When the Cruel Dark Lord Tenderly Seduces (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 10
Early in the morning, Duke Hart, who had been working in his study, looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps.
There stood Marquess Clint, wearing a refreshing smile.
“You’re already working?”
“Yeah.”
Duke Hart answered absentmindedly, skimming through some documents.
Marquess Clint walked over and snatched the paper from Duke Hart’s hand.
“You’re too cold. At least pretend to welcome a guest.”
“I never invited a guest like you.”
Duke Hart swiftly took back the document, placed it on the desk, and stood up.
“Speak. Why are you here?”
Despite the duke’s coldness, Marquess Clint remained unfazed.
“Miss Nellia started her first day of work yesterday, right?”
“So?”
“So? I came because I’m curious.”
Marquess Clint settled comfortably onto the sofa, and Duke Hart sat down opposite him.
“Why are you curious about Nellia?”
“She’s someone our Duke Hart himself has taken an interest in—of course I’m curious.”
Marquess Clint replied with a sly grin.
Seeing that expression, the duke frowned.
“I wasn’t talking to you.”
“But you’ve already said it.”
The marquess’s silver eyes sparkled with amusement.
“The events of that day.”
The duke harbored a secret he couldn’t reveal to anyone.
Only a handful of people knew about it—perhaps just those within the Hart household and Marquess Clint.
The secret, kept for so long, was both covert and perilous.
If discovered, the admiration others held for him would instantly turn to revulsion.
The secret was a curse, deeply hidden behind the exalted status of House Hart.
This curse affected only the firstborn son of the Hart ducal line, transforming him into a lowly beast for a set period each day.
Only a special medicine, painstakingly developed over many years, allowed him to retain his human form.
If he skipped even a single dose, his transformation was inevitable.
Yet, the duke himself felt indifferent toward this curse.
Perhaps the constant warnings from his mother since childhood had bred resentment instead of caution—or perhaps his once-worried heart had simply worn thin from overuse.
Thus, the duke never fretted over the possibility of being seen in his cursed form.
One day, he deliberately skipped his usual dose of medicine.
Marquess Clint assumed it was simply because the duke had forgotten to take his medicine that day, leading him to transform into a snake in the middle of the city—but in truth, it had been a sudden pang of doubt.
Without this tiny pill, the Duke Hart, whom everyone admired, would vanish.
The creature he turned into symbolized cunning and malice.
If people learned that a man could transform into such a beast, they would not only avoid him but also regard him with contempt.
Realizing that everyone would surely flee in horror if they knew the truth, he had tossed aside his reliance on the medicine and plunged recklessly into an obvious gamble.
It was, admittedly, a thoroughly impulsive act.
The outcome was exactly as he’d expected.
Without the medicine, his form changed inside the carriage.
Though no one witnessed his transformation, the mere presence of a beast wandering through the city center sent people screaming.
“Aaaaaah!”
At the shrill, ear-splitting shriek, Duke Hart hurried to escape the scene.
But someone caught hold of him first.
“It’s fine! I’ve got it!”
In an instant, he was lifted up and placed somewhere.
The thick fabric surrounding him felt like a sack.
The man who’d grabbed him quickly sealed the sack shut. Darkness enveloped his vision.
‘Trapped without a way out.’
Then, a cautious voice asked,
“What’s inside?”
A woman’s worried tone pierced clearly through his ears.
“You’d best not concern yourself with it. It’s just superstition, but they say you’ll be cursed if you meet its gaze.”
The woman fell silent at the man’s firm reply.
Hearing this inside the sack, Duke Hart let out a bitter smile.
That was exactly how people saw him.
‘If you meet its eyes, you’ll be cursed.’
He himself was the one cursed—yet they spoke as if he’d place a curse on someone else.
“Why did a mountain-dwelling creature come all the way into the city? Anyway, I’ll handle this myself, so please don’t worry, my lady.”
The aftermath of his rebellion was significant.
He’d skipped his medicine on a fleeting whim of defiance, only to end up trapped in a sack, about to be abandoned.
Yet, he felt no real sense of urgency—his heart must have worn down long ago.
Amidst these exhausting, repetitive days, his emotions had gradually grown numb.
The man didn’t seem to be merely talking—he briskly carried the sack somewhere.
Then, with a sudden floating sensation, he was dropped.
Feeling dampness seep beneath him, he realized he’d landed in water.
He tried desperately to escape, but without hands or feet, opening the tightly sealed entrance was impossible.
‘I’ll sink soon.’
He knew he wouldn’t die from something like this. He’d never tried it, but he was certain.
After all, he wasn’t an ordinary human.
‘I’ll just feel a bit short of breath.’
The moment the duke resigned himself and stopped struggling, the sack he was in began slowly moving.
Soon, he heard someone sigh in relief.
“Thank goodness…”
It was the woman’s voice—the same one who’d earlier asked the man what was inside the sack.
He’d assumed she’d long since fled, so her presence here was unexpected.
Thanks to her, he’d narrowly avoided drowning.
He’d expected the woman to release him right then, but instead, she carried the sack quite a distance.
His body swayed with her steps.
The sack’s swaying ceased along with the sound of hooves—he must have been loaded onto a carriage.
“…….”
“…….”
He wondered what she was thinking right now.
She’d secretly followed the man, fished him out of the water, and was now taking him somewhere.
In truth, the farther they got from the city, the more troublesome things became.
