Chapter 12. The Duchess’s Three Lovers

Click, creak.

A small friction sound broke the silence in the room. Lariella, who had been comfortably reading a book while leaning against a high pillow, turned her head to look toward the source of the sound.

Due to the late hour, only a few lamps were lit around the bed, and in the fireplace that occupied one side of the room, well-dried firewood was crackling and burning bright red. But the unfamiliar noise came from a corner where the light didn’t reach.

Though it was hard to see in the darkness, judging from the creaking sound followed by a rush of cool night air, it seemed the maids who had been airing the room after her bath had not properly closed the door to the terrace.

Even if spring wasn’t far away, the cold of midnight was still closer to winter. If left as is, the room that had been warmed as comfortably as a cat’s fur basking in the sunlight would soon grow cold.

Lariella pulled back the blanket that covered her up to her waist and lowered her legs to the floor. Having suffered from severe muscle pain for the past two days, she still felt a dull ache on the inside of her thighs. But at this level, she could move around well enough.

Lariella slipped her feet into indoor slippers lined with soft wool and wrapped the shawl that had been hanging on the chair around her shoulders. As she pattered toward the terrace, however, she soon had to hesitantly step back in surprise.

A man was seeping in like a shadow through the gap of the open terrace door.

Black uniform and black boots, a black cloak draped over them, and a black mask that came down to the tip of his nose. The man was entirely in black, so much that one wouldn’t even notice a person was there if he blended into the darkness. Only his well-shaped lips visible beneath the mask remained vividly red even in the dim darkness.

“Who……. who are you?”

Lariella’s deep blue eyes widened as if they might pop out at the appearance of the large, pitch-black man.

This was none other than the Duchess of Elmano’s bedroom. Moreover, right next door was the master of the Elmano territory, the most vast and powerful in the Bayaroman Empire. Yet there was an audacious rogue sneaking in here.

If done unknowingly, it was madness; if done knowingly, it was even greater madness. If he caught the eye of Kais or Sir Worklan, that fellow would never walk on land with his own feet again.

But whether or not he knew how reckless his actions were, the insolent intruder showed no sign of surprise or hesitation even when face to face with the owner of this room. He merely raised the corner of his red lips slightly in response to Lariella’s trembling question.

“Get, get out of here right now! I’ll, I’ll pretend I didn’t see you this time!”

Lariella shouted loudly, tensing her lower abdomen. But it was a clumsy roar with not a hint of dignity in it.

Sure enough, the man who heard Lariella’s scolding smirked as if finding it ridiculous. Then he deliberately took one step closer to her.

Lariella retreated two steps to match the man’s wide stride and glanced over his shoulder. The wall behind him with a large portrait hanging on it appeared to be just a wall at first glance, but it was actually a secret door connected to the Duke’s room.

She hadn’t expected such a bold intruder to be frightened by her feeble scolding. The reason Lariella shouted with all her might was because she hoped Kais in the next room would hear her voice and come running. But sadly, the secret door connecting to the Duke’s room didn’t budge at all.

This should have been loud enough to be heard in the next room. Perhaps he was in his office? Why was Kais, who usually knocked on her door even before she finished bathing, taking so long at a time like this?

Her mouth dried up with tension.

What should I do now?

While chewing her dry lips and watching the man’s movements, Lariella suddenly recalled Ronais’s voice.

‘Lariella, if you ever encounter a ruffian, just kick him in the groin without mercy. No matter how burly he is, when kicked in the groin, he’ll have no choice but to roll on the ground. Then run away as fast as you can without looking back. Got it?’

Ronais, who had been anxious about his sister wandering around the village without a maid, occasionally made Lariella practice kicking.

She never thought she’d use this here like this.

Still, there was no more effective way to deal with such a large man alone.

Lariella surreptitiously lowered her hands that had been gathering the front of her shawl and grabbed both sides of her skirt. At the same time, she tensed her right instep and knee.

