The Duchess and the Devil
Chapter 16: Derrick looked a bit astounded with her unexpectedly calm response. He then cleared his throat.

Derrick looked a bit astounded with her unexpectedly calm response. He then cleared his throat.

Ahem.

“Well, like I said earlier, when I leave, once the soul that is sustaining this body, disappears, your husband will return to being a corpse. When that time comes, there won’t be anything strange with ‘going back inside the coffin’.”

So, if he, a devil, leaves her husband’s body, Judith would return to her ‘widowed’ status like that day when the funeral was being carried out.

Judith felt anguished for a moment. She tried to organize all the information that she had heard from him in her head. While thoughts ran through her mind, Derrick savoured his tea in a manner so natural that one couldn’t possibly think of him being a ‘devil’.

Perhaps helping him regain his power wouldn’t be something terrible to Judith. No, rather, it could be the same as killing two birds with a single stone.

The only problem she had was the issue of a successor, which she lacked because of her husband’s death. Fortunately, or not, Derrick Vaisil was revived. Even if what resided inside of his body was a devil, to her eyes and to others, Derrick was a human brought back to life, not a devil.

‘I might get pregnant if I keep sleeping with him.’

What if she became pregnant from sleeping with him constantly, and Derrick, who regained his power, got out of her husband’s body?

Judith would once again become a widow, but would have the successor she wished for. Though she was only considering things, it was a perfect plan.

“I’ve been curious since before.”

All of a sudden, the space next to her on the sofa sank. While she was pondering with her thoughts, he had at some point moved from his couch, for when Judith raised her head, he was at her side.

“Wife, didn’t you love your husband?”

It was quite an abrupt question. When he saw that Judith just stared at him without a word, Derrick added quietly, his gaze overlapping with hers.

“Just like that. Your reaction when I first woke up in this body, it had been just like that as well.”

What was my reaction when he was revived? Judith thought. She was sure that for some time, she was cold to him, and upon realizing that he had memory loss, she had laughed at him sardonically, as though dumbfounded.

Surely, it couldn’t be seen as the appearance of a wife who was overjoyed that her beloved husband had returned to life.

Love, the so-called ‘love.’

After repeating that useless feeling as if she were skimming over a book, Judith nodded her head without any hesitation.

“I did not love him. I’ve told you that I wasn’t on good terms with my husband in the first place.”

“What happened between you two?”

“We weren’t… We did not feel anything for each other, even before we were married. From our personalities to other aspects, we didn’t match.”

Derrick tilted his head to the side, frowning as he was unable to understand those facts.

“Then why did you marry? Isn’t ‘marriage’ a thing you humans do as a sign of a ‘relationship’ between people who love each other?”

Because he was a devil, what he knew about the system called ‘marriage’ was based on a collection of assumptions. In fact, if one tried to peel off the layers, what they would see inside was something worse than the exterior called ‘marriage’.

In a relationship established among aristocrats, like Judith and Derrick, the possibilities of its insides rotting and decaying was high. It was because they were only bound by a contract for each other’s benefit, not love.

“You are right. Marriage is done between people who love each other, but there are some marriages done because it’s beneficial to both parties, not just because there is passionate feelings between them. That was the case between my husband and I.”

Derrick made an expression showing he barely understood her words. He, a devil, might not be able to understand the mutual partnership of calculating interests between humans.

Judith pursed her lower lip as she contemplated her married life with her husband, short as it was and yet long if one considered it. She then bit her lip.

In her memories of their two-year marriage, Judith was always alone. When she was with her husband, it was limited to gatherings and even then, it was only to keep her position to others. Unless necessary, Derrick Vaisil never approached her.

He always…

“And my husband was in love with another woman. Before his death, he must have felt like I was a hindrance to them.”

When discussing their married life, one could never take Silvia Wirell out of it. Though Judith had never met Silvia Wirell even once, she had always been on the lookout for her, monitoring her.

To Judith, Derrick Vaisil was a husband with an obstinate mind who did not share her thinking, so at the very least, she wished that Silvia Wirell was a woman who had the same mentality as her. Yet, it would seem she had miscalculated when she was seen roaming around here and there in the capital with her husband until his condition had worsened.

“Did that idiot have an affair?”

Derrick asked, his wide eyes raising sharply as though it was something surprising. It was a rare, animated response that came from him.

“Pfft.”

Judith gave a little laugh instead of answering. It was considerably refreshing, hearing a person call and belittle Derrick Vaisil like that in front of her for the first time.

Come to think of it, when he heard that we were using bedrooms separately, he had asked her, “Is your husband an idiot?”. For this devil, his impression of Derrick Vaisil was solidified as ‘idiot’ ever since then.

“Yes.”

She told him in truth that she had known, but she had the feeling that he told her to rebuke him and tell on him. It had been like that since the first time she had brought out her husband’s dirty laundry in front of him, and while she had tried to hide it in front of others, it still came to light.

At her calm response, Derrick scrunched his eyebrows, perhaps not liking her words. His features, which had once been filled with shameless smiles and gentleness, became menacing like that of an unruly vagrant in an instant.

