The Duke Only Needs My Child (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 1
Late at night, Blair stood before the door.
Today was her wedding day, and this room was where she would spend her wedding night with her husband.
After standing motionless for a long while, she covered the thin nightgown—whose contours revealed the curves of her body—with a shawl and knocked.
“…….”
Her husband did not seem to have come to the bedroom yet.
Blair let out a small sigh of relief and entered the room, sitting down on the sofa.
And waited for her husband.
Ten minutes passed.
Thirty minutes, and another thirty.
Even after an hour, her husband had not arrived—unlike in the past.
‘Could it be that he doesn’t intend to come?’
Staring at the firmly closed door, Blair suddenly remembered under what terms this marriage had been arranged.
‘After all, this isn’t a real marriage—it’s only a one-year contractual marriage.’
A union formed strictly for each other’s purposes.
There was no need to fulfill marital duties on their wedding night as if they were a real couple.
‘Perhaps that’s for the best.’
If she faced his handsome face again and once more shared warmth with him, she might fall into the illusion that he loved her—
just as her past self had done.
‘One night with him is enough—the night Asiel was conceived.’
Since tonight wasn’t that night, it didn’t matter.
Concluding that her husband wouldn’t seek her room tonight, Blair opened a drawer and took out paper and a quill.
She began calmly writing a contract to formalize their contractual marriage.
It was just as she finished the final sentence of the contract
that a sudden warmth appeared behind her, and a large hand belonging to a man who had appeared out of nowhere pressed firmly onto the desk.
Startled, Blair turned around to find a man standing behind her—when exactly had he approached?
Taller than the average man, his broad, perfectly sculpted masculine frame visible even beneath his loosely worn robe.
Beneath softly flowing black hair, cold eyes resembling a summer night sky.
A man whose face was so breathtakingly beautiful that anyone—man or woman—would momentarily stop breathing upon meeting his gaze.
Duke Herdin Delmarque.
The man who, as of today, had officially become her husband.
As if reading her thoughts from her startled gaze, he asked,
“Why do you look so surprised? It’s our wedding night—naturally, a husband and wife should spend it together.”
“……I didn’t expect you to come.”
“Even though you’ve stayed awake waiting until now?”
His words struck straight to the heart, and Blair tightly pressed her lips together.
“I was just waiting… in case. It wouldn’t be proper to be asleep when you—no, when you arrived.”
At the word “you” slipping from Blair’s lips, Herdin’s eyes darkened further.
“That sounds as if you were prepared to spend the wedding night with me.”
Blair flinched at the touch of his hand caressing her cheek and the low murmur resonating near her ear.
But what startled her even more was his words.
‘Why on earth?’
In her previous life, Herdin had accepted this unwanted marriage proposed by his brother solely to extract the truth from her.
That wedding night, his kindness—it had all been an act, a performance to ensnare Blair and uncover the truth.
Thus, in this life, before the marriage, she had preemptively made him an offer to avoid falling for his performance again.
‘If you accept my proposal, I will fully cooperate in uncovering the truth behind “that day.”’
She had promised to give him what he wanted without him needing to deceive her.
So she had thought he wouldn’t perform this seductive charade anymore—then why?
‘Once you uncover that truth, you’ll have no further business with me, right?’
Just as you did in the past.
Yet he reacted in complete opposition to her expectations—leaving Blair, who had assumed he wouldn’t even come to the bedroom, rather flustered.
“There’s no absolute need to consummate the wedding night—”
“I want to.”
His low whisper fixed intently on her red lips. His thumb, cradling her cheek, gently stroked those lips.
Heat from his fingertips sent her heart pounding rapidly.
At that moment, Herdin lifted his gaze from her lips, and their eyes met.
“Right now.”
Raw, unfiltered desire flickered in his blue eyes.
Before Blair could recoil from the sheer intensity of that primal longing, his lips descended and claimed hers.
Blair suddenly remembered—he was, after all, a man.
‘Men can share intimacy even with someone they don’t care for.’
Yes, this wasn’t love. Nor was it love feigned for another purpose.
It was merely a momentary desire.
Thinking this way made her feel oddly at ease. Blair gathered her turbulent emotions and closed her eyes resignedly.
