Chapter 3 (Part 1)

The theater was the epitome of grandeur and splendor. The round ceiling of the auditorium was adorned with a mural of the goddess Diana, and chandeliers sparkled with crystal glass and magic stones. Seated in the Richard family’s private box on the second floor, Therese’s mouth went dry.

It felt as though everyone in the audience was watching her, pointing fingers.

‘It seems you can’t escape the blood of a lowly merchant.’

‘How shameless to buy the position of Duchess with money.’

The gazes of others, which she had grown accustomed to over the past five years, made her shrink back.

The Duke spoke to Therese, whose back was stiff with tension.

“You look very beautiful today.”

“…You as well, Your Grace.”

She knew well enough that the Duke, who only behaved and spoke as if from an etiquette book, wasn’t sincere.

But hearing such words for the first time made her heart race violently.

The performance soon began.

Two people, engaged in a political marriage, truly fell in love, and the birth of a cute child marked the peak of their happiness.

But fate, envious of their happiness, blinded the husband and whispered lies into his ears.

‘Your wife has fallen in love with a young man.’

‘How could you betray me!’

The husband, as pained as he loved, killed his wife, and only then did fate mock him by revealing the truth.

‘Your love was only worth that much!’

‘Ah! I have forsaken my love with my own hands!’

Despairing, the husband decides to commit suicide, and the act ends with the lonely child crying.

“…Sniff.”

Initially uninterested and uncomfortable, Therese found herself deeply engrossed in the play.

She couldn’t hold back her tears during the scene where fate thrusts the couple into misfortune, leaving the pitiful child alone and crying.

Trying to hold back her tears, she dropped the opera glasses, and the Duke handed her a handkerchief. As Therese hastily wiped her cheeks with it, he leaned in close and whispered.

“Isn’t he a foolish man?”

“But fate…”

“No matter what fate shakes, I am confident I will not forsake my person.”

“…”

Richard’s intimate pledge dried Therese’s tears.

‘Why is he telling me this?’

Clutching the handkerchief tightly, Therese’s shoulders quivered slightly with tension.

“You must be cold, seeing how you’re trembling.”

The Duke’s eyes were stern as he draped a shawl over Therese’s shoulders.

In the tea room connected to the royal box, gentlemen and ladies of high status gathered for tea. They chatted in groups about the day’s play or complimented each other’s attire.

“Isn’t that Duke Richard?”

Nobles began to murmur at the appearance of the Duke, who hadn’t shown up at such places for nearly ten years.

“…Ha.”

Though she wanted to slip away in the middle, it wasn’t easy with all eyes on her. On reflection, it was her first event as Duchess Richard since the marriage.

“Duchess, please straighten your shoulders.”

The Duke, observing Therese shrinking under the gaze of others, gently wrapped his arm around her waist.

“You are the Duchess of Richard, not a servant here.”

Duke Richard, who was always confident no matter his attire or company, couldn’t possibly understand her feelings.

‘I have no good memories…’

Since childhood, all she remembered was being ostracized by nobles for being a merchant’s daughter. Not that merchants welcomed her either.

‘A family crazy about becoming nobility.’

Therese Demori was shunned by both nobles and merchants.

As she struggled to maintain her composure, a familiar face appeared in the distance.

“Well, who do we have here?”

Baron Demori, Therese’s father, immediately grabbed the Duke’s hand upon approach. His brown hair slicked back, he wore a black tailcoat.

“Baron, we meet again.”

With a brief greeting from Duke Richard, the Baron merely smiled. Standing next to the Duke, Therese looked more exquisite and beautiful than the tea room’s mural.

“You truly suit each other.”

Baron Demori always felt a twinge of guilt. Despite doing his best, he hadn’t been able to properly care for his daughter, who lost her mother at birth.

“Father, I’ll see you later.”

Intent on parting quickly with her father, who continued to speak nonsense, Therese tugged at the Duke’s arm.

To Duke Richard, saying they suited each other was no compliment.

‘Could a merchant’s daughter truly match the noble blood of a ducal family?’

Smiling bitterly, Therese felt a warm breeze by her ear.

“It seems I need time to get to know you, Duchess.”

“…?”

Before they could even sit back down, the Duke said something strange. As Therese cast a puzzled look, he removed her shawl and whispered.

“Did you want to be alone with me? You’re quite assertive.”

“Your Grace, please refrain from making remarks that could cause misunderstandings.”

Though this was a private space, someone above, below, or beside them might hear through the walls.

“Misunderstanding? I’m sincere.”

