Can You Save Me Duke? - 9

Lina flinched at the sudden narrowing of the distance and stepped back.

“I thought you were reckless, but you’re being too bold.”

However, as if he couldn’t tolerate being left behind, the Duke approached Lina and spoke.

“Not only did you assault your master, but you’re running away… …?”

Contrary to his harsh words that seemed to threaten, the Duke’s lips raised as he spoke, and he seemed quite pleased.

“You’ve committed many sins. How should I punish you for all of them… …. Shall we talk about them in detail at Teresis?”

‘Teresis?!’

Lina was startled by the familiar word coming out of the Duke’s mouth. Teresis was a detention center where those who had committed crimes in the Empire were interrogated before going to trial.

However, it was notorious for interrogating criminals in all sorts of cruel ways, despite its appearance as a detention center.

‘You mention Teresis just because a maid hit her leg once! Isn’t that too much?’

Lina was immortal, so even if she got hurt deeply, it would take some time, and she would heal without any treatment.

However, if she got tortured by Teresis with this body, she would find out that she was immortal.

‘And I hate pain!’

Lina hurriedly knelt down and begged the duke.

“Please, forgive me, Duke! I will do anything you ask me to do! So Teresis, please… …!”

“You will do anything you ask me to do?”

“Yes! Anything!”

“Then.”

The duke said with a leisurely smile.

“Pay it back, with your body.”

* * *

Ting-.

“Oh, it seems Duke Lina is looking for you again.”

Lina, who was sitting in the dining room eating soup, put down her spoon with a loud thud when the bell rang again.

“Haa… … .”

Today was already the 13th time. Lina had missed her chance to eat a late lunch alone because the bell had been ringing nonstop since morning.

However, the bell that had just rang interrupted even that.

“Lina, did something happen with you and the Duke?”

“What happened?”

“No, that’s… … . How can he keep looking for you?”

‘Yes, I can understand thinking it’s strange.’

When the bell connected to the Duke’s room rang frequently, Emma, ​​who felt sorry for Lina who couldn’t eat and was working, went to the Duke’s room instead.

[The Duke is looking for you.]

However, when Emma returned, all she could hear was the Duke’s words that he was looking for Lina. After that, it was the same whether the butler went or the other maids or servants went.

[The Duke is only looking for Lina?]

After that happened several times, everyone now thought that the Duke would look for Lina when the rope was pulled.

‘Pay back with your body. I didn’t know that’s what it meant.’

After that night, the Duke started calling her out of the blue and ordering her to do all sorts of things as if he had made up his mind.

‘I feel like a total idiot.’

She had been imagining dangerous things to herself after the Duke’s last words.

However, the things the Duke made Lina do, as if mocking her, were all small but annoying chores.

‘Haa-. But I have to repeat that every morning… … .’

The Duke always greeted her with a neat appearance before she even entered her room.

But when I saw the duke lying in bed this morning, looking all disheveled, my heart sank to the floor in another sense.

Lina didn’t know where to look at the duke’s completely relaxed appearance.

So when she was about to leave the room in a hurry, leaving only her clothes behind, the duke’s languid voice grabbed Lina’s ankle.

[Where are you going?]

[… … Yes?]

[Clothes.]

[Oh, I left them here. Then I’ll leave now… … .]

[No.]

[Well, if you have something else to do… … .]

[You should dress me.]

[… … Yes?]

[Dressing me up is your job.]

This morning would normally have been over with just warm wash water, a change of clothes, and a simple breakfast.

‘She really didn’t lift a finger.’

From changing clothes to fixing his hair, there was nothing that Lina didn’t do.

‘Can’t he button up his own clothes?’

While changing clothes, all the duke did was raise and lower her arms.

‘Even serving a young noble lady wouldn’t have had this much to do.’

It was humiliating to see the duke’s bare skin in the morning, but it wasn’t easy to button up his buttons while facing him.

“Why on earth are you doing that all of a sudden?”

Lina stuck out her tongue and grumbled as she headed to the duke’s room to do something else that was not fun.

* * *

The sun had already set and dinner time was approaching. Lina hadn’t had a proper meal because she had been tormented by the duke all day.

However, she had to feed the duke, so she was pulling a cart and heading to his room.

Knock knock-.

“I brought you the Duke’s meal.”

“Come in.”

‘I have to take care of the meal of a man who doesn’t even let me rest.’

Lina sighed inwardly and placed the food on the cart one by one on the table. When the Duke sat down to eat, Lina began to fill the empty water glass with water.

‘I heard from another maid that if you just serve the meal, he will drink the water on his own… … .’

