The Devilish Duke Can't Sleep

Proofreader: somnium

It reminded him of the old Lena, who didn’t even respond to his smile. It was natural for her to feel fear and rejection. Because he was nothing more than a monster only covered in beautiful skin.

In addition, he himself, who thought the devilish curse and the extraordinary appearance were painful, may be no more than a hypocrite. Having suffered so much because of his outward appearance, he had to try to look inside people. But has it ever really been like that? As he was too busy just beating everyone up and throwing them away…….

Besides, even now, very naturally, he demeaned Sid’s appearance first. He must have unknowingly felt superior in terms of appearance.

Thinking like that made him feel miserable.

“Then…… In your opinion, I must have been quite repulsive.”

Lena raised her tensed eyes at Kahel’s calm voice and looked at him, and then she carefully opened her mouth.

“Uh…… To be honest, it, it is true that I was scared at first. Honestly, I can’t forget the day we first met…….”

Come to think of it, he had slashed the baron’s and the baroness’ necks in front of Lena’s eyes. How terrible was that? Kahel, who remembered the memories, couldn’t bear to see Lena’s face, so he looked down at the teacup and fiddled with it.

In the meantime, Lena cleared her throat once more and spoke her words carefully .

“But now…… I feel sorry for Your Excellency because you seem so gentle and affectionate.”

It was then that Kahel’s head lifted slightly.

“You gave me too many things, brought Uncle Theo and Sid, and not long ago, you praised me…….”

“Praise?”

“That…… Here…….”

Lena quickly pointed the tip of her index finger to her forehead, then lowered her hand. She didn’t know why her face was getting hotter.

“There’s nothing I can do for Duke, but you’re so nice…… I don’t know how to repay all this favor.”

Kahel felt his heart, which had just been like a bleak winter night, warmed up by Lena’s blushing cheeks and shy gratitude. This maid doesn’t know what a miracle she is to him. Favor? Thanks? That was what he had to say here.

As he thought about it, he even thought that he had been treating Lena a bit too much because he had never known Lena’s identity. He wanted to do something that would make Lena more happy.

“That’s right, it must be because you suffered so much at Barony Fidelia. This is how everyone who serves closest to the great nobles lives. I thought I was mean for not being able to improve your treatment on the pretext of being busy.”

“What? It’s not even worth it! I am being treated well enough.”

“Thank you for thinking like that, but from now on, get used to receiving. You need to be aware of how great your position is.”

Lena tried to refute, but Kahel immediately put another topic on his lips and she shut her mouth.

“It’s almost December, do you have a coat and fur shoes for winter?”

“Just for the coat, there is the woolen coat that you bought me last time. I didn’t buy them because I thought I didn’t need more.”

“Hmm. That’s not enough. I need to order a sable coat and fur shoes soon.”

“Yes? Why…… Is it necessary?”

“I go sledding at Sharden in winter.”

“Yes…….”

“And you are my one and only maid.”

“Ah……!”

Kahel smiled slightly at Lena, whose eyes were startled. The only reason the winter was good for him was being able to ride a sleigh. The first time he went to Sharden and rode a sleigh pulled by reindeer was when he was seven years old.

He was so excited and it helped him keep his sanity even though it was a difficult time because of his unruly devilish power. If it wasn’t for the sense of liberation he felt while riding the sleigh, he would have gone crazy even at that time.

He wanted to make Lena feel the freedom and joy of sledding. It’ll make her face cold, but Lena shouldn’t feel uncomfortable enjoying sledding, as he’s going to buy her warm fur coat with a hood and high-quality, meticulously made, waterproof boots anyway.

“It would be better to prepare for it soon as we’re talking about it.”

Kahel didn’t even notice Lena’s surprise, but called Arder and told him to call the fur merchant right away.

* * *

That evening, the fur merchant who ran over had to measure an unknown woman. At first glance she looked like a maid, but the price of the fur coat and fur shoes was so high that the fur merchant thought she couldn’t possibly be a maid. Moreover, he had to write a promise to keep a secret about today’s commission, so he decided that the maid was the secret mistress of the Duke.

The marten fur he mainly deals with is high-quality fur in general, so no matter how low the grade, the price was high. So, he usually recommends products with the lowest grade, but since the Duke has come all the way to him, he decided to carefully recommend grade 3 marten fur products.

“The marten fur is divided into grades 1, 2, and 3, and below them, grades A, B, and C. Non-grade products are a little lacking for long-term use, so how about making them with grade 3 marten fur?”

“The first class.”

“Ah…… Yes…….”

