The Duke Only Needs My Child (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 4
Beyond the swaying carriage window, the Imperial Princess Palace came into view.
Ruth Penril, Herdin’s aide, began grumbling as he glared at the palace with evident displeasure.
“His Imperial Majesty is truly shameless. How can he even mention marriage? He toasted to their downfall when House Delmarque was faltering.”
Ten years ago.
After losing both parents and then his aunt—the Empress—Herdin had been left alone, and the Delmarque Dukedom teetered like a candle in the wind.
But once Herdin distinguished himself heroically in war and was hailed as a national hero, Emperor Ivan proposed a marriage between him and his own sister.
It was an obvious attempt to quietly absorb Herdin’s influence and prestige.
“Now only Her Highness the Imperial Princess is utterly furious. She’ll simply sit back and gain the Empire’s most eligible bachelor as her husband.”
Ruth regarded Blair, whom he’d never properly spoken to, with deep suspicion.
Given such a mother and brother, wasn’t it obvious what kind of woman the Imperial Princess must be? Undoubtedly, they were all cut from the same cloth.
“That’s exactly what I said! You should’ve quickly found a suitable young lady and married long ago.”
Unlike Ruth, who kept muttering irritably, Herdin remained silent, showing no reaction to the situation whatsoever.
That indifference only infuriated Ruth further.
“Don’t you feel even a little angry, Your Grace?”
“Ruth.”
Herdin finally interrupted Ruth’s tirade by calling his name, still sitting with arms crossed and saying nothing more.
His gaze remained fixed outside the window.
At that moment, their carriage passed through the main gate of the Imperial Princess Palace.
“We’re inside the Imperial Princess Palace now.”
Though his voice carried no discernible emotion, Ruth understood its underlying meaning and fell silent.
“…My apologies.”
Soon after, the carriage came to a halt.
The head steward of the Imperial Princess Palace, who had been waiting for them, led them to the reception room.
Herdin entered alone, leaving Ruth behind.
“Her Highness will arrive shortly.”
Once the steward departed, Herdin was left alone in the empty reception room.
Just as he lifted the teacup offered by a maid to take a sip, he heard the door open behind him. Herdin rose from his seat and turned around to greet the Imperial Princess properly.
Through the open doorway stepped a petite, delicate beauty.
Blair Sonnet von Ardelle.
Mistress of this palace—and, barring unforeseen circumstances, the woman destined to marry him.
She was as exquisitely beautiful as a living doll crafted from those children played with.
Truly worthy of being the daughter of the legendary Empress Dowager, yet her beauty stirred nothing within Herdin.
No—in fact…
‘Calling that face “a dreadful reminder of the past” would be far more fitting.’
Herdin concealed a twisted smile as he kissed the back of Blair’s hand.
“I am honored to meet Your Highness.”
In that instant, Blair’s enigmatic violet eyes flickered with a fleeting distortion.
For a brief moment, her expression even seemed sorrowful.
But by the time Herdin raised his head again, all trace of emotion had vanished from her eyes.
“Thank you for making time despite your busy schedule, Duke Delmarque.”
Blair settled gracefully into the seat of honor.
Her elegant movements caused her soft platinum hair and the lace of her dress to flutter gently.
Silence hung between them as they sat facing each other, each merely sipping from their teacups without speaking.
Normally, in such unfamiliar and distant company, the junior party would initiate small talk about daily matters.
But Herdin showed no intention of doing so.
Eventually, it was Blair—who had been staring intently at him while tracing the rim of her teacup—who spoke first.
“I’ll get straight to the point.”
Setting down her teacup, Blair continued.
“I have no intention of rejecting the marriage my brother proposed.”
Herdin had anticipated as much. Even she would find it difficult to refuse an imperial decree.
But what followed was entirely unexpected.
“One year.”
At the abrupt, seemingly random word that slipped from Blair’s lips, Herdin looked at her with clear puzzlement in his eyes.
“Just one year—stay married to me for exactly that long.”
“…What do you mean?”
“After a year passes, I’ll grant you a divorce on grounds of my own fault. I won’t cling to you claiming I’ve changed my mind, nor will I pester you with talk of love or anything like that.”
Herdin’s finely shaped brows drew together slightly.
