The Duke Only Needs My Child (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 3
“Huh! Hah… hah….”
Blair’s fading consciousness suddenly snapped back, and she jolted her eyes open.
Her blurry vision gradually cleared, revealing an unfamiliar ceiling.
‘No, no—it can’t be. That pattern…’
Staring blankly at the ceiling’s design, Blair suddenly remembered: it was the same as the one in the Imperial Palace where she’d stayed before her marriage.
‘Why am I in the Imperial Palace?’
Her last memory was of being attacked by assailants at the Holstein villa, far from the capital.
If she hadn’t died, she should’ve been receiving treatment there—but somehow, she was now in the palace.
She didn’t know what had happened, but only one thought filled Blair’s mind.
‘Asiel!’
My baby—surely he must have woken up and immediately looked for his mother.
Blair scrambled out of bed and hurried toward the door.
At that moment, the door opened from outside.
“Oh! You’re awake, Your Highness? I was just about to wake you myself.”
It was Rina, Blair’s personal maid.
Rina had served Blair since childhood in the Imperial Princess’s quarters, earning her deep trust—and even after Blair’s marriage, she’d followed her to the Delmarque ducal household.
To Blair, Rina was sometimes like a sister, sometimes like a close friend—a truly loyal confidante.
“Rina, where’s Asiel?”
“Asiel?”
“Yes, Asiel. Where is he?”
“Who’s that?”
Rina tilted her head in confusion, then suddenly seemed to recall something and let out a small gasp.
“Oh! Could you mean that cat who’s been wandering around the backyard lately? Is its name Asiel?”
In her highly agitated state, Blair frowned.
“Rina, I’m not in the mood for jokes. Where is Asiel—my son?”
“Wha—your son?”
Rina blinked, bewildered.
“How could Your Highness possibly have a son when you aren’t even married yet?”
“…What?”
Only then did Blair realize Rina had addressed her as “Your Highness.”
‘Could it be…?’
Blinking in confusion, Blair asked Rina,
“Rina… how old am I right now?”
Though puzzled that Blair had seemingly forgotten her own age, Rina answered promptly—the question wasn’t difficult.
“You turned twenty this year. You celebrated your coming-of-age two months ago.”
That’s impossible.
Hearing her age, Blair had no choice but to accept the unthinkable truth as reality.
‘I’ve gone back three years.’
Back to before Asiel was born—before she’d even married Herdin.
[This is the timeline separator]Blair barely had time to collect herself before being dressed and ushered into the midday luncheon.
It was the weekly family meal shared with her brother, Emperor Ivan, and their mother, Katrina.
Though the late emperor—who had established this family tradition—had passed away seven years ago, the custom endured as if honoring his final wishes.
But Blair’s mind was entirely elsewhere.
‘I thought I’d died… yet I’ve returned to the past… Am I dreaming after death? Or was what I believed to be the future merely a dream?’
Chewing food whose taste she couldn’t even register, Blair sifted through her memories and reached a conclusion.
‘No—that wasn’t a dream.’
She couldn’t explain it logically, but it had been far more than just a dream.
‘Asiel’s voice calling for me, the warmth of his embrace, his face… All of it feels so vivid.’
Which made this present moment feel all the more hollow.
‘My baby…’
Though miraculously returned to the past, this reality without Asiel felt like hell to Blair.
The child who had been her hope, her very life—her everything—had vanished in an instant, swept away by time’s cruel trick.
Just as Blair sank deeper into emptiness—
“Your Highness.”
Rina, who had been waiting quietly behind her, gently touched Blair’s shoulder and spoke in a low voice.
“…Ah.”
Blair finally snapped back to attention.
“His Majesty is calling you, Blair.”
Katrina was watching Blair with a slightly irritated expression.
To her, her son—the Emperor—was the ultimate trophy, the crowning achievement of her entire life.
Ignoring that trophy was tantamount to rejecting her whole existence.
“You’ve been completely absent-minded since earlier. Did something happen this morning?”
“I’m sorry. I had restless dreams last night… What were you saying?”
“Nothing important—just to make sure your marriage to Duke Delmarque proceeds smoothly.”
Ivan mentioned the engagement—which had never even been discussed with Blair—as if it were trivial gossip.
Blair’s eyes widened in shock.
“It’s already settled. I’ve offered him suitable bait; he won’t refuse.”
The engagement had been arranged without a single word to Blair herself.
Seeing Blair’s stunned expression as resistance to the marriage, Ivan quickly added,
“I trust you won’t say anything childish like ‘I don’t want a political marriage.’”
“He’s quite the catch—in fact, the best match imaginable. Women across the empire would give anything just to dance once with Duke Delmarque. His Majesty has taken great care in choosing your spouse.”
“This marriage isn’t simply about two people uniting. It’s meant to mend relations between our houses, so as Imperial Princess, you must act responsibly…”
Ivan and Katrina preemptively struck, fearing Blair might voice opposition to the engagement.
Watching their reactions, Blair finally recalled this moment from her past.
‘I’m sorry to both of you, but I don’t wish to go through with this marriage.’
In her previous life, faced with this exact situation, Blair had refused to marry Herdin.
It had been her first act of defiance against Ivan and Katrina, whom she’d always obediently followed.
It wasn’t that she disliked Herdin—rather, he made her uneasy and frightened. Ever since the Imperial Consort’s Palace fire ten years ago.
But now…
“I’ll do it.”
This time, Blair responded differently than in her past life—submitting to Ivan’s decree just as she always had before her regression.
“Since it is His Majesty’s will, I shall obey.”