Just as she was about to thrust her right foot with the determination to smash the man’s groin in one go, the man who had been at a suitable distance suddenly began striding toward her.

“Uh………. uhh! Hey, don’t come any closer. Just stay right there!”

Flustered as her carefully aimed target suddenly closed the distance, Lariella waved her hands and hastily backed away. But even that didn’t go far before she was blocked by a solid wall. She looked around, but unfortunately, there was nothing suitable to throw on this empty wall.

Lariella stuck to the wall like a mounted deer head. Meanwhile, the man’s legs showed no sign of stopping. Soon the man’s shadow swallowed the hem of Lariella’s skirt, her slender waist, and her plump bosom in turn.

Now the distance with the man was too close to kick him with her foot. It seemed better to wait until the man came a bit closer and then strike him with her knee.

And finally, when the pitch-black shadow reached the top of her head, Lariella raised her right knee vigorously, mentally preparing herself.

“Oops, my goodness.”

But the man easily blocked Lariella’s ambitious strike with just one palm.

Her knee didn’t even get near the man’s groin and was helplessly pushed back to its place by the man’s palm.

“It seems your legs have fully recovered now. Seeing you execute such a splendid kick.”

The moment she heard the man’s voice mixed with laughter, Lariella, with a dumbfounded expression, jerked her head up. The voice was too familiar to have misheard. In fact, it was the same voice she had heard during dinner time.

Lariella brought her face close to the man’s. Not only the voice, but the man’s lips and jawline, upon closer inspection, were even more familiar.

“……Kais?”

At her bewildered question, the lips visible beneath the black mask stretched into a mischievous smile.

Lariella was dumbfounded. This room had two doors leading to the corridor and one door directly connected to Kais’s room. Leaving three perfectly good doors unused, the person who had climbed over the terrace railing like a thief, sneaking in stealthily and giving her such a fright, was the master of this castle and her husband. Moreover, what was with that hideous black cloak and black mask worn by someone who usually paid so much attention to his appearance?

“Oh, really, you scared me! How could you appear like this so suddenly? I almost……”

I almost burst your precious balls!

The words “Do you really want to become a eunuch?” rose to her throat, but no matter what, she couldn’t utter such explicit words with the dignity of a Duchess. Instead, Lariella raised her sharp gaze full of resentment and glared at the black mask. 

“Anyway, this kind of prank isn’t right. I was really startled.”

But Kais’s attitude didn’t seem very apologetic. He shrugged his shoulders once at Lariella’s complaint and shook his masked face from side to side.

“No, you’re wrong.”

“Wrong? What do you mean?”

“I’m not Duke Kais Elmano right now, but Sir Morini, a knight from the Principality of Ascal.”

What nonsensical talk is this?

He seemed perfectly normal on the outside, but why did he keep talking nonsense like someone who had been kicked by a horse’s hind leg while feeding it and ended up face-down in the feed trough?

Lariella stared blankly at Kais with an expression of complete incomprehension.

“Sir Morini? Who’s that?”

“Who else could it be?”

Kais took another step forward until their bodies were close enough to touch. Then he placed both hands on the wall on either side of Lariella’s head.

Looking down with satisfaction at the tiny woman trapped between the solid wall, his large body, and his strong arms, Kais lowered his upper body and brought his lips close to her small, round ear.

The soft whisper that flowed between his lips invasively penetrated her small ear canal.

“I’m the Duchess of Elmano’s first lover.”

Hearing those words, Lariella’s jaw dropped as if it had been dislocated.

She finally realized why Kais had done such a preposterous thing.

So the beginning of this ridiculous situation started with the conversation the two had in bed the night before last.

That night too, Kais persistently licked, sucked, pushed into, and delved into Lariella. After intense f*replay and vigorous thrusting, Kais, having ej*culated his seed, pulled Lariella into a tight embrace and rolled half a turn, placing her small, lovable body on top of his own.