ETKAD 1

Chapter 1

“Ugh……”

Duke Dominic Linderto felt a pain as though someone were driving an awl straight through his head.

“Jeffrey. Bring me some water.”

His hoarse, rough voice called for his butler, but there was no answer.

Only then did he realize that he wasn’t in his room, but somewhere else.

Pressing down on his eyes, which refused to open, he slowly sat up. He found himself in a greenhouse filled with the chilly air of dawn.

He sat up on the long sofa and tried to remember what had happened the night before.

He hadn’t even drunk that much, yet somehow, for the first time in his life, he had gotten completely drunk.

‘It started after I drank the wine the count’s daughter gave me. That’s when I couldn’t control my body anymore.’

That was right. He had first felt something was wrong after drinking a glass of wine that Sylvia had poured for him.

He had felt as though his body were heating up. He drank glass after glass of cold water, but it didn’t help. The more he drank, the more maddening his thirst became.

“Duke, I think you’re quite drunk. Why don’t you go upstairs to my room and rest for a while?”

He could faintly hear Sylvia’s voice, accompanied by her hazy smile.

Her red lips moved slowly, as if tempting him, and because he had been so desperately thirsty, his gaze had been drawn to them as though they were an oasis in the middle of a desert.

“Duke. It’s all right. Put your arm around my shoulder.”

The moment Sylvia took hold of his arm, the count and countess called out to their daughter.

“Sylvia. His Highness the Crown Prince is looking for you.”

“Oh my! I didn’t realize Duke Linderto was here with our Sylvia.”

His body had been unbearably hot and his head dizzy, and all he could think about was getting outside the party.

“I’m leaving.”

“You can’t leave now! Duke!”

He had shaken off the hand desperately trying to hold him back and rushed outside without thinking.

All he could think about was getting some cold air before his body became even stranger.

And so, following the faint light, he had eventually wandered all the way to this greenhouse.

“Sylvia definitely tampered with the alcohol.”

Then fragments of various scenes began surfacing in his mind, one after another.

The innocent, pale-green eyes he had encountered in the greenhouse, and the sensation of cool, refreshing lips.

The faint moan that escaped when he traced the line of her lips and slipped inside, following her breath.

The face that had contorted beneath the moonlight as though granting permission for his intrusion.

When the soft curves of her body pressed tightly against him and trembled in his arms, he had wanted to push her to the very limit.

He had pulled her slender waist closer, holding her tighter so she could not escape.

A dark desire completely took control of him—the desire to hear the breathless sounds around his ear turn into tearful pleas.

Each time his mind shattered into blankness, the scent of the night grew thicker.

When the last image of himself panting like a beast on the bench flashed through his mind, Dominic shot to his feet.

“Damn it! What did I do?”

He clutched his head with both hands as though trying to tear his hair out.

‘That woman. What did she say her name was?’

He could vaguely remember the moment when she introduced herself, but he couldn’t remember her voice at all.

The day after the party, two visitors arrived at the Linderto ducal residence.

The first carriage to arrive belonged to the Crown Prince. Its royal insignia was inlaid in gold.

As Jonathan stepped out of the carriage and walked across the marble entrance hall, his lips hardened.

‘This time, I absolutely cannot give in to that bastard Dominic.’

The two young men were cousins who had grown up together since childhood. Naturally, they resembled each other in many ways, and as a result, they had always been compared.

Jonathan, as the Crown Prince, was obviously superior in status, but in every other respect, Dominic had the advantage.

Academics, martial arts, business ability—even his looks. Jonathan could not surpass Dominic Linderto in any of them.

Of course, Jonathan neither felt inferior nor jealous for that reason.

When it came to his optimistic personality, he was several steps ahead of Dominic.

If there was only one thing the Crown Prince could take from the duke, he had vowed to himself that he would remain his cousin and friend for the rest of his life.

