Can You Save Me Duke? - 10

Lina, whose whole body was stiff, moved her stiff lips.

“If you need someone to take a bath, I’ll go out and bring a male servant… … .”

At Lina’s words that she would bring someone else, the duke looked at her with an expression of incomprehension.

“What are you doing? You’re here.”

“… … But. There could be useless rumors.”

“Useless rumors? What kind?”

“That, that… … ! It would damage the duke’s reputation… … !”

He twisted one corner of his mouth as if he found it funny.

“A maid’s reputation would be ruined just by taking my bath. I don’t know what the problem is with a maid taking care of her master in the first place.”

“That’s… … !”

‘When you are a noble!’

Lina held onto the hem of her skirt and swallowed her screams.

‘No, really, you don’t know what it means for a servant of the opposite sex to take a bath!?’

Unlike her who was screaming inside, the duke’s expression only looked relaxed.

‘I dug my own grave, I just wanted to put the duke to bed and rest as soon as possible… … . I should have just rubbed his shoulders quickly!’

No one could blame him since he was the one who suggested the duke take a bath first.

“What are you doing, take it off quickly.”

The duke didn’t seem to even want to listen to her anymore. The man who asked her to take off her clothes as if it was natural seemed shameless.

Lina realized that there was no way out of the duke’s firm attitude.

‘Haa-. It seems like you’re going to get me to take a bath somehow… … .’

Lina finally gave up on everything and approached him with a low sigh.

“… … Yes.”

The duke, who had been staying in the mansion all day, was lightly dressed, so there weren’t many clothes to take off.

Lina tried to ignore her heart that was beating hard and started taking off the duke’s clothes one by one.

Only the sound of low breathing and the rustling of clothes echoed quietly in the bathroom.

Before long, only a thin shirt was draped over the duke’s body. She could feel the man’s solid body through the thin cotton fabric. Lina swallowed dry saliva without realizing it.

Lina’s fingertips, which were fiddling with the buttons of the man’s shirt, began to tremble slightly.

‘If I just take off this shirt… …?’

The duke looked down at the young maid who was taking off his clothes with the face of a condemned prisoner.

“Enough.”

The duke clicked his tongue briefly as if he was displeased, and grabbed Lina’s hand.

“If I wait for you to take it off, I think I’ll be able to take a bath only after seeing the sun rise.”

Then, he quickly started unbuttoning the remaining buttons of his shirt. With a thud, the clothes he was wearing began to fall to the floor one by one.

Lina hurriedly lowered her head as she looked at the duke who was now naked.

‘I can’t even see your naked body properly, so how can I touch and wash you… …!’

Whether or not he knew Lina’s feelings, the duke calmly laid down in the bathtub.

“Why don’t you stop looking at the floor and come and clean it?”

Bellige gestured for Lina to come closer.

“… … Yes. I understand.”

The steam from the hot water filled the gap between them.

‘Thank goodness I can’t see clearly because of the steam.’

Her vision became blurred by the white steam that rose up.

This gave Lina courage and she began to wash the duke while holding a sponge filled with water in one hand.

The sound of the water echoed through the bathroom. Every time her fingertips brushed the duke’s flesh, her cheeks felt as if they were on fire.

‘When I think about it, we’ve already spent the night together, and I’m so embarrassed. I’ve done worse things… … .’

Lina found it ridiculous that she was so excited just by washing his body.

‘But I’ve never washed a grown man’s body!’

She didn’t even look like a beautiful right now. And somehow, whenever she looked like this, she felt like even the confidence she had back then was disappearing.

Lina tried to calm her mind and washed the duke’s body with her slow hands.

Meanwhile, Bellige looked at the maid with indifferent eyes. Although covered by the hot steam, her face was as red as apple.

Looking at her embarrassed face, she felt like a wicked business owner who was harassing his young employee. But.

‘Tsk. It’s annoying.’

Belige glanced at the sponge in Lina’s hand. The reason she had me take a bath in the first place was to have the maid’s hand touch her body a little bit.

The fingers holding the sponge touched her body little by little, but that was not enough… … .

‘It’s not enough.’

Belige closed her eyes with a frown.

“Your Majesty. It’s done.”

Lina, with a face that said she had finished a difficult task, hurriedly got up.

“Then… … . Can I go out now?”

Belige slowly opened her closed eyes and looked at Lina, who was now far away.

“It’s done?”

“Yes. Your Majesty.”

Lina began to feel uneasy at the sight of the man tilting his head back and looking at her.

“That can’t be.”

“… … Yes?”

Belige reached out and grabbed Lina’s hand. The sponge she was holding fell into the bathtub due to the Duke’s sudden action.

