Duke, You're a Bit Stiff (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
A sound like something sinking—*plop*—made Artia sense danger immediately.
It wasn’t the sound of something light, like a pebble, falling into water.
“Big trouble!”
“The young master has fallen into the water!”
At the urgent voices following one after another, Artia’s gaze turned toward where the sound had come from.
‘Ugh, that guy’s caused trouble again.’
Leo’s reckless, unilateral action was dangerous—not only to himself but to the lives of others as well.
The lake was bitterly cold.
Even brief immersion could lead to hypothermia and cardiac arrest.
Moreover, the temperature difference between the shore and the water was extreme.
Knights who saw Leo fall into the lake began scrambling down to help.
At that moment—
Cassus, who happened to be the closest, leapt into the lake as soon as he spotted Leo.
Splash!
A second splash followed as Cassus plunged into the water.
Leo, having tumbled from a height, was flailing helplessly in the deep lake.
“Pfhaa…”
Unable to swim, he thrashed his limbs wildly in a desperate attempt to keep himself afloat—but somehow only sank deeper.
Even in this dire situation, his pride came first; he wouldn’t cry out for help, even if it meant death.
Cassus, who had dived in to save his younger brother, swam swiftly toward Leo.
The lake was deeper than expected.
Thick mist obscured visibility, making it hard to see clearly.
Cassus grabbed hold of Leo.
But Leo kept thrashing his limbs violently, flailing uncontrollably.
It was an instinctive struggle for survival.
Though his mouth stayed shut, his body refused to cooperate.
A drowning person becomes two or three times stronger than usual.
Combined with his resistance, even Cassus couldn’t subdue him.
Cassus tried to pull Leo out of the water, but Leo’s frantic thrashing left Cassus stuck—unable to act effectively.
Every passing second worked against them.
Their body temperatures were dropping rapidly.
Artia, who had arrived late but witnessed the full scene clearly, pressed her fingers to her forehead.
‘Neither of them can keep this up.’
She quickly assessed the terrain and the lake’s depth.
Just as Heidegger was about to leap in to rescue his two sons,
Artia shouted at the top of her lungs toward Cassus in the water,
“Knock him out!”
“What?”
“Knock him unconscious! If you don’t, you’re both in danger!”
“…”
“Hurry! Now!”
When a drowning person resists fiercely, you must render them unconscious.
Otherwise, the rescuer is in peril too.
Artia knew this well—she’d held a lifesaving certification in her past life.
They could have waited for Leo to exhaust himself before pulling him out, but there wasn’t enough time for that.
Leo, driven by instinct, clung desperately to his older brother, thrashing his whole body to avoid sinking.
“I’m sorry.”
Cassus had no choice but to strike Leo’s head hard with his elbow.
Leo, who had been thrashing and resisting violently, instantly lost consciousness.
Taking advantage of Leo’s sudden stillness, Cassus pushed through the mist and dragged him toward shore.
Knights below rushed down to help Cassus haul Leo up.
Another moment’s delay would have put them in grave danger.
Leo’s skin had turned deathly pale from the rapid drop in body temperature.
But worse was yet to come.
Leo’s breathing grew shallow—then stopped altogether.
“H-he’s not breathing…”
One of the knights said in a panicked voice.
At that moment, Artia leaned close, placing her head between Leo’s nose and mouth to check for signs of distress.
“Step aside for a moment.”
Beside her, Cassus stood dripping cold water drop by drop.
“What are you trying to do?”
“Save him, of course.”
“How?”
Instead of answering, Artia lifted Leo’s chin with her hand to open his airway.
Water immediately gushed out from his mouth.
‘He swallowed a lot of water in such a short time.’
She placed her hands on Leo’s chest and began chest compressions.
One, two, three, four, five…
After several compressions, a large amount of water began pouring from Leo’s mouth.
“Kuhh—”
The first thing Leo saw as his eyes fluttered open was Artia’s face.
