The Duke Only Needs My Child (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 10
The next morning.
Delmarque’s knights stood pale-faced in the training ground since early dawn.
“Aaah!”
Their comrade, who hadn’t managed a proper counterattack even once, dropped his sword and tumbled to the ground.
Standing before him was Herdin.
Herdin gave him a cold stare and nodded toward one side of the training ground.
There, lined up in a row, were knights waiting with their heads bowed and legs spread wide in punishment stance.
Every one of them had failed to land even a single decent counter against Herdin.
“Next.”
At Herdin’s command, the next knight stepped forward with a terrified expression.
The other knights watched their comrade with eyes akin to those witnessing a fellow soldier charging into certain death—yet also pitied him as if he were a condemned criminal awaiting execution.
Resigned, they stared at their unfortunate comrade and Herdin standing before him.
War hero.
The Empire’s sole sword mage blessed with the power of divine beasts.
‘Is there truly any knight in this Empire—or even on this entire continent—who could possibly defeat that man…?’
Especially those knights who had fought alongside Herdin for years on the battlefield knew well the extent of his prowess.
Merely managing a single solid counterattack to avoid punishment stance was already considered fortunate.
Though they usually grumbled about the Creator’s blatant favoritism, that handsome face—normally admired instinctively—today looked more like the visage of a grim reaper.
As one knight waited his turn, silently praying for the soul of his comrade desperately trying to fend off Herdin’s relentless assault, he nudged his companions beside him.
“Hey, who was it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Who offended His Grace?”
“How could anyone offend him? We haven’t even properly seen him lately—he’s been busy with wedding preparations and ceremonies.”
“Then why is the groom, who should be enjoying his honeymoon right now, draining himself here on the second morning of his marriage?”
“If you were forced to marry your enemy’s daughter, would you feel like celebrating your honeymoon?”
Now that he thought about it, that made sense.
The bitter history between the Imperial family and House Delmarque was common knowledge among the Empire’s nobility.
Having accepted this reasoning and pondering further, one knight suddenly burst out in frustration.
“No, seriously—if he’s angry, shouldn’t he take it out on them? Why is he taking it out on us?”
How should I know?
The knights, equally clueless, merely shrugged their shoulders. Then, remembering someone nearby who might actually know the answer, they turned to look.
‘Does Counselor Ruth know?’
But Ruth too simply shook his head and shrugged helplessly.
Just as they were being thoroughly thrashed without understanding why since the crack of dawn—
“Huh?”
Knights standing near the entrance of the training ground began murmuring restlessly.
Herdin, having just felled his sparring partner, noticed the commotion just as a soft cough sounded.
He immediately turned toward the source of the sound and saw Blair entering the training ground accompanied by the steward.
“Mason, what’s going on here?”
Though addressed to the steward, the question was clearly meant for Blair.
Blair answered before Mason could speak.
“I greeted the servants yesterday, but didn’t have a chance to greet you gentlemen. Since I have a bit of time before heading to the Imperial Palace, I thought I’d come say hello.”
Yet despite briefly captivated by her beauty, no one welcomed her warmly.
‘She must have come to assert herself as our new mistress.’
Though moments ago they’d been utterly miserable dreading Herdin’s brutal training, they were comrades who had survived battles together.
The stronger their loyalty to Herdin, the greater their resentment toward Blair, a member of the Imperial family.
She surely knew this—but whether to call her naive or foolish remained unclear.
Despite such thoughts, Herdin stepped forward to formally introduce Blair to the knights.
“You’ve all probably seen her passing by, but never formally greeted her.”
“……”
“Pay your respects. She is the Duchess you will serve from now on.”
Since their lord insisted, even the knights who disliked Blair outwardly showed proper courtesy.
“The loyal blades of House Delmarque formally greet our Lady.”
“I’m pleased to meet you all as well. Thank you for welcoming me so kindly despite my sudden visit. I look forward to working with you.”
Blair offered a gentle smile, though her eyes quietly scrutinized each of their faces.
In truth, Blair had another purpose for visiting the knights’ training ground.
In her past life, she had tried hard to earn their recognition as their mistress—but these were the very people who had despised her.
There was no need to seek their approval or validation now. After all, once this arranged marriage concluded, she’d likely never see them again.
Her true reason for coming here was…
‘One of them might be the person who killed me.’
House Delmarque, one of the Empire’s three great ducal houses, possessed a knight corps whose skill rivaled even the Imperial Guard, having fought directly in wars.
And the assailant who murdered Blair had infiltrated the heavily guarded villa.
This was precisely why Blair suspected Herdin might be behind her murder.
Either the attacker was skilled enough to breach such tight security—or someone who could enter the villa freely.
Thus, perhaps the assailant was someone from within the ducal household itself.
Most servants lived within the estate, so Blair recognized nearly all their faces.
Conversely, the knights rarely crossed paths with her in daily life, meaning fewer faces were familiar—and it was entirely possible one of them had been the assailant without her realizing.