For some reason, he demanded a lot from her.

‘Then you should have prepared everything before you even asked!’

How much she had suffered from this man every meal. That was why she had prepared everything perfectly in advance so that the Duke could not say anything.

However, contrary to Lina’s wishes, the Duke put down the water after taking a sip.

“The water is too cold. Bring me warm water.”

“Yes. I will bring it again.”

Lina hurriedly brought warm water and filled the new glass with water.

“Then enjoy your meal… … .”

“The water is too hot this time.”

‘This man is really… … .’

“… … Yes. I’ll bring it back.”

Lina tried to cool down her bubbling stomach and brought new water and poured it into a glass.

‘Is that enough?’

‘Then. Enjoy your meal… … .’

‘Salt.’

‘Yes?’

‘Bring salt.’

‘Your Majesty, the salt is within arm’s reach?’

Lina bit her lip and tried to suppress the words that were rising to her throat, and picked up the salt and placed it in front of the duke.

‘How on earth have you been eating all this time?’

The duke had to take care of everything from start to finish, to the point where she wondered how she had ever eaten alone.

Thanks to this, Lina had to stay by his side the whole time he was eating.

Lina, who had been tormented by the duke all day, sat down on the kitchen chair and gulped down the water.

“Lina, are you having a hard time? Your complexion is not good.”

At May’s worried tone, Lina took out the mirror in her pocket and looked at it. Her face was clearly tired.

“May… … . Why do people eat three times a day… … ?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

‘Even a child wouldn’t ask you to do everything from A to Z like this.’

Lina felt dizzy thinking that she would be tormented like before at every mealtime from now on.

“I was happy when I was in the annex… … .”

Originally, the maids were in charge of different tasks, so the roles were divided naturally.

However, the duke made Lina do all the work all day, so she was on the verge of collapse from overwork and stress.

‘Doesn’t he think I’m the only maid in the mansion?’

It was clear that the duke was determined to keep her from resting for even a moment. Lina missed the quiet cleaning in the annex where no one was.

‘I returned the book to the library and when I came back, they told me to bring a different book.’

The events of the day flashed through Lina’s mind.

“You could have just done it once, it’s not like I’m training a dog!”

‘They told me to fan myself because it’s hot.’

“You have so much money, so why don’t you buy a temperature control device! A newborn baby wouldn’t bother you like this!”

Before she knew it, the duke had gone from a noble lady to a child, and then to someone worse than a newborn baby.

Lina, who had been muttering to herself without even realizing that May had left, came to her senses when she heard a voice calling her name.

“Lina! The duke is looking for you.”

Lina had no doubt that her name would be the most called name at the Permanence residence today.

* * *

“You look pretty tired.”

‘Yeah. I’m so tired that I could fall asleep right away if I just lay my head down. So call me now. You damn duke.’

Unlike Lina’s intense thoughts, a model answer for her superiors flowed out of her mouth.

It was a moment when the wisdom she had honed over the years shone through.

“I’m not tired at all, duke.”

“Then that’s fortunate. I have a lot of work to do, so my shoulders are stiff and I’m very tired, so come and rub my shoulders.”

Lina heard something thick and snapping in her head, but she was barely able to endure it with the patience she had cultivated for 400 years.

“If you’re tired, how about taking a bath in warm water?”

“A bath?”

“Yes. If you mix some perfume in warm water, your fatigue will go away a lot.”

The duke, who had been looking at Lina with sharp eyes, nodded as if he agreed.

“That’s good too.”

“Then I’ll prepare some warm water right away.”

‘I should hurry up and get some water and rest. It’s late, so I guess you’ll go to bed right after taking a bath?’

Lina hurriedly started to get water to rest as quickly as possible. When the hot water filled the bathtub, she led the Duke to the bathroom.

“Your Highness, the bath water is ready.”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll prepare some clothes for you to change into.

“Please take a rest.”

When Lina bent down and grabbed the bathroom doorknob to go out,

“Where are you going?”

“Yes?”

A languid voice grabbed Lina’s ankle.

“We should go in together.”

“… … Yes?”

“Isn’t bathing a maid’s job?”

Lina blinked her eyes to figure out the situation.

It was natural for a maid to bathe the person she served.

‘But an unmarried nobleman being bathed by a young maid?’

This was a situation that could easily be misunderstood. Lina couldn’t hide her embarrassment at the man’s overly confident attitude. She stammered, her lips quivering.

“Ha, but… … .”

She could feel the duke’s hot breath, which had come within an inch of her.

“You said you would pay me back, with your body.”