The Devilish Duke Can’t Sleep

 

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The Queen’s Worries

In Regina Palace, where night fell, a heavy air blew in the Queen’s bedroom.

“Are you sure?”

Grand Duke Rufelio, with a bewildered expression on his face, asked again, even though he knew it was useless.

“This can’t be mistaken.
I’m sorry to have made you the husband of the ugly Queen all this time, Valerian.”

“I’m not blaming you for that! In…… the end, are you talking about…… I mean…… extinction.”

Queen Fabian answered with a deep sigh.

She is the weakest Queen in history, and she has been ridiculed throughout since her accession, but she never knew it would end this soon.
Her mother was also fifty when she gave her the throne, so she thought she would at least hold on until it…….

But the more serious problem was that her innate powers were so weak that she was likely to die almost as soon as her life as a Queen was over.

The moment the Queen of Logos’ power falls below a certain level, she has to abdicate the throne, not by death.
Or just in time for the next Queen to grow in power, they couldn’t tell which came first.
And the abdicated Queen would live to enjoy her status as the wife of her husband, the Grand Duke, and when the powers remaining within her are completely lost, she became ‘extinct’.

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A normal human lifespan ends with the corpse as ‘death’, but the Queen, who is a descendant of the gods, closes her eyes and slowly disperse and disappears after two or three days as if to prove the legend.

But that fact was a top secret among top secrets.
It was a fact too dangerous for the Queen to die without a body.
Especially at a time when the Queen’s powers were waning as it is now, the Queens were extremely careful not to let this secret leak out.
Even if those blinded by greed kidnap and kill the Queen, there is nothing left to prove her death or what caused her death, unless her body remains.

After all, when the new Queen ascended to the throne, the interest in the former Queen rapidly waned, so the secret has been kept well.
But it wasn’t her own disappearance that mattered to Fabian now.
It was a much bigger problem that she had no daughter to inherit the throne.

“I am worried about you.
What is the fate of the Grand Duke without the Grand Duchess, and without a daughter who is a successor…… I’m sorry, I’m sorry.
It is all my fault.”

Fabian couldn’t stand it anymore and burst into tears.

 

As rumored about her, it was absolutely not that her relationship with her husband was bad.
The two have long respected and cherished each other, and have maintained a good marriage relationship.
They weren’t passive in consummating their marriage either.
In particular, they slept together more frequently than the previous Queens because she could not have a daughter.

But God did not give her a daughter.
As if to fit the prophecy of the , at this point in the two thousandth anniversary of Logos’ founding, she had no daughter and foreshadowed her own disappearance.
It seemed that she would not be able to last longer than a year, even if she endured as long as she could.

“It’s…… It’s all my fault…….”

Fabian sobbed in the Grand Duke’s arms with a face that was completely distorted, unlike her usual dignified expression.

“What sin are you in! You just couldn’t resist your mother’s will.
You were just a good daughter!”

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“No! I am a coward who closed my eyes to justice using my mother as an excuse!”

Since there was no ruler without a bloody history, Fabian could not escape from the long-standing guilt.
Although she committed an unforgivable sin, her power did not become strong, and the monarchy of Logos, which had lasted for a thousand years, was shaken.

But she thought this was her punishment, so Fabian decided to do her best in the circumstances instead of blaming God and others.
Sometimes, no, often Liddell challenged her authority, but she chooses to pretend she doesn’t know it instead of bumping into her, and she has narrowly continued this precarious position.

She knew that Liddell was more popular than her both inside and outside the country, and she knew that there were disloyal words that Liddell was better at being the Queen, but fortunately, the Duchy of Luave was loyal to the royal family, so she was able to come this far.

However, she could not predict at all what would happen to the near-extreme power in the future.
What should be done next when the Queen who has not left a successor dies?

Her eldest son, Erdin, who is 21 years old, and her 9-year-old, second son, Rudein, are hers, but sons never inherit the powers of the Queen.
This has been a long-standing concern for the royal family.
It was a secret that very few knew, but in fact, after giving birth to Rudein, Fabian became unable to have children.

While pretending to be trying to have a daughter, she thought about many things with the high priests meeting, but no results came out, and not long after the New Year’s ceremony was over, the representative of the high priests meeting secretly came and said, ‘How about marrying Prince Erdin and Lady Santella.
How about passing the Queen’s seat to Lady Santella?’

Fabian, who had been insulted and ignored by Liddell, had a shaky opinion, but she could not help but be shaken by the words that the Ardenian dynasty could continue if the daughter born between Liddell and the first prince ascended to the throne.
When Liddell, who was full of magical powers, and Erdin, who inherited the Queen’s blood, there was also hope that the heirs would be born with a power similar to her powers.

