The Dark Lord Obsesses Over His Fake Wife (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 13
Anton cried out as if utterly baffled.
“What kind of—!”
“It might seem foolish, but even if he is a wicked man, I want to believe once more in the Duke I’ve seen.”
I straightened my expression and searched around for something to defend myself with. Surprisingly, the only thing on the bed was a pillow.
“The Duke isn’t necessarily a purely good person. But the Duke I know isn’t like that. There must be a reason.”
“Even if Duke Libertan and the Duchess are frantically searching for you, you’d still say that?”
At my calm reply, Anton twisted his face grotesquely.
“It’s a marriage arranged by my parents—they’ll understand me.”
Finally, Anton shouted in frustration.
“Do you even know what that man has done to your parents? Right—”
“I don’t want to hear it!”
I answered firmly.
“I’ll hear my husband’s story from him myself. Until then, I have no intention whatsoever of listening to anyone who speaks ill of him.”
Honestly, I was terribly anxious. When on earth was he coming…?
“You foolish girl.”
Anton ground his teeth menacingly and strode toward me.
“After treating you like a lady, you still can’t grasp the situation?”
In the end, he threatened me with his dagger and seized my wrist tightly.
“Ugh, what is this?”
At that moment, Anton’s face contorted as if burned by fire. Indeed, he had suffered a burn on his hand.
‘Really…?’
Anton bellowed as though betrayed.
“I took in a street orphan, fed her, treated her like my own daughter—and now she dares betray House Libertan!”
His gleaming brown eyes drew suddenly closer. Though frightening, he couldn’t bring himself to touch me again.
“Enough talk—come with me!”
“No—”
“I’ll kill you!”
It was the exact moment Anton swung his dagger toward me.
Crack. Snap.
The hand that had tried to swing the dagger bent grotesquely.
“Kraaah—!”
His bloodshot eyes, veins bulging, filled with agony. Anton rolled on the floor, frothing at the mouth.
The thrown blade flew through the air and thudded into the floor.
Soon after, the black shoe of the man who entered crushed the blade beneath his heel. The sound of solid steel shattering rang out.
Kwa—thud!
The world fell utterly silent.
Johan stood there.
Black hair, crimson eyes—a man as strikingly handsome and beautiful as a demon.
I barely managed to open my mouth and call out to him.
“…Your Grace?”
Johan wore a black suit and black gloves. Though he should have blended into the room’s darkness, the moment he appeared, it felt as if only Johan existed in the world.
Johan gave me a languid smile.
“Hello, my lady.”
The familiar muskwood scent was suddenly overtaken by a thick, metallic tang of blood.
He didn’t spare a glance for the broken blade beneath his foot. His deep, serene gaze was fixed solely on me.
His eyes held a madness so profound it overwhelmed me, yet Johan asked gently, as if soothing me.
“Was I very late?”
His gaze shifted slightly toward Anton writhing on the floor.
Johan elegantly twisted his lips in contempt, as if looking at an insect.
“Letting one worthless rat slip through.”
The dagger’s remnants scattered across the floor dissolved into black smoke. A powerful aura of madness radiated from Johan as he slowly approached—utterly unlike Anton’s frenzied rage.
Johan’s madness ran unfathomably deep, almost sensually hypnotic.
“That this wretched rat dared lay a hand on my wife.”
He slightly turned his foot and lightly pressed down on Anton’s bleeding wrist—but it was the same strength that had just shattered the dagger.
Anton thrashed, unable to endure the pressure.
“Kraaaah! P-please, spare me!”
“You don’t know your place.”
Squelch. His shoe calmly bore down on the wrist.
This scene had never occurred in the original story. Originally, Anton had kidnapped Estelle but died cleanly without punishment.
That had been Johan’s greatest mercy.
So… he’d given a reward because Anton had acted according to his purpose.
Yet suddenly, as if struck by a thought, Johan’s eyes brimmed with pure fury and murderous intent.
“You don’t even know when to shut your mouth.”