That was why she came to verify in person—hoping fervently the assailant wasn’t among these knights, and that Herdin had nothing to do with her death.
Of course, merely imagining she might face her killer again—or that the man she once loved might have been involved in her murder—made her breath catch and blood run cold. Her hands trembled violently; she wanted nothing more than to flee.
‘No. If I run away, nothing will ever change.’
Gripping her trembling hands tightly as if to hold herself back from fleeing, Blair forced herself to recall the assailant’s face from that dreadful memory.
‘He had a hideous scar across the bridge of his nose.’
Though there were many knights, making it impossible to examine each one closely, spotting someone with such a prominent facial scar shouldn’t be difficult.
Blair quickly scanned the faces of the assembled knights.
‘…Not here.’
Thankfully, the assailant didn’t seem to be among them.
The possibility of Herdin’s involvement in her death had lessened slightly.
A sigh of relief escaped Blair’s lips, which had been nervously biting down until then.
At that moment, Ruth approached Herdin.
“Your Grace, it’s nearly time to prepare for luncheon.”
Steward Mason left first to make arrangements, while Herdin, Blair, and Ruth departed the training ground after concluding their meeting with the knights.
Walking beside Herdin, Blair noticed beads of sweat on his forehead and offered her handkerchief.
“You’ll catch a cold.”
But Herdin declined her gesture.
“I’m fine.”
His tone was polite, yet his demeanor remained utterly indifferent.
Watching them from behind, Ruth broke into an awkward cold sweat. Blair, however, calmly tucked away her handkerchief as if his rejection meant nothing to her.
‘Who would ever believe they’re newlyweds?’
Ruth hadn’t particularly wished for his lord to dote on Blair—but seeing her rejected so bluntly to her face left him feeling strangely uneasy.
Silence once again settled among the three as they walked toward the main manor.
‘…Was the estate always this far?’
Just as someone desperately wished for someone to break this icy silence—
Suddenly, a small figure darted out from nearby bushes and dashed straight into Blair.
“Daddya! Huh?”
It was a child, seemingly around three years old, apparently from the servants’ quarters.
Seeing the child, Ruth was horrified.
Though he himself had been fortunate to serve a lenient master, most nobles flew into furious rages at even the slightest offense.
And what of royalty? Especially the daughter of the notoriously fierce Katrina?
Ruth hastily scooped up the child bowing before Blair and bowed deeply himself.
“My deepest apologies, milady. This child resides in the servants’ wing—must have slipped out while his mother was occupied. I’ll take him back and reprimand his mother properly…”
“I’m perfectly fine.”
Blair knelt down to the child’s eye level and gently brushed dirt off his bottom before asking softly,
“Are you alright, little one?”
“Huh.”
“What’s your name?”
“Jeremy.”
“I see—Jeremy. You didn’t even cry when you fell. What a brave boy you are.”
“Hehe.”
The child giggled happily at Blair’s praise—a pure, unguarded smile free of prejudice or ulterior motive.
Unlike the rest of the ducal household who regarded Blair with fear or disapproval.
Blair, too, smiled gently at the child beaming up at her—the first genuine, heartfelt smile she’d worn since returning to the past.
Watching this scene beside the child, Ruth stood up awkwardly, ashamed of his earlier assumption that Blair would surely reject the boy.
Beside Ruth, Herdin also stood silently observing the two.
‘She rarely shows emotion—I’d almost thought her a doll.’
So this woman knew how to smile like that, too.
Bathed in sunlight, her radiant smile shimmered brilliantly—perhaps due to the snow blanketing the garden, or perhaps because of her fair complexion.
Though Ruth’s wristwatch glinted in the light as well, Herdin deliberately ignored it, choosing instead to imprint Blair’s image a little longer in his eyes.
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
_____
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MANGA DISCUSSION
3 Comments
Chapter Comments (957)
Robert I don’t like this ML is making me mad ( ・`ω・´)
Still not redeemed and how about I break your face instead
asiel prove tmyour innocense then run away leave him
Inline Comments (5622)
Only he should be allowed to make her cry, torment her, break her.
Makes me remember the male lead from cry, even better if you beg, I do not remember his name but I guess duke of arvis also thought like this in the context of making her cry but he thought that if he is not able to make layla smile because of him then atleast her tears would belong to him
As if they’d been waiting for him to turn around for a very long time.
Technically she was really waiting for a long time for him to turn around and gaze at her with warmth and affection
Since becoming Empress, everything she had wished for had come true—and now this
Does she view both her children as pawns that can be used to achieve power?? Does she not love them even a bit??
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VKotaku28
None of you give her enough reason to smile. Asiel hurry!!
AKUMA is an akuma
Those bastards!!!!!!!! Respect this angel!!!! Ugh I am pissed!!!!! Can we stop blaming her for her family’s fault!!! Even if she lied about the aunt SHE WAS A CHILD!!!!!!! You would grow up and learn that MISTER!!! MAMM get pregnant and lets go!
debban23
asiel is just trying to survive again together with her child