The Duchess and the Devil - Chapter 56.1

Exactly three days after visiting the library, an official invitation arrived from the Imperial Palace. Although Judith knew perfectly well that the contents of the letter were the same for everyone, she was still afraid to open it. The Duchess was afraid of being disappointed and only angering Derrick more.

There was talk of a grand banquet in a week.

“For the first time I don’t want to go so much,” an anxious feeling pressed from within.

“Then just don’t go?”

“If I do that, I’ll be arrested for refusing,” Judith said with a sad but sincere smile. “Obviously, if we don’t come, we will displease the Emperor.”

Despite the fact that Derrick had already spent enough time in the human world, he still did not understand his wife’s fears. The demon has always lived the way he wants. People really care about the attention and opinions of others.

If Derrick lived in this pretense all the time, he would exhaust all his available energy too quickly. Judith laughed weakly, as if reading his thoughts.

“If we lived like demons, the world would be filled with hatred, chaos and disorder.

“Isn’t this better than these quirks?”

It was very difficult to convince a creature that had survived in other conditions. It’s the same with Judith herself – she will never be able to accept the world of demons and its rules. Looking carefully at her husband, the Duchess remembered the book that she had been reading during these three days – “The Origin of the Devil.”

As the Emperor said, all the most noticeable signs and features of demons are written in it. However, the problem is that Judith did not know whether everything written in the book was true.

It describes all the characteristics of demons, their magic, weaknesses, starting with the very origin of the family. But Judith missed this point as unnecessary. She wanted to know about the demon itself, not how they came to be. And the Duchess paid more attention to the section with the weaknesses of devils. The book said that the roots of the tantum tree could hurt them if they were made into tea or placed in a room with mirrors.

But Judith didn’t want to try these methods on Derrick.

“In fact, when I met the Emperor in the library, I went for this,” the Duchess pulled out a book and put it on the table.

– Origin of the Devil?

The man took it with interest and opened it.

Judith calmly waited to see what he would say and what verdict he would make. The speed of turning pages increased every second. Sometimes Derrick laughed, and sometimes he looked extremely serious. When he finished, he just threw back the book and shouted:

– This is complete crap!

His red eyes burned.

– And you, wife, believed this?

– No. That’s why I asked you.

– Why did you even take this book?

“I was wondering: if I get more information about you, would I be able to find Hannibal faster.”

“But you could have just asked me.”

Judith had heard many times that Derrick was not like other demons. Therefore, she did not think that he would help too much in this matter.

“I couldn’t ask you to tell me about the weaknesses of demons,” said the Duchess with a strange smile on her face.

The man’s eyes sparkled, after which he laughed self-confidently.

– I will answer any questions.

– Yes?

Derrick never thought he could fall in love. And even more so in a smile. But the more he looked at Judith, the more he lost his head. Although devils have practically no weaknesses, the demon wanted to show his wife all his cards. Derrick felt dirty because of this, he couldn’t help himself and his feelings. Gradually he drowned in the swamp.

— Love is such a strange feeling, right? – the demon muttered under his breath.

Before, Derrick never thought that love would ever touch him. And if it does touch, it definitely shouldn’t have been so strong and deep. To be precise, it seemed that it was not him at all, but someone else. But the demon did not want to understand himself. The only desire is to hug your spouse and not let go. Any touch brought terrible pleasure.

So Derrick tried to calm down and dispel all thoughts. Emotions sometimes seemed so strong and heavy that they were even overwhelming. Patting the armrest of the sofa with his palm, the demon looked at the sighing Judith.