Chapter 16

Lucia ch 16 The Ducal Couple (4)

translated by: iseuli

edited by: lili; my friend Ms. Anonymous; and Mr. Anonymous who tried his best but gave up.

He grasped Lucia's chin and intimately kissed her lips. Her lips parted slightly as he slid his warm tongue in. Their breath grew hectic as their kiss deepened. His technique was mind-numbing.

Lucia's vision blurred from the rising heat inside her. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Hugo as their intense kissing went on. While seated, he hoisted Lucia up onto the table with ease, all while continuing to kiss her.

Within the quiet dining room, the only thing that could be heard was the sound of their lips and breaths. He swallowed her plum like lips while taking over the inside of her mouth. His kiss caused a stir throughout her whole body. Her weak arms that held onto his shoulders trembled.

After their enduring kiss ended, he lightly pecked her swollen lips. He trailed his pecks down to her neck while firmly taking hold of her breast beneath her clothes. He took this opportunity to separate her legs apart with his knee, but that caused Lucia great shock and she pushed him away with all her strength using both hands.

"You're planning to do it he- here?"

He didn't have such plans, but when Hugo saw how flustered she was, he wanted to continue teasing her.

"I can't?"

"No!"

"Why not? If your reasoning is logical, I'll let you go."

"It's not proper to do these sorts of things in a place where we di- dine!"

He momentarily stopped painting his kisses across her neck and laughed.

"How about somewhere else then? How does the hallway sound?"

"Never!"

"How about the garden? I want to try doing it outside."

"Are you crazy?"

Upon a new found reaction from her, he tried his best to muffle his laughter and casually continued to question her.

"Why not?"

"People will see!"

"Will it be fine as long as nobody can see? Why don't I send everyone in this castle out, then it will be fine to do it outside or in the hallway, right?"

"Uue..."

Her face was flushed red as she bit her lips. If nobody was there? It shouldn't matter then. It wasn't like it was her first time and she had done all sorts of things in the bedroom. What would it matter if the location was different?

She learned thoroughly in the past month that there were countless different ways of being intimate with one another. At first, she wanted to die because she felt so embarrassed, but she could now understand why people strove for sex with such passion. It didn't mean that she was willing to roll in bed with any stranger, but they were a married couple. Whatever they did in their own time in the bedroom shouldn't matter to anybody.

Hugo waited expectantly for her shocked expression. But when she actually seriously thought over the matter, it felt like she had punched him in the face.

She would always stir him in strange ways; no matter how much he tried to endure she would tickle his raging heat in unique ways. He wanted to throw aside his responsibilities and shut himself in alone with her and satisfy this sexual hunger to his heart's desire.

The main problem was that her stamina could not hold a candle to his. Why was this woman so small? Why was she so frail? Why was she so weak? It felt like she would break if he tried to hold her any tighter. He would feel disgusted at himself if he actually hurt her.

She learned fast but she was innocent. He pleasured her with his various bedside skills, not once did she express dislike or disdain towards him. She was sometimes shocked or embarrassed, but she worked hard in her own way.

'Good. Let's try some things later tonight.'

As he fantasized about different things he could feel his lower half heating up and becoming firm.

"Anyway... I don't want to do it here...."

The lady had spoken so it can't be helped. He lightly kissed her lip and helped her to come down from the table. His lower half was screaming to be released but he endured. Time to time, he would be amazed at his own patience.

If it were any other of his past woman, he would not heed their opinions and take them right there. All those woman would reject him with their lips, but in truth they thought so otherwise.

He didn't rape women, but at the same time he never took any of the past women's opinions seriously. All the women only cared for his wealth or bodily pleasures.

At this moment however, Hugo was getting to know Lucia. When she said no, she truly meant it. What she hoped for was not simple bodily pleasures. He wished to respect her wishes.

Would his wife understand all of his deep thoughts? From the look of her innocent smile while coming down from the table, she probably had no idea.

"You're going to take a walk today, right?"