‘A marriage contract for just one year? What’s her real motive?’
As if reading his thoughts, Blair made an offer he absolutely couldn’t refuse.
“The Empress’s Palace fire incident ten years ago.”
At her unexpected mention of that event, Herdin’s eyes turned icy cold.
“If you accept my proposal, I’ll do everything I can to help you uncover ‘what really happened that day.’”
A cold, mocking laugh escaped Herdin’s lips.
After staying silent for a whole decade, how dare she bring up that matter now?
Herdin remembered vividly the emotions from ten years prior.
When the Empress was accused as the culprit behind the palace fire, Herdin had sent letter after letter to Blair—the sole eyewitness—begging her to clear his aunt’s name.
But she never replied.
He only heard her answer on the day of the trial regarding the Empress’s Palace incident.
Too young to enter the courtroom, Herdin had listened through a slightly ajar door as Blair’s voice rang out:
‘I don’t… remember anything.’
Lies.
Saying you don’t remember—it’s all lies, isn’t it? In the end, you sided with your own mother, didn’t you?
That memory had remained with Herdin for ten long years, a festering wound of betrayal and resentment.
‘Still… it’s not a bad proposal.’
He couldn’t refuse the Emperor’s command anyway—or rather, he had no intention of refusing it.
The Emperor had agreed to authorize an increase in the Dukedom’s military forces on the condition that Herdin join the imperial family.
Currently, Delmarque’s troops had dwindled to half their former strength under the previous generation.
Public opinion, citing Empress Esmeralda’s alleged treason as justification, had heavily influenced this reduction, claiming House Delmarque posed a risk of rebellion.
Even so, compared to other noble houses, their forces remained considerable—but insufficient for defending the northern border and subduing monstrous threats.
Despite being a renowned war hero and master swordsman, Herdin couldn’t shoulder everything alone.
Even knowing it was the Emperor’s trap, the troop reinforcement was an offer he absolutely couldn’t decline.
And now, alongside that, he might also uncover the truth of ‘that day.’
He didn’t know the Imperial Princess’s true intentions behind proposing this contractual marriage, but if he could use her to uncover the truth and then cleanly divorce afterward, there could be no better outcome.
After studying Blair for a moment, he asked,
“Why do you wish to enter such a marriage?”
“Because marriage is the only legal way for an Imperial Princess to leave the palace.”
“In that case, wouldn’t it be better to marry someone who truly cherishes and loves you?”
Even as imperial royalty, life as a divorcée would hardly be easy.
There were plenty of men who would adore and cherish her—Emperor Ivan’s sister and daughter of the Empress Dowager. If none pleased her, she could surely choose whomever she wished.
Herdin couldn’t understand why Blair, with countless options available, had deliberately chosen him.
Surely there were far better choices than a marriage doomed from the start with someone who held a grudge against her.
Blair stared at Herdin without answering immediately.
Each slow blink of her shimmering violet eyes—reflecting his image—flickered with complex, indescribable emotions.
Her gaze seemed momentarily sorrowful, yet also reproachful toward him for asking such a question.
“I don’t believe in things like that.”
“…”
“I prefer relationships with clear beginnings and endings over ones that prattle about hollow eternities. Relationships where I receive exactly what I give.”
Blair declared firmly, her eyes fixed steadily on the man across from her.
Once, like many other young ladies, she too had thrilled at the attention of that famously accomplished man. She had once believed in love and forever.
Though now, that belief existed only in the past tense.
“I think you’re the kind of person who would honor such an arrangement.”
Herdin didn’t look away from Blair’s face as she spoke. Over her pale features, the image of young Blair from years ago overlapped clearly.
‘When I grow up, I want to leave the palace. I’ll travel beyond these rules and see the wide world!’
Recalling that face twisted his mood, yet Herdin readily replied,
“I accept your proposal.”
“Thank you.”
“If you have nothing further to discuss, I shall take my leave now.”
After checking his pocket watch, Herdin stood immediately upon receiving Blair’s nod.
As she watched his retreating back disappear beyond the doorway, Blair’s eyes betrayed the resentment she’d been hiding toward him.
There was a question she’d never been able to ask.
A question she knew she could never get an answer to from him now.
