The Grand Duke’s blue eyes paused for a moment before a flash of light crossed them.

CRASH!

At that instant, all the floor-to-ceiling windows behind us shattered with a deafening roar.

The sudden attack transformed everything into chaos in the blink of an eye.

His head! I remembered reading that the Grand Duke was struck on the head with a blunt weapon!

“No!”

I rushed forward and wrapped my arms around his head.

THUD!

The moment I embraced the Grand Duke, a brutal blow struck the back of my head.

A ringing filled my ears as a suffocating fear washed over me.

What if I’d made the wrong choice…?

What if I die from this blow?

“Hah…”

Just then, I felt hands firmly grip my waist.

Through my blurring vision, I glimpsed the Grand Duke’s ice-blue eyes, frozen and intense.

Those eyes were definitely looking at me.

“…please save me.”

Please.

The original novel “Emilia Loves a Bad Man” was a dark romance about a con artist and an innocent count’s daughter, with expl*cit content.

When the womanizer Clint discovered he was the last bloodline of the Hedegen family, he returned to his hometown to bring down the villain who had stolen his vast inheritance from his uncle.

Clint seduced “Emilie” (the villain’s daughter) to uncover Count Azanie’s weaknesses. After exacting his brutal revenge, he wiped out the entire Azanie family except for Emilie and reclaimed his fortune.

Consumed by guilt over falling in love with the man who killed her family, Emilie chose s*icide. After completing his revenge, Clint regretted her death and jumped off a cliff. The story concluded with all main characters dead.

So who was “Lea Azanie,” the person I had transmigrated into?

She was the deceased sister of the villain “Dane Azanie” and a murderer who killed her husband.

Count Dane Azanie often saw visions of his dead sister and reminisced about the past, which was when Lea’s story was mentioned.

Lea Azanie had helped attackers m*rder her husband, Grand Duke Hedegen, then took all the blame herself and was beheaded on the guillotine.

Newspapers called Lea Azanie “the villainess of the century,” and her m*rder became widely discussed—it was the final blow that exposed Count Azanie’s crimes.

“Will she wake up?”

I faintly heard people’s curt voices from somewhere.

Was that just a dream?

Well, they say people can experience completely different worlds after accidents.

I’m worried whether my limbs are intact after that traffic accident.

Slowly opening my eyes, I tried wiggling my fingers. I was terrified they wouldn’t move.

“Oh, she moved…ah!”

Someone cried out in surprise.

Fighting through my headache, I managed to turn my head and met the eyes of women standing at a distance.

“She’s awake!”

Am I still in that world?

“The lady has awakened!”

So I was still in the world of the novel—the past when Clint’s uncle, the Grand Duke, was alive!

A tragic masterpiece of the imperial family.

A hero adored by the empire’s citizens.

A cruel war demon who mercilessly took the lives of enemies.

The young Grand Duke of the Empire who, according to the original story, should have been murdered in an attack plotted by his wife and her accomplices.

That was roughly how Grand Duke Hedegen was described in the original work.

“……”

Yet now that Grand Duke sat calmly in a chair, very much alive.

Shooting intimidating glares that made people shrink back.

“It’s amnesia.”

The seventh doctor to examine me delivered his diagnosis cautiously.

From the grand ducal family’s physician to famous doctors throughout the empire, and even a hypnotist—they all reached the same conclusion.

Amnesia due to trauma.

“You expect me to believe that.”

The Grand Duke, who had been watching me, responded sharply.

After the doctor left, he stood up and walked toward me.

As his dark shadow approached, I instinctively shrank back, clasping my hands tightly.

“……”

Stay strong.

I needed to deceive this man somehow to survive.

In the original story, “I” did try to kill him, but that wasn’t really “me.”

So I had to pretend to be a patient and fool him well.

Just as I opened my eyes wide, his polished shoes stopped right in front of me.

Leaning forward to examine me closely, his gaze meticulously traced my eyes, nose, and lips.

I knew I shouldn’t avoid his eyes, but facing him directly was difficult, so I chose to look at his brow instead.

“Amnesia…”

He stared at me with an expressionless face.

“Of all times.”

“……”

“If you have no memories, I can’t question you. Isn’t that right?”

Oh, absolutely. Though I felt strongly about this, the timing wasn’t right, so I silently nodded with a serious expression.

People said I had woken up after being unconscious for four days from the head injury.

They desperately wanted to interrogate me about that day’s events, but I had nothing to say.

The fact that armed robbers had precisely targeted the tea room where the Grand Duke was present, in the wealthy grand ducal residence, meant someone with knowledge of his exact whereabouts had leaked information.

Of course, that leak had been Lea Azanie’s doing.

The Grand Duke reached his arm behind my head and rested it on the chair. As the distance between us narrowed, I instinctively leaned back.

“If you’re honest with me now, I might overlook your crimes.”

“……”

“Tell me who put you up to it.”

…Really?

“I mean it.”

As if reading my thoughts, the man added:

“Or I could help you remember.”

