This Life, I Will Save The Duke - Chapter 1

“Lock her up in the western tower.”

Ludvian ordered to kill the baby dragon hatched by Ariel and imprison her.

“You murderer!”

Ludvian chuckled at Ariel’s enraged scream. The dragon had to be killed as it was the greatest enemy of the demon race.

“I know everything. Did you think I didn’t know you caused the death of my parents and my husband? You murderer!”

Ariel, her arms restrained by demon knights, glared fiercely at him. She had lost everything for trusting and loving him.

Her parents. Anna. Her husband…

“Let go! Let me go! Just kill me instead! Kill me!”

Ludvian showed no particular reaction to Ariel’s enraged state. After staring at her silently for a while, he turned away.

“We’ll talk after I return from the demon realm.”

But his words did not come to pass. The day after he left, angry people stormed the western tower, and it was set ablaze by them. Ariel was almost grateful to whoever had leaked the information. If she were to die while he was away, it would be a satisfying revenge in its own way. At least it would go against his wishes.

“Kill the witch!”

“She’s the enemy who killed Duke Elbartan!”

“She’s the wench who killed her own husband!”

“She’s the enemy of the Mazeras continent. Burn her at the stake!”

Ariel von Letiana.

The princess of Letiana with healing powers and the ability to grow plants, and the wife of ‘Duke Kaius von Elbartan’, was the reason the Mazeras continent fell under demon rule.

Four years ago, humans turned the tide and won the long war against the demon realm. The decisive factor was capturing the demon prince who was the commander-in-chief, and Kaius was the one who accomplished this. Because of this, he became a target for elimination by the demon race, but due to the ceasefire agreement, the demons could not directly harm humans.

It was around that time when Ludvian came to find Ariel. It was before her marriage to Kaius, and Ludvian, who came as a prophet, was beautiful and kind.

Deceived by his prophecy, Ariel used her growth ability to bloom flowers from the demon realm. She didn’t know those flowers would cause the death of Kaius, who would become her husband.

Two years after Ariel started blooming the flowers, which was half a year after her marriage, her husband died. Simultaneously with Kaius’s death, the demon realm launched a major invasion, and the Mazeras continent, having lost its guardian, crumbled helplessly.

Tears began to well up in Ariel’s eyes, filled with resentment and bitterness. In her blurred vision, the image of her husband, Kaius, appeared. If only he hadn’t died, everything would have been different.

“Kaius… If I were given another life, I would protect you with my very life.”

As the hot flames surged, threatening to engulf Ariel, she closed her eyes and took a step towards them. Until her body burned and collapsed, Ariel stood straight, facing her death.

“I greet you, Princess.”

A pleasant baritone voice rang in her ears. She opened her eyes expecting terrible pain, but felt nothing. As Ariel slowly blinked, her gaze fell upon Ludvian. Hadn’t he left to deal with matters in the demon realm? When did he return? Did he come back to save me?

I don’t want to live. Let me die. I just want to go see my parents…

She violently shook off Ludvian’s hand that was holding hers in front of her. Not wanting to see him, Ariel closed her eyes again, and then she heard a voice she had missed so much.

“What’s wrong, Ariel?”

At her mother’s voice, Ariel’s eyes opened wide and her head slowly turned. There stood her mother and father. Her gaze returned to Ludvian and then back to her parents.

What’s going on here? Hurriedly looking around, she realized this wasn’t the western tower of Klardeus Empire where she had died. This was the familiar audience chamber of the Letiana royal palace.

“Ariel, what’s the matter?”

Her father’s voice was real too.

If she were dead, Ludvian shouldn’t be here, and if she were alive, her parents couldn’t be here. Looking down at herself, she was wearing a dress of Letiana, not the imperial dress she had worn when she died.

“Just… Just a moment.”

Ariel ran out of the audience chamber and searched for a mirror to check her appearance. There were no traces of being burned in the reflection. The neatly arranged silver hair, the shining golden eyes watching that appearance, it was clearly herself. A slightly younger version of herself.

“This can’t be.”

What on earth is going on? Her heart raced and her breathing quickened. Running back out of the room and on her way to the audience chamber, Anna came rushing.

“Lady Ariel, is something wrong?”

It was Anna, Ariel’s maid who had died.

“Anna?”

“Yes, Lady Ariel. Did something happen in the audience chamber?”

“Ah…”

It was the real Anna. Running straight into the audience chamber and seeing her parents, tears welled up uncontrollably. In this unbelievable reality where everyone was alive, her legs gave out and she sat down, shedding endless tears.

“Ariel, did something happen?”