“I need to wash you more properly.”

Belige pulled Lina’s arm closer. The Duke’s breathing softly penetrated Lina’s ears.

“There must still be some left.”

The sponge slipped from her hand and made small waves on the water.

“There’s no way it’s over, right?”

Belige didn’t care about the maid’s feelings in front of her. She was more important than this maid.

‘I can’t let you go like this.’

Belige’s hand, which was holding onto her slender wrist, tightened.

‘Not yet.’

* * *

In the dark bedroom where the occasional sash brushed past, a man was lying quietly.

And a woman was sitting at the man’s head.

‘Haa-. What on earth am I doing here?

Lina stared blankly down at the duke lying on the bed. It had already been a month since she had started working as this man’s exclusive maid.

‘It seems like only yesterday that I blushed while serving him… … .’

In the end, Lina couldn’t leave the bathroom until the duke was satisfied that day. Not only that, she had to serve him several more baths after that. But humans are creatures of adaptation, right?

Now she didn’t blush when she saw or touched the duke’s naked body anymore.

‘I hate that I’m getting used to this… … .’

Lina felt a little guilty about herself for doing something that she thought she would never get used to.

‘But why do I want more as the days go by?’

Even a few days ago, the duke stopped Lina as she was trying to leave after tidying up her bedding and said this.

[Don’t go to the room, stay here.]

The moment she heard those words, she felt the blood drain from her body.

What kind of imagination did she have in that short time waiting for the Duke’s next words? But what she said was barely.

[Stay by my side until I fall asleep.]

‘You’re just asking me to put you to bed, right?’

It wasn’t enough to wash a healthy man who was twenty-five years old, and now she had to put him to bed… … .

Lina shook her head.

‘What should I do from now on?’

Lately, Lina had an unspeakable problem. Once a month. It was the problem of changing back to her original form.

‘Last time, I made an excuse that I was sick and got through it safely… … . What should I do next time?’

Lina was worried about the upcoming full moon again.

Before she met the Duke, she didn’t have anyone close to her except for May.

Because of that, she could make excuses to hide her body or hide somewhere for a while, so no one would look for her, and she could get through safely.

But this time was different.

She couldn’t hide quietly because the duke was always looking for Lina.

“Huh-. Let’s think about it then.”

Lina sighed and stared blankly at the duke. Then she waved her hand over the duke’s face a couple of times.

‘He must be asleep now, right?’

Lina, who was soon convinced that he was asleep, got up from her chair to leave the room.

‘I’m so tired… … I should go to sleep too.’

Thump-.

But before Lina could even take a step from the bed, a large hand grabbed Lina’s wrist.

“Where are you going?”

When she turned around, the duke, who she thought was asleep, spoke in a very sleepy voice.

“… … You’re not asleep yet, are you? Haha… … .”

“I told you to stay by my side until I fall asleep.”

“Oh, yes… … . But I need to go to the bathroom for a bit. I’ll be right back.”

“Come quickly.”

“Okay.”

Lina smiled awkwardly as she watched the duke let her go after she said she was going to the bathroom. Then she hurriedly left the room.

Click-.

“Whew-.”

As soon as she carefully opened the door and went out, Lina let out a deep sigh that she had been holding back.

“Ah. Surprise. I thought you were sleeping… … ! Why aren’t you sleeping? I’m so tired.”

Lina’s mouth hung open at the fact that her work wasn’t over yet.

“How long am I going to have to do this… … . Tsk.”

She was tired because she had to put the duke to sleep every night and wake up at the crack of dawn.

On top of that, she couldn’t move around carelessly because she was afraid of waking up the sleeping duke, so it felt like all the muscles in her body were tense.

Lina touched her shoulder to wake herself up, loosening her tense muscles. Then she went back into the room and carefully sat down next to the bed.

How much time had passed?

In this small space filled with silence, only the soft moonlight was shining through the gaps in the thin curtains.

Lina carefully looked at the peacock once more. The peacock, with his eyes closed without any movement, seemed to be in a deep sleep.

‘This time, it seems like he’s really sleeping… … . But still

‘Just in case, should I stay for another ten minutes and then go out?’

Lina was more cautious, perhaps because of what happened earlier.

“Haam-.”

Lina yawned without realizing it, perhaps because she was relieved of her tension.

‘Ah, I’m so sleepy. Now… … I have to go wash up and go to bed… … I can’t… … sleep here… … .’

Because she had been guarding the duke’s bed every night, she hadn’t been able to sleep well for a long time. In the end, Lina’s head tossed back and forth, unable to overcome her drowsiness.

And against Lina’s will, her body and consciousness began to gradually fall into a deep sleep.