Bon Appétit

‘Then don’t make me uncomfortable, butler.’

Luana crouched in the corner of an old wooden bed and hugged her skirt. It was very uncomfortable. There were bugs on the moldy, dirty walls. It was strangely chilly, making her body shiver. She crouched as much as she could, but she couldn’t stop the shiver.

‘Is it just me? I felt like I heard a human sobbing voice from somewhere.’

At that time, Luana saw the walls full of stains that looked like blood. Maybe it’s a real bloodstain. Because this was a dungeon that locked up criminals, Luana was sure she’d be tortured, too. That thought made Luana shudder even more.

Besides, Luana was concerned about the two chairs in the corner. One was covered with a fabric, and the other was not. Among the two, The chair that was covered by the fabric bothered her.

‘It’s my fate.’

She doesn’t know what crimes she has committed in her previous life that made her only come to the dungeon for a second time. She thought it was because of the man she saw at the market.  She didn’t know who the hell he was.

As Luana thought about it, Probably she was someone that related to the kingdom or the witch. She couldn’t think of anything other than those two cases.

Luana leaned against the wall with a sigh and soon freaked out. 

“Bugs! Bugs!”

And after shaking her body like crazy, she crouched back on the bed.

“I really don’t know.”

She felt like she was going to cry. It was sad and unfair. Even in this situation, she seemed foolish to worry about the duke’s meal.

‘The one who locked me up here is the duke.’

She couldn’t help but worry about someone who didn’t care about her. Luana bit her lips tightly because now was not the time to worry about the duke but the time to hate him.

“A bad guy. Stupid, dim-witted.”

She stomped her feet, picking swear words to curse him. Luana wasn’t particularly good at swearing in her previous life, but she tried to squeeze her brain out as much as possible. She did this because she couldn’t stand the injustice.

“Poopy head, anemone.”

And then, she heard a familiar voice.

“What’s an anemone?”

It was the duke. Before she knew it, he was standing in front of the thick iron bars, looking at Luana.

“It’s an ugly creature that lives in the sea.”

Luana added a little extra explanation. She often sees the duke, but strangely, now he feels frightening. So did the people standing behind him. The duke came with two middle-aged men she had never seen before as he opened the iron bars door and entered.

Unconsciously, Luana pulled her body backward, and her back hit the wall. She was terrified of the bug on the walls, but she couldn’t care less because she wanted to get away from the duke as much as possible.

‘Why did he do this?’

She blinked her eyes nervously and just realized why. His red eyes looked at Luana were colder than usual.

“A-are you angry because I said you’re a sea anemone?”

She asked carefully, but the duke did not answer. He simply dragged a chair from inside the prison and sat on it. Then the two people behind him pulled a small tray and went inside.

Seeing this, Luana recalled her past. The things she saw when she was imprisoned in a dungeon in the kingdom.

Shiver

She got goosebumps.

“No way.”

Luana looked at the Duke with pleading eyes. But the Duke did not respond as he just ordered the two people in a calm tone.

“Start.”

Drap-

They revealed the tools covered by the dirty cloth on the tray.

‘Torture tools!’

Luana noticed this and started to tremble even more. The two people approached the chairs in the corner and rolled up the cloth.

The chair was a typical torture chair. It was made of rigid material and had restraints attached to it.

“Uuhh.”

The tears she had been holding back burst out.

“I’m sorry! I won’t call you anemone again!”

Immediately, words of apology burst out of her mouth. However, the duke still did not respond.

“I won’t call you a poopy head!”

Then one of the people reached out to Luana.

“Aaaahhhh!”

The duke, who had sat still as she screamed, finally responded. Frowning his brow, he said to the person.

“Wait, I’ll do it.”

As soon as he talked, the middle-aged man withdrew his hand. Then the duke came up and stood in front of Luana.

“Sit on the chair.”

“I don’t want to.”

Luana said with a whimper.

“Sit down when I still say it nicely.”

“No! Never!”

The duke had his tongue-tied, and he reached out to her. As soon as his firm hand grabbed her arm, Luana screamed.

“Aaah! Aaack!”

She was screaming so desperately that people would think she was being tortured if anyone heard it.

“I haven’t done anything yet.”

The duke said it out of absurdity, but she did not know how to shut Luana’s mouth.

“Help me!”

She sobbed more and more, and she began to make her pleas to the duke.

