Shall I Save You, Duke? (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
“…Your Grace?”
“Will you please step aside now?”
At the man’s icy voice, Lina began to grasp the situation.
‘Am I really…’
And then she realized—she was leaning against the Duke’s chest, looking up into his face.
“I-I’m so sorry!”
Lina practically sprang away from the Duke’s arms and bowed deeply before him.
‘Of all people, it had to be the Duke again…’
She’d narrowly avoided tumbling down the stairs, only to be met with an even worse crisis.
Flustered, Lina began to explain herself to the Duke.
“I’m truly sorry, Your Grace! I slipped on the stairs and—”
‘Hm?’
But the Duke, seemingly uninterested in her excuse, had already started climbing the stairs before she could finish.
‘Is he just… leaving?’
Lina, who had expected a stern reprimand this time, watched his retreating figure with puzzled eyes.
It had been a dangerous moment—her carelessness could have easily injured the Duke. She clearly deserved punishment.
Yet once again, the Duke seemed intent on quietly letting the matter drop without making a fuss.
“Well, I suppose that’s fortunate…”
Still, she couldn’t help but wonder why his reaction—whom she’d expected to be furious—ended so blandly.
“Why do I feel so uneasy…?”
Lina rubbed her neck, tilting her head in confusion at the inexplicable sense of discomfort.
“Well, nothing serious probably happened. Still, that was way too close. From now on, I’ll do my best not to catch the Duke’s eye.”
Lina clenched her fist, making a silent vow to herself—but that resolve would ultimately go unfulfilled.
Thud—.
Thud—.
Thud—.
In the heavy silence, only the rhythmic sound of something hard striking echoed repeatedly.
‘What on earth is going on?’
Just moments ago, Lina had been calmly preparing in her room when she was abruptly seized by a group of people and dragged to the Duke’s study.
The brown floorboards, which had seemed cozy just hours before, now felt endlessly cold and hard—like stone prison floors.
Thrown roughly onto the floor in her nightclothes, Lina scanned her surroundings with bewildered eyes, trying to make sense of the situation.
Kullen and Emma stood beside the Duke, watching her anxiously.
And next to them stood one person she absolutely did not want to see.
‘…Susan?’
Why was Susan here?
Before she could even ponder the reason, the grating noise echoing through the room abruptly ceased, replaced by a voice now all too familiar.
“So.”
The Duke sat arrogantly in his chair, legs crossed, murmuring softly.
The nib of the fountain pen he’d been tapping on his desk was already ruined beyond use, yet his gaze remained fixed solely on Lina.
“So that maid is the culprit?”
Why did the ink leaking from the broken pen feel so unnerving?
Susan, who had unconsciously hunched her shoulders, straightened her posture and recited the words she’d prepared.
“Yes. A few days ago, I saw Lina leaving Your Grace’s study carrying a box.”
‘What?’
Lina, who had silently listened to Susan’s false accusation, let out an involuntary, hollow laugh.
Was it the chill from the floor seeping through her thin nightgown? Or the fury at Susan’s betrayal?
Her lips trembled slightly.
“We searched her room but found nothing. However, on the day the crystal went missing, someone saw Lina coming out of Alina Forest. Upon searching, we discovered it buried in the eastern section of the woods.”
The butler set a dirt-streaked box down before the Duke as he spoke.
Watching the Duke frown at the box placed before him, Susan struggled to suppress the triumphant curl of her lips.
‘You, of all people, as the Duke’s personal maid? You don’t even know your place.’
How furious she’d been when that girl took what she’d always believed was rightfully hers.
‘I don’t care how you managed to win over the head maid and the butler—that position was never meant for you.’
She couldn’t stand watching Lina boast about being the Duke’s personal maid. An extreme measure had become necessary.
It was a risky plan—one that could endanger her as well—but she had to take that chance.
Susan had always been irritated by Lina, who—despite having neither better looks nor a better figure—dared to ignore her.
Whenever she saw Lina remain perfectly composed, not even flinching under insults or torment, Susan felt like a fool.
So she’d seized an opportunity when no one was around, sneaked into the study, and stolen the most valuable-looking item.
She’d considered hiding it in Lina’s room, but then remembered Lata’s loud claim about seeing Lina emerge from Alina Forest—so she’d secretly buried it there that night.
‘It just means your time at the estate has been moved up, Lina.’
She’d always planned to expel Lina from the estate once she herself became Duchess—though certainly not gently.
‘Once I become the personal maid, becoming Duchess is only a matter of time.’
Everything had gone smoothly. Now she only needed to watch Lina, drenched in misery, be driven out of the estate.
Kullen soon opened the dirt-covered box. Inside, a perfectly round, transparent crystal shimmered brightly with a soft click.
The Duke, who had been studying it thoughtfully, looked down at Lina and asked,
“I’ll give you one last chance to explain yourself.”
In the suffocatingly tense room, only his languid voice echoed quietly.
