The Devilish Duke Can’t Sleep

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The price of touching what is mine

“It is not uncommon for a nobleman who worked for the family to run away.
I guess she even has eyes for a man.
Why are you asking me for her reason?”

“Because the reason must have come from here.”

But Alice was not agitated, as if she had known this day would come.
They might be flustered by the Duke’s sudden attack, but Viscount Rosenheim immediately submitted a request for protection from the Santella family, which sent the Knights as if they were waiting.

If Viscount Rosenheim had been a neutral noble, Kahel might have strangled Alice.

But it was not without any result.
Some workers, whom Alice had not yet been able to crack down on, had testified that a ‘middle-aged man with dark brown hair’ had arrived that day.

“Didn’t you say that such a person had never been here before? Are you going to get away with it even though there is evidence?”

“You are arguing over really trivial things.
I don’t know anyone.
Sometimes, there are people who come to see my father.”

“A person who stops by is guided to a room on the second floor of the Viscounty and even gets tea and drinks? Are you fooling me now?”

“It, it’s not like that! The employees did it knowing that he was a guest.”

“And you introduced such a person to my maid.”

Kahel grinded his teeth.
Alice trembled at the murderous energy Kahel exuded, but she did not open her mouth until the very end.

“Do you know what would happen if it was later revealed that the Viscount Rosenheim was involved in this?”

Kahel stared coldly at the nineteen-year-old girl, struggling to subdue his rampaging anger.
Her father, who had been watching all the time, stood in front of her.

“What rudeness to a feeble woman! I can’t help but be disappointed with Duke Luave.”

But Kahel neatly ignored Viscount Rosenheim.

“If Lena was not hurt and treated with respect, I would simply deprive you of your title.
But if Lena had suffered hardship, I would confiscate your property and then I would banish you out of Logos, and if Lena had ever been hurt in the slightest…… You will die after the worst torture.”

“Are, are you threatening me?”

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“No.
I’m telling the truth.
So, it would be better for you to just hope that Lena is okay, Lady.
Because of you, Viscounty Rosenheim will be covered in blood.”

“As long as there is Duchy Santella, it will not be according to the will of Duke Luave.”

“If Lena was injured, do you think Duchy Santella will be safe? Do you think I will leave them alone?”

Kahel’s eyes seemed to glow red, then the garden trees around the Viscount’s residence fell down with a thud sound, and the sleeping birds flew up in surprise.
It was a tremendous amount of magical power, but thanks to Dashar lifting part of the curse, the people around him did not become possessed by the devilish power.
But Kahel couldn’t afford to rejoice over such trifles.

“The cost of touching what is mine is never light.”

It was a voice that sounded like an eerie chill.
At that moment, Viscount Rosenheim and Alice’s complexions turned blue.

* * *

“Oh…….”

“Oh no, are you still dizzy?”

“Yes…… I think the medicine in the tea was a bit strong.
It doesn’t hurt anywhere, so don’t worry.”

“The dizziness lasts a long time.
You might feel better after eating.”

Lian comforted Lena, who had been suffering from dizziness and ringing since she escaped from the Ayur forest hut the day before yesterday.
Lena seemed to feel more secure and she looked more stable than she was then, but she sighed as she seemed to be thinking from time to time.
And Lian seemed to know what she was thinking.

“Because of Kahel…… ?”

Lena’s shoulders twitched at those words, and Lian smiled.

“I’ve been curious about this for a long time, but what’s the relationship between you and Kahel? You’re not just an ordinary maid.”

“Yes…… ? Ah, that…….”

“I think it’s like a lover?”

Lena’s cheeks flushed red at the careless words.

“It seems to be true.
Wow, how did you twist that solid rock?”

“No, no, it’s not like that.
I’m just a close, close maid…….”

“If you were just a maid, Kahel wouldn’t have gone so crazy.”

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“What?”

Lian smiled bitterly and looked down at this innocent girl.

After taking Lena to this safe house and returning to the mansion, Lian pretended not to know anything and looked at Leonard and Liddell for signs.
It was that night that Liddell, who was at first no different from the usual, changed sensitively.
She seemed to know that Lena was gone.

However, it was Kahel who caused more uproar than Liddell.
He stormed Viscounty Rosenheim and used his magical powers to intimidate them, and he dispatched people all over Ardennes to find Lena.
Lian had never seen Kahel run so wildly before.

Lena, who was perplexed by Lian’s silence, asked again carefully,

“Can, can you just tell Duke Luave that I’m okay?”

“I want to, but I might get caught in the fallout…….”

It will be only a matter of time before he sends a letter to Kahel and then has it traced back to him.
Liddell could have noticed.

“I’ll try to find a way as much as I can, so you can eat and get some sleep.
I don’t think you slept well.”

Lena couldn’t be bothered by Lian anymore and nodded her head.
This man looks kind, but she still couldn’t quite trust him.
After all, he didn’t send her to the Luave family.

