The Devilish Duke Can't Sleep

Proofreader: somnium

Regardless of the various thoughts of the people gathered in the banquet hall, the beautifully adorned Kahel led Luahalla to the place where the Queen and the Grand Duke were seated.

“As soon as you hear the test results of the bloodstone and lylok, I can’t believe you captured the Marquis of Rognac, really Kahel.”

Lian was more interested in Luahalla that he brought with him than in Kahel’s splendid attire. Anyone thinking of doing business with Hildebrunn will usually think of Marquis Walid, the brother-in-law and diplomatic representative of King Hildebrunn, but Kahel didn’t want someone loyal to Hildebrunn.

Although he was a prince, Luahalla was more unstable than Marquis Walid, and was able to sacrifice the interests of his motherland for his own benefit. It was a condition that was quite useful from Kahel’s point of view.

“My father sent my uncle to Hildebrunn belatedly, but Kahel must have expected that, too. In the name of Marquis of Rognac, five tons of bloodstone were sent to the Hildebrunn royal family.”

“The timing is good. He anticipates everything as if he was looking down the palm of his hand.”

“Anyway, for Hildebrunn, they would have had no choice but to sign a contract with the Luave family, the largest producer of bloodstone, but they could have been smarter than that. In a few years, Kahel will definitely lower the price. There will also be a scheme for Marquis Rognac’s personal gain. Uncle warned them about that, but to stop listening to it with only 5 tons of bloodstone…….”

“That’s their situation, and I personally think Kahel handled it quickly and well this time. I’m really curious as to what the hell is going on in his head. Well, that aside, should we take this opportunity to replace all the bloodstones in our mansion? 50% brighter…….”

“Brother. Have you decided to make our father upset?”

Liddell poked Lian’s side and frowned slightly.

Liddell was cute even when she rolled her eyes, but Lian noticed that Liddell didn’t like Kahel’s success. Of course, as a member of the Santella family, she cannot welcome the success of her rival, the Luaves, but Liddell’s heart is a bit different from that. Because Kahel succeeds; the more he succeeds, the more she thinks she should have as much success.

Lian sips champagne and looks back at Kahel. Kahel was introducing Luahalla to the Queen.

Both the Queen, who was dressed in lavish fashion like a goddess for her husband’s birthday, or Luahalla, who would not have swept through his hair in order not to miss his long-awaited opportunity, were both dazzling. If they had been the only ones there, it would have been eye catching.

Unfortunately, they had the “best” Kahel Luave next to them. The black hair, which seemed to have been swept away however it was, created a more mysterious atmosphere by moderately covering his red eyes, and after putting on a silver gray vest and a black coat, a ruby ​​brooch was dazzling on top of neatly bare cravat. There must have been insidious gazes clinging to the top of the pants, where his tight thigh muscles were hidden.

They’ve never seen Kahel in a suit that fits his body so well, so those who saw his dazzling figure today thought that he must have covered up the silhouette of his body to suppress his devilish powers even a little.

‘Kahel is totally determined.’

Lian handed an empty champagne glass to a passing attendant and took a new one.

For him, Kahel Luave was just as interesting as his sister. He was different from an early age, but as he grew older, he was so resourceful and clever that it was as if he was really the devil.

It was also surprising that he was using that devilish power called a curse as his weapon. If he had had such a nightmare as a child, it would have been a work to just survive sanely, but to use that trauma as a power now, it would have been impossible with a normal mental strength.

‘Kahel was definitely far ahead of us. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to take over the Duke’s seat in the first place. Damian Luave, the former master of the house, wasn’t an ordinary person either.’

The champagne was sweet, the music played was upbeat, and the scent of perfume mixed with the flesh of the young ladies was moderately distracting. As soon as he handed the empty champagne glass to the attendant again, Lian thought out of the blue.

‘Even curses are used as power, is there any weakness in Kahel?’

Lian glanced at Kahel like a child searching for a fun toy. Kahel looked perfect from head to toe. However, as far as Lian knew, there was no human without weakness in the world.

“Duke of Luave! You shine even brighter today. After all, the title of the greatest beauty in Logos suits Duke the best.”

Queen Fabian greeted Kahel with a warm smile.

“I offer the glory of Logos under the power of Her Majesty. Her Majesty the Queen is dazzlingly beautiful.”

Kahel lowered one of his knees and placed his lips lightly on Fabian’s hand. No matter how unaffected by Kahel’s devilish powers, there was no one who would hate to have the back of their hand kissed from a young handsome man who was loyal.

“Duke Luave, get up. I think you’ll get too much attention when you kneel on your knees in this place. Hohoho. By the way, the person who attended…… your partner today, he’s as reliable as a duke.”

Kahel introduced Luahalla in front of Fabian who had shown the right interest at the right time.