Blood seeped from Anton’s wrist. Anton clenched his teeth, trembling violently.
Johan murmured in a languid tone.
“It’s quite amusing—a rat I set loose still doesn’t know its place.”
“Gh—ghk! Please—!”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let you die easily.”
Johan smiled faintly at the sight.
“You must bear full responsibility for laying a hand on my wife.”
His composed demeanor oddly conveyed a raw, savage brutality beneath.
A cruel violence that could effortlessly crush and destroy anything.
Yet Anton, undaunted by Johan, glared at him with venomous eyes.
“That woman—you—touched her—share—? Ghh.”
If it were me, I’d have surrendered long ago.
I was utterly terrified by the brutal scene.
And probably, what Anton had tried to say was that Johan’s concern for Estelle—the daughter of his enemy—was strange.
After all, that was information any spy would surely know.
‘It really is odd.’
Honestly, this defied reason. If left like this, Anton’s death was certain. Johan said he wouldn’t kill him easily—but even if he didn’t die from blood loss, he’d surely suffer an agonizing end.
But I still… didn’t have the courage to witness someone die.
‘At least not with my own eyes.’
Of course, how he died afterward didn’t matter to me.
“Wait a moment, Your Grace.”
Without realizing it, I’d set aside the pillow I’d intended to use as a shield and stood pressed tightly against Johan’s side.
I grabbed one of Johan’s hands with both of mine.
“Don’t kill him right away.”
“Leave him be?”
Johan’s red eyes shimmered with an unreadable light.
‘It’s not like I wanted to put myself in danger.’
Johan tightly gripped my hand and abruptly asked a strange question.
“Could you possibly feel sympathy for that thing?”
Huh?
“Or… have you finally grown afraid of me?”
The plan had gone awry.
“So, that bastard suddenly vanished?”
“My apologies.”
“It seems I’ve been lax in managing the household lately.”
The servant who’d delivered the urgent report lowered his head, sensing Johan’s anger.
“To cause such a disaster and still dare hold your head high.”
The plan Johan had clearly ordered canceled had been carried out.
‘Patricia’s doing.’
Johan frowned slightly. Such incidents were common when dealing with subordinates.
Thus, this was familiar territory for Johan. It had to be.
‘Estelle is in danger.’
That obvious truth brought an unusually bitter feeling.
‘Of all places…’
If he’d been at the ducal mansion, he could have gone straight to rescue Estelle. But right now, he’d just arrived late at night at the imperial palace after sending Erich on a mission.
‘Using black magic in the imperial palace brings side effects.’
Black magic always demanded a price and carried backlash.
Especially if cast without preparation—it could spiral out of control.
Johan’s mind meticulously calculated how severe the backlash and potential rampage might be. Yet his body had already arrived at the mansion via magic.
Estelle.
What a difficult woman to understand.
There was a time he’d thought her simple and easy to read—naively clinging to him, perfect for manipulation.
But that had been nothing but a fleeting illusion.
‘She subtly avoids my touch.’
One moment she’d say she liked him; the next, she’d shy away. Admittedly, her wide-eyed, rabbit-like wariness of the predator was rather endearing.
Yet she remained an enigmatic wife, impossible to fully grasp.
Suspicious—and precisely because of that, unbearably lovely when she stole his attention.
‘Why am I like this?’
There had clearly been signs of this situation. He’d been somewhat aware. But he hadn’t expected to feel this deeply.
‘Wasn’t everything for revenge?’
That’s why he’d decided to utterly ruin her.
‘The fake lily project.’
He’d chosen Anton before Estelle ever came to this mansion.
When someone faces grave danger, they naturally cling to those nearby. Conversely, even if caught while fleeing as planned, the result would be the same.
She’d never dare run away again.
“We’re searching for Anton, but if necessary, we’ll check the Duchess’s quarters…”
The moment Johan heard Estelle was in danger as planned, he grew deeply uneasy.