Her silver hair, tied neatly into a single strand, shimmered in the sunlight.
Her dark, jet-black eyes were fixed precisely on him.
Meeting her gaze—framed by long eyelashes—Leo found himself thinking the woman he’d always hated actually suited this look quite well.
And that he must have truly lost his mind.
As his consciousness slowly returned, Leo noticed Artia’s pale forearm resting atop his chest.
Startled, he bolted upright.
“W-what are you doing…?”
“I saved you.”
It was Heidegger’s voice.
“Why did you go into the lake without saying a word?”
“…”
Leo couldn’t bring himself to answer.
He’d wanted to regain the reputation he’d lost among the knights.
So, to prove himself, he’d boldly reached into his pocket and walked toward the dangerous spot—
only to slip and fall into the lake by sheer bad luck.
It would’ve been better not to try at all.
He hadn’t even broken even.
He remembered his older brother coming to rescue him—but nothing after that.
Surrounded by knights, Leo wished he could crawl into a mousehole from sheer embarrassment.
But the problem was—there were no mouseholes here.
Dozens of eyes were fixed on him.
If the gods granted him another chance—
if only he could go back to before this ever happened—
Leo would gladly sell his soul right now.
“We almost died together.”
Cassus shook the water off his drenched body as he spoke.
“?”
“If I hadn’t knocked you out, we’d both be sinking to the bottom of that lake by now. You kicked and thrashed so violently.”
“So… you saved me, brother?”
“It wasn’t me who revived you after you stopped breathing—or who told me to knock you out.”
Cassus’s gaze drifted toward Artia. Leo, flustered, didn’t know what to say.
Her again?
What the hell did I even fall into the lake for?
“…”
He couldn’t deny she’d saved him.
But he also couldn’t bring himself to say “thank you.”
That last shred of pride was all Leo had left—
because the moment he uttered those words, he feared even the fragile thread of sanity he was clinging to would snap completely.
Instead, he changed the subject.
“It’s cold… Let’s head back now.”
His whole body was shivering.
Soaked to the bone, he felt as if he might catch a cold—something he’d never experienced before.
Heidegger took off his fur-lined coat and draped it over Leo’s shoulders.
Leo mounted Cassus’s horse.
He couldn’t lift his head.
He was so ashamed he couldn’t even look properly at the horse’s face—
as if even the horse were mocking him.
“Hey, Heuk Gu. I know it’s a shame, but shall we head down now?”
“Keng.”
“Or do you want to stay? If you’re seeking freedom, I won’t stop you.”
Heuk Gu, who had been leaping through the mountains, ran straight to Artia without hesitation.
The knights, witnessing this, gasped again and covered their mouths in shock.
Not a single footprint had been left by others—
only Heuk Gu’s charmingly petite paw prints remained.
Back at home, Leo went straight to his room and burrowed himself under the covers.
Like a silkworm cocoon, he tightly wrapped himself in the blanket, pulling it over his face.
‘Ugh, damn it… Why did I have to trip right then?’
Rolling around under the blanket, Leo screamed silently in utter humiliation.
If only he’d climbed up that spot smoothly and impressively, it would’ve been fine.
Why did there have to be a loose stone right there?
Why couldn’t he avoid it?
If only he’d moved just a little farther to the side.
No—if only he’d spread his legs just a bit wider.
If only he’d jumped a little faster!
All sorts of regrets flooded his mind.
Unable to take it anymore, he finally kicked the blanket off with his foot.
It dropped to the floor.
The most embarrassing part? Artia had saved him.
Right after regaining consciousness from nearly drowning, the first face he saw was Artia’s.
As his blurry vision sharpened and her features came into focus, he saw the face of the woman he’d despised so deeply—
yet her clear, jet-black eyes locking onto his made him feel strangely unsettled.
He should’ve been irritated—that would’ve been normal—but he wasn’t.
He even got annoyed at himself for thinking her snow-white skin and silver hair suited her well.
