The Duke of Death and His Black Maid

[Purplelibraryguy]

@Mimik Of course @tovidian908 is correct! He should stop being blue-balled by that maid and just fuck her already! Enough worrying about this trivial crap like "But she'd die". Clearly if he were an "alpha" he'd just go on a mass murder spree screwing anything that moves until it, you know, stops moving.

Spoiler

(Poe's Law shield: That was sarcasm)

 

[mommy]

The chapters are getting cheesier the more we get. Is it only me or has there been less teasing as of late?

 

[mug3n]

@Purplelibraryguy

Of course. Because we all know that a young man that has been alienated by telling him he is cursed and he will kill anyone who touches him, has been disowned by his family and lives secluded in a mansion apart of civization since he was little is going to grow into the manliest gigoló in history. Because potato.

The amount of people that goes to the comments to say every single time "this mc is a beta and a loser" astounds me, it's something you realize after reading a few mangas. Guys, we know it, the japanese like their timid mc trope and sometimes is tiring, just stop commenting on every single fucking romance manga with a weak mc how much of cuck they are and how manly and experienced you are. Thank god you aren't writers, your romance mangas would be single page 4 komas.

 

[tovidian908]

we all know the end of this story will be that she was immune all along lmao

 

[Endlave]

I cannot quite comprehend why people are upset about MC. He really does have a damn good reason to not get too close to Alice. You know, with her dying if he did.

I dislike beta characters as much as everyone here, but come on. Not even the most alpha of alphas would touch the girl he wanted if the price were her death

 

[YellowChica]

@tovidian908

that would be hilarious and rage inducing at the same time...

 

[pantsu_invader]

Plot twist: Alice is the Witch that cursed him.

 

[ForgottenSubs]

@pantsu_invader
At this point, that will be the stupidest plot twist ever.

 

[totallynotmike]

Alice is the Witch that cursed him.

Did you read it? If so, what's the point of reading anything if retention = 0?

she was immune all along

Probably.

 

[pantsu_invader]

@mikegnesium

Spoiler

 

[Random_Passer-by]

Wait...

Spoiler

Rob is missing his right eye?! Is that why his hair covers it?!

 

[Isekaijin]

Either it was Alice's mom or she also died to the witch who cursed him.

 

[Random_Passer-by]

And another question: Are girls born with red fingernails in this universe?

 

[Rikeka]

Very cute special.

 

[RealMahogany]

The feels

 

[xMirage]

My god where has this been all my life?

 

[Majestic_Canary]

After re-reading everything I think I've got a working theory on a few bits of the story (as of right now at least).

Spoiler

The witch wasn't Alice's mom. every time we see the (assumed) act of the curse being placed we see the lower half of the her face and with the flashback chapter of Sharon she clearly has a beauty mark near her lower lip. That's not the witch's face we see in the Duke's flashbacks.
We haven't seen the Duke's mother's face yet though.
I would speculate that at least The Duke's mother and/or Sharon were in on the curse as Sharon clearly stated in the flashback that it was a "Thorny path" and Alice was the only one she would protect. And assuming from the other flashbacks we've seen she was ridiculed/bullied for associating with the family, let alone what would happen if she and the Duke were to start getting romantic.
The Duchess (I assume that would be her title?) might have been the one to instigate the curse to repel the budding relationship for the same reasons.

The rules of the magic in this universe haven't really been explored yet so it's harder to go beyond wildly throwing out ideas but I would guess that the curse is pretty powerful especially after the Sabbath incident where he KO'd that magical plant. Even the witches seem to avoid touching him, maybe the curse could have been a group effort?

 

[Random_Passer-by]

Finally, some plot development!

 

[sillymangareader]

That damn moon reminds me of this author's other work. A really nice and subtle reference.

 

[seekermoc]

I wonder if his curse is going to turn out like the one in the "Sword of Truth" series (it's a US fantasy novel series, not manga). In that series the main heroine has a similar curse/power, where anyone she touches loses their freewill and personality, becoming empty shells of people (their spirit/soul/ego dies, though unlike the Duke their bodies live on as mindless slaves). That causes her to be unable to touch the MC/hero she loves and leaves them in a really similar relationship as the Duke/Maid. Also like this series, she hates her curse/power and can do nothing about it.

Anyway the following has spoilers for the Sword of Truth series, and my speculation for how the Duke's curse will be resolved in this manga:

Spoiler

They come into a situation where she is forced to touch him, and afterwards she assumes his mind is gone. However, yada yada yada, true love, her power had no effect on him, and they were finally able to have a complete relationship. However, there was a catch. If either of them had known true love could break the curse beforehand, it wouldn't have worked. The MC's mentor knew all along, but couldn't tell them, no matter how much he wanted to help. They had to figure it out on their own. That may explain Dulles' insistence that Zain destroys the journal in chapters 60/61, as if it contains the 'answer' and Duke/Maid learn of it before they touch, it will ruin their chances of breaking the curse.