The next day, in the Duke’s office.
In the cold atmosphere enveloping the room, Lina watched the Duke’s mood.
‘I don’t know why. But it’s clear his condition is worse than yesterday.’
Since visiting the medical office yesterday, the Duke seemed even more uncomfortable.
‘Could it be because of the teapot I broke?’
This morning, Lina was scolded by the butler. Cullen’s words, saying that this matter won’t just be overlooked and that she should prepare for punishment, lingered in her ears.
‘If that’s the case, he should have just scolded me.’
She felt like she was sitting on a bed of thorns. It needlessly bothered her, feeling like a thief complaining about numb feet.
‘It seems like there’s nothing to do.’
For some reason, even though there was no particular task given, the Duke always called her when she was about to leave the room.
After repeating this several times, she gave up on everything and simply kept herself busy in the office.
Lina was already polishing the same ornament for the fifth time. She didn’t know if the gloss of the ornament would disappear if she kept on polishing it here.
‘I’ll get scolded by the butler again at this rate.’
Thinking of Cullen’s angry voice, she quickly put down the ornament.
Then, her eyes caught the sight of some books piled up in the corner of the room.
“Duke, may I take these books to the library?”
Pointing at the books and asking, Valige seemed to want to say something, but then withdrew his gaze.
“Do as you please. You haven’t forgotten the afternoon schedule, have you?”
Lina had to help the Duke get ready for his departure from the mansion in the afternoon. She turned her head to look at the clock. There was just under an hour left.
‘I should hurry a little.’
It was better to be a bit busy rather than idly waiting for an hour.
“Yes. I’ll be right back.”
Lina picked up the stack of books and headed to the library.
“It’s a bit uncomfortable.”
Her hand, which was injured yesterday, had not yet healed fully. Because she was avoiding the wound while carrying the books, her posture was a bit uncomfortable.
“Huh?”
Then, the precariously stacked books fell and scattered on the floor.
“Sigh.”
Lina sighed as she looked at the scattered books, bending down to pick them up. Suddenly, a man’s hand picked up the book she was about to grab.
When she looked up to check the owner of the hand, a familiar face appeared.
“Henry?”
With his warm brown hair, Henry shook the book she had been carrying and said,
“What will happen if a girl with an injured hand carries something this heavy?”
“If someone hears that, they’ll think I’ve broken a bone.”
Lina spat out a word in annoyance at Henry’s treatment of her like a patient.
“Where are you taking this? I’ll help you.”
Before she could even answer, Henry, who had gathered all the books, asked.
“I’m going to the library, but don’t you have anything to do?”
“No job. Do you know how busy this big brother is?”
While saying so, he listed how busy his day was.
“Really? But it seems like we run into each other too often by chance.”
“What, what?”
Henry stumbled at her words.
“Or not.”
It seemed like he was mumbling something behind her, but Lina didn’t care. Arriving at the library, she asked Henry, who was placing books on the table.
“More importantly, Henry.”
“Huh?”
“When are you going to confess to Mei?”
As if he had been punched in the stomach, Henry coughed at Lina’s sudden question.
“Wh, what are you talking about?!”
“Wasn’t that why you were following me around? To ask for some help?”
Henry wore an expression as if he’d been hit on the back of the head by a stranger.
“How did you know…?”
“If you make it so obvious, only a fool wouldn’t know.”
Before he left the mansion, Henry, Lina, and Mei used to hang out together.
But Henry was kind and gentle to Lina and the other employees, but he had always been stern with Mei.
At first, it seemed that he hated Mei.
But only after seeing Henry go through the rain to the village to buy the peach Mei wanted when she was ill, did they realize that he didn’t hate Mei, but rather, he liked her.
It seemed that he was curt with the woman he liked.
“Ugh, fools.”
But Mei had liked Henry for a long time as well. Unlike Henry, Mei was obvious about her feelings, though that fool didn’t notice it.
“They think they’re in unrequited love with each other.”
Their frustrating behavior made it so that even when the timing was arranged for them to confess, they failed every time.
“They can’t do it even if you give them a chance.”
They were watching again to see when they would confess this time, but once again, they looked like they would never confess in their lives if they didn’t step up.
“Should I help?”
“Re, really?”
It seemed as if Henry had been waiting for Lina to say those words.
“Mei will be okay with Henry there even after I leave.”
Lina couldn’t be by Mei’s side forever.
“I’ll probably leave the mansion in five years.”
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
