What’s Wrong with You, Duke?!

Chapter 3

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At first glance, the duchy of Faucigny in the western region of the empire looked like a wasteland. Its soil was not only unsuitable for farming, but its shoreline was also vulnerable to pirate raids. Its steep mountain ranges didn’t help either, making it difficult to enter other surrounding territories.

Faucigny had become the largest trading hub in the empire, thanks to the harbor the duke helped build. The duke and his knights—who were highly skilled in fighting battles—eradicated the pirates and bandits and created an enormous passageway connecting the coast and the mountains. The duchy had since thrived, and the duke amassed a huge fortune. Levied against expensive foreign imports, the port fees and tolls alone were immensely lucrative. The duke didn’t just stop there. He also secretly acquired a big merchant corporation. During their pillow talk, the duke whispered to Noël something that only the person he hired to run the company knew, something not even the emperor himself had any knowledge of.

“I’m the wealthiest man in the empire, and having you makes me the richest man in the world. But then, of course, all the money in the world means nothing, compared to your beauty.”

But it’s not my money! Noël put her hands on her hips and stared angrily at the bookstore owner, who was offering her a ridiculous offer. “I don’t think I’m asking a lot here! Four pieces of silver are all I am asking for. Oh, come on, you should know better.”

A piece of silver could get you one sack of flour, and that was a lot of money. In her home country, even if you did needlework all night, you’d still get less than one piece of silver. But some of these rare books that she tried so hard to find were more than 100 years old. She wanted to keep these books if she could, but she had made copies through transcription, and she needed money to start buying new books.

I thought these were books of magic at first, just by looking at their titles, but they were something else completely. She still had a hard time letting go of them and continued to stare at her books—The Witch’s Hot Cauldron and the Sorcerer’s Huge Wand and The Gorgeous Wizard and the Curse of His Third Leg. The bookstore owner must have underestimated her and made an initial offer of four pieces of bronze per book. He began to get annoyed by her uncompromising stance and looked her up and down. The look he gave her was quite offensive. To be fair, she was wearing a dress she had bought from the marketplace, with a scarf wrapped over her tightly tied-back hair, so no one could possibly tell that she was the duchess.

Noël ended up getting the money she asked for. When she came out onto the street, she was happily greeted by Mary, who was carrying lots of packages in both hands. When she first asked Mary to let her enjoy some private time in the marketplace, the other woman was adamantly opposed. But now that she had become used to splitting up, she always went off to take care of her own tasks.

Mary was Noël’s handmaiden and was at her service at all times, which brought them much closer to each other. Noël smiled a bit awkwardly and said, “We have to make a stop at the Emerald Corporation’s office, too.”

“Again?”

“Now that spring has come, ladies will start looking for light-colored outfits. If we buy the fabric now, we’ll be able to sell them for a profit.”

Mary stared at her. Her eyes were asking why Noël would even bother when she had a rich husband. Noël was actually saving up in case something went wrong in the future, but she could never share that with her maid. She shrugged and continued, “It’s fun to make money. It's been a little hobby of mine since I was young.”

“Yes, yes, as long as His Grace does not know.”

“My mother used to tell me when I was little that a wife is entitled to keeping her own secret purse from her husband.”

“You’re right, but you would make a lot more money off one of the gemstones you got from him.”

“I want to fill my secret purse with my own hard-earned money. And I promise you I’ll pay you back handsomely for letting me use your name.”

“Just promise to spare my life if something goes wrong, Your Grace,” Mary cautiously answered, pursing her lips. Noël didn’t know what Mary would make of her commoner hobby, but the maid seemed to have stopped trying to dissuade her. Her answer implied she wouldn’t be safe either, should something happen to Noël.

“But of course. I swear no harm will be done to you.” It felt weird to talk about life and death over some small hobby of making petty money off of some of her belongings, but she gave Mary her word as sincerely as she could.

Based on the duke’s reputation, there was actually nothing strange in talking about life and death. He despised lies and deception, so whenever he found he had been kept from knowing something, he considered it treacherous and resorted to a lethal type of punishment.

Even if I run away with the money I saved, I cannot afford to let anyone find out about Mary no matter what. I wouldn’t be able to guarantee my own life, either, if it were to come to that. Actually, things might be all right, since the duke will just completely forget he ever had a wife like me so long as I stay out of his sight.