Herdin.
Did you kill me?
[This is the timeline separator]Wedding preparations progressed swiftly.
Time flew by, and before long, it was the eve of the wedding.
Blair visited the Imperial Mausoleum.
[Esmeralda Delmarque]The tombstone before her bore the name of the late Empress.
Though the Emperor had stripped her of her title and the imperial surname, he had shown mercy by permitting her burial within the palace mausoleum.
Whether denying her honor, burying her here instead of her homeland, and calling it mercy was truly merciful—Blair couldn’t say.
She placed a single flower—carefully wrapped in paper after picking it from the greenhouse—at the base of the tombstone.
Katrina disapproved strongly of Blair visiting this place.
From her perspective, it was bad enough that Blair aligned herself with her political rival; going to pay respects at the grave of the woman who’d tried to kill her daughter was unforgivable.
But Blair found that accusation hard to believe.
‘Blair.’
If the warm embrace that had always comforted her—often overlooked in favor of her brother Ivan—had all been a lie, it would be terrifying.
As a child, she hadn’t tried to recover her memories.
She’d simply been afraid.
Whichever version was true, she would lose one mother either way.
But the day she encountered Herdin at a banquet several years after the incident,
Blair resolved to confront the truth she’d long avoided.
She summoned a hypnotist to the Imperial Princess Palace and underwent hypnosis, but it only harmed her health without yielding results.
Later, after marrying Herdin and falling in love with him, she buried those memories once more.
She feared that uncovering the hidden truth might cost her him.
Yet when she realized the man she loved had, all along, despised her for her passive silence over the years—
When she understood he’d feigned love solely to extract the truth from her—
Blair wanted to give him everything he desired, even knowing his love was false. She clung to him desperately, hoping somehow to hold onto even a shadow of his affection.
She tried belatedly to recover her memories again, but what returned was…
‘Ha! After ignoring it for ten years, are you suddenly feeling guilty?’
‘…’
‘Please do nothing more. Just stay as you’ve always been—silent and still.’
Faced with his icy glare, Blair completely shattered.
If Esmeralda’s guilt was a false accusation, Herdin would despise her own passivity even more; if it was true, he’d never love her regardless.
So Blair relinquished all pursuit of that day’s memories, surrendering entirely to her beloved husband’s wishes.
Thus, in her past life, she had abandoned any hope of reclaiming those memories.
‘But running away changes nothing. This time, I’ll face the truth and move forward.’
Whatever the truth hidden beneath those buried memories might be.
As Blair mentally finalized her plans for the future, urgent footsteps sounded behind her.
When the male lead is punished by carrying the female lead’s child and having periods like a woman
“I’ve given birth to two children for you, yet you still think about him.
Was I nothing but his substitute to you from beginning to end?”
Synopsis:
Meng Huan, a scumbag who has dated countless girlfriends, transmigrates to a female-dominated country.
Day 1: Whether it’s female dominance or not doesn’t matter. The beauties here are passionate and amorous. Isn’t it easier to date them than in modern times?
Day 2: After a night, Meng Huan discovers the differences in the female-dominated world. Men here actually have chastity locks and menstrual cycles. This hinders his ability to perform, damn it!
Day 3: What’s wrong with sleeping around? I don’t want you to marry me. I’m meant to be a playboy. I don’t care about male virtues… What? You want to drown me in a pig cage? Marry, I’ll marry!
Day N: Meng Huan inexplicably vomits and receives the shocking news of his life… He’s pregnant.
_____
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MANGA DISCUSSION
4 Comments
Chapter Comments (969)
Keep your curiosity to yourself.. we only need Asiel
You should keep your mouth shut, every word out of your mouth is annoying ML
yes donate your sperm as soon as possible and be over with it
Inline Comments (5629)
"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
“I won’t grant a divorce.”
oh no this might come back and bite her, just pay some fines
“What are your plans regarding the investigation into the fire incident from ten
i love how she communicates, straight to the point no nonsense lol
YOUR COMMENT
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ren
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?
Al- Zahra
The ml being so rude i hate him,poor girl lets runaway baby
Megumi
Bro I hate him already I hope she takes the baby and leave
VKotaku28
Honestly!! He might as well have stabbed you himself…