The Duke Only Needs My Child (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
“My lady, Baroness Cionel has arrived.”
She was one of the ducal household maids serving Blair.
Blair tilted her head in confusion. The duke’s maids disliked her nearly as much as they admired their master, Herdin, so delivering messages to her had always been Rina’s duty.
Having hastily concluded her tea time with Agnes, Blair returned from the greenhouse to the mansion.
Baroness Cionel, waiting in her bedroom, greeted Blair with her characteristically high-pitched voice.
“Oh my! You’ve grown even more beautiful since your marriage, Your Highness—no, I should call you Duchess now.”
“I wanted to thank you for the wedding dress, but things have been so hectic that I couldn’t get in touch.”
“It is I who should thank you, the Empire’s greatest beauty, for wearing it. And I’m doubly grateful for the honor of crafting your first dress after marriage.”
As she listened to Baroness Cionel’s flattery, Blair glanced around the room. Rina was nowhere to be seen.
“I’ve carefully selected light yet warm fabrics, just as His Grace instructed, so you won’t catch a chill.”
Baroness Cionel’s chatter vanished from Blair’s mind without even leaving a trace.
What mattered to her was that Rina wasn’t in the room.
Even while Blair examined the dresses brought by Baroness Cionel and decided on designs for new ones, Rina never appeared.
After Baroness Cionel left, Blair asked a nearby maid the question that had been weighing on her mind.
“Where has Rina gone?”
The maid hesitated, then avoided Blair’s gaze as she replied.
“W-well… I’m not sure… Shall I go look for her?”
“No. Never mind.”
Blair rose from her seat and put her fur robe back on.
“Going for a walk?”
“Yeah.”
The maid began preparing to follow her, but Blair stopped her.
“I’ll go alone.”
“Oh, all right.”
Leaving the maid behind, Blair stepped out of the room. The maids waiting outside bowed deeply as she passed.
Blair walked past them down to the first floor, then quietly returned upstairs. Through a slightly open door, she overheard the maids whispering.
“Where did Rina go? Surely she isn’t crying somewhere just because she got splashed with dirty water?”
“Crying? She didn’t even blink—just went off to wash up. So boring.”
“She really is cold-hearted, just like her mistress. Still, she’ll have a hard time getting rid of that stink.”
“But… she wouldn’t actually go tattle to the mistress about this, would she?”
“If she were going to, she’d have caused a fuss ages ago. She knows full well—even if her mistress is a noble imperial princess, here in the ducal residence, she’s nothing but a burden.”
Hearing their conversation, Blair clenched the hem of her dress. Her crimson lips trembled.
Her suspicion had been right after all.
Though they might despise her, Blair was the Emperor’s only sister—untouchable. So instead, the maids had tormented Rina, her personal maid.
But one question nagged at her.
Given Rina’s usual temperament, she would never have tolerated such treatment. Why had she endured it this time?
Then it dawned on Blair.
Rina had stayed silent, fearing that speaking up would further damage Blair’s already poor reputation in the ducal household—the resident ugly duckling.
‘She probably acted the same way in my past life too. I was just too absorbed in my own troubles to notice…’
Realizing this, Blair bit down hard on her lower lip.
“My lady?”
Startled by the voice behind her, Blair turned to find Rina standing there. Though dressed in a fresh maid uniform, her damp hair betrayed that she’d just washed.
Still unaware of what had transpired, Rina let Blair take her hand and lead her into the room.
The gossiping maids, caught off guard by Blair’s unexpectedly swift return, flinched and bowed their heads.
Blair approached them and spoke.
“Apologize.”
A chilling frost filled Blair’s eyes. The maids shrank back under her gaze.
To them, Blair had always been a distant, quiet presence—like a doll or a painting—never raising her voice, never showing anger. She was someone to handle carefully, perhaps, but not truly frightening.
Yet now, meeting her icy, furious stare, they were struck speechless.
To the stunned, frozen group, Blair repeated firmly but calmly,
“I said, apologize to Rina.”
“W-we don’t understand what you mean, my lady. Have we done something wrong…?”
Slap!
Before anyone could intervene, Blair struck the maid across the cheek. The blow shocked not only the struck maid but also the onlookers—and even Rina.
Blair looked down at the maid who’d stumbled from her slap. Her own palm throbbed as if she herself had been hit.
For a moment, she felt like Katrina—overwhelmed by disgust and fear. Her heart pounded, and her stomach churned as if she might vomit.
But she couldn’t back down—not if she wanted to protect Rina.
Blair clenched her trembling hand tightly.
“You know better than anyone what I’m talking about.”
“M-my lady, I’m truly fine. Really.”
Finally snapping out of her daze, Rina grabbed Blair’s arm. Causing a scene would only worsen matters, given how little the ducal household thought of Blair already.
