Can You Save Me Duke? - 7

This morning, Belige heard that Thunder was having a hard time adjusting to his new surroundings.

“Come to think of it, the soldiers had a hard time too.”

Because of his extremely sensitive personality, Thunder only followed his own words and refused to be touched by others.

“He probably couldn’t even run properly.”

Belige, who thought that he couldn’t even get out of the stable, let alone run, hurried his steps.

The headache that had been bothering him for the past few days was bothersome, but it wasn’t enough to make daily life impossible.

When he almost reached the stable, he heard the faint sound of horse hooves.

“I don’t know who it is, but it seems he’s quite excited because the sound is cheerful.”

Belige was about to just pass by, but suddenly became curious about the owner of the sound and started walking.

A black horse showing off its familiar form was seen running across the wide open space.

“… … Thunder?”

I thought he must have been having trouble adjusting to the sudden change in environment.

But he was running so excitedly. And he was carrying a stranger on his saddle.

“Who is riding on top of that… … .”

And the person carrying him on top is not a coachman, but a maid.

Does that maid, riding cheerfully, know how big a sin she is committing?

The duke, who was thinking about calling them out, decided to watch the situation a little longer.

It wasn’t long before Belige had been watching them from the shade of a tree.

After riding two more laps, the maid finally led Thunder to the stable.

He slowly left the shade and spoke to Lina.

“Is the walk over?”

The duke stared at the maid, who was noticeably surprised. The sight of the young maid looking back stiffly like a piece of wood was quite funny.

“Your Majesty… … ?”

He looked coldly at the maid who called him with a trembling voice.

Thunder then moved his body and approached Lina. As if he was trying to protect Lina from Belige.

Belige let out a small sigh as if he was dumbfounded by Thunder’s antics.

“Thunder, come here, I am your master.”

However, Thunder only snorted and purred at Belige’s words.

He disobeyed the words of his master who had been with him for years, and blocked the way to protect the maid he had only met for a short time. Belige’s mouth felt bitter as he looked at his beloved horse.

“Thunder! Go ahead.”

Lina, who had been watching the duke’s expression, urged him to go, so Thunder took a step toward Belige as if he had no choice.

If someone who didn’t know saw it, they would think Lina was the horse’s owner.

‘This is incredible.’

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I feel bad for you being locked up in the stable for a while, so I’m taking you out for a walk… … .”

“I know it was wrong, so that’s good.”

“… … I’m sorry.”

The Duke, looking down at Lina who was bowing and apologizing, let out a small breath.

“But you’re really good at riding. When did you learn horseback riding?”

He then took a step toward Lina.

“… … I learned it from my father, who was a coachman when I was young.”

He took another step closer and mumbled.

When the distance between him and the Duke felt too close,

Belige extended his arm to Lina. His large hand slowly approached her face.

“That Duke… … ?”

A rustling sound brushed past her ears, and the leaves that had been tangled in her hair fell away.

“A father who teaches horseback riding and a mother who teaches horsemanship… … .”

Was it an illusion that the duke’s voice, which had always felt cold, suddenly felt soft?

“You have good parents.”

Lina couldn’t even breathe until the duke’s hand left hers. The leaves tied to his hand fluttered in the wind as if they were letting themselves be carried away.

“… … Normally, it would be right to punish you for riding a horse without your master’s permission… … . But this time, I’ll turn a blind eye to you.”

“… … Thank you.”

“I’ll go now.”

Lina quickly bowed to the duke and quickly walked away.

And Belige stared at the maid who was hurriedly walking away from her. Just like she had done in the forest that day.

* * *

As soon as Belige returned to her office, she called Cullen and asked him to bring Lina’s resume and letter of recommendation.

“Baroness Anthony’s letter of recommendation.”

“Yes. Lina’s father was Baron Anthony’s coachman, and her mother was the Baroness’s direct maid. However, she lost both her parents in an accident and had to leave her hometown. I understand that the Baroness, who took pity on her, wrote her a letter of recommendation.”

In fact, Lina was faster and more mature than other maids her age, perhaps because she was taught by her mother, who was a maid.

The middle-aged servants felt sorry for her when they learned of her circumstances, and they all liked Lina, who was good at her work and was dignified beyond her years.

‘There’s no way a Baroness from a remote area whose name I’ve never heard of would know about the Green Stone.’

“Send Lawrence to the South to find out about Baron Anthony and find out if the contents of the letter of recommendation and the things written here are true or not.”

“Yes.”

Cullen wanted to ask why the Duke was asking him to investigate Lina’s personal history. However, he couldn’t question his master’s actions, so he quietly left the office.

As Cullen left, he immediately leaned back in his chair and thought back to the moment he had with Lina earlier.

Judging from the way he was riding, his posture was straight and not like someone who had been riding for a year or two.

