The Depressed Demon King and His Bedchamber Maid - Chapter 19

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Lucy accepted the young man’s proposal—’that he had something serious to discuss,’ and that they should go somewhere quiet where they could talk.

Curiosity had won out over displeasure.

She thought she’d like to part ways with him soon, since his advances were growing somewhat irritatingly persistent. But he claimed to know the interior of the Grand Ducal Castle well and offered to show her around.

And he truly did know the maze-like interior of the castle well. As if he himself were the lord of the place, he began showing Lucy accessible halls, lounges, and empty rooms.

The castle’s interior, steeped in long history, was antique and magnificent.

Her eyes went round at the grand marble sculptures, the velvet curtains hanging in lavish excess, the reception rooms papered in gold—and she let herself be led here and there.

But every corner seemed to have couples tangled in lewd embraces, so she couldn’t properly examine the interior and had to retreat each time, face flushed.

“Let’s rest a moment.”

The man proudly revealed his unmasked face and led Lucy to one side of a fountain. Her feet had gradually begun to ache from the high heels, so she sat on the marble edge as he suggested.

But as if interpreting that as permission, the man seized her chin and skillfully thrust his tongue inside.

“Mmph…!”

Without thinking, Lucy bit down hard on the wriggling tongue and shoved the man away with both hands. It had felt as revolting as a frog crawling into her mouth.

“Aaack!”

She’d barely pushed him, yet the man went crashing into a corner with a loud clatter.

But staggering back up, he twisted his face like a demon and lunged at her.

“You insolent b***h…! I played with you since your body was decent enough, and now you don’t know your place?”

The man’s speech, gentlemanly the entire time, flipped in an instant.

“Clearly you’re from some low-ranking noble house. How dare someone like you lay hands on the eldest son of the Iantz Count’s family?”

Strangely, she wasn’t the least bit afraid of him. The man was far larger than her, but somehow, he just looked weak.

What truly astonished her, however, was how abruptly his attitude had turned vulgar. He had spouted nothing but sweet flattery the entire time…

‘My Lord Lae isn’t like that….’

His noble, unhurried, somber tone was always constant.

Watching the man lunge at her again, Lucy thought she could just snap his neck lightly and knock him out—then stopped short, frozen.

She was baffled, for a moment, how such a thought had surfaced in her head. In that split second, the man hurled a fist.

“Kuk!”

But right then, with a short scream, the man was lifted into the air right before Lucy’s nose.

The man, who had been thrashing and choking, saw who had seized him and turned even paler.

“Keuhk… kkuk… kkng!”

Meanwhile, Lucy turned toward the one who had disposed of the man she’d meant to deal with herself—and her face brightened.

“Lae! Where have you been all this time? I was looking everywhere…!”

Both delight and a sulk were evident in Lucy’s reaction, but Laegar only gazed at the limp man with sunken eyes, saying nothing.

“Where were you, I asked, Your Majesty.”

She tugged lightly at his sleeve, but Laegar simply turned away, leaving her where she stood. He flung the man to the floor as if discarding him, then seized his head with one hand and began dragging him out.

Lucy stared vacantly at Laegar’s retreating figure as he vanished with the man, then pouted her lips. She felt hurt for no reason.

He’d pushed her alone into a ball where she knew no one, then hadn’t shown so much as the tip of his nose.

And now he was leaving without even meeting her eyes, like someone angry.

Truthfully, she had been exhilarated by the attention, and for some reason happy to belong among a crowd—so she had enjoyed the ball for a few hours. But as time wore on, the thought that she was lonely had grown stronger.

Countless people had extended their hands, expressing fondness. Yet the more they did, the more she had missed Lae.

So deep down, she had hoped he would soon appear and ask her for a dance.

She had endured, sweetly imagining that he might dance with her in front of all those watching eyes—even if he wore a mask.

But he never once showed his face.

And then he appeared like this, only to leave so coldly.

Of course, she knew he had opened this ball for her, under the pretext of entertaining her when she was bored.

“Haa, when he could have just played with me himself.”

Or let her go outside and ride a horse to her heart’s content.

“Besides, I wanted to show him me wearing this.”

Until now, inside his bedchamber, she had worn only a chemise close to underwear or a transparent negligee. Because dressing up had been pointless—he would tear it off soon enough anyway.

Gazing down at the elegant dress fitted perfectly to her body, Lucy’s eyes welled with tears.

Even through this, she had vaguely sensed that attending a formal ball dressed like this had been one of her silly little wishes.

She rubbed her eyes with her fist and grumbled.

“Just how have I lived my life.”

But above all, the thought that being with her ought to be a higher priority than disposing of some man like that made Lucy pucker her lips into a pout.