And if Herdin happened to see…
“…I’m not fine.”
Blair’s face twisted as if she might cry at any moment, yet her eyes burned with fury as she added,
“It’s not fine at all that you’re suffering like this because of me.”
“What’s going on?”
Herdin appeared in the doorway. Dressed for an outing and holding leather gloves, he must have heard the commotion on his way out.
“Y-your Grace!”
His sudden arrival turned the maids and Rina pale as they bowed their heads.
Herdin slipped on his gloves and swiftly assessed the room.
A maid clutching her reddened cheek, and Blair, whose hands trembled faintly.
It didn’t take him long to grasp the situation.
In the heavy silence, only the slapped maid rose and stepped forward toward Herdin.
“This girl failed to carry out her duties properly and acted insolently, so I merely disciplined her—but my lady seems to have misunderstood—”
“I never asked you.”
His words were calm but unmistakably sharp. The maid clamped her mouth shut and lowered her head.
Herdin’s gaze shifted to Blair. He was waiting for her to speak. The other maids watched her too.
They expected her to blame Rina and let the matter drop.
No matter how little Herdin cared for Blair, they knew he’d avoid openly opposing the imperial princess and duchess.
And they assumed Blair wouldn’t want to escalate things either—she’d likely go along with their version.
But Blair defied their expectations precisely.
“These girls have been ostracizing and bullying the maid I brought with me, so I punished them.”
Though surprised by Blair’s response, the maids weren’t overly worried. Herdin would never side with Blair, the daughter of his enemy.
Blair herself didn’t expect him to believe her. But even so, she refused to let Rina shoulder all the blame.
Yet…
“It’s my fault for failing to properly train my subordinates. I’ll have these girls dismissed shortly.”
Without further questioning, he believed her.
The maids’ faces drained of color. Even Blair stared at him in astonishment.
Watching the scene unfold, Rina spoke urgently.
“Y-your Grace, I’m fine! They were just playing around—it’s part of getting close, really.”
Of course, the bullies hadn’t seemed kind. But having shared their lowly position, Rina understood better than anyone the hardship they’d face if dismissed.
Sensing Rina’s discomfort, Blair agreed with her.
“Herdin… that punishment seems too harsh. A sincere apology and cutting their wages in half for this month would be enough.”
The anxious maids immediately dropped to their knees.
“We’re sorry, Your Grace! We were foolish and committed this grave offense. Please forgive us just this once.”
“Your apology should be directed to the Duchess and this maid, not to me.”
Herdin replied coldly, then turned to Mason, who had just arrived upon hearing the news.
“Mason, deduct two months’ wages from each of them.”
“Herdin.”
“I believe this level of punishment is appropriate.”
When Blair called out to protest, Herdin cut her off as if he already knew her next words.
“Your Grace.”
Ruth called out, checking his pocket watch—a signal that it was time to leave.
“I’ll be off now.”
Herdin gently pulled Blair toward him and kissed her forehead.
Startled by his unusual gesture, Blair only realized his intent when she saw the maids standing nearby.
It was a warning: This woman is my wife. See that nothing like this happens again.
Blair watched his retreating figure as he left her bedroom, dazed.
He had believed her.
Yet why did she feel emptier than grateful?
That the issue of Rina’s three-year-long torment from her past life had been resolved so easily—by just a few words from him.
[This is the timeline separator]That night, Rina headed to Blair’s bedroom carrying a silver tray with cold water and a towel.
‘My lady—if we leave it like this, those delicate hands will surely bruise.’
Only someone truly strong could bring themselves to strike another.
Those soft, refined hands, which had never known roughness or violence, surely couldn’t withstand today’s shock.
‘I’m sorry, Rina. I’m so sorry for realizing it so late…’
Our gentle princess, apologizing even after defending her. Just thinking of that maid’s tough cheek receiving a blow from those tender hands made Rina furious.
“My lady, it’s me. May I come in for a moment?”
Using her elbow instead of her tray-holding hand, Rina pushed the door open—and immediately dropped the silver tray she’d carried so carefully.
“M-my lady?!”
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (948)
Read the novel after I read the webtoon, now I’m excited how Mikhail would look like in the webtoon 🤤
Hear me out, Mikhail is kinda HOT! No… HE IS HOT!!
I Can’t wait to see what Mikhail looks like and their scandal plan together!!
Inline Comments (5581)
Blair left the guild without acknowledging their escort. At that very moment, th
Who is this?? Her previous life’s assailant or duke’s man or something like that
“Rina, wait! Hey, just—let go of me for a moment…”
Rina is just so awesome, I like that she is brave and cares for Blaur
“Second, I need four or five men to become entangled with me in a scandal. Trust
SMOOTH. yes let the competition begin? might be 2nd ml?
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debban23
rina is so loyal,she deserves the best good for blair