Normally, his cursed form would revert to human after a set time.
Thus, being taken so far away only made returning to the mansion more difficult.
Of course, he himself had brought all this upon himself.
‘But… does she even know what I am right now?’
The duke hadn’t seen the woman’s face, so she likely hadn’t seen his either.
It was strange that she’d carry him around without even knowing what was inside the sack.
He wondered if she was simply the kind who felt soft-hearted toward animals—but he also knew that such sympathy usually went only to fluffy, furry creatures.
He was far from that.
If she realized the animal she was helping was actually him, she’d probably scream just like the young lady had earlier.
Despite his cynical thoughts, the duke found himself growing curious about the woman.
What had made her save him? Where was she taking him? What was she doing now?
He couldn’t tell if it was just his imagination, but it felt as if she was staring at him through the sack.
“Just wait a little longer—I’ll let you out soon. You absolutely can’t die.”
Her murmured words sounded oddly desperate.
‘What a strange woman.’
Inside the sack, the duke gazed toward where the woman might be.
After some time had passed—
The hoofbeats stopped, and the woman stepped down from the carriage, still holding the sack.
It was quiet around them. Given how long they’d been riding, they were probably on the outskirts of the capital.
She set the sack down on the ground.
Then, after some rustling as if she were doing something, the sack’s opening finally loosened.
Cold night air rushed inside.
“This might not be your original home, but I’m sure you’ll adjust well.”
The warmth in her voice from outside the sack was enough to momentarily forget the chill.
“Just promise me you’ll never come down to the city again.”
With those words, the sound of her footsteps faded away. The duke slowly emerged from the sack and watched her retreating figure.
Under the moonlight, he saw her back, her light brown hair fluttering in the wind.
For some reason, he couldn’t look away.
That day, after barely making it back to the mansion, Duke Hart couldn’t ignore the fluttering feeling in his chest, as if brushed by a spring breeze.
He assumed this unfamiliar sensation would fade with time.
Yet, day by day, the symptoms only intensified.
‘This might not be your original home, but I’m sure you’ll adjust well.’
At first, the woman’s voice replayed vividly in his mind.
Once, while bathing, the memory struck so clearly he’d frozen like a fool.
Next, he began quietly deducing things about her.
What was her name? What did she look like? Why had she been there that day?
No matter how hard he thought, he found no answers.
The third symptom was a tightness in his chest.
The more he wondered about her, the more questions arose—but he learned nothing new in return.
All he knew of her was her voice and her back.
Even her light brown hair was so ordinary it offered no real clue for finding her.
Frowning as he pondered, the duke realized how dangerous these thoughts had become.
‘What will you do if you find her?’
Was he really going to say, “Actually, I’m the wild animal you saved”?
With that thought, he tried to stop speculating about her.
Though he sometimes woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, consumed by curiosity about her, he had no desire to witness her horrified expression upon learning the truth.
Thus, the duke resolved to let her go.
Or rather, he tried to.
He attended a party after a long absence.
Duke Hart scanned the ballroom indifferently.
Perhaps because the imperial palace hadn’t hosted a party in ages, the venue was packed to capacity.
And, as expected, that also meant unwanted attention.
“Oh my, Duke Hart! Hello!”
“It’s been a while! You must have come specially for His Majesty the Emperor’s important announcement tonight!”
The duke found himself surrounded as if under siege by the crowd.
After forcing smiles and exchanging greetings for a while—
Someone caught his eye from across the room.
Though the woman with ordinary brown hair wasn’t striking in appearance, she immediately drew his gaze.
She turned her head this way and that, wandering through the ballroom.
The way she looked around, as if searching for something, was just like…
‘…a squirrel.’
Her petite frame and curly light brown hair made her seem even more so.
But it wasn’t just her squirrel-like appearance that held his attention.
The duke felt an odd sense of déjà vu from this stranger.
‘Have I ever seen someone like her before…?’
No matter how hard he tried to recall, her face didn’t surface in his memory.
Then why did she feel so familiar?
The duke stared at her. Their eyes met.
Whoosh!
Something felt off about the woman’s bluntly averted face.
Trying to ignore the strange feeling, the duke deliberately turned his gaze elsewhere.
Yet his eyes, escaping the control of his reason, kept drifting back to her.
After stealing glances at her several more times—
Duke Hart finally understood why she pulled his attention like a magnet.
‘The woman who saved me.’
Though her brown hair was common and her looks unremarkable, her curly hair and petite frame perfectly matched the vivid image etched in his memory.
Her quick, darting movements had reminded him so strongly of a squirrel that it had stuck in his mind.
Duke Hart believed hearing her voice would confirm it beyond doubt.
He took slow steps through the sea of nobles—only to find she’d vanished without a trace.
Like a mirage, the woman had disappeared completely.
The duke’s brow furrowed.
He wanted to find her.
He absolutely had to find her again and hear her voice—then he’d know for sure she was the one who’d saved him that day.
‘Where could she be?’
He scanned the densely packed ballroom.
One thing was now certain: her status. If she’d been invited to an imperial-hosted party, she was at least a noble living in the capital.
That alone meant finding her shouldn’t be difficult.
Among the capital’s nobility—look for a young lady with a small frame and brown hair.
He could find her within three days.
If he let her slip away now, he’d spare no expense or effort to track her down.
With that thought, the duke calmed his growing impatience.
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
_____
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