chapter 9
She had no intention of ever accepting him as a son—not even the slightest bit. She looked at him with contempt, as if he were the filthiest thing in the world, and constantly doubted and watched him with suspicion. She was always waiting for a chance to send him back out of the imperial palace.
Even the decision to have him granted a ducal title and the borderlands as his duchy, in recognition of his military achievements in the war, was the Empress’s petty scheme. She wanted to clearly draw a line between herself and the imperial family, so that he would never dare covet her sons’ positions.
The reason he silently accepted this marriage was because it would be the last time. He endured the tyranny of that woman who called herself his mother, and he kept his promise to the Empress Dowager.
Ricardo walked to the window and looked down toward the room where the woman was staying.
In any case, she was nothing more than a puppet to be used and discarded by the Empress, and he had no intention of recognizing her as his wife.
Just thinking about the woman who must have rushed all the way to the capital dreaming of becoming a duchess made him feel disgusted.
She was someone who willingly accepted the role of a fake duchess. So she would likely endure any kind of marriage.
His eyes grew cold.
Knock, knock.
At the sound of knocking, he turned his head. It was the butler, Ian, and several servants.
“Your Grace. Someone has arrived from the Imperial Palace.”
Ricardo changed into the military uniform brought by the servants and read the letter delivered by Ian.
It was an order to enter the palace with Stella Enrio and have an audience with His Imperial Majesty.
Inside the carriage heading to the imperial palace.
I stared out the window at Ricardo, who was riding a horse beside the carriage.
Seeing his large back sitting upright in his uniform felt completely different from when I had met him at dawn.
‘So the male lead really is the male lead.’
Remembering how I had met him alone at dawn made everything feel unreal, strangely unsettling. My heart even gave an odd jolt.
‘He’s the one who will kill me… it makes sense I’m nervous.’
I shook my head, trying to erase the memory.
‘More importantly, I hope nothing happens at the palace.’
Since we had been ordered to enter the imperial palace together, we would be meeting the entire imperial family today—and the next step would likely be the wedding. Without realizing it, I tightened my grip on the curtain.
At that moment, Molly, sitting across from me, muttered.
“Why on earth did Lady Kayla run away from a man like that? I just don’t understand.”
She, too, had been glancing at Ricardo’s back through the open window.
“They said he’s a bloodthirsty demon… but those rumors were all lies.”
Those ominous rumors about Ricardo had spread everywhere, even to small border villages. Some came from enemy forces, but others had been maliciously fabricated by the Empress’s faction. To make the citizens fear him like a demon, they had to suppress any glorification of his heroic deeds.
“Hmph. Thanks to that, I’ve hit the jackpot. If a man like that is your husband, I wouldn’t mind dying after the wedding night.”
Molly sneered and shot me a jealous look.
“But I heard something strange earlier.”
A sly light flashed in her eyes as she looked at me.
“Something strange?”
She giggled, covering her mouth, then shook her head as if I were pitiful.
“I’m talking about Duke Zenkishi. They say there’s someone else who will become his real wife. Apparently, everyone in the ducal household already recognizes that woman as the future duchess. They say she’s from an incredibly prestigious family.”
At her words, a woman surfaced in my mind.
Jerena Guineiro—the heroine of the original story, and the duke’s true lover.
‘Now that I think about it, she even appeared in my dream.’
I vaguely recalled the scene where, as Kayla was being cast out by the duke, that woman looked on from behind with sorrow.
Molly continued her taunting.
“They say no one in the empire can compare to her beauty. I wonder if a rural maid like you could even stand next to her. You should at least not embarrass yourself by bowing out of habit like some servant.”
She looked thoroughly amused, her eyes full of mockery.
What she said about Jerena wasn’t entirely wrong, but I hated the way she laughed at me with pity.
“Maybe you should worry about your own position—since you’re only here to serve a rural maid.”
I shot back, and her eyes instantly flared with anger.
“If I get kicked out of the manor, you’ll end up worse than a stray dog!”
“You…!”
Seeing her trembling with rage made a strange sense of satisfaction rise in me.
“I might be cast out, but I’m still a noble—and a former duchess. You, on the other hand, would have nowhere to go. So think carefully about who you should be serving if you don’t want to be discarded.”
I said coldly, then turned my gaze back to Ricardo.
Just as Molly said, there was a kind, beautiful true lover beside him. An angel who had stayed by his side since his childhood as a slave. Perfect in appearance, personality, and even family background—so perfect she felt unreal.
Jerena Guineiro, who was too perfect to even emotionally relate to, despite being the heroine.
‘Of course Jerena must have married Ricardo and become Empress. That must have been the ending.’
After the scene where Kayla and Stella were exiled to a monastery and met their deaths, I had lost interest and closed the book. I hadn’t even read the ending, but I didn’t expect any twist.
As that death scene resurfaced in my mind, I suddenly wanted to smack the back of Ricardo’s head.
‘Was it really necessary to kill the ex-wife you already cast aside?! And why kill an innocent maid too?!’
He said he would spare their lives—but his merciless cruelty made my teeth grind.
As I glared at the back of his head, Ricardo suddenly turned around.
“Gasp!”
Startled, I quickly pulled away from the window and drew the curtain shut.
‘Does he have eyes in the back of his head?’
I exhaled shakily, calming my racing heart.
Soon after, the carriage arrived at the imperial palace. More people than before were waiting for us.
We passed through several layers of gates guarded by soldiers before entering a grand hall. On the marble dais stood the Emperor and Empress wearing crowns, along with people who seemed to be their sons and daughters-in-law.
“You have achieved great merit once again, Your Grace the Duke.”
As we approached the dais, ministers greeted Ricardo.
As the Emperor’s second son and the commander who always led the front lines in war, he was someone they could not treat lightly. Only the Empress on the dais looked at him with clear displeasure.
It seemed rumors about the woman he would marry had already spread. The ministers exchanged glances, then awkwardly nodded toward me in greeting. As high-ranking nobles, their attitude toward a lowborn lady of a modest house was clearly uncomfortable.
After walking along the red carpet for a long while, we finally reached the front of the dais.
Although Ricardo carried imperial blood, to those on the dais he seemed only half-royal. Their gazes toward him were cold—less like family, more like strangers.
“I have returned after completing my orders, Your Majesty.”
Ricardo addressed his father like a subject, not a son.
“I’m glad you returned safely. You are not injured anywhere, are you?”
The Emperor, with wavy dark brown hair and a mustache, asked about his son with the dignity of a father.
“I am fine. Thank you for your concern.”
Ricardo’s answer was equally dry and formal.
The Emperor I saw in person matched almost exactly the image I had imagined from the original story. He looked dignified and mature, but somehow lacked firm authority—perhaps because I had seen him so often being manipulated by the Empress that my perception was already biased.
“Good work, brother.”
The frail-looking older brother added a few words.
Even after speaking briefly, he coughed weakly. His face was dark under the eyes, and he looked seriously ill—the Crown Prince.
‘He looks really bad.’
In the original story, he was destined to die soon from chronic illness. Among the imperial family, he was the most sane one—and yet he would die early. It felt strangely unfortunate.
His coughing worsened, and I frowned slightly with concern. It sounded like he might cough up blood any moment. The atmosphere grew tense as others glanced at each other uneasily.
‘Now I understand why the Empress fears Ricardo.’
With the Crown Prince so weak, it was obvious there would be a bloody power struggle between the second prince Ricardo and the third prince over succession. The Empress feared Ricardo would reveal his hidden claws.
‘And in the end, her instincts were right.’
Because after the Crown Prince died, Ricardo began to openly reveal his ambition.