A Walk with the Duke
The moment she turned back, I held my breath without even realizing it. Her beauty was clearer, more overwhelming than anything memory had preserved.
Light streaming in through the window settled softly over her black hair, and for an instant she looked like something painted rather than living.
“Sit down.”
Duke Rosena gave the curt order.
I lowered my head and carefully sank into the chair opposite hers. Two exquisite teacups had already been set side by side on the table, and a faint fragrance tickled at my nose.
I had thought that, after what happened that night, meeting her again wouldn’t feel this awkward. And yet, under those icy eyes after such a long time apart, my spine stiffened for no good reason at all.
“Duke, have you been well these past days...?”
I asked cautiously. Rosena lifted her cup, took a sip, and answered with her gaze lowered.
“Well enough. Surely you don’t imagine this one has been waiting for you, do you?”
No, I never once thought that.
I screamed it inwardly, but there was no way I could say that out loud. Clutching my teacup, I gave her a sly little smile.
“I’ve been thinking about you a lot, Duke.”
Rosena’s eyes went wide at once.
“W-what did you say...?”
The hand holding her cup trembled faintly. She hurriedly looked away and cleared her throat.
“Ahem. Y-you did? Well... it would make sense. After all, you did serve a great demon like this one directly. Of course you wouldn’t forget me. In fact, it would be stranger if you could.”
I pretended not to notice how the tips of her ears had gone bright red and smiled gently instead.
“Yes. I’m truly happy to see you again like this.”
At those words, Rosena’s shoulders gave a tiny jerk.
Her fingers tightened around the cup as she set it down. Lifting her chin, she forced her expression into something cool and indifferent.
“Hmph. This one wasn’t particularly inconvenienced by your absence. If anything, it was rather nice having things quiet for once.”
“I see.”
“That’s right. One male prostitute doesn’t change much, does it?”
She said it so casually, but her eyes kept sliding back to me. Her fingers brushed uselessly over the porcelain of her cup, and the beauty mark beneath her tightly pressed lips trembled ever so slightly.
I snickered inwardly and lifted my cup again. This woman really never learned how to be honest.
Peeking at her face over the rim of the teacup, I saw that her mouth was full of haughty remarks, yet the redness spreading from her ears to the nape of her neck was impossible to hide.
Her gaze kept drifting back to me, only to dart out the window the instant it seemed like our eyes might meet.
Ah, right. Come to think of it, this woman was a complete pervert. A true masochist who got turned on from being spanked and would practically gush at the word “bitch.”
I had almost forgotten that shocking little fact.
But she was seriously awkward. I didn’t know whether it was because she’d never had any experience with men or because that was just how she was, but everything she felt was written plainly across her face.
I deliberately let my expression fall and set the cup down with a soft clink.
“I see. Then perhaps I came for nothing. If you weren’t uncomfortable, there was no need for me to come all this way.”
Rosena’s fingers froze over her cup.
“...What?”
“It’s nothing. As you said, one male prostitute doesn’t change anything. I suppose I was the one who got my hopes up for no reason. Maybe I should have just stayed in the receiving room and had dinner with the others.”
As I made a show of rising from the chair, Rosena’s expression visibly hardened.
The chin that had been lifted so haughtily dipped a fraction, and confusion and panic rippled across her supposedly indifferent eyes.
“W-wait. I never told you to leave.”
“But you said it was quiet and nice even without me...”
“Th-that was just stating a fact! When did I ever tell you to go!”
Her voice rose an octave. Her grip on the teacup tightened until the porcelain gave a faint clatter. I barely held back my laughter and kept my face sweet and innocent.
“Then it’s all right if I stay here?”
“It isn’t a question of being all right or not. I summoned you here myself, so leaving on your own without my permission would be rude.”
Ah, truly amazing. She really would build an entire castle of words just to avoid being honest. I tilted my head slightly and pressed a little further.
“Then perhaps, even a little... you did want to see me?”
In an instant, Rosena’s face flared from her ears to her neck, red as fire. She shot to her feet and slapped the table hard.
“A-as if this one would want to see a mere male prostitute! Know your place, Damian!”
The teacup rattled, and a little tea spilled over the saucer. But even as she shouted, she still didn’t throw me out.