Lucia made sure to take light walks after dinner. He decided to momentarily delay his piling responsibilities. He wished to be with her a little longer. He also needed to cool his heating body.

"Yes."

"Let's go together. Would I be intruding?"

"No, of course not! I would love it."

Lucia rejoiced, responding instantly. It would be the first time walking with him. She brightly smiled without hiding any of her joy, he coughed lightly and slightly looked away. He had no idea she would become so happy.

***

The summer had yet to arrive so the evening had a cool gentle breeze. While Lucia walked alongside him, she snuck glances at him. He slowed down his pace to hers and it made her heart thump.

She couldn't work up her courage to ask him to walk with her all this time, but she had wanted to do this for quite awhile. It was as if they were a real couple instead of a couple who was brought together through a contract.

"I'm planning to plant flowers through the garden this year. It's my first time doing anything like this so it will probably look a little tacky."

"Would it look tacky if we planted just flowers?"

"Of course. Properly designing a nice garden requires profound sense. A proper balance is necessary for a beautiful garden. It's very difficult to recruit a talented gardener or designer. Most have already been hired by different families."

"All I need to do is steal them."

"That's not so easy. Do you think if a different noble family offered Jerome a higher wage, he would gladly go over?"

"...fair enough."

Lucia felt high spirited so she ended up chattering more than normal. He enjoyed listening to her voice and also felt quite happy. It wouldn't be such a bad idea to walk together with her like this at times when he wasn't so busy with work.

"It's dark now so you can't tell, but a nice shade casts down there so I enjoy my tea there every morning. I heard that the tree had been planted when this castle was built and it's over a hundred years old."

"Is that so...?"

Hugo admired the grand tree like it was the first time he saw it. He had grown up in this place but it was the first time he heard of it. There was never a moment that this tree required his attention.

"What a nice tree. Our first time should be over there."

"Say again?"

"I've decided our first time in this garden would be below that tree."

"...."

Her jaws dropped open, it was too dark to see but her face is most probably flushed red. Her pale complexion was unique that it glowed red very easily. She sped up her walking pace to walk to escape him, this made his lips curl up. He held her wrist and led her under the tree that she spoke of just now.

While she fumbled along, he leaned her against the tree and drew close to her. He lightly nipped her earlobe and spoke in a hushed low voice.

"If you don't stay still, I'll really do it."

He felt happy when she let him do as he pleased. Lucia could only escape after he kissed her to the point that all her breath was sucked out of her.

***

He could not serve the Ducal couple through the whole dinner so Jerome had stepped out of the dining room early on. That moment, a maid approached him.

"Sir Fabian is here. I'm not sure when His Grace would head to his office so I asked him to wait in the receiving room."

"You've done well."

He received the waiting Fabian with a light hug. Fabian had just come down from the capital. The Duke had overdone his hunting so he was left the job to sweet talk the Emperor with a grand bribe.

Would the Emperor feel pity for his people? Fabian could bet his neck that it would not be the case. It was a bet with his own self, but the bribe had been really extravagant. Fabian never bet his own neck on something that was not definite.

"Ugh, I'm exhausted. I want to hurry and report to His Grace so I can go to sleep. Has he finished dining?"

Fabian was not simply complaining, his face was riddled with dark circles and exhaustion.

"I shall report for you so you can just go to sleep. I'm not sure when His Grace will come down."

"Why? Hasn't he come down yet after seeing that I'm here?"

"The two of them are together at this moment so their conversations will probably take awhile."

"The two of them? Who?"

Jerome tsked hearing his dull-headed brother's words.

"Who else but Her Grace?"

"Her Grace? He had dinner with madam? Hoo. What's this now?"

"His Grace have dinner with madam almost every night."

"..."

Usually all you could see is bright intelligence from Fabian, but at this moment he looked nothing but dumb.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Since when?"

"Ever since His Grace had returned here."

Fabian continued to ask whether this was real and Jerome continued to patiently answer that it was so. It wasn't so surprising to see Fabian's reaction. If Jerome had not seen with his own eyes, he would also have a hard time believing this.

