The Duchess and the Devil - Chapter 78.2

Derrick leaned against the wall and didn’t answer. Noticing that he was still caring about Judith, Lucas asked:

-Are you still in doubt?

The Duke looked inside the bedroom. Judith’s sleepy face was dimly reflected in the lamp, and traces of tears were visible on her cheeks. Her mournful voice, asking her to promise that Derrick would not leave, even if it turned out to be a lie. They both understood that this was not true. But the demon could not simply break this promise, because he did not expect that the moment of lying would come so quickly and unexpectedly.

Lucas took a deep breath.

“If you yourself see that this mongrel is reaching out to a woman, perhaps he is already preparing for the final blow.” Aren’t you going to deal with this now?

“This is not something that can be done and solved so quickly.

Derrick thought it was much more confusing. If they attacked Hannibal now, he could simply strike back, targeting Judith specifically. But even now magic is slowly destroying it. And the demon could not understand what constituted the greatest danger for the Duchess. Derrick wanted to lift the curse from both of them at the same time.

The demon remembered his conversation with Judith a few days ago. This was the passage in which Hannibal aroused the Duchess’ anxiety. And what she was afraid of was magic. A mysterious force that people did not understand.

Soon the demon’s eyes glowed red in the darkness.

***

The spoon Judith was holding hit the bowl.

“I’m returning to the kingdom as a demon.”

Judith didn’t know how to react, so she just opened and closed her mouth, completely shocked by what was happening.

— I found Hannibal’s curse. And I’m going to destroy it, get out of the body and deal with it immediately,” Derrick explained, wiping up the soup that Judith had spilled.

This news made the Duchess’s mood extremely strange. Last night the demon said he would never leave her. Of course, both understood that this was just a lie, but Judith did not expect such a rapid development of events.

– Like this… Suddenly?

The unprepared separation was enough to break her heart in two. Moreover, his reckless response hurt from the inside. As Derrick wiped the soup off the tray, he paused at Judith’s slow pulse. Soon he met her gaze and whispered soothingly:

– I’m not saying I’m leaving you.

“But you said you were going to the demon realm.” If you don’t leave me, what does that mean?

“The most important thing for me is to save you.”

Currently, they had no choice but to accept the reality. Judith understood: this was just a deal that was now over. And the Duchess was ready to beg him not to leave.