In the past, their unfamiliar, intimate act had terrified her so much she’d trembled uncontrollably.
His large frame had felt like a beast ready to devour her—or a prison meant to confine her.
Yet she’d fallen for him instantly—believing it was love—because she’d cherished the way his eyes looked only at her and the warmth of his firm embrace.
‘But this time, I won’t be fooled by that warmth.’
Spending the night with him was solely for the sake of meeting her child.
‘Asiel, my darling.’
If only she could meet again the child she loved more than her own life,
she could spend countless nights with the husband who might have killed her before her regression.
The Second Wedding Night
Today was the day Herdin returned to the townhouse after nearly a year.
It was the first time since Asiel’s birth.
Blair had personally chosen her dress and accessories for today—a rare occurrence.
Having finished dressing, Blair entered the adjacent room connected to her bedroom. A small cradle sat there.
Inside the cradle, the baby played alone, not fussing even once, clumsily waving tiny hands toward the mobile.
Instinctively smiling softly, Blair picked up the child.
“My baby didn’t wake up crying—you’ve been playing so nicely all by yourself?”
“Ooong. Eeow! Ububu!”
Cuddled in his mother’s arms, the baby beamed and babbled happily incoherent sounds, seeming cheerful—as if knowing today was the day he’d meet his father.
Yet Blair’s eyes, gazing out the window while holding her child, sank bitterly.
Herdin had left for the main castle of the northern Duchy of Delmarque shortly after Blair’s pregnancy was confirmed.
Officially, he claimed it was to hunt down the rampaging monsters that intensified every summer—but Blair knew full well he’d left to avoid the wife he’d gained through an unwanted marriage.
Still, she’d gently caressed her growing belly each day, praying he’d return unharmed.
Her husband was famously the continent’s sole swordmaster blessed by the Divine Beasts—a war hero of unmatched strength—yet she couldn’t help but worry.
On sleepless nights filled with worry, and on days he appeared in her dreams, she’d sent him letters.
Telling him the child in her womb was growing healthily. Asking him to please return safely, without a single injury…
But not once had a reply come back.
She told herself no news was good news. As the lord of the vast northern territories, he was surely busy.
…She had to believe that.
Time passed, summer and autumn—seasons when monsters ran rampant—came and went, and winter loomed close.
Even then, Herdin still hadn’t returned to the capital.
Meanwhile, the child in her womb grew rapidly and began quickening. From then on, Blair often spent nights wide awake, tears streaming down her face.
The increasingly vigorous movements seemed like the child’s way of asserting its presence—perhaps even searching for its father.
‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, my darling…’
It pained her deeply to see her child unloved by its father—and she felt entirely to blame.
Then, on a winter day six months after his departure, Herdin finally came down to the capital.
He stated plainly that he was only visiting the Imperial Palace briefly for official business and intended to return directly to the main castle without stopping by the townhouse.
Upon hearing this, Blair—though heavily pregnant and barely able to go out—suddenly went to see him.
It had been half a year since their last meeting.
But when he looked at his wife after six months apart, his blue eyes were as cold as a frozen winter lake.
‘Why have you come here? You must be so heavy and uncomfortable already.’
Before that quiet indifference, the words “I missed you,” which had lingered on her tongue all this time, refused to come out.
In front of him, she always became a sinner.
It was pathetic—how her heart still raced for him despite all her resentment and sorrow.
Composing herself, Blair forced a calm expression and spoke.
“Herdin… could you spare just an hour? No, even thirty minutes…?”
Her voice, though starting calmly, trembled slightly at the end.
Herdin stared at her silently for a moment before reluctantly nodding.
They rode together in a carriage. Blair was granted the time it took to travel from the Imperial Palace to the Delmarque Ducal Residence.
In the silence broken only by the sound of the carriage wheels, Blair fidgeted with her fingers. Though she’d felt she had so much to say, her mind went blank the moment she faced him.
Then, the baby in her womb began to kick—vigorous movements, as if trying to announce its presence to its father.
Frowning slightly, Blair rubbed her belly.
“He seems healthy, just like his father. His kicks are so strong I can hardly sleep at night.”
“I see.”
“Would you like to feel him…?”
“…No, thank you.”