“Why?”

He stared at Judith, his lips muttering words of how he couldn’t understand. His burning gaze was fixated on her like an arrow. His tenacious gaze was placed on her, as if he was scrutinizing her exquisite features one by one.

“I don’t think my wandering mind will be sane at all, you know.”

Judith’s face became flushed at that moment.

It was because his words sounded… It was like he was saying that if he was her husband, he wouldn’t be able to remove himself from her, as he would lose himself in the existence that was ‘her’. She became embarrassed for no reason at his words, as though he was telling Judith that she was some sort of beauty of the century to an extent.

“Especially at night, even more so.”

Derrick’s lips hovered on the rim of her ear, whispering when she had turned her head to the other side. A low-pitched, raspy voice flowed through her ears, crossing to her heart making it thump lightly. Judith, with a flushed face, met his eyes, and pushed on his chest as he came near her, putting a short distance between them

“You, are you doing this because you want to do it again?”

“I won’t be able to say no to that.”

He did not hide his desire for her. He was blunt in every aspect, honest and straightforward, that she had thought that all of the so-called ‘devils’ behaved similarly. Derrick kissed her lightly as he embraced Judith around her waist, and then separated himself from her. The sound of his kiss, which formed like a dew, was quite lovely as it disappeared.

“I’m hungry, wife.”

She had now grown accustomed to his signature phrase, ‘I’m hungry’. It was a secret signal that only he and Judith could understand.

He was now openly wishing for sex.

“Kyaa!”

Derrick unexpectedly embraced her and placed her on his lap. His thick thighs were firmer than the sofa, and she had the illusion that she was sitting on a chair, not on a person’s legs. As if intoxicating himself with a sedative, he set his head on the nape of her neck, taking a deep breath.

“Haa, everytime I smell it, it’s really…”

It was a vague mumble, as if he had fallen into a trance. By the time she saw him insinuating this kind of reaction, Judith felt as though she had become the beauty of the century. He was the first person who showed a direct and raw response like this, even if from the moment she had been born, she was showered by compliments of her beauty.

Judith slowly opened her mouth as she held Derrick’s head, who was lapping at her collarbone.

“… Derrick, I will help you so you can escape out of that body.”

Her fingers, which were disheveling his hair, slid downwards and stroked Derrick’s cheek. Her palms could feel the cool sensation coming from him. Derrick lifted his eyes and met her gaze as he turned his head and kissed her palm.

“But in return, you must help me, as well.”

That red haze, shimmering underneath his irises, became denser. These were eyes filled with an instinct– an instinct of wanting to indulge in his sexual desires.

“What do you wish for?”

The devil’s captivating whisper made her heart pound excessively. It was because she had the feeling that he would be able to fulfil whatever preposterous things she would wish for.

Judith moistened her lips with her tongue before grabbing his hand that was stroking her thigh, and placed it on her stomach.

“A baby.”

“…….”

“I…….I want to become pregnant.”

Derrick’s eyes widened from Judith’s unexpected declaration of wanting to have a child. From her unwavering expression, it wasn’t long before he realized that she meant her words, that it was from the bottom of her heart.

Derrick moved the hand she had caught and stroked her slim stomach.

“…That means now.”

His hand, which has been stroking her waist, gently slid down and clasped her buttocks.

“You’re asking me to ram it into you until you become pregnant, that’s what you mean?”

Sometimes, without thinking, he would candidly say obscene words without a care. Judith nodded, feeling her face become hot.

As soon as she bashfully confirmed it, the smile that hung on Derrick’s lips deepened.

“You want to be filled with my seed, am I right?”

His voice, filled with foul words, was thrust inside of Judith’s ear. As Judith peeked at him through the corner of her eyes, Derrick, who was chuckling, grabbed her waist and spun her around.

In the blink of an eye, Judith was laid down on the sofa, and his broad upper body pounced on her. After grabbing her ankles and spreading them apart, Derrick situated himself between her legs.

Something firm was pressed against her body, that was to say, something from him was touching the lower part of her body. Judith lowered her eyes, and before she knew it, she could see the swell of his erection. It was a presence that one could not really ignore.

Derrick, who was smiling mischievously as though knowing where her gaze was, loosened his pants with his deft hand. Judith’s eyes alternately went from the office door to him, embarrassed.

“Derrick! Doing it here is….”

“Are you telling me to stop after talking so eroticly like that?”

The erotic talk that he spoke of was something that only he did, not her. Judith burst into a laugh as passing all the blame to her was dumbfounding. However, that thought came to a sudden stop when a hand lifted the hem of her skirt.

“Someone might come in while we’re doing this…! Let’s, Let’s go to the bedroom!”

“It’ll take us some time to get there.”

“It is right beside us! Ah!”

Judith’s protests came to a halt with a flinch when his hand suddenly penetrated her crotch and touched her genitals. His long fingers went up and down, stimulating the exposed area. Her entrance hidden inside her undergarment kept expanding and contracting gently on its own, as if it recalled what it had taken in all night long.

Happy Chinese New Year to you all!