Instead, perhaps embarrassed by her own reaction, she jerked her head toward the window and bit down hard on her lip. The beauty mark on her flushed cheek shimmered in the moonlight, oddly vivid.
I quietly sat back down and lifted my cup again. As the tea’s fragrance rose through the air, a small smile curved my mouth. This woman had a far cuter side than I’d expected.
Maybe I should tease her a little more.
I set the cup down slowly and let out a sigh, deliberately wearing a lonely expression.
“To be honest, I slept poorly the night before I came to see you. I was worried you might not even remember me.”
Rosena’s shoulders twitched as she kept glaring out the window. But she still didn’t turn around. I didn’t stop there.
“Still, I suppose you’re right. There’d be no reason to remember a single male prostitute. I guess I was the only one thinking all kinds of strange things. How embarrassing.”
I pushed back my chair as though to stand.
The scrape of wood against the floor rang sharply through the quiet office. At that moment, Rosena whirled toward me.
Her eyes shook with unease.
“W-where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going back. You said there was no inconvenience without me, so it wouldn’t be proper for me to keep taking up your precious time. The tea was delicious. Thank you.”
I bowed politely and took a step toward the door.
One step. Two steps. No sound came from behind me.
On the third step, just as I was reaching for the handle—
“Stop...!”
It was a low, trembling voice. I froze and slowly looked back. Rosena had her head bowed deeply.
Between her neatly bound black hair, I could see ears bright red with embarrassment.
Both hands were clutching the hem of her dress so tightly the fabric wrinkled, and her lips opened and shut several times as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t quite force it out.
“Duke?”
“...This one...”
“Yes?”
“This one... was... a little.”
Her voice grew smaller and smaller until it was almost inaudible. I deliberately cupped a hand to my ear and tilted my head.
“I’m sorry, I can’t quite hear you...”
Rosena grit her teeth. Her fists shook violently, and then, as if the words had burst out of her all at once, she cried,
“I-I said I wanted to see you a little...! You bastard!”
It was practically a shout of confession.
Only after saying it did she seem to realize what she’d admitted. Rosena’s face burned red all the way to her neck.
She covered her face with both hands and turned away, shoulders hunched tight.
The majesty of one of the Seven Dukes of the Demon Realm was nowhere to be found. What stood before me now was little more than a girl who had just had her heart exposed for the first time.
I chuckled, let go of the door, and walked quietly back to her. Sitting again at the table where the teacups gave off their faint fragrance, I said gently,
“I wanted to see you too, Duke.”
Rosena peeked at me through her fingers, then turned her head away again the instant our eyes met. The tips of her bright red ears were trembling.
“...Hush. Just drink your tea.”
I sat down once more and lifted my cup.
As the warm tea slid down my throat, I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face.
The advantage was completely mine now.
Rosena, one of the Seven Dukes of the Demon Realm, an absolute ruler commanding tens of thousands of troops, had just confessed she wanted to see a mere male prostitute and gone red in the face doing it.
And strangely enough, she didn’t seem to hate this situation at all. The stolen glances, the trembling fingertips, the loosened corners of her mouth—she was so transparent it was almost painful.
For a long while, Rosena simply sat there with a flushed face, glaring out the window. At last, she cleared her throat with a prim little hum.
She lifted her cup, took an elegant sip, and set it down carefully before speaking with an expression that desperately tried to recover its dignity.
“It is... time for a walk.”
It was such an abrupt declaration that I blinked and looked at her. Rosena flicked her gaze aside and added,
“I’ll allow you to accompany me. There is a need to show you my territory personally. I shall make certain your own eyes witness just how great this body is.”
Ah. So this woman was trying to take back the initiative she’d just lost.
Her territory, her power, her greatness.
It was painfully obvious she meant to restore her pride by flaunting them.
No—perhaps it was something even more instinctive than that.
Maybe it was simply a kind of display instinct, the urge to show a male just how outstanding a female she was.
As she rose from the chair and smoothed the skirt of her dress, her fingertips were more meticulous than usual. Even the motion of brushing back her tied hair was full of care.
She had no idea that every one of those gestures was being made with me in mind.
I stood quietly as well and bowed respectfully.
“It’s an honor, Duke. I’ll gladly follow you.”
Rosena lifted her chin in satisfaction and strode out ahead of me.
Watching her from behind, I snickered to myself.
Fine. I’ll play along as long as you like, Duke.