough to be difficult to tame are released to Sharden. How productive it is to be able to attack the enemy while securing an army.

So far, Damien and Kahel have never failed to deal with monsters, but there’s another thing they don’t participate in. If lucky, Kahel could be seriously injured, and if added to that with Kahel’s mistakes, he could die.

Leonard, having such a pleasant imagination, stood at the edge of the circle and began pouring his magical energy into the circle. To summon monsters using this magic circle, they need enough magical power to activate the magic circle. And in Logos, the only people with that much magical power were the bloodlines of the two Duchies. Thanks to this, he had to come all the way to the far-away Levanas every winter when his work in Ardennes became idle, but Leonard did come happily for the victory of the Santella family.

Not long after Leonard poured out his magic, the magic circle began to gradually turn purple from the outside.

“It is a beautiful and mysterious sight whenever you see it, Your Excellency.”

Margella looked at the light with ecstatic eyes. Margella, a theological-researcher priestess who was delighted to discover the truth, came across a book of black magic that was hidden in the temple, and, unable to overcome her intense curiosity, entered the world of black magic. The black magic could not be escaped if touched even once. Just like a drug, it always makes one crave more.

It was very funny that the black magic, which is a branch of the devil’s magic, was being used for the family of the incarnation of angels, but Margella thought that even that was the nature of black magic. The angel-like beauty of Santella’s master summoning a bizarre-looking monster made Margella’s heart race at all times.

However, the magic circle made a rumbling sound and lost its light in an instant.

“Whoo…… It was a little lacking.”

Leonard exhaled heavily. In order to activate this huge magic circle, the center of the magic circle had to be completely filled with magic, but that was not easy.

“It’s probably because you haven’t gotten rid of your fatigue yet. Didn’t you arrive yesterday? I recommend taking a couple of days off and then trying again.”

“I thought I was going to be okay today…… tsk I’m sorry, but I can’t help it.”

Leonard clicked his tongue and turned around. There was still plenty of time, so it wasn’t something to be impatient with.

* * *

“I’ve never seen it snow so much.”

Lena muttered blankly as she looked at the pouring snow that seemed to bury the whole world.

It had only been three days since she arrived in Sharden, but Lena had not yet stepped out of the castle. Because the day after she arrived, the snow began to pour. Even in Kerouac, it snowed in winter, but the ground was exposed when she swept it with a broomstick.

However, it snowed so much in Sharden that they didn’t even bother to remove it.

“Compared to the Arita Kingdom, where 300 days a year are snowy, this is nothing. It’s said that when big snow falls there, it piles up to the point where it exceeds the height of the door. You can’t even go out until it melts.”

“Really? Oh my gosh…… I’m a little scared.”

“But this is not something to be afraid of, because you have to get this much snow to ride the sled.”

Kahel stood behind Lena, who was clinging to the window, looking down at the pure white snow. His heart was pounding for some reason as Lena’s exhaled breath and his were intertwined and blurred the window.

“It will snow in the evening. Tomorrow, we can go sledding.”

Lena suddenly realized that Kahel’s voice was coming from too close. As she cautiously turned her head, Kahel was looking out of the window, while leaning his torso toward her side. And at that moment, Kahel also came to look at her, regardless of whether or not he had noticed Lena’s gaze.

The clear ruby-colored eyes were breathtaking at all times. Beautiful, scary, and mysterious eyes, instead of the silent mouth, contained many meanings. It’s just hard to interpret what that means.

Lena, staring intently into Kahel’s eyes, turned her head away in surprise when the breath he exhaled tickled her hair and cheeks.

“Do you pull the sled yourself, or the horses?”

It was a voice with a hint of embarrassment, but Kahel pretended not to notice.

“No. Tamed reindeers will pull it. They live only in the north, so they run much better than horses in the snow.”

“I see…… The sled…… You and I are the only ones riding it…… Aren’t we?”

“Why? Do you not like riding alone with me?”

“N, n, no. I don’t mean it that way, but there must be people who will escort you…….”

Kahel was only now realizing that he had a hobby of making fun of people—if Gerard knew, he would stare at him like a fool. Lena, who was embarrassed as her ears quickly turned red, was cute and lovely no matter how many times he looked at her.