Noël became emotional, but then she shook her head hard to bring herself back. In fact, she shook her head so hard that the scarf loosened and revealed a hint of her voluminous, curly tresses. As a sudden gust of wind blew dust off the ground of the marketplace, Mary shouted in despair. “Oh, no! If the dust gets on your hair, it won’t come out so easily!”

But it was too late. All kinds of dust, blown around in the wind, had become trapped in Noël’s curly hair. She frowned and untied her hair. Threads of her hair puffed out like they had a life of their own, growing larger than even her now-lost scarf could hold.

“Oh my!” Mary panicked, but Noël just shook her hair to get the dust off and shrugged her shoulders.

“Argh, this is much better actually. I felt so trapped. My bun was tied so tight that it hurt.” Noël felt it better to let her hair hang loose, rather than leaving all that dust in it. Mary might disagree, but...

“Wh... What about maintaining your dignity, Your Grace?”

“Who would ever think I’m a duchess with my hair all hanging out like this?”

“I would!”

“If you would stop shouting ‘Your Grace,’ no one would notice.”

Noël took the teary Mary with her and made a stop at the Emerald Corporation’s office to reserve 20 reams of silk. She had emphasized making money on her own merits, but Noël was already taking advantage of the duke’s information, which she was privy to. It was somewhat cowardly, but she decided to put aside her scruples this time.

But why the name Emerald? When she saw the green signage hanging from the facade of the antique, elegant building, she clicked her tongue. Every single time, she thought the name Emerald did not quite fit the masculine image of the duke. Could it be the general manager’s preference?

“A girl’s sentimentality in the name of a big corporation?”

Noël turned her head instinctively when she heard someone utter the words she would have said herself and saw two things: a horse blowing raspberries and a man dismounting while looking at her.

Noël opened her eyes slightly and glanced at the noticeably good-looking man with blond hair. Even with a few loose buttons on the blue shirt and some bad wrinkles on the pants, she could still tell it was the attire of a nobleman. All the more reason why she had to pay attention. I have never seen a rake like him among the nobility of a duchy.

“Beautiful-haired young lady, can I help you?” said the man, grinning toothily when their eyes made contact as if he was showing off his good looks.

“Who, me?” Noël looked around searching. Mary—who was standing next to her—was already smitten with the man, but he clearly had his eyes laid on Noël. He called her loose hair beautiful and addressed her as “young lady.” She felt she was being ridiculed and shook her head.

“You’ve got the wrong person.”

“Which part was I wrong about? The young lady part, or the ‘I thought you needed help’ part?”

They were both wrong, but Noël didn’t answer further. If the man was a nobleman by any chance, it would do her well to hide her identity in case they came across each other on the social scene. She gave Mary a nudge instead. The maid flinched and came back to her normal self as she began to fuss about.

“Oh no, we’re late! Please excuse us, my lord.” Mary glanced at the man one last time and grabbed Noël by the arm.

“I look forward to seeing you again, young ladies,” said the man with a flourish as they walked toward the carriage.

Noël asked Mary quietly, “Have you seen that man before?”

“No, I’ve never seen him before! There’s no way I could have forgotten someone so good—wait, could it be him?”

“Him?”

“I heard the younger son of Count Bellême has come back from his studies abroad. They call him ‘the Golden Bee’ because he’s extremely handsome and he treats all women—regardless of status or age—like flowers. The viscount is truly as handsome as the rumors say!”

“They call him the golden what?” asked Noël.

Mary kept looking back at the man and she whispered, “The Golden Bee must have been captivated by you. He keeps staring at you. But there’s nothing he can do since you already have His Grace,” she cackled.

“Captivated? Um, when my hair is like this?” Noël waved her hands at the bewildering comment. Mary looked over her mistress’ hair—it was thicker today than usual, and Mary bowed her head with a serious look on her face.

“My apologies, Your Grace. I should have done things more carefully.”

“It’s all right. I was the one who made it this way,” said Noël, as she drooped for a moment. She tried to tie her hair back neatly again, but it was impossible without really putting her mind to it. She gave up and shrugged.

The Golden Bee was handsome, but he wasn’t her type. I like my men with a bit of ruggedness to them… like my husband! Noël thought about her husband and felt proud as she got into the carriage and started her journey back. It was hard to change into her duchess outfit in the cramped carriage, but she got faster at the process the more times she had to do it. At first, when she would try to change into an embellished gown, her curly hair getting caught on all the beading and ornaments would give her a really hard time. Now, she chose dresses that were simple enough to slip in and out of, and she figured out a trick to cover her messy hair with a hat.

