The Devilish Duke Can't Sleep

Proofreader: somnium

At the word ‘stable keeper’, Mrs. Marvin’s eyes quickly became sharp.

“Are you talking about Theo and his daughter?”

“That’s right. Theo and Sid. You must know.”

“Hmph! Those vulgar, stinky things have already been taken to the Duchy of Luave. I wonder if there is a hobby of collecting dirty things in that house.”

The young man looked down at Mrs. Marvin and smiled. He was the man who had been ordered to bring Theo and Sid back, even by kidnapping, and he was already distraught when he heard that they had left for the Duchy of Luave long ago. He was thinking, ‘Should I go back empty-handed?’ At that moment, the Baron’s castle became noisy, and a woman who had been the maid chief was expelled.

‘Let’s take this woman first? If she’s useless, it won’t matter if I go and kill her.’

The hitman, who introduced himself as a vassal of the Santella family, with a friendly smile, invited Mrs. Marvin to go with him to Ardennes. When he added a plausible reason that Miss Elliot missed the Baron’s castle’s maid chief, a rosy color appeared on Mrs. Marvin’s face.

* * *

On the evening that Mrs. Marvin arrived at the Duchy of Santella, Liddell also returned from Hildebrunn.

“Are you back, Miss?”

At the hospitality of her vassals and her servants, Liddell can finally smile as she feels that she has returned to her home. It was because in Hildebrunn, she was getting annoyed because Ragdrill kept trying and tricking to hold on to her for a few more days. Fortunately, he was a person who values his own safety more, so she was able to come back without any fuss by saying, ‘I have to go back to prepare to attack the Sage’s Village.’

“Did anything fun happen while I was away?”

Liddell’s smiling face was like a flower in a greenhouse that had grown innocently and clearly, but her close acquaintances knew very well that it wasn’t her real face. Before she left for Hildebrunn, Liddell had given her aides what had to be done, and now that she has returned, they must have been able to show the results.

“There was a message from Miss Margella, and the one who had gone to Kerouac to pick up the stable keeper family has returned.”

“Good. Shall we hear about Margella first?”

While the hitman, which Liddell had sent to Kerouac, was headed to the parlor, Maria read the contents of a letter from Margella.

“It is said that two people from the Santella family sent by Miss succeeded in summoning the monsters.”

“Good news. The two of them had good magical powers, so I thought they could do it.”

Liddell looked genuinely happy. This made it possible for Leonard to complete the demon army without even having to go to Revanas.

It was good news for Margella’s side, but the one she sent to Kerouac failed to bring Theo and Sid. But the information he brought was not very disappointing.

“Theo and Sid, the stable keeper family, had already left for the Duchy of Luave before. It is even said that Theo was a member of the investigation team sent to Kerouac. It looks like he was treated quite well there. And instead of Theo and Sid, I brought back the maid chief, who had just been kicked out of the Baron’s castle. She said she’s been the maid chief since Baron Fidelia was the owner of the castle, so I wondered if she knew something. It is said that she also had a close relationship with Miss Elliot.”

His story contained important information. The maid, Lena, was most likely Kahel’s close maid, and the people she cherished the most were the stable keeper’s family. However, the fact that Kahel had called them into the Duke’s house meant that he was taking care of a woman named Lena much more than she expected. Moreover, the fact that he had sent an investigation team to Kerouac meant that Kahel also felt the need to investigate the maid.

“Interesting…… very interesting…….”

Liddell’s reddish, moist lips curled with satisfaction. Although their exact relationship is not known, Kahel was clearly weak with the maid, Lena.

“Good. Maria! Go and call Elliot. It’s time to give Elliot a maid as well.”

Immediately at Liddell’s orders, Maria went to pick up Elliot, and the man who had been sent to Kerouac brought in Mrs. Marvin, who was waiting outside her room. Mrs. Marvin thought that the beautiful Liddell was an angel, and she opened her mouth wide and stiffened without realizing it.

“Hmm! She is Lady Liddell Santella. Mind your manners.”

Mrs. Marvin, as if awakened by the man’s words, fell flat on the floor.

“Gre, gre, Greetings Lady. My, my name is Sarah Marvin.”

“Welcome, Sarah. I heard you suffered a pitiful treatment in Baron Jenkins’ castle. You say you have nowhere to go?”

“Sniiff, yes, Lady. Baron Jenkins moves at every word from Duke Luave. Not only did he kill Baron Fidelia’s family, he took my money and drove me out. It’s all because of that despicable girl in the Duke’s house. I was told that the Lady also knew.”

“Are you talking about a girl called…. Lena?”

“Yes, that girl. Born to a mother who was like a prostitute, it seems that even Duke Luave was possessed. That girl must have been so twisted. But the Duke too, how can he be possessed by such a lowly thing and do such a thing…….”