His blunt, distant reply—as if the child were a stranger’s—made Blair fall silent.
She’d hoped he’d at least acknowledge her suffering. Perhaps she’d even wanted, uncharacteristically, to seek a little affection.
Though she’d endured it throughout her pregnancy, her fear of childbirth had grown stronger as her due date approached.
Hearing other noblewomen speak of their mothers being by their side during labor, she’d even cautiously asked her own mother.
Ordinarily, Blair—knowing her mother’s temperament—would never have made such a request, but her fear of childbirth was so overwhelming she couldn’t stay silent.
Predictably, her mother refused.
The reply came with the palace midwife: “Every woman goes through it once—what’s there to fear? Even if I went, what could I possibly do?”
So she’d wanted to ask her husband—to stay by her side for just a few days when the baby was due.
But faced with his indifference, Blair couldn’t utter a word. Even the baby’s lively movements stilled. Tears threatened to spill over.
She must look utterly pathetic.
Swallowing the emotion rising in her throat, Blair turned to look out the window.
Soon, the carriage arrived at the townhouse.
Herdin gazed indifferently at Blair’s belly for a moment, then offered a greeting one might give a complete stranger.
“May you have a safe delivery.”
The butler opened the carriage door.
It was truly time to part—but Blair hesitated.
She had so much she wanted to say, yet all that filled her were things she couldn’t say.
Lips moving soundlessly as she looked at him, Blair finally remembered one request she could make.
“…A name. Please give this child a name.”
Perhaps even he couldn’t refuse that. After a brief moment of contemplation, he offered two names.
“How about Diana if it’s a girl, and Asiel if it’s a boy?”
He added that she could choose any other name if she preferred—but Blair named her newborn son Asiel.
After all, it was the first thing his father had given him, thinking of a son.
Yet even after Asiel’s birth, Herdin never came to the townhouse—until now, another half-year later.
“My lady, His Grace is arriving shortly!”
The maid Rina entered the room with the news.
Blair kissed Asiel’s plump cheek and whispered,
“Asiel, your father is here.”
“Abuh?”
Holding Asiel, Blair descended to the first floor of the townhouse. All the servants had gathered to welcome their long-absent master.
Soon, the sound of hooves approached, and a carriage came into view in the distance.
Though she knew it was foolish, Blair’s heart swelled with hope at their reunion.
She knew he resented her. She remembered all those countless nights she’d spent alone, clutching her swollen belly and weeping.
But now, they had Asiel between them.
No matter how much he hated her, he was the child’s father—and she, the child’s mother.
Blair wanted, even now, to build a proper family with him—for the sake of this precious child.
Surely, once he saw the child who resembled him so closely, he’d agree with her.
As the carriage reached the front of the townhouse, the door opened, and Herdin stepped out.
Forgetting all her resentment, Blair eagerly approached him, eager to show him Asiel.
“Her—”
But Herdin extended his hand not toward Blair and Asiel, but toward someone inside the carriage.
The person who took his hand and alighted was a stunningly beautiful woman with radiant silver hair. She stood beside Herdin.
The Duke’s servants began murmuring among themselves at the sight.
A woman who had ridden in the same carriage as their lord.
Though her identity was unknown, the way she was treated made it clear she was precious to Herdin.
Blair’s steps halted abruptly. Her violet eyes began to tremble as she stared at them.
Herdin’s cold blue eyes and the beautiful woman’s golden eyes met Blair’s gaze simultaneously.
“Hello, Madam.”
The angelic woman smiled and greeted her. Her luminous golden eyes sparkled like jewels.
Blair stared blankly at the woman her husband had brought.
The humid late-summer air, thick with heat, choked her breath—more suffocating than the summer a year ago when he’d left.
When male lead is the homewrecker
“I know she doesn’t love him.”
I’ve read the novel below twice already. Girls, I’m highly recommending it to you!
The female lead? Not a good person.
The second male lead? Not a good person.
The male lead? Willingly plays the third party, breaking up the female and second male lead’s relationship despite all the warnings from his friends—so yeah, he’s definitely not a good person either.
Basically, nobody in this novel is simple-minded or without scheming.
The female lead starts off as the male lead’s secretary, but don’t worry—later on, she takes over the company while the male lead steps back to support her. He won’t steal her spotlight, overshadow her, or dull her shine.