“It’s a joke. It would be nice if we could only ride the sled, but I’ll have to look around Kalahan Mountain, so the knights will accompany me. You just have to wait in the nearby hut while I go to investigate. You can even roast potatoes there.”

Lena, who was fiddling with her blushing earlobe with her fingertips, said, ”Yes…… “ She nodded her head, then tilted her head again.

“By the way, what are you going to investigate in Kalahan Mountain?”

“I’m just going to check if the barriers that have been erected to prevent animals from coming down to the private house are strong.”

Kahel was afraid that Lena would be scared, so he purely expressed the monster as mountain animals. Anyway, the monster wouldn’t stand out in Lena’s eyes, and it wasn’t a terribly wrong expression.

It is unclear where and how the monsters originate, usually in the form of grotesque beasts, but there were times when they literally took on the form of a ‘monster’. He knew if Lena saw it, she would be surprised. Besides, as it looks, they are stronger and more ferocious than normal beasts, so knights who are not strong in aura have to risk their lives when fighting monsters.

But Kahel hunted monsters as easily as he hunted foxes. Because monsters were easily cut by weapons imbued with magical powers, and Kahel’s magic power was enormous. However, there was no one around when he used his magical powers, so the only other person who knew how to defeat the monsters was his father.

In any case, dealing with monsters was a relief because he could release his magical power that was pressed down, but it was also a little cumbersome in that he had to pay attention to it every winter. However, as long as Leonard headed for Levanas, the head of the Luave family also had to go to save Sharden from the monsters.

He doesn’t know what the hell Leonard was doing when he locked himself up in Levanas territory, but whenever he went to Levanas, monsters always appeared in Sharden. Only after Damien requested the royal family to investigate the Levanas territory did demons appear in other territories as well. Of course, even the royal family did not have the will to come to Levanas to investigate.

It’s only been three days since Leonard arrived at the estate, and the heavy snow that started yesterday isn’t going to be different in Levanas, so Leonard will still be stuck in the castle. Even with Kahel’s sensitive sense of magic, there was still no sign of a monster. When Kahel was not worried about the monsters, he was planning to go snow sledding with Lena. Just thinking about it made him smile even while sleeping.

As expected by Kahel, it started to snow late in the evening. The next morning, it was difficult to see the blue sky, but it was not likely that more snow would fall.

“Your Excellency, you need to put cream on your face.”

Lena took a small ceramic container and approached Kahel, who was getting ready to go out. The winter wind in Sharden was dry and cold, and if one was hit without proper preparation, one’s skin hurt as if it was torn. Still, Kahel is bothered by applying cream, so Lena, who told Arder that she would take good care of him, had a determined expression even while she was still struggling with Kahel.

“What about you?”

“I applied it carefully. Sit down on the chair and I’ll apply it to you, too.”

“No, it’s done. I can do it.”

“But you’re just taking as much as your fingernails and rubbing it roughly on your face.”

Again. Every time Lena nags like this, it reminds Kahel of a rabbit that gets mad at him, so his lips are twisted over and over again. Ever since he cut off her conversation with Marianne, she hasn’t been able to make eye contact with him yet, but if there’s anything she needs to take care of, she’s never hesitated to nag. Should he call this a great work spirit, or should he call it the maid taught by Arder ….?

Eventually Kahel gave up on the quarrel and crossed his legs and arms in the chair with a backrest. In the position of allowing her to serve, Lena quickly approached him and scooped up a lot of white cream from the ceramic container and placed it on the back of her hand. As the cream warmed to her body temperature, she divided it up in small portions, and carefully spread it over Kahel’s forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin.

Kahel’s skin was quite smooth for a man, and she really liked the feel of rubbing over it.

However, Kahel’s position, who was suffering from it, was a little different.

‘Feels…… strange.’

Whether it was under his chin or on his lower belly, something tickled very hard. Although he usually gets his facial grooming done by Lena, it was common at that time to wipe his face off with a thin gauze soaked in lotion, so it was the first time that Lena’s hand touched his face directly. So it was the first time he felt this way.

However, the contact with Lena did not end there. Lena wondered if she had applied all the cream, but suddenly her palms gently wrapped around his cheeks.