The Devilish Duke Can't Sleep

Proofreader: somnium

No, it never was. Kahel didn’t want to lose this lovely maid with peach-colored cheeks, bright violet eyes, and a lovely bright smile. No matter how many employees he was surrounded by, he had no intention of taking Lena away from him.

She is the one who opened it all up. She is the one who took him out of the darkness. The person who opened up his cramped chest and allowed him to breathe.

“Lena…….”

As he repeated her name on his lips, like a habit, Kahel gently traced the sleeping Lena’s cheek with his finger. The soft cheeks were unbearably sweet. Kahel quietly lifted his body up and pressed his lips to Lena’s cheek and lifted it. Even the momentary touch of the flesh on his lips was a chilling stimulus.

He thought about it when they were in the hot spring together, but this was never a feeling he would feel for a pet, a servant, or a child. Kahel was forced to admit his feelings, which he had been ignoring, where he kept saying, ‘no way.’

He was treating Lena with the feelings of those who rushed to him because of his devilish powers. Of course, it wouldn’t be exactly the same, but it had enough in common in terms of physical desire and monopoly.

Because of the horrific memories of his past, he has been obsessively wary of his own sexual desires for others, and he has come to have feelings for Lena without him even knowing it. He couldn’t even remember when he had these thoughts.

He remembers exactly when she put the millefeuille cream on her lips and he thought he wanted to suck it up, but maybe even before that, he had, unknowingly, considered Lena as such. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had such a sudden thought.

It was terrifying to even think like this. All the people who had such feelings for him tried to harm him, so he was afraid that he would also want to harm Lena.

“I want…….”

The true feelings he had been hiding came out. It was. He wanted Lena. Lena was already Kahel’s close maid, but the feeling of wanting was different from that. He wanted to attribute everything about Lena to him. Not just her body, but her mind as well.

But on the other hand, it’s all just his circumstances, and he doesn’t know what Lena’s thoughts were. From Lena’s point of view, it was a problem that she might consider her master to be very annoying. No, it almost certainly will.

Besides, she was an innocent and pure child, so if she knew exactly about the devilish curse he had, she could feel disgusted. Just imagining Lena’s reluctant gaze at him made his heart ache. He wondered if Lena will be by his side because he will give her this and that material things.

Kahel sighed deeply.

* * *

“Welcome, Lady Santella!”

“Thank you very much for the hospitality, Your Highness.”

Upon Crown Prince Hildebrunn’s entrance, Liddell jumped up from her seat and approached Ragdrill with a bright smile. Ragdrill was captivated from the moment Liddell appeared.

“Oh my …… ! I’ve heard rumors about you, but really…… you are really beautiful.”

“I am embarrassed, Your Highness. I heard that the Crown Princess is also a beautiful woman.”

“To compare yourself to a woman like that, your humility is too much. You have a beauty like the descending Goddess of Beauty. It’s nothing compared to humans.”

At that, Liddell smiled. Her smile was also dazzling, so Ragdrill couldn’t come to his senses. The emissary’s words were right. The portrait of the Duke of Santella’s family did not fully express Liddell’s beauty.

Soon a dazzling refreshment was set in front of them. It was what Ragdrill painstakingly prepared for Liddell. Liddell picked up the teacup with her graceful fingers and drank it with her soft, plump lips. Each figure was engraved on Ragdrill’s eyes.

“I heard that Your Majesty, who is so kind and affectionate, is taking on a lot of troublesome work.”

When Liddell opened her lips, Ragdrill, who had been staring blankly at Liddell, suddenly came to his senses.

“Aah! Exactly. It’s not easy being the king of a country. There is always a mountain of work to be dealt with. Haha!”

“Oh my, it must be so hard. Of course, I understand that you are working hard for the country, but you have to take care of your health. Above all else, your health is the most important issue.”

“Oh, you’re kind.”

“But, if we leave the concerned issues as they are, it will consume your mental power and adversely affect your health, right? But I heard that we might be able to help with one of them.”

“It’s about the Sage’s Village. Sigh…… Those guys are really stupid. To leave it as it is, it’s parasites that don’t do anything to the Kingdom, and if we get rid of it, we’re afraid they’ll get revenge on us. I didn’t give the Tanel Forest to them just to get a few pennies in taxes……”

“The bad people are those who pretended as if they were going to give the power of the Kingdom, not His Highness who had good intentions.”

“That, that’s what I was saying! But the nobles say it’s all my fault…….”

Hosting the Sage’s Village was the first achievement that Ragdrill achieved as a Crown Prince. Even at that time 15 years ago, the nobles who praised the 17-year-old Ragdrill for having the King’s talent to achieve greatness, now criticize him for not having enough insight. Ragdrill frowned as he recalled the nobles who became hostile to him day by day. Liddell whispered, not missing the opportunity.