Lina steadied her trembling voice as best she could and spoke calmly.
“It’s true I went to Alina Forest, but only because May was injured and I needed medicinal herbs to treat her. If you check my room, you’ll still find some of the leftover herbs.”
“You went all the way into the forest for herbs when there’s a perfectly functional infirmary right here in the estate…”
Lina, steadying her voice once more in response to the Duke’s remark, continued,
“Yes. I truly went to the forest solely for herbs. While there are people who saw me leaving the forest, no one saw me bury anything there. It’s unfair to suspect me as the culprit just because I visited the forest.”
“If you feel so wronged, then bring proof that you’re not the culprit.”
Lina frowned in disbelief at the Duke’s next words.
‘The proof is right in your hands!’
The unspoken words tickled her throat. The aura emanating from the crystal before the Duke—it was unmistakably magical energy.
And there was only one reason a crystal would radiate magic.
‘But… should I say it?’
After a brief hesitation, she made up her mind and spoke to the Duke in a calm voice.
“The proof is right before you, Your Grace. That crystal—isn’t it a recording stone?”
“A recording stone…? Why do you think so?”
“Crystals rarely come out as perfectly clean spheres like the one before you—it’s nearly impossible to shape them by hand. It must have been magically refined. The only reasons anyone would go to such trouble with a crystal are either as a luxury item to display noble wealth or as a magical artifact—the recording stone. But since luxury items like those are typically used by noblewomen, they wouldn’t suit your study. Therefore, I deduced that this crystal must be a recording stone, created to monitor this room.”
Besides, the study itself had always seemed somewhat beneath the head of the Duke’s household.
A frugal man like the Duke having a luxury item favored by noblewomen in his room? Nothing could be less fitting.
The Duke stared intently at her as she spoke clearly, kneeling before him, then replied,
“…You’re right. With this crystal alone, I can know what happens in this room while I’m away.”
He reached out and placed his hand on the crystal. Immediately, a white light began to ripple.
The light shot upward toward the ceiling, filling the room with a hazy, mist-like smoke. Above the smoke, a small image began to appear like a painting.
The black-and-white image showed the Duke’s study, seemingly empty and quiet. The Duke moved his fingers again, and the footage began to fast-forward.
Moments later, the silent room’s door clicked open—and Susan stepped inside.
After wandering the study for a while, Susan gradually approached the spot where the crystal had been—then the recording abruptly ended.
Susan, who had been watching the footage with a confused expression, flinched violently when her own figure appeared in the projected light.
Then, as the next scene unfolded, her mouth fell open in shock, unable to close as she stammered,
“I-It can’t be…!”
“Kullen.”
At the Duke’s frosty command, Susan, whose lips were quivering, dropped to her knees and began pleading.
“P-Please forgive me just once!! I beg you—just this once…! Your Grace!”
“Deal with her according to imperial law.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
At Kullen’s nod, the knights beside him dragged Susan away as she screamed and begged.
Her desperate cries beyond the door echoed in Lina’s ears like a lingering tinnitus.
Tap—. Tap—.
In the restored silence of the room, the Duke, who had been tapping his fingers on the desk, stared blankly at Lina and asked,
“And you.”
“…Yes, Your Grace.”
“How did you know this was a recording stone? This isn’t something a commoner like you would easily recognize.”
His suspicion was understandable. A recording stone was a magical artifact.
Since such items were exclusively monopolized by the imperial family and nobility, it made no sense for a commoner with little exposure to magic to recognize one.
“My mother used to serve as a maid in a noble household. She told me what she’d learned from the noblewoman she served.”
The Duke, who had been stroking his chin thoughtfully at Lina’s plausible explanation, replied,
“Well, it’s not a fully satisfying answer, but I’ll accept it for now. However, it’s true that you entered the forbidden forest.”
‘Could it be…? Did he stay silent about it being a recording stone precisely because I’d entered the forbidden forest?’
She felt angry at the thought that if she hadn’t recognized the crystal’s true nature, he might have pretended ignorance to the very end.
But she was a commoner, and he a noble—so she had no choice but to beg.
“…I’m sorry. I’ll willingly accept whatever punishment you give me for entering the forest.”
“Any punishment at all?”
“…Yes.”
The Duke, looking down at Lina kneeling before him, rested his chin in his hand and said,
“How do you know what punishment I’ll give?”
His arrogant, mocking gaze felt as if it gripped Lina’s heart.
“Kullen.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Expel that maid from the estate effective immediately.”
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
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MANGA DISCUSSION
2 Comments
Chapter Comments (58)
He didn’t remember her but got nightmares from their night?
another punishment awaiting for you lina,cant catch a break
“Even if she wasn’t, it was undeniable that his pain briefly disappeared whenever he touched her”
Yeah, i guess they are fated lovers
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Blairwoods
He met her at the forest, and she said that. He still asked her when he heard her reason already? He’s mean
debban23
susan do not go messing around look what happened!