Chapter 1
Grand Duke of the North
Why, you know those kinds of stories, don’t you?
The kind where someone opens their eyes and finds themselves in another world.
There are plenty of stories where the protagonist ends up inside a novel they were reading, uses their knowledge of future events to make a fortune, and then falls in love with a handsome but cold northern grand duke who is endlessly warm only toward them.
Well, that was exactly the reality Yumi faced when she opened her eyes.
There were two problems.
The first was that she had fallen asleep before finishing the novel, so she had no idea how the story would unfold from the point where she left off.
The second problem was that the original owner of the body she had entered had practically been sold off in marriage to the Grand Duke of the North.
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that Selen—the woman whose body Yumi now occupied—was the heroine of the novel, so there was no danger of her dying.
As long as she ignored the fact that the novel was a dark, miserable story involving imprisonment and constant suffering, it wasn’t a bad position to be in.
Oh, right.
She nearly forgot the most important problem.
The timing of Yumi’s possession of Selen’s body.
It happened immediately after Selen’s wedding ceremony with the Grand Duke, when she had just returned to the bedroom.
[Day One]
After the wedding, Selen had changed into a comfortable chemise and was resting in a warm room.
Once all the maids had left and she was alone, she slowly walked over and stood before a mirror.
The unfamiliar face, the pale blonde hair flowing all the way to her waist, and the sky-blue eyes all felt strange.
As she studied her reflection, she suddenly realized that the appearance staring back at her looked remarkably similar to Selen, the heroine from the novel she had been reading the previous night.
It was an absurd thought.
But was any of this situation reasonable?
She had just removed what looked like a wedding dress with the help of maids, found herself in a bedroom she had never seen before, and was staring at a face that wasn’t hers.
Her mind was in such chaos that she couldn’t think straight.
Staggering over to the bed, she slipped beneath the blankets.
The soft bedding immediately brought a wave of exhaustion over her, and before she knew it, her eyes had closed.
How much time had passed?
The sudden sound of a door opening caused Selen’s eyes to snap open.
The room was pitch black.
She could sense someone entering the bedroom.
Even in the darkness, that person radiated an overwhelmingly dangerous presence.
Instinctively, she realized that this truly was the world of The Monstrous Grand Duke, the novel she had read.
The ridiculous thoughts she’d had before falling asleep seemed to be confirmed by that man’s very existence.
This wasn’t a dream.
After the wedding, he must have spent hours entertaining guests, only returning to the room after night had fallen.
The man stood silently by the door for a long while before finally beginning to move.
His footsteps produced a muffled sound as soft fabric was crushed beneath them.
The bedroom remained dark.
Only a faint sliver of light filtering through the curtains revealed the outline of a man.
Even at a glance, his height and broad build were enough to intimidate anyone.
Leaning against the headboard, Selen swallowed nervously and gripped the blanket tighter.
She strained her eyes, trying to make out his face, but she couldn’t see a thing.
The dim light had its limits.
At least he didn’t appear to be an actual beast covered in fur.
That much was a relief.
Her ideal type had always been a tall, broad-shouldered man.
Maybe they could get along after all.
But then she remembered how the novel had described his appearance.
One eye had lost its sight, the iris faded white.
The other glowed red like that of a demon.
His fierce gaze and crooked mouth made him look even more beastlike.
The descriptions throughout the novel referred to him as either a beast or an animal.
Forget whether he was handsome or ugly.
He was terrifying.
The original Selen had fainted the moment she first saw him.
Afterward, true to the role of a male lead in a dark tragedy, the Grand Duke had locked her away.
Not because of love.
This novel wasn’t particularly interested in reasons or logic.
While Selen was trying to imagine what the Grand Duke looked like, the Grand Duke himself—Varas Velias—was observing her reaction.
Darkness posed no obstacle to him.
He could clearly see the curiosity in her expression.
She looked like an innocent young girl who hadn’t even heard the rumors about him.
He had watched her from afar ever since she arrived a week before the wedding.
Yet somehow, the woman before him now felt completely different.
Compared to the bride who had gone through the ceremony as though attending her own funeral, her attitude had changed so drastically that he almost wondered whether someone had swapped brides.
Even in the darkness, her eyes diligently followed his every movement.
The way she clutched the blanket made her resemble a frightened rabbit.
Still, for a moment, he found himself hoping that perhaps they might get along.
But the hope quickly faded as he remembered his ruined eye, his scars, and his fearsome appearance.
Varas slowly walked to the window and closed the curtains completely, blocking out the remaining light.
“Go to sleep.”
He wondered whether his words had sounded too blunt.
A dry laugh nearly escaped him.
Before entering this room, he had never once thought about getting along with his future wife.
She was merely the illegitimate daughter of a crumbling baron’s family.
A woman who had barely been added to the family registry before being sold off for money.
Practically a commoner.
And all he needed was someone to bear him an heir.
Watching him close the curtains, Selen found the situation strange.
How exactly did the original heroine faint after seeing his face?
I can’t see anything at all.
“Go to sleep.”
His voice drifted through the darkness.
It seemed likely that nothing would happen on their wedding night.
Relieved, Selen cautiously lowered herself into bed.