Yet her eyes held a different light.
This time, she had a reason she absolutely must marry Herdin.
[This is the timeline separator]After returning to the Imperial Princess’s quarters following luncheon, Rina subtly observed Blair’s demeanor.
‘She seems different today… Could something have happened?’
But as Blair’s closest maid, Rina knew every detail of her daily life.
Up until last night, everything had been perfectly normal.
Blair had simply slept peacefully in her room—nothing could have occurred in that short time.
Unless, of course, the news of her engagement to Herdin at lunch had shocked her.
Yet Blair had appeared utterly indifferent to that announcement.
‘Actually… she seems in better spirits than this morning.’
Rina tilted her head, puzzled.
Though it happened before her time in the palace, she knew relations between the Delmarque ducal house and the imperial family were strained.
And she also knew the Imperial Consort’s Palace fire had driven the final nail into that rift.
‘How can she seem cheerful when her marriage to the family behind that tragedy was just arranged overnight?’
Blair’s father, the late emperor, had two women in his life:
Empress Esmeralda, his official consort, and Imperial Consort Katrina.
For years, the Empress bore no children, so Katrina was brought in as a secondary consort.
Though Katrina, of gypsy origin, entered the palace with no power or influence, the moment she gave birth to a son—Ivan—ambitious courtiers quickly flocked to her side.
Intense rivalry between the two women soon escalated into a full-blown political divide centered on Esmeralda and Katrina.
Despite this, the Empress treated Blair—Katrina’s daughter—as her own.
At least, that’s how it appeared on the surface… until “that incident.”
A fire broke out in the Imperial Consort’s Palace, killing the Empress and severely injuring Blair, who’d been with her.
Traumatized, Blair lost all memory of that day.
The Emperor launched a thorough investigation to uncover who’d harmed his daughter—and all evidence pointed squarely at Empress Esmeralda.
The Delmarque ducal house, Esmeralda’s birth family, denied the findings, insisting she’d never do such a thing—but ultimately, the Empress was buried as a traitor.
Her only nephew was none other than Herdin.
‘Their Majesties are truly indifferent. Even if this marriage is meant to reconcile our houses…’
Forcing this union upon Blair—the direct victim of that tragedy—could hardly bring her joy.
Worried, Rina was about to speak as she helped Blair off with her outer robe—but Blair spoke first.
“Rina.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
“Send someone to the Delmarque ducal household. Tell them I wish to meet tomorrow. If he’s busy, ask him to suggest a convenient date.”
At Blair’s command, Rina’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You wish to meet Duke Delmarque?”
“Why are you so shocked?”
Understandably so—just months ago at the Harvest Festival banquet, Blair had actively avoided him.
‘Well… Her Highness must have her reasons.’
Rina thought to herself and replied,
“Oh, it’s nothing. I’ll send someone right away.”
After Rina left the room, Blair stood alone and gazed out the window.
Soon, she saw a servant climb into a carriage and depart the Imperial Princess’s residence.
Blair pictured the master of the ducal mansion awaiting that carriage’s arrival—and the adorable child who looked just like him.
Remembering that face, Blair placed a hand over her stomach—the same womb that had once carried him.
‘I’d do anything to see Asiel again.’
Even if that “anything” meant reliving the terrifyingly lonely marriage she’d once shared with him.
Then there was only one thing she needed to do now.
‘Marry Herdin safely once more.’
If this was indeed the destined future—and if her return to the past was real—events would unfold along their predetermined path regardless.
But Blair refused to leave even the slightest chance that he might not become her husband.
‘I will meet my child again—no matter what.’
The light, once lost from her eyes, began to sparkle anew.
Male lead says he’s pregnant — and it’s female lead’s child
Something seems a bit off about this world.
Wang Zhao thought as she watched a pregnant man walking towards her…
Intro
Female lead finds herself in a world where the men who possess the ability to bear children.
As she navigates this unfamiliar reality, she is caught off guard by the sudden appearance of her boyfriend, who reveals that he is pregnant.
Is this truly her boyfriend?
Why can’t she recall any details about their time together?
She begins to doubt whether the child her boyfriend is carrying is even hers.
Is there a hidden reason behind her amnesia, or could it be a side effect of her sudden arrival in this strange new world?
Just when it seems the protagonist’s life couldn’t become any more entangled, her ex-boyfriend makes an unexpected appearance, raising questions about the protagonist’s past.
__________
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MANGA DISCUSSION
5 Comments
Chapter Comments (973)
a lil confused about the timeline before regression, did she discover his false feelings and had the confrontation about her memories before she got pregnant?
The ml being so rude i hate him,poor girl lets runaway baby
Bro I hate him already I hope she takes the baby and leave
Inline Comments (5631)
“His Imperial Majesty is truly shameless. How can he even mention marriage? He t
I really don’t understand why this people in novels forget that both parties are forced to marry and mostly have to endure worse
“His Imperial Majesty is truly shameless. How can he even mention marriage? He t
right? like their customs, they live their and don’t have a clue? like make it make sense
"There's a limit to ignoring your mother! How could you visit that woman the day
the mother can freely ride this narrative because blair doesn’t have her memories but i wonder if she is involved
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Yuki
She’s such a loving mother and she could be a great wife too. Ugghhh I hate this ML
letinona
FL is incredibly determined; I have a feeling it won’t be as easy as it seems…
Al- Zahra
Poor girl she just want the pure love i hope she get happiness
VKotaku28
Best groom my foot! Won’t wish him on the worst enemy
Megumi
She makes me miss my child which I don’t have 😭😭