The Duchess and the Devil
Chapter 20

Judith, who lowered her eyes as her mind became complicated, flinched when his finger suddenly tapped on her forehead. Without her noticing it, Derrick’s finger lowered to the front of her nose.

“What are you thinking about so much?”

It was a strange feeling. His hand touched her forehead, and as soon as he removed it, the countless thoughts, which had tormented her until now, vanished into thin air. Her head became clear, and her splitting headache disappeared.

Feeling bewildered, Judith stroked her forehead with her hand.

“Why did it suddenly…”

Derrick chuckled when she, who experienced an incomprehensible phenomenon, muttered.

“I secretly looked into it, and normally, it wouldn’t be noisy.”

“Looked into… did you do that, just now?”

The questionable phenomenon that suddenly happened seemed to be an example of the power he wielded. As soon as Judith opened her eyes wide asked, Derrick mischievously bent the corners of his mouth. Judith, who was calmly pondering over his words, opened her mouth wide as she was astounded at her sudden thought.

“Don’t tell me you looked into my mind just now? You can read my thoughts?”

“Absolutely.”

Judith’s entire body stiffened from the reply Derrick calmly said to her. If magic could deal with not only the physical part, but also with the mental part, then, just in case, she asked, but it was true as he said.

“Then until now, all, all of my thoughts were…”

What she had been thinking about all this time with him in front of her.

Judith tried to recollect her thoughts quickly. But the memories that had already passed did not come easily to her mind. Derrick, who watched her as her eyes moved left and right restlessly, raised his body and gave out a small chuckle.

“I’m jesting. Were you cursing at me in your mind or something? Why do you look so anxious?”

Having her worried to this extent about a person, he raised his arms to the air with a nonchalant face. Swish. Then, a large thing flew from the open window and steadily landed on his forearm. Judith moved her body as much as she could at the unexpected presence. However, she soon breathed out a sigh of relief after spotting the black wings that looked familiar.

“No, it’s not a joke, but I can’t read it yet.”

“…You can’t yet?”

“Only a little of my mana that I had lost from being trapped in this body came back.”

He easily pulled out the letter from the carrier pigeon container that hung on the black bird’s, Carmen’s, leg and murmured to himself, making sounds as if something suddenly came to his mind.

“That reminds me, Hannibal was outstanding in this field.”

Judith, who felt relieved at his joking words, tilted her head to the side at the topic that was suddenly mentioned.

“What are you talking about?”

“About Hannibal. That guy has a remarkable ability to mess around with the minds of others. So…”

Derrick moved his head to the side menacingly. His irises, which were clearly violet just a while ago, shone with red streams.

“His forte was shattering the mental condition of others.”

Something like that never happened, but meeting his scarlet eyes, she was frightened to death as though she was actually experiencing it, despite only listening to the story. Judith swallowed her saliva.

“Well, he’s a bastard who was born with a wicked ability like that.”

After hearing the description about him, Judith didn’t want to meet this Hannibal devil no matter what.

* * *

The day where they had to have an audience with the Emperor came in a blink of an eye.

“Madame, the preparations are finished.”

Judith raised her head at the words that the maid informed her as she stepped back.

The face shown in the mirror was beautiful like the flowers that just bloomed in spring. At least, in the eyes of others, it looked like that. Actually, before she was even dressed up, Judith was concerned about the shadows underneath her eyes, which had come down to the edges of her jaws. Luckily, they weren’t very obvious as powder was applied on them.

They hadn’t even met the Emperor yet, but she felt as though she was completely exhausted already. In the two days they were given, she was busy checking Derrick’s manners.

Like a snake, Killiton had a tendency to suffocate the other person until they would become awkward, as if there were a side of them that was unpleasant to him. Although Judith had met, it was mostly in official gatherings, and even in those times, he was a man who would regularly rebuke others depending on his mood, so she had thought he would do that on this private occasion. For someone like that, Derrick, the devil, was the ideal prey to bite and rip apart.

Uncultured manners, a crude way of speaking, and an unrefined rough impression. Without a doubt, it would give off an atmosphere different from Derrick Vaisil before he died. That was why she did her utmost best to rectify his behaviour somehow, but Derrick didn’t even pretend to listen to her. No, rather than not having to pretend to listen to her, he…

‘When you pay your respects to His Majesty the Emperor, you put your right hand on your che… Derrick, are you listening to what I’m saying?’

‘No.’

That wasn’t something to brag about, and Judith made an absurd expression as she was dumbfounded by his confident reply.

‘Then what in the world have you been doing?’

‘I was watching your lips open wide.’

‘…’

‘Well, I’ve also thought often of wanting to have my dick be bitten there?’

PR: not important but just wanted to share that Google really censored me by replacing dick with ‘duck’

Judith frowned immediately at the vulgarity that he couldn’t hide. Even in the midst of this, she couldn’t prevent her auricles from burning red. As soon as she let out a deep sigh, feeling like she would lose her mind, Derrick languidly propped his chin.

‘I’ll tell the Emperor that I lost my memories, anyway. And yet, why are you teaching me these things?’

