This Life, I Will Save The Duke (20 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 3
“Welcome, Princess Ariel.”
Ludvian, tall and well-built, sat cross-legged on the sofa. His long red hair and red eyes, contrasting against his fair skin, were mesmerizingly beautiful. His relaxed expression even appeared languid.
How many had lived hellish lives, enchanted by that very appearance? Even now, maids crowded outside the door just to catch a glimpse of Ludvian. Ariel spoke to the maid who had brought the tea.
“Please wait outside for a moment.”
Their conversation would not be an ordinary one, so she had to send everyone away. Soon, only the two of them remained in the audience chamber.
All the way here, she had been thinking. If she truly had to cultivate the demon realm flower as he claimed, there was something she needed to extract from him. For that purpose, she had already instructed Anna beforehand before entering.
“Have you given it some thought since then?”
Ludvian asked with a smile.
“Do human lives seem trivial to you?”
Though he met Ariel’s fierce glare with an easy grin, inwardly he was quite startled—he hadn’t expected her to instantly discern that he was the one who had cast the curse.
“What do you mean by that?”
“…”
A self-deprecating smile escaped Ariel’s lips as she stared blankly at him. These were unnecessary deaths caused by her. She loathed him for pursuing his goals without any regard for means or methods. Seeing Ariel glare at him coldly in silence, Ludvian finally wiped the smile from his face.
“It would have been better if you’d listened to me from the start.”
He had finally revealed his true intentions.
“So your talk about the continent’s safety was all a lie, wasn’t it? Someone who treats human lives so lightly couldn’t possibly hold such noble ideals.”
“It’s merely sacrifice for a greater cause. If we can save humanity as a whole, a few lives mean nothing.”
His repulsive lies drew an involuntary scoff from her. Everything he did was solely to become the Demon King and dominate humankind. Of course he’d say that. But she had already made up her mind before even entering the room, so all she needed to do now was play along with his tune and execute her plan.
“I’ll cultivate the flower. But shouldn’t I receive something in return as well? That’s necessary for this deal to proceed smoothly.”
Ludvian let out a short laugh at Ariel’s boldness in proposing terms.
“Tell me what you want.”
As Ariel pretended to ponder while watching him, Anna, who had been listening intently outside, hurried in and glanced nervously at Ludvian before moving her lips.
“Anna, I’m speaking with a guest right now—come back later.”
“It’s just… this is news Princess Ariel has been desperately waiting for.”
She had to perform perfectly from this moment onward. Slowly lifting her head, Ariel looked at Anna.
“What news?”
When Anna glanced once more at Ludvian, Ariel spoke.
“It’s fine. Go ahead and tell me.”
“There’s a rumor that a dragon scale has appeared at the auction house.”
What Ariel truly sought from Ludvian was a dragon egg. He had no idea it could hatch—only because in her previous life, it had taken Ariel a long time of pouring her healing power into it before it finally hatched.
The dragon egg was a crucial part of the grand plan to repel the demons. Thus, she had ordered Anna to leak the kingdom’s dragon scale into the auction and mention it—to let Ludvian know of her interest in dragons.
“Really? Look into it further for me.”
After Anna left following her reply, Ludvian quietly spoke again.
“Are you interested in dragons?”
He asked, stroking his chin with long fingers.
“Yes. So, what can you offer me?”
Instead of stating her desire outright, she countered his open-ended question with another.
“Are you perhaps interested in a dragon egg as well?”
He had taken the bait.
“A dragon egg? That’s impossible—dragons vanished a thousand years ago. There’s no way one would still exist.”
Ariel bit down on the soft flesh inside her cheek to suppress the smile threatening to rise. Only then could she ask him nonchalantly.
“I have a petrified dragon egg that’s useless to me and merely taking up space.”
“Oh. How fascinating—that something like that still exists…”
Trailing off, Ariel lifted her teacup, took a sip, and met his red eyes. He began speaking again.
“At first, I kept it hoping it might hatch, but it never changed at all. If you find it desirable as part of our deal, I could give it to you.”
Ariel slowly sipped her tea again, remaining silent until her cup was empty. Then, with a soft sigh, she reluctantly spoke.
“Then I’ll cultivate one of the seeds you mentioned earlier.”
“One?”
At the incredulous tone in his voice, the corners of Ariel’s lips twitched upward slightly. Yet her gaze remained icy cold.
“One egg for one seed. That’s only fair. Your egg is merely a decoration, yet I’ll have to spend all the time you specified nurturing your plant. Now that I think about it, this deal seems rather disadvantageous for me.”
Ludvian’s eyes widened at Ariel’s words. After staring at her silently for a long moment, he let out a quiet chuckle.
“I actually have two eggs. I’ll give you both.”
“Very well. And please promise me you won’t recklessly take human lives anymore.”
Ariel’s golden eyes stared directly at him—her acceptance also carried an unspoken warning that she wouldn’t stand by if he harmed anyone again.
“As long as the princess keeps her promise with me.”
Ariel gave a brief nod and rose to her feet.
“Understood. Then I’ll take my leave.”
Not wishing to stay in his presence any longer, she turned to leave first.
“Wait.”
Ludvian stood and quickly approached her from behind. Instinctively, her body trembled, and she swallowed hard. Clenching her fists tightly, she barely managed to steady her quickening breath.
“I’ll come again tomorrow. Though I hope it won’t come to this—if you break our deal, Princess, an even greater curse may befall you. So please keep your promise.”