Lena, who had not eaten half of the meal brought by Lian’s subordinate, sat blankly in the chair, contemplating what had happened to her.

‘What should I do now? No, why am I even doing this?’

It was a worry without an answer, so the thought did not last longer than the question.
She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, trying to calm her anxious mind.
But the moment she opened her eyes and looked out of the window, her body stiffened.

‘Oh, when did it become evening…… ?’

Before she closed her eyes, the sky outside the window, which seemed to be before three o’clock in the afternoon, was dyed scarlet in a short span of time.
It seems that she had lost consciousness for hours, but she did not notice at all.
However, unlike before, her palms were wet with cold sweat, and a ringing, which sounded like the flapping of an insect’s wings, became clearer.

[…… Alysfeyentetrocras, Aquotopyriel, Detroditromaendemus…….]

It was a series of phonemes that she didn’t know what it was.
However, the unfamiliar phonemes continued to ring in her ears with the voice of a certain woman.

‘Am I going crazy…… ?’

When she was living in Kerouac, a girl from the village went crazy.
She didn’t know what had happened to her, but she wandered around town, muttering strange noises, utterly insane after three days of a brief disappearance.
At that time, as if she heard something in her ear, she would often grunt ‘What? What did you say?’.

‘Scary…… I want to see His Excellency…….’

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Lena lay face down on the table and gently called out Kahel’s name.
She wished she could go back in time to a few days ago, but that miracle never happened.

* * *

At the same time, a secret whisper was spreading through Regina Palace.

“How is Her Majesty?”

“Not very good.
It is not uncommon for her to collapse suddenly.”

“Perhaps…… You mean she’s going to die?”

“It’s a bit harsh saying it with my mouth.
Then, let’s go.”

The servants and maids who entered and left the Queen’s room had to be barraged by questions by this person or that person, and the high-ranking nobles who came to hear the news that the Queen had collapsed were anxiously waiting for the healing priest who was examining Fabian to appear.

But they were just guessing that Fabian’s lifespan was just around the corner.
What they were more concerned about was the condition of the Queen’s successor, Nadia, who entered the Palace yesterday.

Usually, the moment when the previous Queen’s power suddenly fell was the time when they changed the throne.
At that time, the power of the successor to become the new Queen would suddenly increase.
Nadia, whom Kahel and Leonard said, ‘The power itself is very weak’, was expected to be strong by the time she succeeded to the throne.

The first person to report the situation was a priest who came to see Nadia’s condition.

“I’m sorry to say, but Her Highness Nadia’s power has not changed at all.”

Groans mixed with sighs and worries erupted from here and there.
Indeed, the Ardenian dynasty was gradually losing its power.
Perhaps, in the next generation or the one after the next, they might become the same as the common people.
Then, what was the reason to maintain the Ardenian dynasty? In the first place, the power to subdue the two Duchies was the only symbol of the Queen…….

They took a deep breath, and at last the healing priest who treated Fabian came in.

“The hurdle has been passed.
But the remaining time is not very long.
It seems that we should hurry up and prepare for the succession ceremony.”

“Is that also with the Queen’s approval?”

“Yes.
That’s right.
Grand Duke Rufelio was also a witness.”

“I see…….”

Although Nadia has little power, they did not have to worry about an obvious heir to the throne.

“Then, we should bring Duke Santella and Duke Luave to the Palace to discuss the procedure.”

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“From Duchy Luave, His Excellency, the former Duke, Damien, has decided to come.”

“Well, that might be better.
Both of them will remember the succession ceremony.”

The people who had gathered there left after discussing more in order to hold the succession ceremony before Fabian’s condition worsened.

Upon hearing that everyone had gone home, Fabian blinked and squeezed her husband’s hand, who was sitting next to her.
Valerian was always calm and quiet, but his face was wet with tears when he had just heard that his wife’s death was imminent.

“Valerian…….”

“Don’t…… talk…….”

Valerian hurriedly wiped the tears away and then tried to smile.

“What about that girl named Nadia?”

“She has just entered the Palace, so she was still puzzled.
But surprisingly, she seems to be adjusting well and calmly.”

“I see…….”

Fabian didn’t say anything more about Nadia, as if she wasn’t worried about her.
But Valerian, who had spent many years with Fabian, noticed that she was thinking something.

“Fabian.
Do you have any concerns?”

At her husband’s friendly question, Fabian seemed to have made up her mind at that time.

“Valerian.”

“Yes, Fabian.”

“I just want to confess to you that I am guilty of another sin…….”

“A sin?”

Fabian smiled weakly at Valerian, who shook his head as if it was unreasonable.
But she was now trying to deceive everyone in the country, and she did not even regret this decision.
Because she believed that it was the best way for the country.

“Please promise me.
You will never tell anyone else…….”

“Of course.”

Fabian sighed once more and opened her mouth.