Chapter 42

Above all, it was very cool that the escort could rely on the Duke’s power.

I glanced at the Duke.

“I think I’ll be leaving for the capital soon. There’s a call from the Emperor.” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

“Oh…”

“So, before that, I thought of solidifying Astel’s position in this castle.” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

As soon as he arrived, at the news that he would soon leave again, I blinked and thought.

Come to think of it, the Emperor in the original was aiming for the young Duke of the North, and he often called him to the capital.

He wanted to subjugate the North and make them submit and maintain relations.

Duke Anais was still young, but he didn’t even have a fiance yet, so the Emperor was not overly greedy yet.

Of course, there’s no human who could dare to tell the Duke of the North to ‘Look for his heir now.’

After all, the heir is chosen by the vassal family, so it has nothing to do with the marriage of the Duke and the rise and fall of the Northern Territory…

‘Come to think of it, it seems that the Duke has a love story in the original… but maybe it’s our misunderstanding.’

Looking back on my vague memories, there were quite a few noble girls who had a crush on the Duke.

The noble girls of the capital also longed for the freedom and wildness of the strong northern beasts.

A dark romance novel about the Duke of the North played a big role in establishing that perception…

“I’ll be right back, Astel.” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

These were the words of the Duke who broke my long trail of thoughts.

“More than that, I built a small garden on the ice wall.”

Nodding with a smile. Looking back, I also remembered the words of the maids.

-‘His Excellency must have called a magician after conquering the ice cliff!’

-‘It’ll be really beautiful when it snows. Was he planning on developing it as a tourist destination?’

-‘I heard he’s going to make it into a private estate… I want to go see it.’

My curiosity towards the Duke was solved.

“Then will it become a tourist destination?” ᴬˢᵗᵉˡ

Astel tilted her head and asked.

“Do you want to make it a tourist attraction, Astel?” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

For a moment, I wondered why the Duke was asking me about it.

“It’s Astel’s, you can do whatever you want.” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

“…What? Mine… Oh, it’s not.” ᴬˢᵗᵉˡ

The natural ice walls themselves were rare, and the magic craftsman’s power was also included there, so it had an astronomical monetary value that could not be counted in ordinary numbers.

“I decided it was Astel’s.”

Was it my misunderstanding that the Duke’s expression seemed to be a bit sparkling while saying that?

I rubbed my eyes a few times and looked at him again.

Fortunately, he returned with an indifferent and neat expression.

“So now it’s good to get used to receiving.” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

“…?”

As I was puzzled, his expression darkened.

“Stop giving… to anyone.” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

Was I… used to giving?

It doesn’t seem like it at all.

However, the moment I opened my mouth and tried to refute it, the Duke’s fingertips touched my forehead.

It was a gentle touch, as if handling a kitten.

“I’ll give you anything.” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

His eyes felt hot.

No, his hands…

I took a breath and held the Duke’s hand.

It felt like it was burning.

Come to think of it, when we were apart, the Duke often showed symptoms of health abnormalities in the sphere.

There were many days when he confessed that his heart was beating fast or his face turned red.

I can’t believe I forgot about that…

“Yo- your hands are so hot. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Even though I was holding the Duke’s hand, the fever kept rising.

A soft moan flowed from the Duke’s lips.

“It’s better for us to talk.” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

“What kind of talk…!”

I quickly grabbed the Duke’s hand tightly.

But the fever showed no sign of going down.

“If I can’t solve it, we need to call the doctor immediately!”

I hurriedly tried to press the chime on the tabletop. However, the Duke’s hand came first to stop me.

“Before that, Astel. There’s something I want to experiment with.” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

“Huh, an experiment?”

“We can’t do it with our hands, so if we do something more.” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

“It’s because you were overworked…”

“You were too far…” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

My face turned red.

The Duke’s face came right in front of me.

“Why don’t we try the experiment once?” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

Why does the word experiment feel so meaningful?

This is a treatment. I’m a healer, and I’m just treating sick people.

Besides, I’m the only one who can heal the Duke.

After diligently rationalizing in my heart, I grabbed the Duke’s hand and rubbed my lips against the back of his hand.

“What do you think?” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

The back of the Duke’s hand was still as hot as a newborn chick.

The low laughter of the Duke resonated in my ears.

“…I don’t think it’s possible.”

I sullenly removed my lips from his hand. And took a deep breath.

In my solemn gaze, the Duke slowly closed his eyes.

Dense eyelashes, bright red lips…

It seemed that the tip of his tongue was visible because his lips were slightly opened while smiling.

‘Come on, wake up, Astel!‘

With a little more courage, I rushed at the Duke’s forehead at terrifying speed.

Soon, his forehead banged against my lips.

When I stayed still with my lips attached to his forehead for a while, a cool energy lingered on his hot forehead and the fever subsided little by little.

The Duke asked softly.

“Can I open my eyes now?”

I slowly removed my lips from the Duke’s forehead and moved away.

“Yes…”

“It doesn’t have much of an effect.” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

I was going to ask for a doctor.

But the Duke clasped my slender wrist and whispered in a slightly hoarse voice.

“Then I’ll do it now.”

With the words, his face was just around the corner. The gaze overlapped narrowly.

“The kiss.”

I thought my heart stopped at those words.

I hurriedly tried to back away, but the Duke was faster.

As I retreated, he got a little closer.

With my eyes wide open, I could hear my heartbeat in my ear and hurriedly spoke.

“I, I- it’s on my forehead, right?”

The Duke asked skillfully with a low-pitched laughter.

“Shall we do it on the lips?” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

No! When you say kiss, people usually think of a kiss on the lips…!

I raised my eyes, bit my lip, and put the opposite words into my mouth.

“Oh, no. Please do it on my forehead!”

A short forehead kiss continued to make a half-assurance closing of eyes and making a sound.

His fingertips slowly descended from my forehead to the bridge of my nose and down my lips.

The Duke, who lightly pressed on the hot lips with his fingertips, spoke again.

“I think my fever has gone down, Astel.”

Thanks to the series of actions, the Duke looked quite playful and had a natural smile.

I swallowed my saliva.

What are we going to do now?

The Duke held my hand as if escorting me.

As it was, we descended from gigantic spire of the Duke’s Castle and went outside.

And after walking together for about thirty minutes, we entered the room again.

“…Is this an experiment?”

The Duke nodded at my words.

“Yes.”

I nodded as I saw the sleet falling over the spire.

I had no idea that the “experiment” mentioned by the Duke would be extremely romantic, such as walking hand in hand, facing each other, and seeing snow falling shoulder to shoulder.

It’s too romantic and wholesome, I feel like I’ve become a pervert for thinking so…

The Duke, who was staring at my complicated expression, continued with a smile.

“I wonder how you felt when you were away from me.” ᴬⁿᵃᶦˢ

Fortunately, the topic has returned.

I contemplated and continued.

“I kept dozing off!”

“My heart beats so fast that I can’t sleep. All night long.”

I recorded and took notes of the abnormal symptoms that occurred between us.

‘Looking at the Duke’s symptoms, it’s like love.‘

…That can’t be true.

Of course, it’s hard for me to talk about love because I have no dating experience.

I blinked with my eyes down. My eyelashes fell heavily as I stared down.

“I’m actually a little sleepy even now.”