2. I Should Have Run Away Then

In the tragic romance novel 《Duke’s Secret Seduction》, the identity Han Woori found herself possessing was that of Evelyn Berge, the daughter of Baron Berge.

The House of Berge had once been a noble family with a prestigious lineage stretching back centuries, but now it had fallen into ruin, left with only its country estate and their home.

‘And she even had two younger siblings.’

In the original story, Evelyn had missed her chance at marriage due to lacking even the most basic dowry—a must for any noble lady—and because of her timid personality, she was a loner in high society.

For Evelyn, who had nothing else, the only joy in life was secretly watching Duke Rashid Egenhart, whom she had adored since childhood.

Evelyn’s infatuation with Rashid began when she was ten years old.

When Rashid, the heir of House Egenhart, turned eight, the dukedom gathered noble children from nearby households to create a group of “playmates” for him.

This “playmate” system was a unique educational method of the Egenhart family—intended to build Rashid’s social skills as an only child while also establishing vital noble connections for his future.

When Evelyn first met Rashid at that time, she was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the heir’s playmates.

‘That was the start of Evelyn’s long, long one-sided love…’

The original work summarized it all in just one sentence:
[Evelyn Berge, daughter of Baron Berge, became a playmate of Rashid, heir to House Egenhart.]

And now, in the ‘present,’ Evelyn was also summoned to the duke’s estate at the age of ten as a candidate for a playmate.

Having already realized she had been possessed into the world of the original novel and was now living her second life, Evelyn tried her best to avoid the event…

「Evelyn, you are the only hope of our family.」

But life never goes the way you want it to.

If Evelyn were selected as a playmate for the duke’s heir, it would mean that House Berge had a chance of receiving House Egenhart’s support!

Thus, House Berge staked everything on the playmate selection.

They stretched their meager funds to buy a new dress, shoes, and accessories, and on the day of the event, they poured all their efforts into preparing Evelyn from dawn.

‘Not bad at all?’

Standing in front of the mirror, the girl in the new dress and carefully styled hair looked pretty, even to Evelyn herself.

In particular, her red hair—her biggest insecurity—had been curled and pinned up with a butterfly-shaped accessory, giving her a very cute appearance.

With the hopes of all the adults on her shoulders, Evelyn finally arrived at the duke’s residence and was led to the heir’s room.

“This is Lord Rashid, heir to House Egenhart.”

As the butler introduced him, Evelyn lifted her gaze—only to be rendered speechless.

A boy as beautiful as a doll sat in a plush armchair.

His skin was as pale as marble, his platinum-blond hair gleamed, and his eyes shone like the deep blue sea. Despite his age, he exuded an air of elegance.

This boy—destined to be praised as the “Jewel of the Empire”—was extraordinary from the start.

While Evelyn was momentarily stunned by Rashid’s perfect beauty, Rashid, too, was staring at Evelyn.

To be more precise, he was staring intently at her red hair.

One might even say he looked entranced.

At the time, Evelyn could not begin to understand the emotion reflected in those jewel-like eyes.

“…?”

The moment their eyes met, Rashid suddenly turned his head away.

As if he had never been looking her way in the first place, he put on an indifferent expression and abruptly said:

“Carrot.”

That was the first word Evelyn ever heard from Rashid.

“Excuse me?”

“You look like a carrot.”

While staring at Evelyn’s prettily styled hair, the heir of the duke clearly said so.

For Evelyn, who had always been self-conscious about her red hair—even if it wasn’t quite like Anne of Green Gables—that comment hit hard.

“Red carrot.”

Another blow came when her guard was down.

“A carrot with a butterfly decoration? That’s just stupid.”

And to top it all off, Rashid, who was only eight years old, even wore a mocking expression.

Seeing that look, Evelyn’s heart welled up with unexpected emotion.

‘You know, this is one of the few heirlooms left in House Berge?’

She yelled that in her mind, though of course the arrogant young lord would never hear it.

What’s worse, Rashid didn’t stop there—he even reached out and tugged on Evelyn’s hair.

“Oh my! Young Master Rashid!”

Startled, the nanny and maids rushed over and pulled Rashid away.

But it was too late. Evelyn’s carefully curled hair had already come undone, and the precious accessory had fallen to the floor.

“Throw that away. I’ll give you something better.”

The arrogant little boy didn’t forget to add a final jab toward the stunned Evelyn.

Ah…

In that moment, Han Woori—no, Evelyn Berge, daughter of Baron Berge—realized with every fiber of her being that she had just met her life’s natural enemy.

‘I wanted to avoid this so badly…’

Once again, she instinctively knew that, just like in the original story, she was doomed to become entangled in Rashid’s fate.

And with that realization came a wave of intense rage.

Evelyn quickly looked around.