But then, there was a problem. Just when they were leaving the city and starting on the road that would lead to the duke’s castle, they noticed the knights’ flags and the duke’s white steed. Mary opened the window from where she was sitting on the driver’s box with the reins in her hands, and her face was white as a sheet.

“Oh no, His Grace must be on patrol,” she whispered frantically. Noël became flustered and frowned. She had changed into her clothes, but her hair was still unruly. It was fine if the duke found out since he would believe whatever she said, but the issue was the other people. Her disheveled appearance was one thing, but it went against the dignity she should carry as the duchess to go on an outing with a single maid.

And as she expected, one of the knights asked, “Aren’t you the maid who serves Her Grace?”

He recognized Mary and stopped the carriage. “Pretend you’re alone,” whispered Noël through the slightly open window. She then slid down to the floor of the carriage and lay flat on her stomach, worried her shadow might be visible through the window. She could hear Mary trying to gloss over this situation.

“Yes, I left behind something Her Grace bought, so I’m on my way back from getting it.”

“Oh, really?” asked the knight.

“Yes. I should hurry back, as Her Grace must be waiting for me,” Mary said.

“Go ahead then.”

She was about to sigh in relief when the carriage started moving again, but suddenly she heard someone shout. “Wait, stop,” the duke’s cold voice cut through the air and the carriage’s door flew open, without even a sliver of a chance for Noël to do anything.

Noël looked up from her prone position on the floor of the carriage, and the duke looked in, their eyes meeting. She could see the lined-up knights behind him.

“Ah!” It was instinct. Noël threw her arms around Dreux’s neck, and yanked him in, shutting the door behind him, successfully trapping him in the carriage. Thanks to that, she protected her dignity, but what happened next was unforeseeable. Her life was in danger.

“Eurgh!” Dreux had pushed her off as soon as he was yanked into the carriage, and he moved his hand toward his waist to grab his sword. His blade shone silver as it was drawn from its sheath. Noël pressed herself against the corner of the carriage and looked down at the blade aimed for her throat. She was frozen, her eyes widening like saucers. The hairs all over her body were raised in response to the murderous aura he was exuding.

Dreux narrowed his eyes at her and growled, “Dammit, I thought a huge dog was coming for me.”

“What?” It felt like she had heard something she wasn’t supposed to hear. Noël was shocked more by what he said than the fact that her life was in danger. But the duke slowly blinked and called her name.

“Noël?”

“My lord?”

Dreux hurried and sheathed his sword. “Something horrible almost happened because I didn’t recognize you. Are you all right?”

Noël hesitated but slowly picked herself up off the floor. Dreux helped her up, but he couldn’t tear his eyes off of her hair. He commented, “You look significantly different.”

“You’ve seen my hair like this several times in the bedchamber, have you not?”

Dreux grinned at her quick jump to move on from this subject. “True. It’s lovely. You look like a puffed-up skylark.”

Noël felt reassured when she saw his smile. He rarely smiled at anyone aside from her, only after he had been enchanted. “I wanted to go out on a simple outing, so I just took Mary with me. Could you make something up about how I pretended not to be in the carriage?” she asked carefully.

Dreux looked like he would agree to whatever she asked for and nodded. She felt fully calm now and changed the subject. “How did you know I was in here? How did you know to stop the carriage?”

“How could I not know when you’re here?” He gently caressed her cheek. Noël was distracted by her rumpled hair, but she pretended to be demure and elegant, leaning her face against his hand.

She smiled meekly and whispered, “I’ll go now. I don’t want to bother you when you’re working, Your Grace.” When he moved to caress the back of her neck, Noël took hold of his hand and stopped him. “Later. We said we’d meet tonight.”

“Then, Skylark. Permit me to become your birdcage and trap you within my arms later. I won’t open the door no matter how prettily you sing.” Dreux kissed the back of her hand several times in disappointment and left the carriage.

Skylark? Absolutely not. A birdcage? How could the duke say such embarrassing things without batting an eye? For a moment, she could understand why people looked like they saw a ghost when they heard the duke say such things. She thought about how she had to ask him to call her “kitty” instead, and Noël blushed as she knocked on the carriage wall.

But I was seeing things, right? He looked different for a second. She felt a seed of suspicion about the fact that his eyes had remained cold even after their eyes met. He even looked right at her and called her a “huge dog.” But she saw the duke staring longingly at the carriage through the window, and she shook her head. His gaze was just as warm as it always was.