Duke, Please Fail! - Chapter 66

Episode 66

“Me? Or the Duke?”

Leonel didn’t answer, even though it wasn’t a question worth pondering. He mulled over the word duke a few times before opening his mouth again.

“……just make yourself comfortable.”

Without saying more, he turned and began to head towards the room. 

“Comfortably?”

I followed him inside.

As Leonel stretched his long arm to close the door behind me, he didn’t step aside but continued to gaze at me.

“You should be cautious.”

I was already quite tense, and to create even a slight distance, I leaned against the door since it was so close. Leonel took a step back.

Normally, he would have turned around and gone to the sofa, but tonight, he didn’t move at all.

“Does it bother you that I can’t sleep?”

I was about to look at Leonel with a bewildered expression but froze in my tracks.

‘Bother? What kind of… What kind of nonsense is that?’

Certainly, it seems like he’s been paying more attention to things lately. However, this, this is just…

“If you can’t sleep, it’s tough, you know?”

Yeah, camaraderie. It’s a bit unsettling to feel camaraderie with Leonel, but I’m not worried about him.

As my bewildered mind was trying to make sense of the situation, a warm hand gently covered the back of my hand.

“Well, this is quite convenient.”

“What… what do you mean?”

“There’s something I want to check.”

“What is it?”

Leonel lightly squeezed my hand and started walking toward the bed, wait, the bed? The bed?!

I instinctively pulled back and stopped in my tracks, and Leonel turned his head. He must have seen the shocked expression on my face as he turned his body.

Of course, he didn’t let go of my hand. Instead, he continued to guide me to the sofa on the opposite side.

“Did you sleep enough?”

“I slept for about five hours.”

“Alright.”

With a tired expression, Leonel answered and then, still holding my hand, sat down on the sofa with his legs hanging off the edge.

He closed his eyes and whispered as if to himself.

“Stay there.”

“What?”

“Until I fall asleep.”

“What?”

I asked twice, but I didn’t get a proper answer. I was wondering what was going on. I just blinked blankly. Then a disappointed laugh escaped.

“Duke, are you asleep?”

“……”

“Duke.”

“……”

“Leonel, are you asleep?”

“Why.”

My shoulders twitched at his sleepy voice. Of all times to call him by his name, what was I expecting as a response?

“Am I really here?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

He frowned and covered his eyes with his arm. Soon, I could hear his even breathing.

Huh? Really? Did he leave me here? Is he asleep? Leonel?

I quietly got up and looked around him. Normally, he would wake up, but he didn’t move at all. Even when I tried shaking his hand after moving the arm that covered his eyes, it was the same.

I stood by his head and stared at his vulnerable, sleeping face.

“Who lost their vigilance?”

I muttered, but I didn’t feel bad. Rather, my heart swelled.

‘It seems like he trusts me enough to show such a vulnerable side.’

After revisiting the history of distrust in my dreams, my nose inexplicably tingled. If I stayed like this, it felt like my resolve for revenge would weaken.

I turned my body, thinking that I should leave, furrowing my brows in displeasure.

That’s when I heard a moaning sound of pain from behind.

What’s going on? Did he get hurt somewhere?

Suddenly, I remembered the wound on Leonel’s neck. Until not too long ago, there were frequent infiltrations by assassins.

‘Could he have been attacked again without my knowledge?’

He had walked around with blood flowing freely before without any visible wounds, so if he got injured in a hidden place, I might not have known.

With a worried heart, I approached Leonel. He had turned to lie on his side, huddled up. I sat down in front of him.

“Duke, are you okay?”

His face, which had been as dry as marble, was now soaked with sweat. I touched his forehead, wondering if he had a fever. Instead of being hot, it was as cold as ice. My heart sank suddenly.

I urgently took out a handkerchief and wiped away the cold sweat. I examined his body, but there was no sign of bleeding.

‘Is he not in pain, but having a nightmare?’

I lightly shook his shoulder, holding onto it.

“Your Grace, wake up. Your Grace, Leonel!”

In an instant, he opened his eyes wide. His strong hand gripped my wrist and pulled me towards him. To avoid falling, I instinctively grasped the side of his head.

His shallow breath brought his face so close that it brushed against my cheek.

His eyes, which had been unfocused, gradually regained focus. However, as if trying to reveal his blurred mind, his gaze remained elusive.

“Nelly?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you on the battlefield?”

Leonel asked slowly with a voice still groggy from sleep.

Battlefield? What battlefield? I tilted my head and looked straight into Leonel’s face. The red irises that had shone as brightly as submerged gems slowly dimmed.

“Did you come to betray me? Like Tatiasun, to betray me…”

His pained voice trailed off, and he curled his body in agony, just as he had earlier.

“…to resent me.”