"When did His Grace's taste..... No, this isn't a matter of taste. From your words, it's not 'just' dinner that they share together every night."

"Let's stop here."

"Wow. So it's really true. For real. Oh my god. I can't believe this. He had not shared the same bed more than thrice with one women, kek..."

Fabian felt a sharp pain all of a sudden on his stomach and bent over hugging his stomach. Jerome who had flew a punch at his brother gritted his teeth and spoke in a low voice.

"Shut your mouth. There are many ears here. What is this about thrice? How dare you spout such nonsense."

"I'm speaking figuratively. I'm just exaggerating to express what a gre~at man he is. His life is every man's romance."

"Oh? Let me deliver your exact words to Alice."

Once his wife's name was mentioned, Fabian's face paled.

"N..no. That's not what I mean, that's what others tell me. Don't tell Alice strange things. While we're on this topic, how dare you speak of your elder brother wife's name directly?"

"Elder brother wife's name? Don't you mean sister-in-law?"

"You only become an adult after marriage. Therefore I'm your elder brother."

They would fight over this whenever they met because the two were twin brothers.

"Hmm... I see. How ironic."

Ever since the Duke took the position at 18, the two served as aids by his side so they knew every woman of the duke. The Duke never had to seduce women because the women endlessly chased after him for his power and wealth.

Though there were countless women, no female could capture the Duke's heart. To the Duke, women were nothing but bedside partners. He would enjoy the women as he pleased, when they became clingy or annoying he threw them away without hesitation. Of course it was the two brother's job to take care of the women who could not throw away their lingering attachments for the young duke.

"Nothing is set in stone yet. That woman also lasted over a year easily. He might just be enjoying the honeymoon phase of this. It's most likely the case. Huuaaa. I need to sleep now. Please report that I will be here to meet him tomorrow morning."

This time, it was different. Jerome didn't go out of his way to explain. Time would explain everything.

The duke maintained a relationship with Countess for over a year, but the duke wasn't meeting with just her through all that time. The duke had never focused on one female every single day like this.

***

The next day, Countess Corzan visited the estate. She was an elder lady with snowy white hair who was just a little taller and slimmer than Lucia. She was known as a beauty in her youth and had aged with beautiful grace.

"I greet Her Grace the Duchess. My name is Michelle."

"It's an honor to meet you, Madam Michelle. I hope I haven't caused you too much trouble with this sudden request for your presence."

Michelle's eyebrows rose in surprise and then slightly furrowed. Honestly, Michelle's mood hasn't been the best since this request. Formally, they had inquired whether she could become a mentor for the Duke's wife. However underneath at face value, this was not a request but the Duke's one-sided command.

Michelle took much pride in her honor. The force to move her wasn't power or riches. Even so, there was no way she could ignore the Duke's orders because of her own selfish wishes.

Another problem was that her son was the duke's vassal. She was the Taran Duke's senior in age; she couldn't generously gloss over this event by simply laughing it over. There were no benefits would she have stubbornly rejected his request purely to protect her pride so she decided to comply without complaint. But, this did not erase the fact that her pride had been badly trampled on. Strangely though, being welcomed in such a polite fashion by the duchess had erased all her frustrations that had remained in her heart.

"It's my honor that I'll be able to offer my wisdom to Your Grace."

"I'm so grateful for your words. I'm afraid I have many shortcomings so I worry that I will be troubling you very much. Please, this way."

They took their seats in the receiving room while the maids swiftly prepared tea. Lucia admired Michelle who was drinking her tea. It was the first time she knew anyone could look so graceful drinking tea. Each movement of her body had a purpose and grace.

"I haven't properly learned much of anything. I felt I wasn't educated enough to shoulder the responsibilities of a Duchess. Thus, I requested for His Grace's opinions and he mentioned you, Madam Michelle. Hence I formally requested for you. I've heard that you have many responsibilities and I apologize if I'm troubling you too much with this. Ah, please tell me if my words or behavior are out of line."