‘You know the green stone, and you know how to ride a horse? And in a very dignified manner?’

“That kind of woman can’t be an ordinary maid, and… … .”

He looked down at his right hand that had been picking leaves.

“It’s strange after all… … .”

When he just brushed past the maid, the headache that wouldn’t go away no matter what medicine he took disappeared, and even the air around him felt clear.

‘It was the same in the forest that day.’

When he grabbed the maid’s wrist in the forest he had visited to relieve his headache, his headache subsided as if it were a lie.

And he was so taken aback by the unexpected clear energy that he didn’t even think about punishing the maid for entering the forbidden forest.

“It was the same on the stairs back then.”

Did that maid have something to do with the family curse?

No, even if it wasn’t related to the curse, it’s true that the pain disappeared for a moment whenever he touched her.

For some reason, the rat-like maid kept getting on his nerves.

From the moment they first met until now.

After thinking for a moment, Belige seemed to have finished her worries and sat up.

“Then I have no choice but to see it with my own eyes.”

* * *

“Lina, bring a new incense burner to the Duke’s bedroom.”

“Huh? Me?”

Lina answered the maid’s order to go to the Duke’s bedroom absentmindedly.

The Duke’s bedroom was a place where no one other than the maids in charge of that room, the head maid, and the butler could enter due to security reasons.

“Have you not received the message yet? You have been reinstated as the Duke’s exclusive maid starting today.”

“Huh? What’s that all of a sudden… … .”

“It’s a good thing, you’re the only one who got wronged because of Susan.”

“No, I’m not at all… … .”

Lina tried to ask back at the unpleasant news, but Emma had no intention of listening to her.

“Don’t worry. The Duke himself called you back, so hurry up and bring the incense burner.”

“… … The Duke himself… … huh?”

‘That’s even more disturbing… … ? What on earth are you thinking?’

A strange feeling of unease from what happened earlier in the day followed Lina like a shadow.

‘I’d rather be punished. Besides, your behavior earlier was strange… … .’

Emma ignored Lina’s disgusted expression and placed the incense burner in her empty hand.

Lina, who was lost in her own thoughts, asked Emma as she smelled the faint scent spreading over her heavy hand.

“Is this a southern incense burner?”

“The Duke seems to be having trouble sleeping these days, so the butler personally asked around and brought it in. It’s called sleeping incense, and if you smoke it before going to bed, you’ll sleep deeply. It’s something you have to do from now on, so don’t forget to bring it to your bedroom.”

‘You had insomnia, somehow your under-eyes looked darker and your gaze was more fierce than when I saw you a few days ago.’

Lina sighed inwardly and answered.

“Yes. I understand.”

* * *

Knock knock-.

Lina, who was standing in front of the Duke’s bedroom, knocked on the door, but there was no answer.

‘Is anyone there?’

Lina confirmed that the Duke was not in the room, so she opened the door and went in.

Looking at the dark bedroom where no light came in, she briefly considered turning on the light, but then thought that she could just leave the incense burner behind and walked briskly toward the bed.

Thump-.

Lina placed the incense burner on the small table next to the bed and saw something sticking out from under the sheets.

“What is this?”

Lina, who approached the bed casually, took a deep breath.

The duke was closing his eyes in a corner of the bed where she thought no one was.

‘Why didn’t the maid tell you that the duke was in the room!?’

Lina let out a silent outburst of anger and turned around to quickly leave the bedroom.

“Ugh… … Ugh.”

However, she couldn’t help but stop walking when she heard a groan from behind her.

The sweat that had formed between the duke’s frowning eyebrows soaked his black hair.

The man, who was holding the white sheet tightly with both fists and shaking his head from side to side, looked as if he was having a bad dream.

‘I think he’s having a nightmare… … . Should I wake him up?’

If I were to wake him up, I would think of Emma’s words that the Duke has not been sleeping well these days, and I hesitated, but if I were to not wake him up, I would feel sorry for the man who was suffering.

‘Isn’t it better to sleep a little less than be in pain?’

After thinking this, Lina approached the Duke’s bedside and carefully knelt down.

“Ahem, excuse me, Duke.”

Despite clearing her throat and making noise, the Duke had no intention of opening his eyes.

‘Are you insomnia? You sleep so well?’

That day, it overlapped with the man who didn’t wake up until she made a fuss. The only difference was that he looked comfortable then, but now he looked miserable.

“Duke?”

She called the duke a little louder, but as expected, there was no response. Lina, who was thinking for a moment, gently put her hand on his shoulder to wake him up.

It was an instant. Her vision flipped upside down.

The duke, who had opened his eyes, was on top of Lina’s body, looking down at her with a cold gaze.

A deep, cavernous voice rang coldly in her ears.

“What on earth are you?”