This feeling didn’t seem rooted in revenge.
He didn’t want Anton targeting Estelle or seeing her hurt. He’d even planned to let her escape, to corner her mentally—
‘I’m fine.’
He didn’t want to see that bright, smiling face stained with sorrow. Upon arriving at the mansion, he called his servants.
“Where is that bastard?”
The servants bowed their heads deeply.
“My apologies, my lord.”
“We searched thoroughly but couldn’t find him elsewhere. We’ve just sent men to the Duchess’s quarters.”
Johan’s lips tightened.
‘So he wasn’t kept here all this time for nothing.’
Since he hadn’t been found despite a full mansion search, he must still be hiding well.
‘But there’s still no signal.’
There wasn’t a corner of this mansion beyond Johan’s sight. He’d be found soon enough. Thus, this incident would be as if it never happened.
Then it came.
[Intruder.]A magical barrier near Estelle’s room. Without rational thought, Johan immediately teleported there upon sensing Anton’s intrusion.
‘Estelle mustn’t learn the truth yet.’
That would be disastrous.
‘Why? You originally wanted her to break, didn’t you?’
Yet inwardly, he kept thinking it’d be better if Estelle never learned such truths.
‘Your Grace.’
He wished that tender whispering voice would remain unchanged.
And right beyond the door, he heard Estelle defending herself. Truly, it was Estelle’s voice.
“But even so, I won’t follow you. I’ll meet my husband, the Duke, and confirm the truth through conversation.”
Foolish words.
“It might seem foolish, but even if he is a wicked man, I want to believe once more in the Duke I’ve seen.”
She spoke without understanding her own position—utterly absurd.
“The Duke isn’t necessarily a purely good person. But the Duke I know isn’t like that. There must be a reason.”
Estelle had no reason to defend Johan. If anything, it was only because he was her husband in name.
What a foolish woman.
Even with a knife at her throat, she kept spouting naive nonsense.
“I’ll hear the Duke’s story from him myself. I have no intention whatsoever of listening to anyone who speaks ill of my husband.”
Johan immediately stepped into the room.
The moment he saw Anton pointing a dagger at Estelle—
‘That wretch.’
Whether it annoyed him or not, fury surged within him.
He didn’t know why.
This wasn’t the scene he’d wanted.
He never wished to see those filthy hands reach for Estelle.
In that instant, the thought that Estelle was merely his pretend wife vanished completely.
Perhaps he hadn’t even considered the possibility that Estelle might tremble in fear upon seeing his cruelty.
That’s why he worried, belatedly.
Yet Estelle’s reaction was entirely unlike what he’d expected.
Johan’s voice dropped low. This was an omen of serious trouble.
Sympathy? He never expected to hear such nonsense. Anton was the one who’d tried to harm me.
My sympathy is too precious to waste on such a wretch.
“That’s not it at all.”
I shook my head vigorously. What came next was crucial.
“No?”
Johan’s gaze deepened further, as if pondering which meaning my denial held.
But the most effective response was to show him through action. That way, he wouldn’t entertain foolish thoughts.
Gathering what little courage I had, I looked again at Anton, who seemed drenched in blood.
‘In the original, I ran away with Anton.’
I’d even said, after witnessing Johan’s cruelty, that people didn’t need to be killed so brutally.
Johan had begun to despise me even more for it.
Because I lived so innocently, unaware of even my own parents’ sins. That very innocence was what my enemy had strived to achieve.
Johan tilted his head slightly and gave a twisted smile. That meant he wanted to hear it, right?
Suddenly, Anton, who’d been writhing on the floor, shouted desperately.
“Right now, Libertan is re—!”
In that instant, I stepped forward and slapped his cheek.
Slap—!
Then I stomped hard on his shin with my heel.
Thud!
“The punishment for insulting my husband is mine to deliver.”
I hit him once, then twice.
‘Is this enough?’
I’d only struck a motionless opponent, yet my hands were so soft they’d turned red and swollen, aching badly.