Liddell recognized at a glance what kind of person Mrs. Marvin was. She was typically beguile in front of the strong and overbearing in front of the weak. As soon as Baron Fidelia was executed, she served Baron Jenkins, who was her enemy in a row, and it was funny to say that she was a great loyalist.

In particular, the reason why this woman hated the maid named Lena was so disgusting. It’s because the woman Baron Fidelia loved was Lena’s mother. Liddell could not comprehend the women who lost so much dignity for only one man.

“Sarah. Well, I think you need to be careful with your mouth. If you talk about the Duke’s family recklessly in Ardennes, you, a commoner, will be decapitated at once. You’re so obsessed with just one country girl, you can’t tell the difference between public and private? Do you think Duke Luave, one of the Guardians of the Logos and carrying half the country, would be such a sloppy human being?”

“What? That’s, that’s right. That’s because I don’t know anything. Please forgive me, Lady.”

Mrs. Marvin’s change of attitude was swift. If it was Elliot, she would have made excuses for her actions first, but Mrs. Marvin, a commoner, immediately lowered her head saying that she was wrong. Liddell, in a way, thought Mrs. Marvin would understand more than Elliot.

And around that time, Maria came in with Elliot.

“Did you call me, Lady?”

Not noticing that Mrs. Marvin was there, Elliot turned to Liddell and raised her bow.

“Elliot. Was it inconvenient because there was no maid in charge of Elliot? I’m going to hire a maid who knows Elliot. How about it?”

“Yes? A maid who knows me?”

Elliot tilted her head at the words about a maid who knew her, and then her eyes met Mrs. Marvin, who was lying on the floor and looked at her.

“Sarah!”

“Miss, Miss Elliot…… ! Huhuu…….”

Mrs. Marvin shed tears as if she was moved. Those false tears were funny to Liddell, but it seemed to have worked for Elliot. Elliot begged Liddell for a pardon, then ran to Mrs. Marvin, who took her hand.

“Sarah! I missed you.”

“Me too, Miss. How many times have I searched Kerouac to find Miss. But, how happy would Madam Fidelia be that you are Lady Santella’s lady-in-waiting.….”

Elliot began to weep at those words. It was because she recalled how happy she was when she lived in Kerouac as Lady Fidelia.

“I’m glad Elliot is happy, too. Let Sarah be Elliot’s maid from now on.”

At Liddell’s soft voice, Elliot and Mrs. Marvin bowed their heads toward her.

“Thank you, Miss. I will never forget your grace for the rest of my life.”

“It’s the same with me, Lady. From now on, I will serve Duchy Santella with loyalty.”

Neither of them knew what Liddell was thinking about doing such a philanthropy. For Liddell, the investment in Elliot or Mrs. Marvin was trivial. When they were useless, she only had to give Maria a bit of a hint. Then from the next day onwards, they will be invisible in front of her.

The more important person is Lena, whom they despise, and considered insignificant. Liddell let Elliot and Mrs. Marvin go and she and Maria sat alone.

“Father will appear briefly at the Spring Banquet and depart for Hildebrunn with Margella.”

“Will the Sage’s Village subjugation take a long time?”

“There aren’t that many wizards in the Sage’s Village. Not all of them have a lot of magical power. They can do some tricks with the magic stone, but they won’t be able to defeat the monster army that Margella has raised. Two days if they dragged it for a long time?”

“If it’s short, you’re saying it can be finished in one day?”

“Sure. Because Margella did a really good job.”

Liddell had no objection to black magic at all. Far from being repulsed, she believed that magic should aim for black magic.

She also let Margella follow her own will. Although she occasionally talks cheeky, no one in the family has been as useful as Margella. The appearance of the hideous monsters she summoned was not to her liking, but Liddell could tolerate that much if it helped her in the future. Considering that those monsters would destroy Kahel, it sometimes looked cute.

“By the way, Kahel isn’t perfect either. Creating weaknesses…… I can’t believe he’s that disappointing?”

“Oh my, isn’t it something we should rather be happy about? It’s proof that he’s a human, too.”

“Human? Fufu. Well, even though he is a human being who is close to a monster, there are definitely parts of him that are human. Anyway, I really like the close maid named Lena, who made Kahel shake like that.”

“Are you telling me to get ready?”

Maria smiled softly, her eyes bent beautifully. Maria knew everything her Miss wanted. It was thanks to the fact that they grew up together from a young age and received thorough education and training. Liddell’s lady-in-waiting, Maria, was the leader of ‘Parax’, an armed intelligence group that Liddell had personally. She and Liddell were inseparable.

“Because I feel really comfortable when I’m with Maria.”

Liddell grinned. It was the same smile she wore when she killed all of the children her age and brought Maria, who was left bloodied alone, out of the hellish arena of slavery. Maria could do anything to see Liddell’s smile. Even if it was kidnapping and imprisonment, or even murder.