A moment of pressure enough to make the hair on my body stand on end weighed heavily upon me.

“Didn’t we decide what you were going to do today?”

“……”

“Weren’t you supposed to stay quietly in the room?”

Although not much different from the usually expressionless face, I felt breathless, and my whole body was tensed.

It was a terror incomparable to when I had encountered the assassin earlier.

I barely opened my mouth. However, contrary to my will, my lips trembled.

“I, I was, that is, so……”

“My lord, it seems the baby is very frightened.”

Philen looked like he wanted to save me, looking pitiful. However, the Duke did not care about his words.

“Diane, tell me yourself. Speak about the promise you made with me last time.”

Hearing those words, I seemed to understand why the Duke was so angry.

I didn’t keep my promise. That’s why.

‘Anyway, the Duke wouldn’t have worried about me.’

I spoke, looking down at the ground.

“I was supposed to be in the room.”

“But why were you out? You even changed your clothes.”

“……”

“You never intended to listen to me from the beginning, did you?”

“No, I……”

“Tell me why you were out.”

The continuous interrogation made me choke up with a surge of sadness.

“……I went to find the bad person who came into the Duke’s room……”

“So, what you’re saying is that you caused this accident by doing something useless that I didn’t ask for.”

Before he even finished speaking, the Duke let out an irritated sigh.

At that reaction, I shut my mouth tightly.

‘What did I really expect from the Duke?’

The Duke wouldn’t have been threatened by the assassin anyway.

Even in the original work, he only meets his end from the grownup male lead.

No, even beyond the original work, those with just that level of skill could never kill the Duke.

Knowing that, why did I want to find the culprit?

Why couldn’t I just stand by and watch the Duke in danger?

The words “useless deed” pierced into my heart and stung me.

I took a deep breath to calm myself.

‘It’s okay, I didn’t ask for his understanding from the beginning.’

The villainous Duke, whether he understands or not, I did it because it was dangerous for me.

I did it for myself.

……But why is it like this?

“My, my lord.”

“Why?”

“That’s because the baby……”

The Duke, looking down at me, couldn’t hide his surprised expression.

Philen fumbled and took out a handkerchief, but it was no use. Tears like droplets fell to the floor before he could even offer the handkerchief.

“Are you hurt? Did you get injured?”

The Duke looked at me with confused eyes.

Next to me, Philen said, ‘It doesn’t seem like she’s crying because of that,’ but it didn’t seem like he heard.

“Tell me if you’re hurt.”

“……”

“Don’t just cry, speak.”

“……sob.”

Once the tears started, they flowed like a broken dam.

The Duke picked me up quickly and carefully placed me back down.

His face showed a strong sign of bewilderment as we faced each other.

“Sniffle, waaaah……”

It had been a long time since I had really cried.

I continually wiped my tears with the back of my hand, but they flowed freely, unable to be wiped away.

“It doesn’t seem like she’s hurt.”

The Duke examined me from all angles. His two hands hesitated, not touching me, and hovered nearby.

‘It’s sad, really.’

I was surprised, and I was scared too.

I knew it was dangerous, but I did it for the Duke.

In the distance, I saw Sophia approaching with a surprised look on her face.

Next to her, Philen was running, so it seemed he had called Sophia.

I quickly ran to her.

“Sophiaa!”

Sniffle, sniffle.

My vision blurred.

Soon, small tears rolled down my cheeks.

“Baby……”

Next to me, Sophia and Delma looked helpless.

Even looking at them, I didn’t want to cry, but the tears kept flowing out.

In the meantime, tears welled up in my eyes again.

I hastily wiped them with my sleeve and opened my mouth.

It seemed as if Sophia was waiting, and she promptly fed me a spoonful of fruit pudding.

Though it was a tearsoaked pudding, it was sweet and tangy.

“Would you like more pudding?”

Sophia looked pitiful at me, too. The pudding was delicious, but after crying so much, I was extremely hungry.

When hungry, cookies are better than pudding, but pudding is tasty too…

“But Sophia.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“I want… cookies too…”

I muttered sullenly. Tears that had gathered dropped onto the back of my hand.

Then Sophia and Delma’s expressions became serious.

“It will take some time to bake cookies. I’ll bake them with lots of chocolate, so please wait a little!”

“I’ll get the pudding then!”

Delma and Sophia quickly left my room.

Left alone again in the room, I still savored the sweet pudding in my mouth.

‘Eating two puddings and cookies in a day.’

It’s sad, but it’s nice.

‘It will be delicious.’

Still, the tears had dried a little. Earlier, tears had flowed uncontrollably.

I blew my nose on my handkerchief.

‘It was really scary.’

I had never seen the Duke so angry before.

When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem

This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Synopsis:

“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”

Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.

Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.

While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the  Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…

Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.

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