Betrayal and resentment.

It felt as if I carried them both, burning and stinging within me. Instinctively, I tried to step back, but his large hand remained firmly wrapped around my wrist.

Even when I tried to shake him lightly, Leonel’s hand showed no intention of letting go. I tried twisting it gently, but it was the same.

He still held onto my wrist like a lifeline.

“Your Grace, are you asleep?”

There was no response. Instead, I listened carefully and heard the soft sound of breathing.

“Are you asleep? …Leonel.”

I thought he would wake up like before when I called his name, but there was still no reaction. I tried to escape a few more times but gave up. My hands were not hurting badly, but they were firmly bound, and it seemed impossible to free them.

Finally, I sat down on the floor with a thud. With my hands tied, there was nothing I could do. All I could do was gaze at Leonel’s face.

‘His sleeping face is like that of an angel.’

I rested my chin on my elbow at the corner of the sofa. It felt strange to look down at a face I had always looked up to.

‘He looks a bit pale.’

Despite his Parisian complexion, his expression was strangely calm. As I continued to gaze silently, Leonel turned over.

He turned his body to the side. Since my wrist was still held, my arm got wedged between his. Naturally, our bodies became closer.

As I half-lay on the corner of the sofa, his face was right in front of me.

To be precise, I saw the contours of his neck, his chin, and his thick, shapely lips. I had thought of shaking him or even slapping him to wake him up, but looking at his face, my resolve weakened.

‘He can’t sleep, and I shouldn’t wake him up. I should just enjoy looking at his face. When else will I get a chance like this?’

I comfortably rested my head on the arm that was being held.

Wow. How can facial features be so perfect? Did God bestow such beauty and take away common sense?

As I had foolish thoughts and blinked my eyes, Leonel’s forehead furrowed.

His body tensed up. Without thinking, I lightly hit the held arm a few times.

Upon doing that, Leonel whimpered and then had a relaxed expression.

‘Why does your expression improve when I hit you?’

Puzzled, I stared at him for a moment before resting my head again. I slowly closed and opened my eyes. 

Listening only to Leonel’s breathing in the silence, I felt sleep overtaking me. My vision blurred and darkened.

* * *

A finely crafted wig swayed on the shoulders, looking just like real hair.

Adelhardt awkwardly adjusted the wig, which was longer than his actual hair, and placed a blindfold over his eyes, tightly tying it behind his head. He had whitened his skin with flour, donned shabby clothes, and limped with one foot. He walked with a long stick, leaning on it for support.

As he approached the outskirts of the Altwood estate, a sentry, a soldier from the Southern Army, approached him.

“If you go any further, you’ll run into the castle walls. Halt there.”

“Thank you.”

Adelhardt replied with a pleasant voice. The soldier gave him a quick once-over, then smirked.

Among musicians who had inadvertently become nobility, many found it difficult to look ahead. They were more used to raising their eyes than their wrists.

Most of them had worked in noble households, but some had been driven away. They would hide their tainted eyes with a cloth and roam around begging.

“It seems you’ve had some misfortune. What brings you to the Altwood estate?”

“I am a minstrel. I heard that during the festival season, minstrels and merchants have free access.”

“True, but the festival is still a long way off.”

“Oh, I see. Perhaps I got the date wrong.”

Adelhardt sighed and forced a pitiful smile. Anyone who saw him would feel sorry for him.

It seemed that with those eyes and legs, it would be difficult for him to get to the nearby city anymore.

To enter the Altwood estate outside of the permitted period, one needed a clear social status. Social status certificates or letters of recommendation were the exclusive domain of the nobility, so commoners carried them around like precious documents, granted by influential figures in their villages.

However, a minstrel disguised as a beggar seemed to have nothing of the sort.

The soldier, still curious, decided to ask anyway.

“What proof of your status do you have?”

“I have none. I’ve come from far away; how could I possibly have it?”

With a despondent voice, Adelhardt pleaded, and the soldier couldn’t bring himself to chase him away. He muttered curses under his breath and then turned to call out to another soldier.

“Hey! Go fetch the Knight Commander!”

Before long, Arette quietly appeared outside the outer wall. He stared at Adelhardt with an indifferent expression. His gaze seemed to be glued to Adelhardt’s face. Beyond the thin fabric, his dark pupils could be seen.

‘He still wanders around like a ghost.’

There was a moment of silence. Arette pulled his sword quietly from its sheath and pointed it toward Adelhardt. The blade came close enough to touch his neck, but Adelhardt didn’t show a hint of hesitation.

Arette confirmed that the minstrel before him was truly blind, and then he pondered what Leonel would decide.

Considering the possibility that this might be someone genuinely in need, Leonel might have chosen to let him in, even if he had doubts and kept a close watch.