“Please save me!”

“I haven’t done anything yet.”

“You will do it! I know it all!”

She buried her face between his legs and wept bitterly. After crying for a long time, she finally started to let go of his legs.

“I was worried you couldn’t eat and be hungry, but you’re only thinking about torturing me!”

While shedding tears, she said everything she wanted to say. The duke, that has been hiding his expression the whole time began to change gradually.

“Were you worried about my meal?”

“I did! Do you think I won’t be worried? You look like walking bones every time!”

“So you were worried?”

“Of course I’m worried!”

The corners of the duke’s mouth, which had been hardened, began to tremble, and the expressions of the two middle-aged men listening to the conversation between the two became confused. They came here because they heard they were going to torture someone, but listening to the conversation between the two parties, it sounds like a lovers’ quarrel! No matter how cold-hearted they were, the torture technician had no choice but to be shaken.

Unconsciously, the duke put his hand over his mouth to cover his mouth’s corner that had already turned upwards. He put his hand on Luana’s arm. She was crying so much that he wanted to stop her from doing so, but he only had the opposite effect.

Luana was frightened and ran away into the corner.

“Don’t touch me! If you touch me, I’ll hate you! I’ll hate you for the rest of my life!”

As Luana continued crying, the duke stopped. Rationally, he knew he had to torture her to dig up information and use it as bait to draw out other witches.

But strangely enough, his body didn’t move. His heart which had been tingling all morning has now become very painful. Something hot choked up, and he felt pain in his chest.

The cause was unknown. However, when it comes to Luana, this wasn’t the first time this had happened, so he thought he had to show this to the doctor. Maybe it was a witch’s curse. If that were the case, the doctor would not be very helpful, but he thought he should do everything he could.

“Shall we start?”

The two torture technicians ask cautiously but strangely unwilling.

“No, it’s done.”

The duke turned down the offer of the torture technicians. Then he left the dungeon after just looking at the crying Luana. The butler was waiting for him at the entrance.

“Are you done?”

The butler’s eyes quickly scanned the duke, and he noticed that.

“Are you worried about Luana?”

“I apologize.”

“No, it’s done.”

It could have bothered him because they had time together, but it was unnecessary. Because there was no torture in the first place, it doesn’t even seem like torture was needed. Seeing that she was crying and pleading even if she was scared of him, she didn’t seem to have to cause any real pain. Even now, she even spits out anything he asks.

With that thought, he also sent back the torture technicians. It seemed like it would be okay to go back and ask questions after she got a little stable.

“Call the doctor.”

Then the butler looked as if his heart had sunk.

“No way!”

“I’m having a bit of a problem these days, so I’ll have to get a checkup.”

“Oh, I see. I’ll call him right away.”

The butler gave a blatantly relieved expression. And, as I said, quickly brought in the duke’s doctor. He asked about the duke’s symptoms upon arrival.

“Where are you feeling uncomfortable?”

“My heart is pounding.”

“Your heart?”

The doctor twirled his pen on the paper with a serious look.

“In what exact situation do you usually feel that?”

The duke frowned his brows.

‘In what exact situation?’

He recalled his memory and told the doctor.

“I tried to torture Luana, and my heart ached.”

“Torture?”

The doctor asked back with his eyes widened.

“Yes.”

“If you’re talking about Luana, isn’t she the princess of the kingdom who entered the mansion?”

“That’s right.”

“She is the one who is a good cook, right?”

“That’s right.”

That’s why he noticed she was a witch and brought her here.

“You mean you were feeling heartbroken when you tried to torture her?”

“My heart was pounding.”

“Hehehe.”

The doctor stopped twirling the pen, giving an embarrassed look.

‘How should I say this?’

While contemplating, the duke asked again.

“Is there any chance it was caused by the curse?”

“Curse?”

“Yes, I’m already under a curse, so I don’t think it’s impossible.”

“No, it’s impossible.”

The doctor, tapping the paper with his pen, said firmly.

He is the doctor for the Duke’s family. He has been taking care of the duke’s family since the duke was still a child. Naturally, he had no choice but to study more about curses than others and knew a lot about witches.

“Why is it impossible?”

“The witch’s curse can’t be applied twice.”

The duke’s eyebrows rose upward.

---

TL’s Note: Someone please tell the duke what he is feeling right now. Homeboy is confused 😭