His face showed not the slightest desire to spare me.

The man’s blue eyes were devoid of emotion, so chilling that I swallowed hard.

Of course, Lea Azanie hadn’t carried out the attack alone.

Her family had orchestrated it.

Would this man really dismiss my crimes if I told the truth?

He had absolutely no reason to show me mercy.

Therefore, this was merely a tactic to persuade me.

After taking a deep breath, I looked straight at him.

“…Did I do something wrong?”

“……”

“Is that why you’re angry?”

“What?”

“Everyone says Your Highness is my husband. What was our relationship like?”

The man frowned, clearly displeased with my words.

“Either way, making you remember would be faster.”

“Who supposedly made me do what?”

“Where should we start? Ah yes, t*rture?”

“Your Highness.”

As the Grand Duke asked with a savage smile, the middle-aged man carefully intervened.

It was the same person who had given me a gentle smile earlier, saying he’d seen lamberoo tea for the first time thanks to me.

“The sun is setting. Whatever you wish to do, might I suggest resuming tomorrow at daybreak?”

“Why should I?”

“All the examinations thus far have yielded the same diagnosis, and… if she collapses again, you won’t be able to confirm what you wish to ask.”

“……”

“Besides, the lady hasn’t had even a sip of water since regaining consciousness today.”

…That was true.

This cruel Grand Duke had brought me straight to the reception room after I woke up from a four-day coma and had me examined all day long.

He hadn’t allowed me even a drop of water.

But still! I prevented you from drinking poison. See?

And took a blow to the head instead!

I helped you survive like this!

Ugh, why did that woman do such a thing?

Listen, I really didn’t do it.

Truly, my mouth had long since dried out, and my throat felt like it was burning.

I hung my head dejectedly and sighed.

“I’m… fine.”

I answered in a hoarse voice with the most pitiful expression I could muster, secretly watching for his reaction.

“Of course you are.”

Wow, a man without blood or tears.

The Grand Duke, not batting an eye, rose from me with an indifferent look.

“I’ll call for the doctor again tomorrow.”

I felt slightly relieved at the butler’s quiet words to the Grand Duke.

Tomorrow would be another day of dealing with doctors, but examinations were better than t*rture. Even if I didn’t have amnesia, I had taken a blow to the head, so there might be some issues.

I hoped they would at least let me have a glass of water beside me tomorrow.

As my head drooped from exhaustion, a water glass held by thick fingers was placed on the table.

“Drink.”

“…Pardon?”

“It would be inconvenient if you died too soon.”

Though I shrank from his ice-cold gaze, my throat was so parched that I reached for the cup.

Knock knock—

As I gulped down the water, a servant opened the reception room door after knocking.

“Countess Azanie and Lady Lily have arrived.”

What?

“They said they came urgently after hearing that the lady was injured.”

Impossible! I jerked my head up, mid-drink.

The idea that they would come out of concern for Lea was among the most implausible things in this world.

The Azanie family had severely abused Lea since her childhood. Only her brother, Dane Houlreang Azanie, had abstained from the mistreatment.

The Grand Duke glanced at me once before moving indifferently.

“Show them in.”

“W-where are you going?”

Without thinking, I jumped up and grabbed the Grand Duke’s hand.

Startled by the feel of his prominent knuckles and large hand, I loosened my grip, causing my hand to slide from palm to fingertips, ending up clinging to him.

“What are you doing?”

“You’re leaving me alone like this?”

At my question, the man’s eyes paused as if he’d heard something bizarre.

I still clutched his pinky finger tightly as I looked up at him earnestly.

In the original story, “Countess Azanie” was the very person who had abused Lea Azanie—beating her, imprisoning her, and even brainwashing her through violence.

Meeting with Countess Azanie alone would be a hundred times worse than staying with this man.

Since Lea and the Grand Duke were already dead in the original story, there wasn’t much about his contempt and disdain toward her, but the cruelty of “Countess Azanie” was evident from the casual conversations mentioning her atrocities.

“Alone… like this?”

With all my might, I looked up at him with large eyes brimming with tears, as if begging for his sympathy.

After all, Lea Azanie was described in the original work as historically one of the most beautiful women.

Her crime of murdering the Grand Duke was so severe that she was publicly executed, and people who witnessed the grand duchess’s beauty shed tears despite hating her, feeling secretly sorry for her…

Yes, the Grand Duke is still a man. He must be somewhat moved by a beautiful woman’s circumstances. Wouldn’t he be? Right?

“Pleeeease?”

I implored him once more, clutching his pinky finger and blinking my teary eyes.

“I have no memories. Even if they’re my family, I wouldn’t recognize them. It would be too unfamiliar and frightening, sob.”

He quietly looked down at me as I clung to his finger.

I opened my eyes wider and pouted my lips to evoke his compassion.

However, at that moment, I didn’t realize:

That I looked filthy from not having bathed during the four days I was unconscious.

And that this man had never once in his life been swayed by someone’s beauty.

“Take her away.”