Ariel slowly shook her head towards her approaching mother and father.

“No. No. It’s nothing.”

Her mother wiped away her tears and gently embraced Ariel.

“Mo… Mother. I missed you so much.”

“Don’t cry, Ariel. Lord Beloas, I’m truly sorry. Could you please come back another time?”

Her mind was in a daze. She didn’t know exactly what had happened, but she had returned to the past. Today must be the day Ludvian first visited the royal palace. The day he passed on the seeds of misfortune to her, spouting nonsense about being a prophet.

That very day.

At the thought of Ludvian, her seemingly unstoppable tears gradually subsided, and Ariel’s eyes became clear and cold.

It was unbelievable, but this was a chance to correct the wrong past. Ariel stood up and calmed her excited heart. She wiped away her tears, gave a bright smile to her mother and father, and then turned towards Ludvian.

Facing him, the memory of her hellish experiences flashed before her eyes, taking her breath away.

Demon, the one who used me to become the Demon King.

The one who caused the death of everyone close to me and plunged the human world into darkness.

Ludvian, this time things won’t go your way. Because I will stop you.

“I am Ludvian Beloas. Others call me the Prophet of Passion.”

Ariel let out a silent laugh at his words. Prophecy? You like prophecies, don’t you? You demon, this time I’m the prophet.

“I am Ariel von Letiana. Please forget about my unseemly behavior just now. I had a terribly horrific nightmare, and it suddenly came to mind.”

Her words towards Ludvian came out cold without her realizing it.

She felt tense as his red eyes seemed to pierce through her, but he was a demon, not a god. So he wouldn’t know about her regression.

“Ludvian said he had something important to tell you, so I called you. But if you’re not feeling up to it now, I can ask him to come back another time.”

Her father spoke with a voice full of concern.

“I’m alright now, Father.”

Even if she sent Ludvian away today, he would surely come back. His goal was to claim the empty seat of the Demon King. Ariel’s gaze, full of love as she looked at her father, turned towards Ludvian.

“What brings you here to see me?”

“The safety of the Mazeras continent depends on you, Princess Ariel.”

Ludvian’s gaze passed over the king and queen before settling on Ariel.

“In the future I’ve seen, a great calamity will begin in the human world in two years. I saw a devastating scene where many humans die and become slaves to the demon race. The only way to prevent this is with these seeds, but they cannot grow on their own. That is something only you can do, Princess, the only one in the continent with the growth ability.”

Unlike her healing power, Ariel’s growth ability was no secret. Finishing his words, Ludvian showed her two pouches of seeds.

Flowers of the demon realm. Lilas and Zaparos.

Flowers Ariel knew all too well.

It was outrageous. The demon who would bring about that calamity was none other than Ludvian himself. In the past, she hadn’t even doubted these words. It was less than a year after the war with the demon realm had ended, and his words seemed very plausible at first glance. Even now, if she didn’t know the future, she would have no choice but to be deceived.

But the Ariel now was not the naive princess from back then.

“Ah… If that future is true, it’s indeed a serious matter. Of course I should help if I can be of assistance in such an important task.”

Ludvian smiled charmingly at her favorable response. In the past, she would have been captivated by that smile, but this time was different.

“I’m glad you understand.”

Thinking Ariel had already fallen for it, Ludvian held out the seeds and subtly moved a bit closer. It irked her that he was still on the dais, the place for royalty, even though the greetings were over.

“These seeds…”

As he began to explain about the seeds in earnest, Ariel quietly shook her head. Seeing this, he stopped speaking and looked at her quizzically.

“I apologize if I’ve caused a misunderstanding. I meant that if the future you’ve seen is true, and if I can understand it, then I would do my best to help.”

At Ariel’s words, the smile gradually faded from Ludvian’s face, and conversely, a gentle smile bloomed on Ariel’s face. Ludvian raised his eyebrows at this sight. Looking into his red eyes, she was reminded of a book that had been taken and burned by Ludvian not long ago in her past life.

The Demon Realm Plant Guide. In that very book, she had seen that there was a plant that could neutralize the poison of Zaparos. Although she hadn’t been able to confirm the exact plant, if she could just find that book, she could save Kaius and prevent Ludvian from becoming the Demon King.

But that alone wouldn’t satisfy her anger. She would bring him down and stain those arrogant red eyes with humiliation and misery.

You can look forward to it, Ludvian.

“Lord Beloas, would you please step down from the dais now? The visitor’s place is down there.”

As Ariel pointed to the area below the dais with a smile and spoke in a polite tone, Ludvian’s face instantly hardened.