In the fairy tale, Anne hit the boy who mocked her red hair with a slate, but unfortunately, no slate was to be found here.

The servants of the duke’s house, knowing their future master’s temperament, had probably removed all dangerous items in advance.

Instead, she saw a set of fine porcelain that looked like it would cost several hundred gold per set.

‘That looks way too expensive…’

Evelyn turned her gaze again to glare at the culprit who had tormented her.

A boy, merely eight years old, already designated as the heir of the ducal house.

But even before his noble status, what caught her eye first was his sculpted appearance.

The boy was as beautiful as a doll meticulously crafted by a master artisan.

But on that face was an arrogant smile.

The moment Evelyn confirmed that, her body moved on its own.

Thud!

She lifted the hem of her frilly dress and kicked Rashid with all her might.

“I don’t need anything from you either, you know!”

No matter how much he acted high and mighty, that side was still just an eight-year-old brat, while this side was a ten-year-old in her second life!

Who knows what would happen in the future, but for now, Evelyn had the upper hand.

The heir of the ducal house fell backward after being kicked by Evelyn.

“Oh my goodness! Young Master Rashid!”

The attendants who had stayed quiet earlier when Rashid pulled Evelyn’s hair now rushed to him.

The children who had also come to the mansion hoping to become playmates of the ducal heir looked on in horror, unsure of what to do.

Tremble, tremble.

With the help of the attendants, Rashid rose to his feet, trembling all over as he glared at Evelyn.

His jewel-like eyes were filled with rage.

“How dare you!”

The proud and arrogant boy, experiencing humiliation for the first time in his life, was seething with fury.

Even Evelyn, who had kicked the future duke without a second thought, felt her knees tremble in that moment.

‘I should’ve run away then…’

That was the phrase Evelyn repeated to herself every single day from that day on.

***

‘I can’t go on like this. At this rate, my second life will be ruined too.’

In her early teens.

After realizing that she had possessed a character from the original novel — and not just any character, but a poor supporting role from a fallen baron’s family — Evelyn decided on the direction of her life early on.

‘I will never repeat the mistakes of the original Evelyn.’

She had no intention of ending her life in disgrace, having accomplished nothing and only ever pining for one man.

To avoid that fate, she first had to rewrite her life’s route.

So, unlike the original character who lived a lonely life in a declining barony, she enrolled in the academy for vocational training the moment her role as a playmate ended, despite opposition from those around her.

‘Compared to the college entrance exams from my past life, the academy entrance exam was a breeze.’

After graduating from the academy, Evelyn landed an office job at a steel company.

She built up her experience there for two years and was just about to look for a better position when she was contacted by Duke Egenhart.

「I can guarantee the best treatment in the industry.」

Naturally, Evelyn turned down the offer and planned to apply to a shipping company far from the capital. However…

「Evelyn. You must not turn your back on the grace you’ve received. Assist His Grace the Duke.」

Her father, Baron Berge, strongly opposed her decision.

To make matters worse, their family estate became entangled in a fraud case at the time, and they were in dire need of a large sum of money.

In the end, with one misfortune after another piling up, Evelyn had no choice but to change her mind and become the duke’s secretary.

***

‘But this job is almost over, too.’

By the end of this year, once her younger siblings graduated, the financial situation of the Berge family would improve considerably.

‘When that time comes, I’ll quit this secretary job and run away from Rashid for good.’

It had already been three years since she started working as the duke’s secretary.

It wasn’t arrogance — she now had enough skill and experience to be welcomed wherever she went.

But the problem was that she was too good at her job.

“Lady Evelyn, have you finished the quarterly performance report for Fryon Company?”

“The document I brought you just a moment ago is that report.”

As soon as Evelyn finished speaking, her impatient employer fired off another question.

“How far along is the design for the Central Railway Station? If I recall, the deadline was this week.”

“The project’s been delayed because the chief architect caught a severe case of the flu. They’ve requested a two-to-three-day extension.”

Evelyn reported the situation without delay.

It was a perfect response.

“What about the mining report from the eastern quarry?”

“The experimental report commissioned from the academy professor arrived this afternoon. I’ll compile the results over the weekend and present it to you on Monday.”

“Speaking of which, I should mention — you’ll probably need to come in this weekend.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Count Kalante is expected to visit regarding the railway land purchase. I want you to attend the negotiation.”

“…There’s no real reason I have to be there, is there?”

“So you want me to face that slippery snake alone? I don’t think that’s something a capable secretary like you should say.”

At those words, Evelyn realized there was no way to back out.

‘Why am I so competent that I just keep getting more and more work?’

She sighed and nodded.

“…Understood. But I’ll be billing for overtime separately.”

“Lady Evelyn, how can you be like this between us?”