Contract Duchess [ Duke! Daisuke Kambe x Reader ] ♡ Royal AU

𝖙𝖍𝖗𝖊𝖊: 𝖇𝖊𝖉 𝖘𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖌

<ｉ ｃｏｕｄｎ＇ｔ ｆｉｎｄ ａ ｇｉｆ．ｇｉｆ>

[Your POV]

It has been three weeks ever since I came into this mansion and today was the start of the duke and I's bed sharing.

Bed sharing has long been a tradition for those who were about to get married and that's why Daisuke and I were sitting next to each other in the same bed awkwardly. Well, for my part at least since the duke, as usual, looked indifferent. He was currently leaning against the wooden headboard of the four poster king size bed, holding a book on his lap, completely engrossed in the novel he was reading.

I couldn't bear the silence so I decided to just call it a night and laid down with my back facing him, he seemed to have noticed this and asks, "Are you sleeping in already?"

"Yes. I'm a little tired, my lord." I replied, that was a lie of course, it was still a little too early for bedtime, it was only ten in the evening pulling the covers close to my body.

"You can stop calling me that. Just call me by my first name, I don't mind."

My eyes widen at his request. Addressing someone like the duke by his first name so casually would result into treason! My plan was to pretend to be the duke's wife and get rich not pretend to be the duke's wife and rot in prison.

"Wouldn't I be sent to the dungeons if I disrespected you like that?..." I trailed off, hoping he would reconsider, I really didn't want to endanger my well-being, while it was true that I had no money and the only thing I have left was my freedom and if that was taken away from me, I'm not quite sure what would become of me.

"You're soon to be Duchess Kambe and this is a part of our agreement so if you don't comply I'll deduct ten percent from your monthly wage."

So he was really serious about me addressing him by his first name? I was thankful that he couldn't see the incredulous look of disbelief on my face right now. I replied hastily, "A-ah no! Well..good night then, Daisuke."

"Good night to you too. Do you mind if I keep the night light on?"

"Not at all. Aren't you going  to sleep, my lord?"

He lets out an exasperated sigh and corrects me yet again, "It's Daisuke for you. And not yet. I'll read a little more, I'm already on the last chapter."

"I take it you must like reading then?"

"I do. They're good company, better than people if you ask me."

I laughed a little at that. "This is why you intimidate people."

"Do you think so?" He closes the book he was reading and looks up to the ceiling as if he was in deep thought.

Abandoning the thought of sleeping in early, I immediately sat up, turning to the side to search his face for any signs of irritation. I was afraid that I had somehow offended the duke, "Of course not! I was just kidding!"

"Do you find me intimidating, Nara?" He asks, it was the first time that he called me by my name and it sounded heavenly as it rolls off his tongue. Daisuke lowers his gaze to meet mine as he leans a few inches closer to my face. I finally get a closer look of the duke's beautiful blue grey eyes. To some, they might look dull and lackluster but they reminded me of storm clouds hanging over an ocean—a beautiful cross between blue and grey muddled together in a dangerous and  enchanting canvas. They appear stern but they hold a quiet gentleness in them that puts me at ease, they gleamed as he awaits for my answer.