Seeing the Duke’s dark eyes looking straight at her, Therese quickly turned her head. When in trouble, the most rational solution was not to engage.

‘Time to get to know me…’

Perhaps Duke Richard was a step ahead of her mother-in-law. Using her father as leverage to threaten and secretly following her made her spine shiver.

‘Have I only seen fragments of the Duke and thought I knew him?’

In reality, the Duke she frequently encountered defied her expectations.

Rather than criticizing her extravagance, he acted as if he would buy the entire bazaar and seemed to pay attention to her.

‘Why, though?’

The only connection between the Duke and her was the past rescue incident. Though she occasionally saw him from afar at balls, they never danced or conversed.

After that, the Duke went to the battlefield, and she stopped attending balls, making it even harder.

Because of the Duke, she couldn’t properly enjoy the second act.

“Duchess, were you so moved?”

Awoken by Duke Richard’s voice, she realized the actors’ curtain call was well underway.

She couldn’t recall anything from the meal shared with her father and the Duke that had been promised. Distracted, she couldn’t even tell if the meat and bread went down her nose or into her mouth.

‘Our Therese…’

Baron Demori started recounting stories from Therese’s childhood. When he mentioned her playing a pirate-slaying play in boy’s clothes, she just wanted to faint.

“Duchess, Duchess?”

“…Yes, Your Grace.”

When had I boarded the carriage? 

Therese’s body swayed gently.

“If you don’t mind, how about a short walk?”

As Therese looked outside, she saw a park next to the theater.

Feeling quite stifled, Therese nodded, and the two began to stroll along the path. The park, sparsely populated due to the late hour, was quite picturesque with the moonlit lake.

Stopping, Duke Richard quietly spoke.

“I have something I’m curious about.”

“Please, go ahead.”

Still facing the lake with her back to him, Therese replied.

“Did you lie to me at any point?”

At the Duke’s sharp question, her heart sank.

The word “lie” carried immense weight. Therese had many secrets from the Duke.

‘First, that I’m someone who died and came back.’

Was that all?

Not just a merchant’s daughter, she was a merchant herself. She ran an information guild, buying and selling information for enormous profits.

Perhaps it was the strong merchant blood from Baron Demori that she inherited.

‘And I foolishly loved you in the past.’

She couldn’t reveal any of these.

As Therese showed discomfort, he took a step closer.

“Didn’t you say my face pleased you before?”

“…?”

She hadn’t expected such a question. Caught off guard, Therese was flustered.

‘Was the Duke always so fixated on his appearance?’

Everyone had different standards for beauty, but there wouldn’t be anyone in the empire who wouldn’t consider Jeremy Richard handsome.

Biting her lip, she slowly turned her head.

“…Ah.”

His golden hair, bathed in moonlight, shone like desert gold sand, and his dark eyes were deeper than the night sky. The black coat over his perfectly fitting tailcoat accentuated his broad, solid shoulders.

She sighed at the beauty of the man she fell for at first sight and loved until her death.

Not because it was dazzling, but because it was sorrowful.

To her, Duke Richard’s beauty meant that. Touching it would burn, looking at it would blind, and desiring it would bring misfortune.

“Looking again, I wasn’t lying…”

Drawing dangerously close, the Duke spoke in a low voice.

“Then why do you only show me your back?”

His large hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her close. Mesmerized by the Duke’s face, Therese found herself in his embrace without resistance. A familiar scent emanated from him.

A refreshing and subtle fragrance that made her mind hazy just by inhaling it.

Then, from afar, the gentle sound of a lute being played could be heard. With the sweet music that perfectly matched the night, the Duke lowered his head, nestling into Therese’s neck.

“Just until the music stops…”

Therese closed her eyes softly in response.

‘I wish time would stop for just a moment.’

She wanted to forget the pain this irresistible love brought, even just a little. As sorrow moistened Therese’s eyes, the Duke’s warm breath seeped through the cloak onto her pale skin.

Due to their bodies being pressed together, she could tell the Duke was in an aroused state.

“…”

As Therese tried to pull away slightly, he tightened his grip on her waist with rough hands.

“The music hasn’t ended yet.”

Though his lips didn’t touch her neck, the warmth already had her nape burning. In her suddenly blank mind, she imagined his hand tearing through her chemise under the dress.

‘How scandalous.’

Afraid someone might hear, she exhaled a shaky breath, and the Duke’s firm member pressed against her dress’s stomach area.

“Do not forget that you are a member of the Richard family.”

“…Yes, yes.”

Trying her best to speak calmly to hide her agitation, the heat in Therese’s blue eyes couldn’t be concealed.