“Your Highness, if you had informed us in advance, we would have been able to properly prepare to receive you……”

Butler Jeffrey was flustered by the Crown Prince’s unexpected arrival and hurried out to greet him.

“Is the duke here?”

The Crown Prince removed his spotless white gloves as he entered with the air of a man prepared to go straight into battle with the duke.

“I shall inform him immediately. If you would wait in the drawing room for a moment……”

“Never mind. He’s probably buried under a mountain of reports in his study anyway. I’ll go directly to him.”

“No, Your Highness……”

The Crown Prince walked past Jeffrey and headed straight upstairs toward the study.

When the heavy study door opened without so much as a knock, an irritated voice came from inside.

“What?”

Jonathan, the Crown Prince, was momentarily taken aback when he entered.

The duke, who was always seated as perfectly as if he had stepped out of a painting, was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, he was stretched out on a long leather sofa, one arm resting over his forehead.

“Looks like you’ve got a terrible hangover.”

Hearing a voice other than Jeffrey’s, Dominic moved his arm aside to see the intruder’s face.

The duke let out a small sigh and struggled to sit up.

“What brings Your Highness here so early in the morning?”

Dominic tried to show proper courtesy, but between his hoarse, cracked voice and disheveled appearance, it was difficult to expect much in the way of formal respect for the Crown Prince.

While Dominic rubbed his face with both hands for a long moment, as though his head were throbbing, the Crown Prince crossed his legs and sat on the sofa opposite him.

Clicking his tongue, the Crown Prince sneered.

“I’m the one who should be drowning my sorrows in drink, so why are you the one looking like this? This isn’t like you.”

Jonathan poured whisky from the decanter on the side table into a crystal glass.

“Did you come all the way here just to drink this early in the morning?”

“I proposed to Sylvia yesterday.”

Dominic lifted his head from where he had been holding it and stared at the Crown Prince before him.

His furrowed brows and exhausted eyes seemed to ask, What did you just say?

“I asked Sylvia to become the Crown Princess, and she flatly rejected me.”

Only then did Dominic understand why the Crown Prince had come first thing in the morning and was drinking whisky like water.

Rubbing his throbbing head, Dominic spoke in a voice that was hardly comforting.

“I don’t know what words of consolation I should offer……”

“You wouldn’t happen to say you don’t know why she rejected me, would you?”

The question came flying at him aggressively, as though this entire situation were somehow Dominic’s fault.

“You should have proposed while putting the red diamond necklace I gave you around her neck. Don’t tell me you proposed empty-handed……”

“I did.”

“She likes puppies. You should have given her one of those fluffy little white things and proposed when she was in a good mood……”

“I did.”

Dominic stopped talking, feeling like an idiot, then casually said,

“Then it seems she really has no feelings for Your Highness. Wouldn’t it be better to give up? There are plenty of young ladies practically dying to become the Crown Princess.”

Jonathan slammed the glass in his hand onto the table.

“There is only one woman who can become the Crown Princess. Sylvia.”

Dominic stared at the Crown Prince in bewilderment.

His eyes seemed to ask, Then what exactly do you want me to do about it?

“Then you should go to the Muas estate instead of coming here. Wouldn’t it be faster to surround the place with soldiers and hold a siege until she agrees?”

“No. There is an even more certain way.”

Dominic forced his tired eyes open.

“Then you should have started with that. What is this method?”

He desperately wanted the Crown Prince, who had barged in without warning, to leave as soon as possible.

“If Duke Dominic Linderto gets married, don’t you think Sylvia Muas will finally give up on you?”

Silence fell.

“Ha!”

A disbelieving laugh escaped Dominic.

“Has the shock of being rejected affected your mind?”

“How insolent.”

Jonathan stared directly at Dominic, his eyes showing not the slightest trace of wavering.

Only when Dominic saw the unwavering determination in those vivid blue eyes did his smile disappear.

“You know perfectly well that makes no sense.”

“Then all we have to do is make it make sense, don’t we?”

