The Devilish Duke Can't Sleep

Proofreader: somnium

It seemed that the strangely twisted puzzle was finally put together perfectly. Why did Kahel, the king, have only one maid, why he refused to have a bath attendant, why he ate in the small dining room instead of the dining hall, why did everyone in the mansion and castle treat her with care and why there was no sign of dissatisfaction with Kahel’s special treatment, and why Kahel is so reluctant to people…….

‘After such a childhood, how did you become a great Duke? That is amazing…….’

While imagining a person who was possessed by Kahel’s devilish powers and rushed to him, she remembered Baron Fidelia and his wife, who were acting strangely inside the cage. Her memories weren’t perfect because of her fear, but she did remember how desperate they were to be unable to reach Kahel to the point of despair. It was that much even when they were locked up in a cage, if not they would have definitely rushed towards Kahel.

If the average person had been subjected to such threats every day, he would not be sane with the fear of the curse. He had had such terrible experiences when he was only seven years old.

However, Kahel overcame such wounds and was perfectly performing the job of the head by anyone’s standard. Lena was more impressed with Kahel more than the fact that she was not under the devilish curse. In addition, she vowed to work harder in the future, as she was the only close maid. In fact, up until now, she thought that there was someone who was in charge of the parts she couldn’t touch.

‘It was kind of strange. If there is such a person, there’s no way we can avoid meeting like this.’

Lena sighed, blaming her innocent head. She wondered when she would ever be able to become a maid who knew everything like Marianne, or if she could ever be such a maid herself.

Anyway, Lena urged Jessna once more that she should never bring this out of her mouth, and then she quickly changed her clothes and headed to Kahel’s room. In his room, with his luggage, two of the maids were waiting for Lena. Following Lena’s instructions, they organized Kahel’s clothes and bedding and went out. Lena stayed and was organizing the valuables, when Kahel came in.

“Are you doing this alone?”

“Ah, Your Excellency! no. The maids just helped me. Valuables cannot be left unattended…… Would you like to change clothes?”

“Hmm. In comfortable clothes.”

“Yes. I will prepare it soon.”

Kahel pulled the strap of the heavy cloak from his shoulders, placed it on the back of the chair, and took off the coat, turning his weary neck from side to side. The cloak he had taken off had a faint scent of medicinal herbs.

After he arrived, he tried to see his mother right away, but his mother had just fallen asleep, and he had decided to wait until evening and had just returned. Even when he went near his mother’s room, the vibrating scent of medicinal herbs broke his heart. It was purely his fault that the Duchess, who could not afford to be surrounded by the scent of flowers, lived in the musty smell of herbs.

If he could cut his heart out and his mother could be healed, he wanted to do it right now. He wanted to pour all of his magical energy into his mother’s body and do whatever it takes for her to get better. However, it was a disease that could not be cured even with his life and all his magical energy, so Kahel had no choice but to struggle with guilt.

Everyone praised him for possessing the most magical powers in all of the history of the Logos, but it was nothing but a curse to him. If he hadn’t been born with this kind of magic, his mother wouldn’t have been so sick, and maybe he wouldn’t have been cursed by this devilish curse. He may lead the Luave family and the Logos to prosperity with this overflowing magical power, but it was clear that he would not gain a single grain of happiness.

‘Ah, not …… one grain.’

He thought as he glanced at Lena, who was waiting for him with the simple clothes. He didn’t know it when Lena was gone, but only when she appeared did he realize that he was slowly suffocating himself. She was now his only breath. A little snow rabbit who comforts him and is the only haven where he does not have to suppress himself compulsively.

He smiled without realizing it and Lena tilted her head not knowing why he was smiling. And she was so cute that Kahel smiled again.

“You seem to like that outfit. You used to take those clothes out often.”

“Oh! If you don’t like it, I’ll get another one right away!”

Lena’s face turned red from embarrassment, but Kahel gently took the clothes she was holding and went behind the veil to change his clothes. It was black woolen pants and a white linen shirt with an accommodating sleeves. He didn’t know at first because the clothes that he wore comfortably indoors were all there, but he realized it only after feeling a little uncomfortable in the clothes Arder brought out one day.

Of course, she wasn’t giving out one shirt every day, but taking turns taking out several shirts with the same design. However, there are other shirts, but seeing that she insists on a shirt with that design, he burst into laughter because he seemed to have glimpsed Lena’s taste.

‘This shirt…… The front line is quite deep…….’

