The Duke Stole Everything (1 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 1

Whoosh—.

It was a chilly dawn beneath the moonlight.

The platinum-colored royal palace burned fiercely in crimson flames.

‘Kingdom of Krianet.’

The ancient palace blazed high like a torch illuminating the dark night.

This was the price paid for losing the war against the Grand Empire of Newton.

“Sa-save… please save me…”

Amidst the searing inferno, there was one person—a living girl.

[Your name is Sharti, isn’t it? You’re sixteen. Listen carefully.]

Paralyzed, the girl named Sharti curled up tightly.

[I am Princess Arisbyan of the Kingdom of Krianet. And you and I are half-sisters.]

Sharti sat slumped in the center of the palace, untouched by flames—for now—but utterly disheveled.

Her tangled hair, wrists and ankles bound in chains like a criminal, echoed with haunting whispers in her ears.

[You seem startled. Though we’ve never met, royal blood of Krianet flows through your veins just as it does mine.]

Sharti wore an expensive but ill-fitting dress, her shoes lost somewhere along the way, leaving her barefoot. Her pale wheat-colored hair grew dirtier by the moment, fluttering like ash in the wind.

[Nobility bears duty from birth. You are no exception, Sharti.]

The roaring fire consuming everything around her mingled grotesquely with the phantom voice.

Her crimson eyes blurred with tears.

“U-uh…!”

It was dangerous—the flames were spreading closer.

Sharti tried to push herself up, but her legs gave way instantly.

“…Haa… hah…”

Her throat felt as if it were burning away. The heat twisted her crimson eyes in agony.

[Because your lowborn mother dared seduce the King of Krianet and bore you, you too must shoulder the duty of royalty, Sharti. It must be so. That’s why I sought you out. Therefore, it would be wise to obey me silently.]

Scratch—scratch. The girl’s fingernails scraped against the chains, turning red.

She slammed her wrists against the floor with all her strength to break the shackles, but it was useless.

‘Soon the flames, the flames will…’

Corpses scattered around and carpets soaked in blood vanished into the fire.

[Though the Kingdom of Krianet has fallen, as its princess, I cannot allow the royal bloodline to end. But the barbaric Newton Empire demands tribute from the defeated—what choice do I have?]

“Huhh… save me… please save me…”

Sharti’s frail body crawled across the floor.

Soon, the inferno would consume her too.

[Fortunately, you and I are close in age, and as half-sisters, we resemble each other… For today, you shall become me—Princess Arisbyan, the last surviving member of Krianet’s royal family—and face the War Demon of the Newton Empire.]

Tears stung her eyes.

Her throat was parched, thirst gnawing at her constantly.

It had long since burned raw from anxiety and terror.

[Don’t be so frightened. If the War Demon—the Grand Duke—shows mercy to a defeated kingdom’s princess, you might survive this night. If you wish to live, beg, plead—anything goes. Such is permitted for my stand-in, Sharti.]

A spark carried by the wind landed on the girl’s delicate foot.

“…Agh!”

More and more embers clung to Sharti’s dress, turning it to rags.

“Huhh, please save me… Sa-save… cough, cough…!”

Why must she endure this fate, in this place, like this?

It was unjust. It was despair.

[Princess of Krianet.]

Another phantom voice—this time cold and low.

The girl’s small body trembled unconsciously.

[So this is the proud Krianet royalty who declared war with such arrogance—now groveling for their life at my feet. Quite different from the imperial bloodline of Newton.]

She had first encountered the owner of that voice at midnight, when only the chill night air filled the platinum palace. Trapped alone within, Sharti had been dragged before a man and forced to kneel, trembling uncontrollably.

All she remembered were someone’s military boots.

Before her stood a man radiating such oppressive authority she dared not lift her gaze.

[We’ve confirmed the mole beneath Princess Arisbyan’s eye. She is the last.]

The Grand Duke’s subordinate, who had dragged her here without warning, mistook her for the princess based solely on that single mole.

As if such a mole couldn’t be easily drawn with ink.

Yet Sharti couldn’t refute it.

[What shall we do, Your Grace?]

The man before her loomed so vast and distant she couldn’t even raise her head.

Sharti silently wept, realizing the truth.

Everyone had fled. Only one remained—Sharti, left behind in the palace as a sacrificial lamb.

A chilling premonition of death crept up her spine.

[Best to be certain. Hey. Are you truly the princess of Krianet?]

The man called Grand Duke asked again.

The real Princess Arisbyan, eighteen this year, was far too small and frail in stature.

The girl knew this was her last chance.

But the foolish girl couldn’t lie.

[I… I carry the blood of the Krianet royal family…]

She couldn’t offer falsehood first to one who sought truth.

Hadn’t the half-sister she’d just met—the true princess—repeated it again and again before the Newton soldiers arrived?

Though only half, Krianet royal blood did flow within her.

[My name is…]

There was just one correction she had to make.

Even in death, she refused to die a lie.

Sharti desperately fought her trembling body and pressed her hands against the floor.

[Arisbyan is…] [Indeed.]