‘I shouldn’t hit with my hands again.’
At the very least, I should use a tool. Humans are beings who use tools, after all.
I calmly spoke to Anton, who was barely holding onto his senses.
“You can do whatever you want to me. I deserve it. But don’t you dare insult or belittle the Duke as you please.”
Anton, clearly not expecting this, stared blankly as I ground my heel into him.
For some reason, I felt a hot, obsessive gaze fixed on my profile.
I couldn’t decipher its meaning, but it seemed to be a move outside Johan’s calculations.
So I put in even more effort, striking and stomping on Anton for a long while. This single step might save my life. Yet the harder I tried, the more my hands swelled red, and my ankles began to ache.
‘Why is my body so fragile?’
It was astonishing I’d endured all the hardships from the original storyline.
‘Come to think of it, it’s a bit strange I’m still alive.’
After struggling for a while, I gently turned to look at Johan.
“Your Grace?”
For some reason, Johan’s expression felt slightly different from usual.
His gaze was unnervingly cold and frightening, filled with obsession.
‘Did I do something wrong?’
Male lead is a clingy little husband
One-line summary: The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
Introduction:
One day, Lu Yuner’s soul transmigrates into a female-dominant world. She enters the Imperial Academy and takes up the position of a doctoral instructor, teaching classes and grading schoolwork.
One day, she encounters the young prince Su Qingwan secretly skipping class from the male academy.
As a result, Su Qingwan is punished.
From then on, Su Qingwan sees Lu Yuner as a “thorn in his side”.
But before long, this “thorn” becomes the person he cherishes most, and he goes to great lengths to win Lu Yuner’s affection.
Mini scene 1:
One day, the sun is high in the sky but Su Qingwan still hasn’t gotten up for class.
Servant Xiaoyuan: “Young prince, it’s time for class. You’ll be late otherwise.”
Su Qingwan says arrogantly: “I’m not going. I am the esteemed prince, my status is so noble, why should I suffer this hardship? Besides, isn’t learning all this just to please women? Hmph, they’re not worthy!”
Mini scene 2:
After Su Qingwan falls for someone, he completely changes. He no longer skips class and diligently learns how to be a good husband and father. But he discovers that Sister Yuner is always surrounded by admirers.
Drunk and overcome with jealousy one day, he clings to Lu Yuner, crying beautifully like a pear blossom in the rain.
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan likes Sister Yuner.”
Lu Yuner: “Young prince, you’re drunk.”
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan isn’t drunk. Qingwan likes Sister Yuner, likes you so much, likes you to bits…” Before he can finish, Lu Yuner’s eyes flash with emotion and she leans in closer.
[Reading Guide]
1. The female lead is gentle, gracious, humble and polite but not weak. The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
2. 1v1, a bit torturous in the beginning but definitely sweet later on.
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MANGA DISCUSSION
4 Comments
Chapter Comments (19)
What will you achieve by belittling yourself, Johan?
If you’re planning to use the girl for revenge, you wouldn’t talk like that.My summer fairy Estelle, your body is very weak because you’re not getting enough nutrition.
Those evil Libertans.Estelle, your immune system is low because you have been subjected to a lot of harassment and abuse.
Inline Comments (162)
“But about this note—why exactly must I stay awake?”
Slight, ever so slight, flaw in your logic: you aren’t husband and wife. By your own design.
‘Johan’s study.’
She’s been ill all her life, though, so why suspect Johan?
“Because I want you to remain here, as my wife, in the Blanchet Dukedom.”
So..he’s going to sign the marriage document and register the marriage?
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agustus_orchid
He fell in love with Estelle.
What did I say?
Johan, take control of yourself and your emotions.
agustus_orchid
Estelle, I didn’t expect you to hit him.
You did well.
Hit him without hurting yourself.
agustus_orchid
Estelle is not stupid.
She is not a disposable pawn at all.
agustus_orchid
Johan is crazy.
You’re okay, Estelle. You handled it well.