Michelle's jaw which had been clamped tight while she gritted her teeth was now replaced by a soft smile.

"The essence of etiquette is your consideration for others. One should learn to approach others with honesty. In order to do so one must learn how to convey these feelings, this is the principles of etiquette. Your Grace, you already have these two qualities I have nothing more to teach you."

"You speak too highly of me."

Lucia's face flushed red. Michelle gazed upon the young pretty girl before her and let out a delighted laughter. She heard that the duchess had been a princess and assumed the duchess to be haughty and arrogant. She assumed the other try to take the initiative to gain the upper hand by informing the other of the importance of a person's rank.

Michelle had never thought the Duke of Taran to be anyone amazing. She didn't wish her children or grandchildren to see the duke as their role model at all. A competent person does not equate to a great person.

The duke was arrogant, domineering, and thought little of human relations. But, she had to admit that he had a good eye for discovering talent in others. He also had a good eye for woman.

'The Duke seemed to have found a very wonderful wife.'

She had met with thousands of people by now and she could quickly judge a person with a quick glance. The duchess was an innocent and kind hearted person.

Many whispered that the duke would marry a femme fatale but they didn't know what they were talking about. The duke was a cold hearted man who didn't move unless he could gain something in the end. When she heard of his marriage, she already assumed he would have chosen a woman who would not be of too much bother.

Michelle knew that this might be overstepping her rank, but she planned to relay one message to the duke.

'Please give your love to Her Grace. If it's not possible to love her with a passion, at least do not cast her aside and throw her away. If the lady of the house is not comfortable, the whole family will shake.'

A wife who doesn't have a husband's love will feel restless, in order for her to maintain her power she will form many dangerous thorns to protect herself. With the lady of the house behaving in this way, the whole household will not have a moment of peace. A man who doesn't feel peaceful in his own home will remain outside and this vicious cycle will never end.

Michelle hoped her predictions would be very wrong. The Duchess did not display any anxiety or depression. She looked like a female who was well loved by her husband.

"Had it been two months since you've married?"

"Yes."

"Then it should be about time when you start participating in activities outside of the castle. A good starting point is to hold some tea parties."

"How big should the scale of these parties be?"

"This is only the first tea party so a small one should suffice. It should be ten people or less with the attendance of the wives of the duke's vassals. The head butler should know who to invite. The duke's butler is very competent."

Lucia nodded her head. Jerome is definitely a capable person.

"I still feel I'm not competent enough to meet too many people. Is it required that I hold a grand ball?"

"Just because you're the Duke's wife does not mean you have to become the center power of the high society. To start off with, one must have a good aptitude with these social parties. However, it's not proper that you don't attend any of these parties. Just make an appearance every now and then and it should be enough. Why don't you hold female-only tea parties or garden parties about twice a month? You could regularly invite about 10 people and time to time you can increase the attendees to 30."

Countess Corzan's lessons were generally through basic conversations. Their conversation continued for two hours, through these lessons Lucia was able to learn interesting and important truths. Lucia honestly admired the Countess who talked eloquently without letting the listener feel fatigued.

At the same time, Michelle's heart was also moved by the other. She was surprised by Lucia gentle nature that didn't contain an ounce of hate.

"Your Grace, shall I introduce you to my niece? She would be a nice conversation companion. Her conduct may not be the most graceful, but she is a straight forward bright girl. This child will be helpful to brighten up the slower days when things get boring."

"I would be grateful."

Lucia spoke with a smile, but Michelle was able to notice her brief hesitation.

"It seems I have suggested something that would make Your Grace feel uncomfortable."

"... Honestly, I do not wish for a friend whose job is to cheer me up like his."

"Hohoho, Your Grace is so straight forward. Kate is, ah, my niece's name is Kate. If she had such skills to read your mood and cheer you up accordingly, I wouldn't have anything more to wish for. But she causes too much trouble."

"Trouble?"

"Not too long ago, her friend's fiancé cheated and she publicly humiliated him for being so deceitful. Oh my word, she dug a hole and filled it with horse manure and pushed him into it."

