Can You Save Me Duke? - 18

“Why the door… …?”

Lina murmured in a trembling voice. But the duke stretched out his arm as if he didn’t care at all. His eyes were still fixed on her.

Swish-.

With the sound of the cloth rustling, the ribbon tied to his collar slipped out of his hand. The small piece of cloth, originally pure white, fell to the worn floor.

Is he simply trying to scare me? Or.

[Let me make it true.]

The words the man had said a moment ago echoed in my head.

‘Really… … me.’

Lina’s pure white nape was visible through the slightly open collar. And the duke’s parted lips were slowly approaching Lina’s closed mouth.

Just like that man last summer night.

“Duke… ….”

Lina, who had been standing there blankly as if possessed by something, seemed to come to her senses and was about to push the duke away.

Lina staggered for a moment as her vision blurred and she grabbed her forehead.

‘Suddenly my head… … .’

She barely managed to hold back her cough as she tried to regain her senses, and spoke to the Duke.

“Duke… … cough… … my lord. Just a moment.”

Was it because her body was so hot? Even the breath she was exhaling seemed to be burning.

Only then did Bellige realize that Lina’s condition was not normal, and she placed her hand on her forehead.

Lina’s body was as hot as a fireball, and large beads of sweat fell down her face like raindrops.

“Your body… … !”

And the moment she opened her mouth to speak, she felt a dizzy feeling as if a large bell had rung in her head.

“Lii… … n… … !!”

A man’s urgent voice was heard. However, she could not understand what he was saying.

Lina’s focus, which had been looking at the Duke, gradually became blurred. And soon, her body collapsed into his arms.

* * *

The Permanence family’s physician Joaquin was in a state of great confusion. He rushed over to Cullen’s urgent call, thinking that the Duke was sick.

However, what greeted him was the Duke’s fierce urging, which had no pain at all.

He looked at the maid lying on the bed, sweating profusely.

‘I guess the rumors were true.’

Recently, there were rumors that the Duke had taken a young maid as his mistress.

‘And this is… … .’

Isn’t the place where the maid was lying right now the Duke’s bedroom? Joaquin swallowed dryly as he glanced around the room.

The Duke’s voice was heard behind Joaquin, who was examining Lina.

“How’s her condition?”

“It’s just a cold. Don’t worry too much.”

Joaquin reassured the Duke, saying that he didn’t have to worry. But the duke remained dark, as if he was not comforted at all.

“… … Yes. Thank you for your hard work. you can go now.”

“Yes. Your Majesty.”

And before the door Joaquin left closed, a man entered the room.

“Your Majesty.”

He was Lawrence, the duke’s subordinate who had recently traveled to the south to find out about Lina.

Belige asked, still keeping his eyes on Lina who was lying down.

“What did you ask me to find out?”

Lawrence handed the duke a bundle of documents. The duke accepted them and began to look through them carefully.

“The words written in Lina’s letter of recommendation were true. It is true that there was a girl named Lina between the maid and the groom working at Baron Anthony’s residence, and it was also confirmed that her parents died in an accident when she was young, leaving her behind. But… … .”

The duke took his eyes off the paper and asked again.

“What is it?”

“They say that both of them had dark brown hair. And their daughter also has brown hair.”

“Brown hair?”

Belige looked at Lina’s hair lying on the bed as if dead. Grayish ash hair. It was clearly not brown.

The duke, who had been staring at Lina for a long time, let out a short breath and said.

“Do you happen to have any relatives of Lina living there?”

“No. I don’t think there are any relatives.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. As soon as I got there, I found out that Lina was related to me. However, Lina’s parents were orphans.”

“No family… … .”

The duke muttered what Lawrence had said.

“I heard there was a man back home who was going to marry me.”

“As I said, there was no one there who could reach her. Of course, there was no fiancé.”

“… … Yes. Thank you for your hard work. I’ll go now.”

“Yes.”

After Lawrence left, the duke approached the bed where Lina was lying. He sat down on the headboard and stroked the sleeping maid’s hair.

“No fiancé… …?”

The corners of Belige’s lips twisted. It seemed that this fearless maid had lied in order to leave the mansion.

Cheekily.

* * *

“Ugh… ….”

Lina, who had been tossing and turning, opened her eyes.

“Here… ….”

A familiar scene unfolded before Lina’s eyes as she looked around to grasp the situation.

The gorgeous decorations and paintings visible above the ceiling. It reminded her that this was the duke’s bedroom.

“Lina-! Are you awake?”

“… … May?”

Lina’s voice was hoarse because she had not spoken for a long time.

“You collapsed. Do you remember?”

“… … Me?”

The words collapsed made her recall her memories little by little. Then, as if something had come to mind, she asked May.

“I clearly collapsed in my room, but why am I here… … .”

“The Duke brought you here. He’s going to send a doctor later. Well, Dr. Joaquin treated you yesterday, right?”

Joaquin was the personal physician of the Permanence family, a doctor only for the Duke. For him to treat a mere maid.