“In my opinion, there must be someone shaking the nobility.”

“What? Who do you mean?”

In this case, she should never open her mouth hastily. Liddell knew the timing to shake people’s hearts better than anyone.

“This is just my very personal opinion, so it’s hard to say it out loud. Think of it as a lie and forget it.”

“No! Any comments will definitely be helpful to me.”

“Well, even if I speak foolishly, Your Highness is wise to only listen to them, so I don’t have to worry…….”

“Lady Santella. No, Miss Liddell. Please, let me know your opinion.”

“Ummm…… I’m don’t mean anything, but when you see Hildebrunn’s internal affairs, isn’t there one person who will be more than happy to shake your position? There is only one person who can take Your Highness’ place with dignity. It’s not unusual to see that that person’s growing up frighteningly fast in Logos these days.”

At those words, Ragdrill’s face hardened terribly.

“You mean Luahalla.”

Liddell just smiled embarrassedly and waited for Ragdrill to speak. Ragdrill began to get excited, as if he had found evidence of his brother’s treason. Still, it was because he was feeling himself that the support for Luahalla had increased recently.

“He has been cunning since childhood. I could see his dark inside, but in front of Father and other nobles, he pretended not to have any greed. But as his older brother, I cherished and loved him. Still, that guy……!”

“There are a lot of people who take it for granted if the favor continues. He may be ignoring you in his heart, thinking that you know nothing.”

“Exactly! That’s what I always wanted to say! That guy is vicious and cowardly! Ha, I can’t tell you how grateful I am for Lady to understand my feelings. No one here is even trying to understand me.”

“No way. Perhaps, everyone agrees because they are afraid of Sir Luahalla or, no, they are afraid of the Luave family on his back. However, as our Santella family grows stronger, Sir Luahalla’s power will become relatively weak, and the nobles of Hildebrunn will naturally return to Your Highness. Let us help make that happen.”

“Oh, Miss Liddell!”

Ragdrill completely fell for Liddell, who comforted and persuaded him. There was never a dull moment in the conversation with Liddell as she only said what he wanted to hear. Thanks to this, Liddell was able to get out of Ragdrill’s room only after an hour passed the meeting began.

Maria, who was waiting outside, followed her quietly.

“Did you have a good conversation?”

As she climbed into the carriage, Maria opened her mouth, and Liddell grinned as if it was her answer to it.

“His Highness Ragdrill must ascend the throne. He is also a very communicative person.”

“Then, the Sage’s Village…….”

“Father and Margella will come and clean it up by themselves. Hildebrunn gets the resource-rich Tanel Forest back, and we get magic stones. It’s mutually beneficial.”

“Will the nobles of Hildebrunn stand still?”

“Pfft! Will they stand still? Ragdrill was also the one who brought the Sage’s Village into Hildebrunn, but let’s say he attacked it himself. The nobles will speak bitterly against Ragdrill.”

“Then…… Isn’t that bad?”

“It may be bad for Ragdrill, but it is essential for us. Ragdrill will blame his brother for all this and will force Marquis Rognac to return to Hildebrunn. And Marquis Rognac will somehow die in the process.”

Liddell’s smile brightened. Even if this attack actually failed, as long as the magic stone was obtained from the Sage’s Village, it was not much of a loss to the Santella family. On the contrary, the relationship between Ragdrill and Luahalla could get worse, so it would be better to plan things in the direction of failure.

“Obtain the magic stone, get rid of the annoying humans, and break Kahel’s power. Isn’t it beneficial in many ways?”

At Liddell’s words, Maria smiled as well. She has always liked the Miss’ elegant way.

The next day, Liddell visited Ragdrill and planned to attack the Sage’s Village.

“You will probably need two knight troops.”

“No. There is no need to forcefully dispatch Your Highness’ loyal troops. A group of monsters will appear in front of the Sage’s Village, attack the village and disappear. All we need is an army to clean up.”

“Monster? Did you just say monster?”

Even though Ragdrill hated the Sage’s Village, no matter how it is, he couldn’t be complacent with the word monster. There is no such thing as reason, and there are monsters that cannot be tamed, but where is the guarantee that the monsters that ate up the Sages will not attack other private houses? No, before that, he couldn’t understand how to predict that a monster would appear and attack the Sage’s village.

Liddell explained to Ragdrill again in a friendly voice.

“The Santella family has been studying monsters for a long time. Of course, it was all research to deal with what if the monsters that appeared in the Sharden Territory came over to Revanas. Anyway, after many years of research by great people, we have accumulated a considerable level of knowledge related to monsters. I can’t tell you the details because it’s a family secret, but I can assure you that your concerns won’t happen.”