"Oh my gosh!"

"Whenever someone says her name, my heart freezes in fear because I'm afraid they would tell me more horrible news."

"But still, it seems you love your niece very much."

Michelle showed a beaming smile. Her eyes were filled with love and affection as she spoke of Kate.

"She sounds like a charming young lady. It would be nice to meet her sometime in the future."

"She would become a great consultant for Your Grace. Her hobby is to listening to stories of her female peers who are in pain due to love."

"I'm already married."

"Marriage is not the end, but only the beginning. How long had you dated His Grace before you married?"

"Date..?"

Thinking back, there hadn't been a time when they could really date at all. On their first meeting, she had asked for his hand in marriage. On their second meeting, they already agreed on a contract and were finalizing the deal. On their third meeting, she had been caught doing laundry and was scolded by him. Then, they had signed their official marriage documents.

"Um... I met with His Grace about three times."

The tea cup in Michelle's hand momentarily paused and slowly she let it down onto the table.

"Would it be okay to tell you the general public opinion of His Grace? It may be a bit risky to share this information because it may be slandering. It's just I feel it's a shame that you had agreed to the marriage before seriously getting to know His Grace."

"Please tell me. I shall not keep your words in my heart, I promise."

"Would it be alright to hear Your Grace's thoughts of His Grace?"

"Honest...ly?"

"Yes. Honestly."

"Um... It's not that he is... unpredictable but, he does as he pleases. He's very clear on what he wants and doesn't want. Once he turns his back, he will not look back. He is indifferent and cold hearted."

"It seems I spoke too soon. You know of His Grace very well."

Outwardly, there could be no better man than the Duke of Taran. He's the handsome and young ruler of every woman's fantasies. The Duke had been away from the northern territories and the attention towards him had decreased, but back then his popularity had peaked to the heavens. This had been before the duke had succeeded his current position.

All the unmarried noble ladies of the northern territories had thrown their bodies at him hoping to seduced the young future duke. They all mistook that he would fall for them over a single night of hot passion. It had been quick for these ladies to wake up from their fantasies. Either the girl would quit due to too much heartache or their affection would grow to true love and he would cast the girl aside without a second thought.

Amongst the many young ladies Michelle mentored, she had seen many shed tears due to love sickness. Due to this, even though Michelle had not once talked to the Duke in person, Michelle understood the histories of his many flings and cold hearted nature.

It had been over two months since they had married. It would have been the time when the female party would still be holding onto false hopes and fantasies. Surprisingly, the Duchess understood the Duke's true personally very well. This was evidenced that the duchess was not head over heels for her husband. Michelle felt surprised and cheerful for it.

"You are amazing. Your Grace had not lost hold of yourself. Being a female is sometimes such a sad thing. Many give their hearts away and overly depend on the other party. Once the other party disappears, it becomes unbearable to even stand alone and sometimes they would fall apart."

Lucia awkwardly laughed and nodded her head. She had been complimented but she didn't feel very good about it. The reason Lucia was able to keep a hold of herself was because she had given everything up all from the beginning.

"Even so, it is not a good idea to distance yourself from your husband too much. It's important to maintain a suitable distance."

"A suitable distance...."

Lucia nodded her head.

"I shall ask you a rude question. About how many times would His Grace visit your bed chambers at night?"

"Huh? Ah...."

Lucia's face became bright red.

"He visits... every night."

Michelle's eyes drew slightly wider but she continued on with an indifferent expression with a short 'I see.' This was a very interesting piece of information. The person who had fallen first was the Duke. If Michelle had been alone, she would have burst out laughing.

The duchess who had seemed innocent looked different somehow. Men usually lust for things they couldn't obtain, it seems the Duchess maintains that perfect distance making the Duke burn in lust.

"How should I ... maintain the perfect distance?"

"I shall explain slowly."

Michelle mumbled under her breath.

'I have nothing more I could teach Your Grace.'