It was impossible. On top of that, he was being treated in the Duke’s bedroom. Lina knew what that meant.

‘What’s the difference between declaring that I’m the Duke’s mistress?’

Lina got out of bed, her still heavy body still heavy, at the rumor that she would be labeled again.

“Lina, don’t move yet!”

She told May, who was supporting her, as if worried.

“I’m going to go back to my room. Can you tell the butler that I’m not even receiving treatment from the doctor?”

“No. Just get treated. You were sick last month too, so you couldn’t leave the room all day. It’s strange. Come to think of it, you must have been sick at least once a month. Let’s get a proper checkup from the doctor this time. It could be a serious illness.”

Despite May’s dissuasion, Lina hurriedly tried to get out of bed, but stopped when she heard the last words.

‘Wait. Last month… …?’

A cold sweat ran down her back as an ominous aura enveloped her body.

“Maybe so. May.”

“Yeah.”

“What day is it today?”

“Hmm. Yesterday was the 14th… … . Today is the 15th!”

Lina’s legs gave out after hearing May’s words, and she almost collapsed.

‘I’m screwed. How did I forget that?’

Looking at Lina, whose face suddenly turned pale, May asked with a serious face.

“What’s wrong, Lina? Are you feeling unwell? I should go to the doctor right away… … !”

“No, May. I’m fine.”

Lina tried to smile and comfort May. However, her head was filled with confusion.

‘Tomorrow was the day my body change?!’

Lina would change back to her original form on the full moon once a month.

And on those days, she would always make up excuses that she was sick and stay in her room or take a vacation in advance to leave the mansion.

Lina let out a short sigh as she remembered the important fact.

‘It’s better. Since she said she was sick anyway. She’ll just stay in her room all day tomorrow.’

Since everyone already thought Lina was sick, she could just stay in her room quietly and get through it safely.

Thinking that way, she asked May.

“May. This is just a simple cold. I will probably be fine if i stays in my room until tomorrow. So please tell the butler that i don’t need to see a doctor. i can just stay in my room and rest quietly.”

May, who had tried to stop Lina a few more times, nodded at her firm attitude.

“And you might catch a cold too, so how about sleeping in another child’s room today? I feel bad if I spread it to you.”

“… … Okay. Okay. If you feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable, just let me know.”

“Thank you. May.”

With those words, Lina sneaked into the kitchen, packed some food, and returned to her room.

With food for two days and a book to relieve her boredom, Lina looked satisfied after making all the preparations.

“This is enough.”

Maybe because she had done this so many times, she no longer felt anxious or worried. Maybe it was just a day to rest quietly by herself?

Lina sat on the edge of the bed and yawned without realizing it. Was it because of the medicine she had taken a little while ago? She began to feel sleepy, perhaps because she had relaxed.

She nodded and tried to fight off sleep, but it was no use.

“I’m a little sleepy… … .”

In the end, Lina couldn’t overcome her heavy eyelids and gradually fell into a deep sleep.

And when she opened her eyes again, the sun had already set. She looked at the clock, surprised by the darkening sky.

“It’s past 11 at night?”

She was surprised that it was later than she thought, but it was okay because she had already finished everything.

All she had to do was read a book and wait for her body to change.

Just in case, Lina finished reading the paragraph again and was about to turn the page. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

“Who are you… … ?”

“It’s Joaquin. I’m here to see you for a moment, so please open the door.”

‘What?!’

At Joaquin’s sudden appearance, she looked at the clock hanging on the wall.

Before she knew it, the clock was pointing to 11:50. An examination at this hour?

It was unexpected. And there wasn’t much time left. If you open the door like this, the doctor will find out that your body has changed.

“I’m fine. I just want to rest alone. Can you please go back now?”

So the only thing she could do was refuse to be treated.

“What are you talking about? It’s the Duke’s orders. Open the door quickly.”

Lina bit her lip as she grabbed the doorknob.

Da. He looked at his watch again and saw that there were less than 5 minutes left.

He had to send the doctor away no matter what.

“I know my body better than you. Just rest in your room for a bit and you’ll get better in no time.”

“Oh. This is really.”

In fact, treating her at this hour was unnecessary, but the duke was so anxious that he ordered his maid to be examined at night.

That’s why Joaquin didn’t know what to do when Lina stubbornly refused to be examined. Even though she was a maid, he couldn’t treat the duke’s mistress carelessly.

When he treated her during the day, it was just a cold, so she probably didn’t have any serious health problems. After thinking about it for a moment, he decided to go back and tell her the situation.

“I’ll tell the duke about it.”

What can you do when she refuses to be examined like that? Joaquin gave up on treating Lina and turned around.

As the sound of people disappearing from the doorway faded away, Lina relaxed and fell to the floor.

“I almost got into trouble.”

And soon after, the midnight bell rang, and her body changed.

“Whew-.”

Lina sighed in relief, thinking she had safely overcome the crisis. But that relief was short-lived.

A bigger crisis than before loomed before her.