Even so, her eyes remained fixed in the direction where she thought he might be.
She hoped for even the briefest glimpse of his face.
But until she finally fell asleep, that moment never came.
[Day Two]
Selen woke late and slowly sat up.
There was no sign that anyone had slept beside her.
Perhaps the Grand Duke had slept elsewhere.
After taking a short breath, she got out of bed and pulled open the curtains.
Light flooded the room.
And there, seated in a small chair by the window, was the massive figure of the Grand Duke.
The sudden sight of another person so close startled her badly.
Her shoulders jumped.
Now that the room was bright, their eyes met.
No matter how hard she tried not to stare, her gaze kept drifting to his left eye.
The iris was completely white, clearly blind.
A scar ran down from his eyebrow across that eye.
His expression was cold and unpleasant, making him difficult to approach.
The Grand Duke averted his gaze slightly and turned his head.
Seeing his stiff expression, Selen suddenly remembered what she was wearing.
A thin chemise—the sort one would wear on a wedding night.
Her face instantly turned red.
She spun around and awkwardly shuffled back toward the bed, worried that moving too quickly would expose her backside beneath the flimsy garment.
Diving under the blankets, she pulled them over her head.
Only after she heard the Grand Duke stand up and leave the room—and heard the door close behind him—did she cautiously peek back out.
Varas had watched her approach the window where he sat.
When she startled upon seeing him, he had thought,
Just as expected.
But he quickly realized he was wrong.
She hadn’t recoiled because of his appearance.
She had simply been surprised to find someone there.
Most people who saw Varas for the first time were so frightened they couldn’t even meet his eyes.
According to his subordinates, his naturally intimidating features and years spent on battlefields gave him an especially murderous aura.
The man she was expected to spend her life with was a rough northerner nicknamed the War Demon.
An one-eyed man.
He had assumed he would be fortunate if she didn’t faint.
Yet what he witnessed instead was completely unexpected.
The way she shyly turned around and hurried back beneath the blankets was almost cute.
The redness spreading across the back of her neck, and the way she repeatedly tugged down her skirt, created the absurd illusion that she viewed him as a man.
No.
Who would see him that way?
She was simply embarrassed to be dressed like that in front of another person.
Shaking his head to dispel the thought, Varas left to catch a chicken.
After confirming that the bedroom was empty, Selen hurriedly searched for proper clothes.
She managed to squeeze herself into a dress.
But there was a problem.
How was she supposed to tie the laces in the back by herself?
She was rummaging through the wardrobe for something easier to wear when the door suddenly opened.
Varas returned.
Selen quickly turned so that her back wouldn’t be visible.
Fortunately, he didn’t even glance in her direction.
Instead, he walked over to the bed, pulled out a leather pouch, and abruptly stripped away the blankets.
Then he overturned the pouch.
Its contents spilled onto the bedding.
Selen nearly screamed.
Blood.
There wasn’t much of it, but the red liquid was unmistakable.
And it carried the metallic smell of blood.
Clamping both hands over her mouth, Selen collapsed to the floor.
For a moment, she could only stare.
What was this?
Some kind of demonic ritual?
Surely it wasn’t human blood…
The droplets splattered across the bedding before soaking in looked like something from a horror film.
His calm expression and leisurely movements felt unreal, as though she were watching a movie projected on a screen.
Everything around her felt staged and artificial.
Only the sharp metallic scent invading her nose convinced her that the scene was real.
Varas glanced at her.
Then, as if nothing unusual had happened, he stripped away the bloodstained sheets and even removed the thick furs beneath them.
Afterward, he pulled a bell cord beside the bed and slowly approached her.
He extended a hand.
A moment later, she accepted it and allowed him to help her stand.
Even then, her legs continued trembling.
Varas quietly examined her.
The dress slipping repeatedly from her shoulders looked awkward.
Like someone studying a strange object, he observed her carefully before moving behind her.
There he found the untied laces hanging loose.
The exposed skin of her back looked pale and soft.
Could he really touch her clothing?
After a brief hesitation, he decided to help.
But as he reached out, his own hands caught his attention.
They were large and rough.
Covered in calluses and scars.
If hands like these touched such delicate skin…
Selen felt increasingly uncomfortable with Varas standing behind her.
For the first time, she understood what people meant when they said they could feel someone’s gaze.
It made her strangely itchy and restless.
Yumi had been a lifelong single woman.
Even at twenty-nine, she had never been in a relationship.
She had never been this physically close to a man in a private setting before.
Just hearing his breathing behind her was enough to make her uneasy.
Then—
Knock, knock.
A sound came from the door.
“It’s Anna.”
Varas looked back and forth between Selen’s exposed back and his own hand.
With no time left to think, he carefully tied the laces while making every effort not to touch her skin.
His eyes remained fixed on the knot as he replied,
“Come in.”
A middle-aged woman entered carrying breakfast.
Anna didn’t glance anywhere else.
She placed the food on a table by the window and collected the bedding Varas had removed.
Then she left.
The door closed once more.
The two of them were alone again.
Suddenly, a thought crossed Varas’s mind.
What if I simply locked that door?
His gaze fell upon the slender nape of her neck.
It looked pale.
And somehow, he thought it smelled pleasant.