“This is my close friend, Marquis Luahalla Rognac. As a diplomat belonging to the Hildebrunn Diplomats, I think Your Majesty the Queen is familiar with him, but I came here because this friend wanted to greet Your Majesty directly.”

“The Duke’s friend…… ? Hmm…… Then I’m the one who has to accept the greetings. I think I’ve seen you a couple of times before, but nice to meet you, Marquis Rognac.”

Luahalla took a deep breath and kissed the back of Fabian’s hand, bowing out politely.

“Yes, if Duke Luave brought you right in front of me, there must be a reason. What business?”

Fabian hasn’t had this happen once or twice in the last 23 years of her life as queen. If one of the few nobles who was able to see her on their own greeted someone with their own name, it meant that even as the Queen, she could not pretend to be ignorant. And it was usually behind-the-scenes work to start a new business in the kingdom.

“I’m not going to talk about it for a long time. I want to start a fashion business at Logos. We have already received investment from Sir Kahel, and we are confident that we will succeed. Of course, I am not the only one to start a business to enjoy wealth and glory. Through this business, many jobs will be created within Logos, the earned goods will be reinvested in Logos, and above all, the fashion world of Logos will be diversified. The current Logos fashion world is…… I have a feeling it’s being influenced by one person…….”

Luahalla, on Kahel’s advice, did not mention Liddell’s name. Just mentioning Liddell could hurt the Queen’s pride. However, there was no way Fabian didn’t know who that ‘one person’ was. A strange fervor flashed in her eyes.

“Huh, to think of such a wise idea, you deserve to be a close friend of Duke Luave. Don’t drink too much during the banquet, and come to the Violet Room in two hours. Because I want to hear more details.”

Fabian gave a light dismissal order as if she was conscious of the people waiting to greet her from behind them. For Luahalla, the response was more than expected.

“Thank you very much, Sir Kahel. It doesn’t seem like it would be difficult to start a business thanks to this.”

“It’s all thanks to Sir Luahalla’s best efforts.”

A couple of hours later, finishing his rehearsal in the Violet Room, Luahalla thanked Kahel as he tried to calm his still-pounding chest.

Although he was a diplomat, he didn’t have the opportunity to share personal stories with the Queen, as the one who met the Queen most of the time was Marquis Walid, a diplomatic representative. Of course he couldn’t have brought up his desire to start his own business at Logos. However, his position in Hildebrunn was very unstable, and he wanted to start his second life in a place where his older brother’s powers would not extend.

At this point, the discovery of a reaction between lylok and the bloodstone was nothing short of a fortune for him. It was not easy to grill his father and his older brother with all kinds of sweet talk, but they had no choice but to lower their tails when he said, ‘Duke Luave won’t buy it at that price.’

Having worked so hard to seize such a great opportunity, Luahalla received the grace that would not be lacking even if he lived by supporting Kahel. Of course, Kahel is also not a philanthropist, so it was not unknown to Luahalla that there was a reason to support him. He must succeed and become a strong ally of Duke Luave.

“By the way, your outfit today is really cool. It stands out a lot more than what you normally wear, but it suits you very well.”

“As Sir Luahalla’s business is in the fashion industry, it seems like it would be a shame to see that the person who would be the sponsor didn’t care too much about it.”

“But you have to be careful. I am worried because I think the number of people who fall for Sir Kahel will increase. Asking you to remain as my own Sir Kahel ….. It is too much of a request, right?”

Luahalla looked at Kahel with eyes that seemed to contain affection. Then Kahel burst into laughter, as if he had been attacked by surprise.

“Sir Luahalla. I heard you almost swept away all the purification potion from the temple closest to your house…… That would be enough to become a monk, wouldn’t it?”

Kahel said it like it was no big deal, but Luahalla had a chill on his back. He had different attendants to buy the potion of purification each time, but how did Kahel know that he bought them all?

He was ashamed to the point that his face turned red that Kahel had already looked through the act of him pretending to be in love with Kahel, and he was also afraid that there was nothing this man didn’t know.

* * *

Liddell, still tired of being approached by people, became even more depressed after the Queen’s audience. There was something unsettling about Fabian from the moment she went into the Violet Room, which was an absolute secret room, and she was smirking all the time.

Unsurprisingly, Fabian, who normally only greeted her lightly and passed by, dared to call Liddell, pretending to be friendly, but suddenly praised Kahel.

“I am always admiring the hard work and loyalty of the Duchies of Luave and Santella. Duke Santella is such an outstanding person that I don’t have to worry about him, but I’m always surprised by Duke Luave, who took over as the Duke at an early age. How can he be so serious and wise at such a young age….?”

She smiled kindly and seemed to lift the two Duchies, but the problem was that the person she caught to say that to was Liddell.