The Devilish Duke Can’t Sleep

Proofreader: somnium

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Pale violet color

While Damien was immersed in such thoughts, the subtle scent of tea began to spread around him.
As Kahel pushed the teacup in front of Damien, he lifted it without thinking.

“The tea tastes good.”

“Th, thank you.”

The voice of an unfamiliar woman timidly said thank you.
Until then, Damien looked at Kahel without feeling any discomfort.

“Yes, what made our Kahel ask his dad to drink tea?”

“Pfft! Uhh eup! I’m, I’m sorry…….”

When he spoke to Kahel as if he was a child, the maid could not hold back her laughter and apologized by hurriedly bowing her head, and then Damien’s gaze turned to her.

“You’re a maid that I haven’t seen before.
When did you come to work here?”

“Ah, well, it’s been about half a year since I’ve served the Duke’s residence.
Nice to meet you, predecessor Duke Luave.”

“Wait a moment.
Did you just say that you are serving Kahel?”

“What? Yes…… Although I am lacking in many ways, I am working as his close maid.

Damien’s eyes widened.
And it was then that he remembered the story of the ‘mysterious maid’ that Arder had told him in a letter.
He never thought that she would be so close to him as to work directly for Kahel.
He always lived with a maid in Terra Luave, so he didn’t find it strange to have a maid in Kahel’s office.
He felt indifferent to how Kahel had been and he had forgotten how much he had suffered.

“So you are…… Lena…… I guess.”

“Yes.
My name is Lena.”

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It was only around that time that Kahel stepped in.

“Lena.
I’ll do the rest, so go out for a moment.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Lena carefully placed the teapot on the tea table, and without making a single sound from her footsteps, she quietly walked out of the office.
Even then, Damien’s big red eyes didn’t fall from Lena.

“As you can see, she doesn’t react at all to my devilish power.
Could it be that she is a distant relative somewhere?”

“Haa, ha, ha! That child, I mean, that is the maid Arder spoke of.
Yes, I have heard from Arder several times by letter, but seeing her with my own eyes is really surprising.”

Damian took another sip of the tea that Lena had brewed.
The fragrant scent lingered on the tip of his nose and then vanished leaving a faint trace.

“Who knows that child exists?”

“I tried not to divulge as much as possible, but it was difficult to keep her a complete secret since she was the close maid anyway.
She’s been seen by merchants and seamstresses who occasionally come in and out.
Even the people in the mansion know about her, but they all seem to believe that she is a priestess of the temple.
But she’s definitely not from the priesthood.
She is said to be the illegitimate daughter of Baron Fidelia, one of the group who conspired to explode the Luave mine, and she said she worked as a maid in the Barony.
I wondered if she was the illegitimate child of the Duke of Santella, but it seems very unlikely.”

Damien thought for a moment, tapping the tip of the armrest.

“If you ask about that child’s bloodline, that means you have feelings for that child? You wish she could be your wife…… ?”

“What? Ah, well, rather than that, I’m just asking because she doesn’t respond to the devilish power”

Kahel thought he had responded with great care, but his father’s eyes, who had raised him since he was a baby, could see the shyness that still lingered in his earlobe.

“Aha…… I see…….”

A playful smile appeared on Damien’s lips.
Kahel, who had only been precocious unlike his peers, took an interest in the opposite sex for the first time in his life.
Although the subject was the illegitimate child of a rural baron and a maid, it didn’t matter to Damen.
As long as she’s the woman who can teach his son the normal happiness of love, it was fine, even if it’s the daughter of a prostitute.

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‘Because you can create as many identities as you want.’

There were plenty of nobles who would secretly adopt her as their daughter if he spoke.
So Baron Fidelia’s illegitimate daughter could always be a certain Count’s daughter.

But he was definitely curious as to why that maid didn’t respond to Kahel’s devilish powers.
Maybe she holds the key to lift the devilish curse.

“Let’s dig behind that kid.
We’ll have to make sure she’s really Baron Fidelia’s illegitimate daughter.
By the way, she is also a pretty cute kid.”

“Oh, well, I think she looks pretty.”

“Seventeen? Eighteen?”

“She is nineteen this year.
She came of age last year.
She tends to look a little younger than her age.”

“Right…… What color are her eyes……?”

“It’s purple.
Maybe a little bit like a pale violet color.”

“Hmm…… I see.”

Damien lifted the teacup again and covered his mouth to hide the smile that crept on his mouth.
If Kahel, who had been indifferent to others, remembered carefully that the color of her eyes was not just ‘purple’, but it was ‘a pale violet color’, it was very likely he had fallen in love with her.

Damien was deeply delighted that Kahel was slowly opening his eyes to romantic feelings.
A life without love is no different from living in winter where spring never comes.