She could now easily see the future of the ducal couple, as time flows the duchess would continue to win more and more affection from the duke. This was only possible because Michelle had been the consultant for countless men and woman. There was just one mystery that Michelle could not solve.

'How did this young lady make the duke fall for her so hard...?'

Of course it would be impossible for the Countess to guess that the duke would have fallen head over heels for his wife's devilishly sexy body. Rather, it's not simply a matter of falling head over heels, he had fallen so deep that it had gotten to the point that he could not be saved.

Following this day, Michelle decided to regularly visit Lucia. And Lucia had selected a date to open her first tea party on the following week.

***

"Your Grace."

The maid was careful with her words all the while blushing ever so slightly.

"Is it possible for you... to be pregnant?"

"Pregnant?

Lucia furrowed her brows due to these nonsensical words.

"It had been over two months since your last menstruation. Why don't we get a doctor's diagnosis for this just to be safe?"

The most important part of a maid's job was to overlook their master's health. For the master to show irregular symptoms for over two months was serious and called for her own intervention.

It would have been discovered faster if a single particular maid attended to her. But every few days the maids tending to her would change in rotations. Everyone assumed that her days of menstruation had passed when another maid had served for her. They remained strict with their duty and discussed to one another of this topic and discovered that nobody had noticed of any signs of menstruation. All the maids felt all the blood in their body go cold.

The most reasonable answer to this would be that she was pregnant. Everyone in this castle was aware how passionate these two people were for one another.

"It is not so. It's nothing like that so you don't have to put your mind to this anymore."

Lucia answered without an ounce of anger in her voice.

"But Your Grace, I highly recommend for your health that we call for a doctor..."

"I already said I was fine. I know my own body the best."

"...Yes, Madam."

The maid said no more, but she did not give up here. If her master was pregnant and something happens to the baby, she would not be let off with a simple light punishment. She was too anxious and went to Jerome to consult more on this topic.

"Your Grace. I've heard words from the maids and it seems there is a problem with your health."

The moment Jerome spoke, an expression of great anger briefly passed Lucia's face. She shortly made eye contact with the maid standing behind Jerome. Lucia was not glaring at all, but she felt great fear at this moment. This was the first time Jerome had seen this side of Lucia and treaded forward carefully.

"Your Grace, had the doctor ever caused discomfort to you in the past?"

"Not at all. Let me tell you again, I'm not pregnant and nothing is wrong with my body. His Grace is already aware of all this."

Jerome fell silent and chose his words with caution.

"But Your Grace, if something is wrong with your health none of us would be able to take responsibility for the end results for his Grace. Would it be alright to re-confirm this fact with His Grace?"

On their first meeting, she already told him that she has a body unable to bear a child. He asked whether she could prove it and following this conversation he showed no interest in it at all. It would be a surprise if he would call her a liar after all this time while saying she could be pregnant.

"It's not a lie. His Grace is aware of this fact. But I will tell him again."

"How can I confirm that madam would tell this to His Grace?"

Jerome had always been very obedient and kind to Lucia all this time, but in the end he was no pushover himself. It was impossible for a person to perfectly look over the whole castle has a head butler by just being a good person.

"... I shall tell His Grace when you're present Jerome. It should be fine like this, right?"

"Yes, Madam. I'm sorry for causing your discomfort."

"You're only doing your job as the head butler. But that child."

Lucia's eyes pinned down to the maid once more.

"You didn't come consult this with me a second time and immediately went to the head butler. I do not wish for the people around me to surveil my life in this way. Send her out of the house after today."

"...Yes. Madam."

The maid's face lost all color while she looked down to the ground, while Jerome bowed with a strict and honest expression. The maid had messed up her order of priorities. The maid had held the butler higher than her master. She was scared to hold any responsibility but she had acted too rashly.

He had thought Lucia was only kind and gentle, but she was very clear in her likes and dislikes that her personality even seemed a bit cold. It seems the two were a match made in heaven. He felt satisfied and pride seeing this side of his master, by now the butler had almost completely become her loyal dog.

-end-