Bowing slightly, Ludvian whispered a threatening message into her ear in a gentle tone. Goosebumps prickled her nape, and the hair on her head stood on end. She held her breath, waiting for him to leave—but he didn’t move.
Ludvian looked down silently at the princess who, despite being clearly frightened, stood boldly before him without yielding a single word. A mere human woman had managed to extract a dragon egg from him. Though he disliked the feeling of being manipulated by her, he also found it somewhat amusing.
She was a novel toy gifted to him in his tedious, monotonous life.
He grasped a lock of Ariel’s silver hair in his hand. She flinched and tried to pull away, but the captured strands kept her from escaping.
“What are you doing? Let go of me.”
Ludvian had changed somehow. In her past life, he hadn’t acted like this from the beginning. Then again, she should have anticipated everything would change once she refused to cultivate the flower. From behind her, he let out another soft chuckle, and the tugging on her hair ceased.
“See you tomorrow, Ariel.”
As soon as he left the audience chamber, Ariel’s legs gave out, and she sank to the floor where she stood. She had to reach Kaius as soon as possible—Kaius von Elbaltan, the one person Ludvian truly feared.
To his side.
***
True to his word, Ludvian returned the very next day with the dragon eggs and the seed pouch, and a month had passed since then. During that time, he visited once a week to check whether the flowers had bloomed.
Although she was forced to cultivate the flowers just as in her previous life, there was one key difference.
Thanks to her past experience, Ariel knew the characteristics of both flowers extremely well. Lylas was a small flowering shrub, while Zaphros grew into a massive tree too thick and tall for her to wrap her arms around. Using this knowledge, she managed to deceive Ludvian for the first while.
To avoid suspicion, she made Lylas bloom within a week. It didn’t matter anyway—just one flower alone couldn’t achieve anything. When he came for his first visit after handing over the seeds and saw the blooming flower, he left in very good spirits. But when another week, and then another, passed without Zaphros blooming, he quietly warned her again.
At this rate, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if another curse fell upon the royal palace.
But Ariel managed to persuade him.
[Using my abilities drains my life force, so pushing any faster would be too much for me.]Hearing this, Ludvian left with clear displeasure—but silently, and no curse had come since. In truth, her life force could be replenished instantly with water, but Ludvian didn’t need to know that.
Knowing that further delay would only raise more suspicion, she finally let Zaphros bloom—over a month later than in her previous life. Even this slight delay would hopefully postpone Kaius’s poisoning and, consequently, the monster attacks that followed.
Just as Ariel was about to leave the greenhouse after replenishing her life force in the pool, she heard Anna’s voice.
“I’ll inform Princess Ariel. Please wait a moment.”
Because she was cultivating the demon realm flowers, the greenhouse was strictly off-limits to everyone except Ariel.
Ludvian had come. He usually waited in the audience chamber, but this time he came directly to the greenhouse—a clear sign of his urgency.
His trial to become the Demon King—specifically, the trial to kill Kaius—had a two-year time limit. She knew this from overhearing his conversations with his subordinates in her past life when he had become Demon King and humanity fell under demonic rule. Over a month had already passed, so naturally he was growing impatient. Ariel let out a faint scoff and spoke.
“Anna, let him in.”
As soon as he entered the greenhouse, he went straight to where Zaphros stood. After circling the tree once and confirming the white blossoms, he began chuckling with evident delight. Ariel glared at him coldly, but as he turned toward her, she barely managed to form a polite smile.
“Ariel, well done.”
“I merely did what needed to be done.”
As Ludvian approached, Ariel lifted her chin proudly to face him.
“By the way, your hair color seems a bit different. Now that I look closely, your eye color has changed too.”
From this point on, in preparation for meeting Kaius, Ariel had started wearing an artifact that subtly altered her hair and eye color—to gain Kaius’s favor.
“Does that matter? You’ve verified the flower—now please leave.”
Once she started extracting Zaphros oil, she intended to slip some into his tea every time he visited. It wouldn’t affect him as strongly as it did Kaius, but on the days he drank the tea, he too would become a target for monster attacks. He might find it strange, but he wouldn’t be able to question her—since he himself had claimed the flower was dangerous only to demons.
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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Chapter Comments (11)
Wow, I’m surprised by how much smarter Ariel is than I expected. And that she remembers so many things from her past life. It’s so refreshing to see how she operates and sets her own foundations to get everything she wants.
I love Kaius; not only did he kick the Emperor to the curb, but he even called off the engagement. I hope Ariel does everything she can to win him over.
Kaius finally made his appearance! Oh, my heart. This man won’t give in even when he’s injured hahahaha there he was, bleeding out, and on top of that, refusing to let Ariel heal him. But her too… she could have walked in like a normal person instead of a spy out to kill him. Oh well, it is what it is.
I hope she manages to heal him and, that way, convinces him that she’s the best wife he’ll ever have.I’m surprised that she changes her appearance. I still don’t quite understand why she does something like that and why Kaius shouldn’t see it. She’s supposed to want to marry him, so ideally, he should know what her skills are and what she looks like. I guess it will be explained later on.
And I hope she manages to get rid of Ludvian. If she succeeds in marrying the duke, there will be nothing stopping her from saving him.
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Rahzel Everlasting
I was surprised that Ariel gave in at this point. I mean, I love her negotiation because if she managed to make the dragon hatch in her past life, this time with two eggs, she has double the chance of making it happen. But I didn’t expect her to go that far hahaha.
And Kaius is about to appear! I’m so excited for him to hit the scene, because I feel like getting to him is going to be way harder than negotiating with Ludvian.