Jonathan crossed his legs the other way.

“Island Andalique.”

It was a breathtakingly beautiful island that Dominic had long coveted. The Crown Prince put weight behind the brief words, as though there was no way Dominic could refuse such an offer.

Dominic hesitated, but still shook his head as if to say this was not the answer.

“You should offer it to Sylvia instead. She might change her mind.”

The duke gave a faint laugh and rose from the sofa, as though he had nothing more to say.

“Hayen Mine.”

Dominic, who had been getting up, sat back down on the sofa.

A sly smile appeared at the corner of the Crown Prince’s mouth.

In truth, this was the real bait.

“You know very well that the old man doesn’t have much time left.”

That meant the royal family’s wealth, rights, and power—all of it—would soon belong to Jonathan, the next heir to the throne.

Dominic’s silence and deliberation stretched on.

The Hayen Mine contained an enormous amount of iron ore.

If he could secure the development rights, it was only a matter of time before his business would accelerate.

‘I’ve spent years working to get that. That sly bastard Jonathan.’

Dominic wasn’t the only one who recognized the mine’s value. He had been locked in a tense struggle over the future development rights with Count Rahel, the queen’s younger brother.

But—

“I’ll pretend I never heard that offer.”

At the completely unexpected answer, the Crown Prince’s face twisted.

“Are you serious?”

“I’m serious.”

Dominic rose and politely saw the Crown Prince out, as though the offer had been worth nothing at all.

Jonathan left the residence and boarded his carriage, still shaking his head in disbelief.

After watching the royal carriage depart, Dominic returned to his study and immediately hardened his expression.

No matter how far he was willing to go for business, the Crown Prince’s proposal was absurd.

‘He wants me to get married? He’s completely lost his mind over Sylvia.’

Sylvia and the Crown Prince—they were clearly both out of their minds.

Knock, knock.

He was about to lie back down on the sofa when someone once again interrupted his rest.

‘What now?’

He frowned and looked toward the door.

“Lady Sylvia wishes to see you, my lord.”

“Damn it.”

He was going crazy wondering why they couldn’t resolve their own problems between themselves instead of hounding him.

Then he remembered what had happened the previous night.

He needed to hear her explanation for why drinking the alcohol she had given him had rendered him completely senseless.

“Show her in.”

Dominic rose from the sofa and moved to a chair at the table.

If he sat on the sofa, Sylvia would undoubtedly cling to him.

“Duuuke~~~.”

Sylvia entered, calling to him in a plaintive voice from the doorway.

Her beautiful face looked considerably worn from the night before. Yet her outfit was so extravagant that she looked as though she could walk out of the study and straight into another party.

Her eyelids were visibly swollen, as though she had been crying.

“What brings you here this morning, Sylvia?”

She sat elegantly on the sofa and let out a long sigh.

“My situation is so pitiful. I spent the entire night crying.”

She dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a lace handkerchief before continuing.

“The truth is, His Highness the Crown Prince proposed to me yesterday.”

Dominic pretended to be surprised, as though he were hearing it for the first time.

“That is quite an honor. Does that mean you’re going to become the Crown Princess now?”

At his words, her face flushed with indignation.

“Are you serious? When you know…… when you know perfectly well who I truly, desperately want. Sob.”

Dominic sighed briefly and continued in a soothing tone.

“Sylvia. Becoming the Crown Princess means becoming the future queen. Why would you turn down a position every young lady dreams of?”

“I don’t want to be queen! I want to be a duchess! I’ve sworn for a long time that I would become the Duchess of Linderto.”

Dominic pressed a hand to his aching head.

“But where did you suddenly disappear to yesterday?”

Her ruby-like eyes, glistening with moisture, widened as she looked at him.

Dominic’s expression hardened as he asked,

“What exactly did you put in my drink?”

At Dominic’s question, Sylvia seemed to have been struck by a guilty conscience. She shifted backward slightly, pulling her hips away from him.