In fact, it was the kind that he didn’t wear often. In the past, he was obsessively careful about buttoning his neck up and not exposing his skin whenever possible, but since Lena gave out this shirt, Kahel has been wearing it without any complaints. To be honest, he sometimes regretted that Lena didn’t think of anything after looking at his body, and he wondered if Lena’s eyes would stay on his skin that was exposed like this…….

Thinking of it rationally, it was stupid, but in front of Lena, he wants her to see him like this for some reason.

With that thought, he undid one or two more buttons on the shirt before he stopped. No matter how much it was, it was clear that his father would tease him over and over if the truth had been revealed to his father. His father was the type of person who was persistent if he was going to make fun of him.

“Where is your room?”

“The second room after we entered into the hallway next door. I’m worried that I might get lost because the castle is big.”

“I wish the room was a little closer…….”

“If you pull the rope, the bell will ring in my room, so I will run here right away.”

“Don’t run. You’ll fall down.”

At his words, as if worried about a child, Lena laughed. Her stomach was tickling for nothing. She was somehow upset that such a sweet person had been cursed so badly, and in fact, she couldn’t believe it. She still had a sense of brightness in her eyes when she looked at Kahel, but she didn’t have the slightest desire to run into him or harm him.

‘Oh, of course…… Sometimes……It feels weird, but… … .’

Even so, that strange feeling was far from her will to do something. Just…… It felt like the inside of her chest was churning, her heart was beating fast, and it felt like a snake crawling behind her neck, so it was just a strange feeling. The vague feeling she felt when Kahel touched her cheek the day she met Elliot again as he unlocked the blessing he had bestowed upon her.

“Can I prepare some bath water?”

“Replace it with a hot spring bath before going to bed. First…… I want some hot tea.”

“Yes! I will prepare it soon.”

After Lena answered and turned around, she realized that this wasn’t the Ardennes mansion, so she didn’t know where the tea leaves or tea utensils were.

“I’ll, I’ll ask where it is soon.”

Looking at the shy Lena, Kahel showed her where the tea leaves and tea cups were, with a smile on his face.

“If you open the top drawer of the chest of drawers next to the closet there, you will find a tea leaf container. For teapots and glasses, use what is in the cabinet.”

It was only when she looked at Kahel, who seemed to know every corner of the room naturally, that Lena realized a new fact about him. This was his room, where he occasionally came down. Even before meeting her, Kahel must have come here often. So it was only natural that Kahel was familiar with this place and she was unfamiliar with it.

But it seems that Kahel’s life she didn’t know had melted into every corner of this room, and Lena felt like she had been deprived of something out of the blue. She thought she knew enough about Kahel’s service by now, but it feels like she was at the starting point again.

But that didn’t change what she had to do. Lena, who thought so, carefully opened the top drawer of the chest of drawers and looked down at a few cans of black tea leaves neatly placed inside. She carefully opened the lids one by one, sniffed the scent, and took out the rosemary tea, which he enjoys mostly for afternoon tea. The teacups in the decorative cabinet felt a little more dignified than those used in the capital mansion, so it was a little awkward.

“Would you like some tea biscuits?”

“My party is being prepared, the kitchen will be in chaos. I don’t want to add one more job to them.”

For Kahel, it was just an excuse he put on because he didn’t want Lena to run around and leave him, but Lena thought that Kahel was also kind. A superior that wanted to reduce the work of the lower ones, a virtue that, with Baron Fidelia, she did not even dare to wish for.

Lena placed the teacup and teapot on the table where he was sitting, and heated the water by placing an iron kettle with water on top of the fireplace. In the meantime, Kahel scanned the documents of the estate that he had received from his father, and the firewood burned with a crackling sound, and steam spurted out of the heated kettle with a squawk. After a while, the well-brewed tea poured onto the teacup, and the scent of rosemary, which cleared his head, drifted over his nose. And he waited for Lena as she sat across from him naturally, waiting for him to pick up the teacup.

There was no more perfect peace for Kahel to feel.

The warm warmth, the small noises, the scent of tea, the small breath of someone other than him, a straight gaze at him, and Lena, who exists at a distance as if he could reach her if he stretched out his hand.

Kahel took his eyes off the papers that had not been turned at all for sometime, and looked at Lena opposite him. Perhaps because of the mood, Lena’s eyes looking at him seemed clearer than usual and full of good faith.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“No. I’m fine. I just fell asleep along the way.”

“Still, there is no reason not to be tired of traveling. In the evening, take a hot spring bath and rest. It seems like you will sleep soundly today even if there is nothing.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Kahel smiled and lifted the teacup and put the things he had been thinking about for a while into his mouth.

“After work here, when we return to Ardennes, you will probably have to attend the Spring Banquet.”

“Spring Banquet?”