However, the lightheartedness grew heavier as he heard more of Lena’s story.
In particular, the story that her wounds from monsters healed in a short time was not something to be taken lightly.

“It definitely needs to be investigated.
I’ll send someone to Kerouac.”

“I don’t want the royal family or Santella to know.”

“How great it would be if I could do that, but if it was Santella, they would figure it out sooner or later.
Besides, there are rumors that you’ve changed quite a bit recently, so they’re probably already looking around you to find the cause.
Then, they’ll notice the child’s presence right away.
Maybe they already know.”

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Kahel, who had nodded his head mechanically, suddenly furrowed his brow.

“Are there rumors circulating that I am different?”

“Well.
Did you not know?”

“Thanks to Lena, I got a lot of new clothes, but…… to support the work of Marquis Rognac, I had to pay attention to my outfit.
Is it because of that?”

“It’s not about clothes.
The butler of Sharden Castle said that you have become very gentle?”

“Yes? I have never behaved differently from last year.”

“Hahaha! You don’t seem to know, but actually, you were a bit sharp.
The butler of Sharden thought it was blasphemous and did not mention the existence of the maid, but it is probably thanks to that miss named Lena that your sensitive nerves have been softened.”

Even Kahel couldn’t deny that.
It was clear that his life had been enriched by Lena, and he seemed to be a little more generous with his subordinates thanks to that.
But he was a little embarrassed to admit that it was all a change caused by Lena and only by her.
Kahel quickly changed the subject.

“More than that, after the New Year’s Celebrations are over, I want to go see Mother.
Would it be okay?”

“Sure.
Actually, I was going to talk about it.
Probably…… It seems that there is not much time left.”

Damien’s face darkened.
Even before he came to Ardennes, he summoned several healing priests, and poured out blessings for three days to boost her energy.
It cost a lot of money, but he was afraid that things would get worse during the days he went to Ardennes.
Damien would not have attended this year’s New Year’s Celebration if she hadn’t pushed his back several times to go because she’s fine.

“Then, as soon as the formal schedule of the ceremony is over, I will head to Terra Luave with Father.”

“Are you going to take the girl named Lena to accompany you?”

“Because I can’t take Arder to serve me.”

As he watched Kahel respond with a tone of voice like he couldn’t help it, Damien could barely hold back his laughter that was about to burst out.

* * *

“Elliot!”

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“Yes, Miss.”

Elliot answered in a voice that was not very much hopeful now.
Liddell smirked inwardly as she looked at Elliot’s expression, which would probably have pouted her lips if she hadn’t looked at her.
After researching and observing over the past few months, she found that Elliott was a really easy-to-handle type of human.

She smirks and wiggles her tail as soon as she pretends to do anything, and even if she is dissatisfied, rather than blaming Liddell for being in power, she is jealous of her opponent.
Liddell had banned her from attending the banquet a few months ago, from the one she seemed to be looking for a ‘noble reinstatement’.

Elliot, who moved the way Liddell wanted her to, was now looking a little cuter.

Anyway, it seemed that the time had come for Liddell to use the card named Elliot.
Kahel fired a shot and she can’t stand still.

On the first day of the New Year’s Celebration, the Queen’s dress was shockingly gorgeous.
Yes.
It was something that ordinary nobles could never wear.
Even if it was a Duke, it would have been blasphemy to wear such a dress and appear at the ceremony.
Because the only person who can wear such clothes is the Queen.

Until now, the Queen has been referring to Liddell, so she could not surpass Liddell’s dress no matter how beautiful the Queen’s dress was.

But now, they were insensitive to Liddell’s existence, and to the general populace, the Queen is a being who is naturally allowed that unbelievable level of splendor.
Thanks to this, Queen Fabian was able to be the star of the party for the first time since Liddell debuted in the social world.

The first day of the New Year’s Celebration was literally the place where nobles give their New Year’s greetings to the Queen, so Liddell endured.
But it’s different for the second day.
From this point on, information and tactics flow between the nobles in earnest.
Liddell was planning to shed a hint of ‘Kahel’s mistake’ on the spot tomorrow.

“You must be tired of standing like that, so come over and have a cup of tea.”

Liddell gently gave Elliot a soft touch, fluttering the blonde hair that reflected the winter sunlight in white.
Elliot, too, without a doubt, opened her eyes in a wide shape and quickly turned into a bright color.

“I, I…… May I sit next to you…….?”

“What do you mean, Elliot? Come here quickly.
I really like the rose tea scent that came in this time.”

Elliot was barely able to press her cheeks down, and she sat across from Liddell.

“Maria.
Can you go and get me some refreshments to go with the tea? And what I said earlier.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Liddell even sent her favorite Maria to bring some sweets.
Maria stepped back with a smile that had not changed at all in a trained maid’s posture, but Elliot lifted her chin slightly for nothing.
It seemed that Liddell finally recognized her.