DDPLG 1

Chapter 1. Prologue

“Luen! Is it true?”

“Yes. As you heard… I’m pregnant.”

Surely, he would soon fix me with that cold gaze of his and cast me out of the ducal mansion. That was the kind of man I knew him to be.

I lowered my head. I had prepared myself for it, but when I saw the scorn on his face, I knew it would still hurt.

“To think you’ve given me such a great blessing. My Luen… thank you so much.”

“…What?”

Blessing? My Luen?

What nonsense was this? Was this man out of his mind?

He ignored my bewilderment and strode toward me with burning eyes. I flinched, but he was a former knight—there was no escaping him.

“Luen, you are the greatest gift of my life. I’m so moved.”

He swept me into his arms and showered me with fervent kisses. Once again, I couldn’t say a word. My mind was frozen.

“No… I have to run away…”

“Hm? What was that?”

Of course, as a Sword Master, he never failed to catch even my muttered words.

“Luen… run away? I must have misheard. Didn’t you just say you’re carrying my child?”

Run away—with my child?

I’m screwed.

His gleaming eyes—befitting a future villain infamous across the continent—made me want to bolt that instant.

‘We never even slept together, so why do you believe this?!’

But as if he had read my thoughts, he only tightened his hold. His broad, sturdy shoulders radiated terrifying strength.

What was going to happen to my life now? The shock was so great, I wanted to just let go of my sanity. If only my life weren’t at stake…

‘If only you didn’t exist. You, and you alone!’

Duke Fiar—the man destined to become a sub-villain, to start a rebellion after losing the heroine, and be executed.

And now… would you believe me if I told you I woke up one day as one of his mistresses? And worse—at the point in time right before he meets the heroine and falls in love.

Which meant that it was only a short while before he would be spurned, rise in rebellion, and lose his head.

When I read the story, he was my favorite character—the one I wanted to protect. But actually being entangled with him? That was never my wish. My life was on the line. Of course, I had decided I needed to escape.

‘If I’m going to be kicked out anyway, better sooner than later. The sooner I’m free, the sooner I can find a way to survive. If I get entangled with him, it’ll only be misery.’

Before meeting the heroine, Duke Fiar was a man who knew nothing of love. He kept countless mistresses and enjoyed passionate nights, but he loathed women who desired affection.

He didn’t love, but he possessed. He never allowed what belonged to him to roam freely.

So the plan was to make him tire of me first, so he would cast me out. After all, now that I was stuck in this world, and if there was no way back to my original one… I wanted to veer off the story’s path, and live quietly, peacefully, unnoticed.

At least, one stroke of luck was that I had only recently been forced into the duke’s mansion.

Nothing had happened between us yet.

His manor was overflowing with mistresses, and even among them I had lived so inconspicuously that most people hadn’t even noticed my existence. The moment I realized who I was and what my situation was, I wanted to vanish—but I couldn’t recklessly flee, knowing it would have been reported that I had entered the duke’s household.

‘Still, I must get away before he starts his rebellion.’

So, after long deliberation, I decided to go to his office. I had heard enough rumors about how every woman who had claimed to be pregnant was thrown out by him. Cold, ruthless Duke Fiar—the gossip about his “blue blood” matched his nature perfectly. But this time, that very trait might work in my favor.

“Luen? What brings you here?”

“There’s something I need to tell you, my lord.”

My plan was simple: I would say I was pregnant. Then the duke’s family physician would examine me, discover it was a lie, and I would weep that I had only said so out of love, out of a desperate wish for his attention. At that, the duke would recoil in disgust and expel me.

‘My plan was flawless…’

When he called me by name—something I had thought he didn’t even know—I flinched, but I didn’t think it would affect my plan.

“Luen, lift your head. Look at me.”

When I saw the smile on his face—so dazzling, so affectionate—I couldn’t help but sigh. And in the depths of his eyes, I found obsession lurking. It made me want to cry.

‘Why are you doing this to me?!’

Clueless about my turmoil, he spoke warmly.

“Luen, is there anything you want to eat? Anything you need?”

“…”

“You must be happy, Luen. Here, by my side.”

…Where had everything gone so wrong?