He used to think he’d kill anyone just for having silver hair.
He was irritated that her hand had been on his chest, and irritated that she’d seen his face while he was unconscious.
How ridiculous must he have looked?
What a foolish expression must he have worn as he lay there?
Just imagining what might have happened while he was unconscious made his chest tighten with suffocating shame.
What must the knights be thinking of him now?
“Ujeunjeu neumuseuldeu… (Ugh, I really hate this so much.)”
It felt like he’d endured a lifetime’s worth of embarrassment all at once—
and all because of one person.
Leo picked up the blanket from the floor.
He wrapped himself up again.
“Aaaaaah! Uwaaaaah! Aaaaaah!”
And for a long while, he stayed cocooned, howling like a possessed silkworm.
Back at the manor, Heidegger sank into deep thought.
‘Why did she do it?’
Why, of all things?
She clearly had the chance to kill him—
she could’ve assassinated him while he slept, yet hadn’t left a single scratch. And today, she’d even saved Leo, the Wellingtons’ second son.
He’d nearly lost Cassus, the eldest, as well.
If her intention had truly been to ruin House Wellington, there couldn’t have been a better opportunity.
So why?
She didn’t have to go out of her way to save them.
‘Is this just a method to lull us into complacency?’
If so, it was even more dangerous.
That would mean she was playing a far bigger game than he’d assumed—
one that could endanger not just House Wellington, but everyone in the duchy.
Heidegger realized there was something more important than leaving on his trip.
A single woman might be capable of altering everything.
Therefore, there was only one thing he needed to do right now:
Protect the manor—
while closely watching Artia, whose every move might conceal an enemy’s scheme.
Though why the corners of his lips kept curling upward involuntarily remained a mystery.
Meanwhile, in the maids’ quarters—
heavy breathing mixed with vivid moans filled the air.
“Ha… haa… haaahh…”
Drenched in sweat from head to toe, a girl lay face-down, biting her lips hard.
“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5…”
The more numbers she counted down, the louder her groans grew.
“4, 3… haa, huhh…!”
She’d reached her limit.
She couldn’t hold on any longer.
Kesha’s arms trembled like an aspen leaf.
Her abs tightened to the point of pain, her lower back feeling as if it might snap.
Her whole body was soaked.
“2…”
Just as her mind began to blur,
Kesha collapsed onto the floor before she could utter the final number.
Other maids lounging on plush sofas, munching snacks, scoffed.
“What are you even doing?”
“My homework.”
“Huh?”
Kesha lay face-down on the floor, eyes glazed over like a dead fish.
Since she hadn’t finished counting, she’d have to start over.
That was the rule.
“Oh my goodness—so I have to do this twelve more times?”
Tears—or sweat—streamed down Kesha’s cheeks, indistinguishable from one another.
Collapsing onto the floor, Kesha closed her eyes to rest briefly.
But the moment she did, the sounds of chewing and crunching surrounded her from all sides.
Everywhere she turned was full of distractions.
“Kesha, want a snack?”
“No.”
“It’s super tasty! Brand new—hard to even get!”
“No, I’m not eating.”
“Ohhh—you’re craving cake instead, aren’t you?”
“I’ve quit snacks.”
“What?! Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“Why the sudden change? It’s so unlike you…”
“Huuu…”
“They say people change right before they die—Kesha, are you sick or something?”
‘You have no idea how many times I’ve clogged the toilet following your eating habits!’
Kesha knew all too well the discomfort of heavy, stagnant food refusing to pass through her gut.
Though she used to go crazy for food, she’d made a promise to Artia.
More than that, breaking that promise frightened her—
because of what might come next.
“If you break it, you’ll deal with the consequences yourself.”
“I’ll know whether you’ve kept it or not.”
“Understood? Even today?”
The lady’s face—gentle eyes closing as she spoke those chilling words—flashed through Kesha’s mind.
It was terrifying enough to crush any lingering appetite completely.
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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