The Duke, who had asked him to measure the woman, sat from afar and looked at it, replied indifferently. It was as if he was angry, saying, “How dare you make light of Duke Luave!” The fur merchant didn’t know if his heart was pounding because of the devilish powers of that monstrous Duke, or because he was afraid he was going to die.

“Well, then, the shoes…… Shall we use premium bearskin?”

“You’re talking nonsense.”

It must have been something to be happy about, but the fur merchant was only trembling.

“Since you ordered a design with a hood, you can take off the hat…….”

“Of course, I need one as a coat and a set.”

“Ah, yes, then…… We will also make a winter hat with the same material as the coat. Do you not need a muffler or gloves separately?”

“Ah! There was a muffler and gloves, yes. Make it the best one.”

“I will provide the muffler with coats of marten fur products for free. Gloves are made of cowhide that fits to the hand and there is another with warm fur. Which style would you like?”

“Both.”

“Ah…… Yes…… Well, then, one marten fur hooded coat, one winter hat, one bearskin boots, one cowhide glove, one fur glove, and one marten fur muffler as a service. We will process the order like this.”

“I wish you could make it as soon as possible. If you need extra charges to rush the job, I’ll pay you.”

“Oh my gosh, of course, I will put the Duke’s request first. We will make it as soon as possible.”

The fur merchant hurriedly bowed his head and left the room, guided by Arder. Lena then looked back at him secretly and asked Kahel.

“May…… Maybe you ordered too many?”

“What? We didn’t have time, so I only ordered one of each.”

“Well, if it’s still fur…… Isn’t it very expensive?”

A smile suddenly appeared on Kahel’s lips when he realized Lena must have been counting the price hard on her own with her tiny head. He got up from his seat and slowly walked over to Lena’s side.

“Were you worried that the Duchy’s property would diminish?”

“However…… I’m just a maid…….”

“What did I say? You’ll have to get used to receiving. Your appearance will soon tie to my reputation. The Luave is the family of Guardians. It’s safe to say that the Duchy is actually a country. In other people’s eyes, I look like a king. What do you think the appearance of the only maid serving such a person should be?”

Lena’s mouth shuts tight at those words. She thought so. There is no way the maid who is standing next to His Excellency will be wearing shabby clothes. Lena eventually decided that all this was for Kahel, not her own. Then, she felt much more comfortable.

“I…… I will treat you with more sincerity…….”

“You’re already doing well, so don’t overdo it.”

Kahel, who came to Lena’s front before she knew it, looked down at Lena’s head, his head bowed down, and, hesitantly, raised his hand and gently stroked it.

The heat from her warm scalp made him feel strange. He looked to see if Lena might be offended, but Lena was smiling slightly while her cheeks were tinged. He wondered if he had seen it wrong, but she smiled once more as he lowered his hand, Lena grabbed her head, which he had just stroked, with both her hands.

Seeing that, Kahel took a deep breath. A really nice smile, no, it’s not enough to just say it looks good. Well, how does it feel to see an angel smile?

He wanted to reach that angel just a little bit more.

At the subconscious impulse, Kahel swept his fingers through the few strands of hair covering Lena’s forehead. Then, he tapped his own lips and pressed them down on her forehead, which revealed it’s pretty white and round figure.

“Uh…… Yo, Your Ex…….”

Lena, who was kissed on the forehead again unexpectedly, stiffened her body even though it was her second experience. It felt like all the nerves in her body were concentrated on her forehead.

“This time, you’re not smiling.”

Lena was even more embarrassed by Kahel’s expression, which showed disappointment.

‘After, after all, this is a praise, isn’t it? However…… I didn’t do anything worthy of praise…….’

It was strange that the behavior that she thought would be the greatest compliment the master gave to the employee came even though she did not do anything worthy of praise.

But on the other hand, she also felt that this was not for her to judge. It was rude to try to judge the behavior of the master as a maid. Whatever the master wants to do, or not wants to do.

So she decided to believe it was okay, she could just be purely happy. But even as she thought about it, she couldn’t get rid of her hardened face. It just got her mind dizzy.

She couldn’t remember how she got back to her room. Lena is still wiping away the goosebumps that had grown on her face. She recalled Kahel’s lips that had landed on her forehead and the scent of his body that she was able to smell thanks to his approach.

Her lips sometimes had dry, dead skin cells, but Kahel’s lips always looked soft and warm. It felt really good on her forehead. Should she call it the feeling of feathers tickling? She had never felt such a touch before, so she didn’t know what to compare it to.