The Search for the Duchess’s Husband Chapter 139

Artia studied Luca’s eyes, then asked.

 

“Do you have a particular reason for working as Madame Tunguel’s servant?”

 

Luca replied hesitantly.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure what you mean.”

 

“I’m asking if there’s a reason, like she pays you more than you’d get anywhere else, or she’s in your special favor, or she’s blackmailed you.”

 

Luca blinked his purple eyes before answering.

 

“I’m not being paid.”

 

Artia was surprised.

 

If nothing else, she knew Tunguel was generous with her money.

 

“Why aren’t you getting paid?”

 

Seeing Artia’s angry face, Luca wondered what he had done wrong.

 

“Because my master spent a lot of money to buy me from my former master.”

 

Artia’s brow drew together.

 

It was not uncommon to pay a penalty to buy a laborer whose contract had not been completed.

 

But this was different.

 

“What’s the connection between them exchanging money and not paying you?”

 

Artia’s question made Luca’s breath catch in his throat.

 

Because he wasn’t sure.

 

It was a long time before he could answer.

 

“She’s been saying that.”

 

“What…?”

 

“When I first started working, the people who took me paid money, and they said they were grateful for the money and that I should work hard.”

 

“…….”

 

Artia couldn’t understand a word of it.

 

And that was the difference between her and Luca.

 

The worlds of the great nobles, who were favored by the people from birth, and the world of the Kudrans, who grew up ignored and despised by the lowest of the low, were so different.

 

Luca spoke cautiously, watching Artia’s eyes.

 

“My master pays me no wages, but she gives me more than enough. She lets me live in a room with sunlight, gives me dozens of expensive clothes, and brings me food by hand.”

 

But Artia couldn’t help but think, ‘Wow, he’s really getting the best treatment.’

 

Because she could clearly see Tunguel’s intentions.

 

‘She’s just pampering him like a pet.’

 

The look in Artia’s eyes made Luca’s heart sink.

 

He clasped his hands together in a way that didn’t fit his large frame.

 

He knew he’d said the wrong thing, but he didn’t know what else to say here.

 

After a long moment, Artia spoke up.

 

“Luca, you need to stop working here and come to my house.”

 

“What?”

 

“I know it feels awkward to say this after we’ve only met twice, but I don’t want to send you back to Tunguel. She treats people like slaves.”

 

“…….”

 

“I’m not asking you to stay in my house. If you don’t like it, you can always leave. You can come back here again. What do you want to do?”

 

There had been several noblewomen who had asked Luca to come to their homes.

 

But none of them had ever asked his wishes like that.

 

“I…”

 

His heart thudded in his chest at the unfamiliar question. His mouth went dry.

 

After a long pause, Luca stammered out an answer.

 

“I don’t know.”

 

It was a stupid answer, even for him.

 

Luca bit his lip.

 

‘Would she be angry? Would she just click her tongue and feel sorry for him because she was so generous?’

 

But Artia’s reaction was not at all what he expected.

 

“Okay, then think about it some more and tell me when you have an answer. In the meantime, you can do your thinking by my side.”

 

“……?!”

 

Artia didn’t ask any more questions about Luca’s intentions, she just put him in the carriage, and they rode home together.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Luca blinked his eyes.

 

It seemed like only a few hours ago he was lying flat on the floor, being watched by Tunguel, and now he was in the Duke’s mansion.

 

The room the maid showed him was a good size and immaculately organized.

 

The maid came back to the room and served him his meal.

 

On the plates were warm soup, round bread, and roasted meat.

 

Luca had no appetite after everything that had happened so suddenly.

 

“But I’ll be in trouble if I leave a meal.”

 

Luca’s eyes widened as he took the obligatory bite of bread.

 

“Delicious!”

 

Tunguel didn’t want Luca to gain weight, so she had strictly controlled his diet.

 

He had to eat only wholesome food, free of flavor.

 

And the same menu every day.

 

It had been a long time since he’d eaten something so well-seasoned.

 

In fact, Luca, who is as big as he is, cleared his plate in no time.

 

The maid came back in just in time to bring him water to wash and a change of clothes.

 

They weren’t new, but they were clean and neat.

 

It was nice to see that they weren’t the overly fancy clothes he’d worn at Tunguel’s mansion.

 

Soon Luca was sitting on the end of the bed, looking immaculate.

 

The darkening sky made his handsome face turn grim again.

 

Luca’s grandmother, Norma, washed dirty clothes in the basement of a shop run by an Imperial.

 

She always carried her young grandson, who had no one to watch him.

 

Luca was beautiful even as a child, but no one who worked there knew it.

 

No one paid attention to the wiry little Kudran boy.

 

That changed when Luca went through a second growth spurt around the age of fourteen.

 

With each passing day, he grew taller and more distinctive.

 

The maids who worked with Norma were the first to notice.

 

“What a handsome little boy!” they said.

 

They giggled and petted Luca. Some even slapped him on the butt, telling him to grow up and marry them.

 

Luca just laughed, unable to say no.

 

It was the only response the young Kudran could muster.

 

Then one day, Luca ran into the wife of the owner of the store.

 

It wasn’t a coincidence.

 

She had overheard the maids gossiping about how handsome he was.

 

“Show me your face.”

 

The woman’s words made Luca slowly raise his head.

 

The woman’s eyes widened and the corners of her mouth turned up in a smirk.

 

Like a child finding a favorite toy.

 

From that day forward, Luca became the woman’s favorite servant.

 

“You’ve turned out so well for a Kudran.”

 

The woman was sarcastic, but she wanted to keep him around.

 

But when her husband returned from an out-of-town trip, he was as furious as a male who had been robbed of his mate.

 

He beat Luca’s immature body viciously, fanned him, and chased him away.

 

“Someone save my grandson!”

 

Norma gasped, looking for a doctor.

 

While everyone refused to treat Kudranians, only one doctor said he would treat Luca.

 

For twice the normal fee.

 

Unable to resist, Norma brought him home.

 

She was the only one who could save her grandson, who was writhing in a high fever.

 

With the help of doctors, Luca recovered, but Norma’s expression was grim.

 

She’d been kicked out of the shop where she and Luca had worked, and even with all the money she’d scraped together, it wasn’t enough to pay the hospital bill.

 

Luca took the old woman’s wrinkled hand.

 

“Don’t worry, Grandma, I’ll get the money.”

 

Luca left the house.

 

He traveled everywhere, looking for work.

 

“Who gives a job to a Kudran, you asshole, get lost!”

 

He was often called names and sometimes even beaten.

 

But Luca didn’t give up, and he finally found a place that accepted him.

 

A man who looked like a rat said,

 

“You said you could do anything, didn’t you?”

 

“Yes, just ask!”

 

Luca replied, louder than usual at the job he’d finally found.

 

From then on, Luca’s job was to take care of the housekeeper.

 

Since then, the house has changed hands several times, but his job has always been the same.

 

Women with money and power blatantly wanted him, and they would make him do dirty, dirty work and laugh at him.

 

 

Snapped back from the past to the present, Luca muttered in a sullen voice.

 

“Lady Artia is not like the others. She is good and merciful.”

 

But appreciating her and trusting her were two different things.

 

Luca thought that since she had taken him into her home and treated him so lavishly, she must want something from him.

 

And he wasn’t about to say no to whatever she asked.

 

That’s how he’d been raised.

 

Luca stared at the closed door with sinking eyes.

 

But to his worry, Artia did not appear.