Before Sharti could summon courage once more against the fear of death, the imperial Grand Duke cut her off.

His voice rang through the blood-soaked palace, cold and final, as if his business were done.

[Then let us grant the Krianet royal family its final honor. Begin.]

Imperial soldiers answered loudly and immediately brought torches.

[W-wait…!]

The moment Sharti belatedly raised her head, soldiers hurled torches throughout the palace.

Whoosh—! Gardens, furniture, palace walls, carpets—everything burst into flames.

[Your Grace. His Imperial Majesty commanded us to bring the heads of the Krianet royals.]

At the voice echoing through the fire, Sharti flinched and curled up again.

Thus, the Grand Duke’s gaze fell once more upon her hunched back.

[Wouldn’t it be a finer trophy for a defeated nation if they turned to ash with their palace, rather than presenting severed heads?]

Creeeak—! Boom—!

“…Ah.”

The phantom sound of imperial soldiers sealing every exit merged with the real-world crash of collapsing palace walls slamming into the gates.

The inferno flickered right before Sharti’s eyes.

Hot tears streamed down her parched cheeks.

“I’m not—I’m cough! cough, cough…!”

I’m not Princess Arisbyan.

“I’m Sharti… Sharti…”

I was merely the king’s illegitimate daughter—the half-princess left behind by the real Princess Arisbyan to play her double for a single day.

Her cracked voice gnawed at her throat.

Kaboom—!!

“…Agh!!”

Her leg was crushed beneath a falling pillar.

The chains binding her ankles snapped—but scorching flames instantly wrapped around her leg.

“Save… huhh…”

She couldn’t breathe. Thick, acrid smoke choked her delicate airway.

“Aaah…!!”

Her scream tore her throat apart.

The inferno finally seized even her hands.

Sharti’s strength drained away as she thought of her half-sister.

[Sharti Krianet. Ah, my dear half-sister. Why did you have to catch my eye?]

She had been truly beautiful.

That noble princess, praised by all, was her half-sister.

[Don’t resent me too much for driving you to your death. I merely granted my pitiful half-sister the chance to live as a noble princess.]

“Kgh, kgh, khack…!”

She had been her first-ever family.

Worse than strangers.

[Your worthless life shall save mine—making today the most precious day of your existence.]

From the moment she awoke, kidnapped and dragged here without understanding why, she’d lost her sanity.

The soothing voice had been utterly chilling.

Those who wished to save the princess had unanimously forced her into this choice.

[Now, answer me, my other half.]

The terror of a true ruler seeped into her tender skin, freezing her in place.

“Sa-save… please… save me…”

Her vision blurred.

Everything in her fading sight turned red.

Was the inferno devouring even her consciousness?

“…Ah… …ah…”

But perhaps it was alright to sleep like this.

Hadn’t her life always been ordinary, unremarkable days repeating endlessly? Struggling for money, suffering hunger and cold day after day.

‘No one’s waiting for me anyway.’

She briefly recalled the grandmother she’d recently met—but only for an instant.

Her skin burned. The searing flames kept jolting her fading mind awake.

‘…Still…’

Still, she didn’t want it to end like this.

She’d committed no crime—yet imprisoned, chained, and condemned to die as a criminal.

She didn’t want to vanish alongside this unfamiliar palace she’d only just entered.

“I… I am…”

Sharti’s lips trembled.

Her vision flickered between clarity and haze.

The last thing she saw was the collapsing palace ceiling.

Kaboom—! Thud—!

The once-beautiful platinum palace burned fiercely until dawn’s end, consumed alongside the duty borne by Krianet’s princess.

Thus, the Kingdom of Krianet—once lauded for its storied history—fell as a defeated nation and closed its chapter in history.

[This is the timeline separator]

Five years.

The time it took for the Grand Empire of Newton, having started with the Kingdom of Krianet, to wage massive wars and expand its surrounding territories.

The imperial capital buzzed daily with festive excitement—news had spread that the hero who led Newton to victory would soon return. Crowds flooded the capital to witness his homecoming ceremony.

“Nothing but homecoming reports for days now.”

“Right? The ceremony’s not even until tomorrow.”

Thanks to extensive publicity, even remote mountain villages far from the capital heard the news.

The celebrated hero was Grand Duke Leodert Gwendhill of the Newton Empire.

The imperial citizens both praised and feared him.

—Did you hear? They say Grand Duke Gwendhill is a Swordmaster.

—That’s not all! They say magic doesn’t work on him either.

With unmatched strength and an invulnerable constitution, Grand Duke Gwendhill had no weaknesses—surely why he’d led countless wars to victory.

“Celebrating the return of that bloodthirsty War Demon? Ugh, tsk!”

Even today, the small mountain village stirred with gossip.

“……”

One person quietly slipped out of the shop, avoiding the noisy crowd.

A woman, her face hidden beneath a hooded robe.

Jingle—. The shop was too crowded again—another failed purchase today.

‘Whew…’

Rubbing her stinging throat, the woman glanced warily around.

Crimson eyes briefly visible beneath the hood—and wheat-colored hair hidden within.

It was Sharti, who should have perished with the Krianet palace.