She realized that she had little power left, so she had to hurry and make a decision.
But Fabian still wasn’t sure which option would be best.
It’s none other than Liddell Santella.
When she sat in the Queen’s seat, she wondered if she would keep Erdin alive.

If she was the lady who was so proud of her surname ‘Santella’, there was no reason not to change the dynasty itself to Santella.
Of course, it won’t be easy as long as there’s the Luave family, but…….

 

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“What should I do, Valerian? I’m afraid I’m going to sacrifice my son to a viper’s jaw.”

“Let’s…… Let’s think about it more, Fabian.
It would also be good to write a letter to Terra Luave to hear the opinions of the Duke and the predecessor Duke.”

Fabian nodded her head helplessly.

* * *

Meanwhile in Santella, with Kahel who left for Terra Luave and the meeting, to bring up a marriage between Liddell and the First Prince, was not an important issue now.
To prepare for the inevitable clash with the Duchy of Luave, it was more difficult and urgent to secure magic stones for the demon corps to use.

But Leonard was confident.

“How fortunate it is that the Crown Prince of Hildebrunn is Ragdrill Elpheoso.
Because he did not hesitate to doubt and be jealous of others on foolish subjects.”

Leonard could hardly be believed to be a planner of terrible things, from the sight of his face, as he smiled gracefully, not too much or too little enough for him to swallow his wine to the neck.

“It is certain that that person does not know his place.
A prince from a small country dares to covet Liddell.”

Leonard’s wife, Cynthia, also took a glass of wine and shed a ridicule.
Hearing the story, Liddell took a little bit of sea bass in front of her and put it in her mouth without showing a sign of embarrassment.

In the story of Ragdrill and the Sage’s Village, he showed a happy and embarrassed look at the same time.
He wanted to abduct the sages and have them cast a spell whenever he wanted, and he wanted to take possession of the Tanel Forest, which the sages had beautifully planted.

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But it wasn’t just a matter of rushing forward to attack with a sword and spear.
The opponent is a sage, that is, a wizard.
In particular, those who lived in the Sage’s Village were no different from the wizards of the Magic Tower that the Tartan Empire was proud of in their abilities.
This is because they were wizards who had left the tower to oppose meddling in the politics of the Empire.

At first, the idea that they could have wizards like the Tartan Empire, many countries tried to take them, and after convincing them that they had no intention of meddling in political battles, they settled in Hildebrunn, offering to take care of the Tanel Forest.

At that time, he thought that the Hildebrunn royal family had achieved great fortune.
He really didn’t know that they would concentrate on research after closing the village door without being swayed by all kinds of temptations.

Even so, it was difficult to tell them to leave Hildebrunn now.
What if they would go to the enemy country and help them? Rather, it was better to keep them in Hildebrunn and watch them.
They were the troublesome parasites that eventually dominated the resource-rich Tanel Forest.

The royal family of Hildebrunn made every effort to subdue them.
However, unmoved by the temptations of money and power, they responded without any hesitation to the royal attack that threatened their safety.
The knights of the royal family had to turn their heads around without even going near the Sage’s Village.
Even the thorny vine wall that rose along the border of the village could not be crossed.

But with the help of the Santella family, the story is different.
Although the sages are said to be strong wizards, no matter how strong they are, they are inferior to those of the Duchy of Santella.
It was even harsher that there was a secret weapon that wizards could never defeat.

In addition, the emissary who came to deliver the words of the Duchy of Santella showed him a portrait of the Santella family for reference.
It is said that when Ragdrill saw Liddell’s appearance, he looked suspiciously at her.
It was said that he thought it was painted because it was too beautiful.
He had seen Liddell several times when she was young, but Ragdrill, who had never seen Liddell when she grew up to be a beautiful woman, was mesmerized by the emissary’s words, ‘Rather, the picture does not fully express her true beauty.’ At the same time, he said he wants to share a story with the successor, Liddell.

The people of the Santella family couldn’t help but ridicule Ragdrill, who was only greedy as someone who lacked capacity.
At the same time, Leonard seemed to understand why he worried so much about his younger brother, Luahalla.
No matter how much Luahalla acts like the tongue in the mouth, he must have always been anxious about the existence of a younger brother who was much more capable than him.

“I don’t know how he realized that his brother was more capable than him.”

Leonard shook his head and tore a piece of bread.
To that, Liddell answered indifferently.

“You only look at the back of the person behind you once or twice, but if it’s ahead you’ll see it repeatedly, so you would have known even if you didn’t know.”

Liddell’s mouth answered.
She didn’t put herself on the same level as Ragdrill, but she was well aware of the feeling of having a competitor who was always ahead of her.