I love novels where men are out here snatching wigs, tearing each other down, and going to war just to win the female lead’s affection. And this is exactly that kind of novel. Most of Hai Dai Ran’s works have this dynamic. You’ll see the male characters’ emotions being pushed to the absolute extreme.
There’s even a scene where the second male lead exposes the male lead online for being a homewrecker. The brotherhood immediately gangs up on him, dragging him through the mud. I find it compelling —it completely flips reality on its head, where usually, women are the ones fighting over a man and getting torn apart by the sisterhood.
For me, female leads in the novels I read should only struggle in their careers, not in love. But if the brainless romantics in the story are all men? I have zero complaints.
I’ve pretty much read all of Hai Dai Ran’s novels and even translated all of them—her works are just my thing. I’ll slowly upload everything here. One day, when my website is official, I hope I can invite her to join as one of the star authors.
Here’s the story synopsis:
One-line summary: She is his lifelong obsession, to the point where he was willing to be a third wheel, scorned by society, just to wedge his way into her relationship with her fiancé.
Cold-hearted and indifferent female lead + Scheming and subservient CEO male lead
Intro 1:
“I know she doesn’t love him.”
With blood trickling from his clenched fist, Rong Xiu gazed at the woman before him, his eyes clouded with anguish. Hidden in the wardrobe, he had witnessed Fan Xia – the woman he desperately loved – in an intimate embrace with her fiancé. Yet his heart still yearned for her, defying all reason.
Fan Xia, the elegant and composed assistant, carried something mysterious in her eyes whenever she looked at her fiancé, Wen Lan Sheng. Strange occurrences began to surface – secret meetings with the young Gu Jin Yi, an unexplained withdrawal of 5,000 yuan… Then suddenly, her fiancé’s sister, Wen Jing, violently attacked her.
In this matriarchal society, Rong Xiu had risen to become the chairman of a powerful healthcare conglomerate, breaking through gender prejudices. But for the first time, he willingly stepped into the shadows as the other man, disregarding his friends’ warnings to become her secret lover.
Because he had discovered the truth – Fan Xia wasn’t the pure angel everyone believed her to be. And perhaps, he was the only one capable of helping her execute her mysterious plan…
Intro 2:
Rong Xiu’s biggest regret in life was missing out on Fan Xia.
He secretly loved Fan Xia for 7 years.
Watched her go public with her boyfriend.
Watched her kiss her boyfriend at their wedding.
Until that man blissfully nestled in Fan Xia’s arms, obtaining everything he could only dream of.
The crazy jealousy stripped away his hidden secret love, layer by layer, burning like wildfire.
Fan Xia, how can I have you!
【Reading and Trigger Warning Guide】
1. Female dominant, male submissive, male pregnancy
2. Male lead schemes his way to the top, male competition
_____
Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
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MANGA DISCUSSION
10 Comments
Chapter Comments (984)
How dare you do that to cute Asiel! You don’t deserve those two… just die alone
It’s a shame what happened to FL, I hope ML learns its lesson.
I’ll be needing a very intense redemption arc for the ML….
Inline Comments (5651)
Her occupation was priestess—a role befitting her angelic visage.
I actually like the fact that many korean novels and manhwa depict the real antagonist as a person who seems kind and all, hypocrites makes a perfect villain in my pov…
He was perpetually occupied with external affairs, and even when Blair occasiona
Oh my god he will not even let her meet him , she should just cause as many scandals as she wants and ruin his reputation
Instead, he pulled Miera closer into his embrace, his cold eyes still fixed on B
huh i see there are more chapters to read but i don’t see how this bastard can be redeemed??
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ren
got confused for a sec, so the pregnancy part was before regression? nah i hate the ml already wth leaving your pregnant wife like that then bringing home a b in front of everyone
Tita Skz01
I already recommended it to my friends; they also read manga novels. It’s so nice to see them crying with me, hahaha.
TawnyL
Ooh i love stories like this. I hope we get to see the ml regret his poor treatment.
Megumi
Her love for her son is making me cry she was ready to do this again for him 🥲
Kusuma Priya
Woahh…the ml is such a trash…..I hope the fl is strong thooo……