‘Just to be safe. And I told you to call him ‘His Majesty the Emperor’, not ‘Emperor’!’

‘He’s the Emperor to humans like you, not to me.’

‘Anyway, you’re a human in my husband’s body right now…… you’re not thinking of helping me at all, are you?’

Judith couldn’t tolerate it anymore, and as soon as she sprang up from the sofa, Derrick pulled her hand, making a sly smile on his face.

‘I have to help though, since my wife wants that.’

It was a response that was entirely different from his actions. He pulled Judith’s hand towards him, licked it, and whispered.

‘How about teaching me in bed instead? I surely think I’ll learn even better there, too.’

She wasn’t deceived by his words. From the start, it was obvious that what he had wanted was ‘sex’, but while Judith couldn’t see the forest and was only merely looking at a tree, she was fooled by his tricks.

In the end, she was pinned underneath him and cried, unable to even teach him properly last night, and then went to sleep. It was only when she woke up did she realize it was now the appointed day of the imperial audience.

She felt like it had been a long time since she had dressed herself. In fact, Judith refrained from outdoor activities as much as possible after her husband began to suffer from a persistent illness. Honestly, her life at that time was extremely comfortable. It was because they were uncomfortable, whether they were banquets she had to attend out of obligation or tea parties, where only pretense came and went as their knives and real intentions were concealed.

Since then, she didn’t leave the mansion at all until recently, when her husband was revived as a devil, so it had been a long time to the point that dressing herself felt awkward.

“My husband?”

“He has finished preparing and is waiting downstairs.”

At those words, Judith stood up. She went outside the door of the residence and saw Derrick leaning against the carriage. The sun shone down on him, illuminating his dark hair. Judith walked down the stairs, then abruptly stopped. It was because the appearance of her husband, who was waiting for her, was unfamiliar.

Derrick, who was thinking of something with his arms crossed, sensed her presence and lifted his head.

“What are you doing standing there?”

Finally, he asked a question, gently bending the corner of his eyes. Only then did Judith come to her senses.

Was it because there were times when they confronted each other for two years that it was even said they fought over everything? When she looked at Derrick, sometimes, her dead husband would flash through her mind. And whenever she suddenly felt this sense of incompatibility, she was reminded that the man right now and the man in the past were completely different people.

Derrick Vaisil was a man who didn’t know how to look and smile tenderly at her like that.

Eventually, Judith, who was approaching the carriage, spotted his rumpled cravat.

“Bend your back forward for a moment.”

“Hm?”

Despite acting as though he was doubtful of her, he obediently inclined his upper body. Judith straightened his cravat with somewhat clumsy gestures. As she had never personally fixed a man’s cravat, she couldn’t help that her hands were clumsy.

Surrounding the two were the servants who were watching the unfamiliar scene. In the past, the couple had never gone out together, nor had they looked at each other, unlike today, but even if they said that things like those happened by any chance, they were busy arguing and quarreling with each other. But now, the Madame was taking care of the appearance of Master’s attire before anything else! She’s also doing it personally with her own two hands!

Looking at today’s scene, many servants had the same thought, that the relationship between the two had really changed.

“Done. Now let’s go.”

Judith removed her hands from his now-neat cravat and boarded the carriage, followed by Derrick.

The carriage door was closed, and the scenery outside the window gradually began to move. The truth was, when she was in the mansion, it didn’t feel real in particular, but after getting in the carriage, she truly felt like she was going to the Imperial Palace.

Judith glanced at Derrick, who was sitting across her, and felt the tension slowly rise. Unlike her, the devil, who wore the mask of her husband, gazed out the window calmly with his legs crossed. His violet eyes, glistening like a jewel, looked lost as if he was lost in deep thought.

Judith was now accustomed to his irises being red rather than violet. As Judith scrutinized his foreign violet eyes, she suddenly opened her mouth.

“Sometimes, your eyes would become red. Why do they do that?”

At Judith’s question, Derrick turned his head towards her.

“When I use my mana or feel a strong impulse, this original color comes out.”

“If it’s the original color…….. Do you mean that your eyes are really red?”

“Yes, In fact, that aspect applies to all devils, not just me.”

Among humans, there was no one with red eyes. However, since the old times, red eyes were one of the signs called a symbol of fire. Because it gave a bad impression when someone gazed at a color that looked as though it was filled with blood. In fact, it was to the point where there was also a story where the eldest son of a prestigious family was born with red eyes and wasn’t handed over the position of the successor.

Red eyes were perceived to be an ominous aspect. But he said that all devils had the symbol of fire. Was it because he was a wicked being by nature? Judith tried to recall his face whenever he would have red eyes.

Although chills went down along her spine, those chills were things that aroused subtle curiosity. To her, he didn’t seem to be that bad, but it wouldn’t be like that to other people.

“Those eyes, you need to hide them in front of His Majesty. You understand, right?”

“I’ll do my best.”

It wasn’t a very reliable answer. Still, Judith looked back outside of the window, believing his almost affirmative response.

As the scenery changed rapidly, the beat of her heart quickened as the Imperial Palace drew closer.