Chapter 1

The Grand Duchess of the North, I Can’t Do This Because It’s Too Cold

It was the middle of winter.

The country was being hit by the worst cold wave in history, and South Korea was shivering from the freezing temperatures.

I was someone who suffered from severely cold hands and feet and absolutely hated the cold. But unlike my cursed constitution, my current situation was one where I couldn’t bear to spend even a single penny on gas.

……But if I froze to death like this, who was going to take responsibility?

Fine. Just for today, I would allow myself a little luxury.

I made up my mind and turned my electric heating pad up to its highest temperature.

While I was at it, I picked up my phone and paid to read the newest chapter of the novel I’d recently become obsessed with, Grand Dukes, Please Leave Me Alone.

Ahhh! This was heaven.

The story was about an obsessive male lead, the Grand Duke of the North, and a sunshine-like male lead, the Grand Duke of the South, both vying for the love of the female protagonist, the princess.

It was admittedly a little too childish in places, but it was my hobby, and there was nothing I could do about that.

I’d been an orphan my entire life, all the way to the age of twenty-three.

I had been too busy struggling to make a living to have even one proper friend, let alone time for a relationship.

So wasn’t I allowed to experience a little excitement through something like this?

「Daven’s trembling eyes turned toward Mabel, who was crying. It was the first time that his face, which had always looked so gentle, became distorted.」

Ooh……

So what happens next?!

I excitedly scrolled down, but suddenly, a chill swept over me, raising goosebumps all over my body.

What the heck? Why was cold air coming in?

I’d closed all the doors and windows.

Ugh. I was completely absorbed in the story, too.

“Is cold air coming in from outside?”

Who had left the window open again?

Ah, this was the scene where our Daven got angry at the heroine for the first time!

And it was such an important moment, too. How annoying.

My favorite character was, without a doubt, Daven, the Grand Duke of the South.

And since he seemed to be just about to create another legendary scene, I hurried outside to close the window.

Only—

“Whoa?!”

I never got to read that scene.

I missed my footing and tumbled down the staircase beside me.

A tremendous impact struck my head and body, and along with the pain, my mind went completely blank.

Ah……

Everything was fading away.

And then—

I’m cold…….

Even at the moment of death, all I could think about was how cold I was.

And when I finally opened my eyes sometime later, I found myself lying in a gigantic bed.

And once again, the first thought that came to mind was—

It’s fucking cold.

The chill surrounding me was nothing compared to the cold wave that had struck South Korea.

My hands and feet were already freezing as I struggled to sit up.

And what appeared before my eyes was—

“Wife.”

Pale blond hair.

Bright red eyes.

And that delicate, beautiful face.

Even as I described him in my head, the description felt strangely familiar.

……Why did he look exactly like someone from the novel I’d been reading right before I died?

No.

Right?

Yeah.

There was no way.

Surely I hadn’t transmigrated into Grand Dukes, Please Leave Me Alone.

Overcome by a sudden sense of impending doom, I sprang out of bed and marched straight toward the mirror hanging on the wall.

Silvery-white hair.

Pink eyes.

What the hell?

I certainly wasn’t the heroine.

I’d never seen this appearance anywhere in the novel.

“Wife……?”

At the worried voice, I turned around.

A man was looking at me with a distressed expression.

Judging by his appearance alone, he was exactly the person I thought he was……

But it’s strange.

He’s acting so unlike himself, watching my every move like he’s worried about what I think.

One of the male protagonists.

The Grand Duke of the North, Mikhail Rittervan.

Then it made sense that it was so cold.

I was in the North.

But the problem was that I had no idea who I was.

……Wait.

What had he called me?

W-wife?

“You called me your wife?”

“……Ah. Is that not okay? Then, Aisha.”

Aisha?

Oh my God.

A vague memory of that name surfaced in my mind.

I thought it had appeared near the beginning of the novel, when Mikhail’s past was revealed.

「Mikhail’s former wife, Aisha Marianne, betrayed him and left for another country with his money. It was the moment when Mikhail, who had done everything he could for her, lost faith in love—and in women—for the first time.」

……This was bad.

Right.

Mikhail was divorced.

His former wife had been an absolutely terrible person, and after meeting the heroine, he was supposed to learn to trust women again.

What the hell?!

Of all characters, why did I have to transmigrate into this one?!

And putting aside the fact that my favorite was the Grand Duke of the South, why did I have to end up as a character from the North?!

I absolutely refused to spend the rest of my life shivering in the cold.

“Aisha, your complexion is pale.”

“Huh?”

I looked in the mirror.

My face really was deathly pale.

Uh……

This didn’t look good.

Only now did I realize that my hands and feet had already been freezing for quite some time.

Ah.

I really can’t live here…….

“A-Aisha! Wife!”

When I opened my eyes again, I was in Mikhail’s arms.

Judging from the circumstances, I’d probably passed out from the cold for several minutes.

Even though the fireplace was blazing as strongly as possible, this was what happened.

Was this place the Himalayas or something?

“Um…… Mikhail.”

“Tell me, Wife.”

Anyone who saw this scene would have thought I was on the verge of death.

He was handsome, which was nice and all……

But I was really sorry.

Just like his original character……

I think I’m going to have to leave this house, Mikhail.

As the face of the man looking down at me pitifully began to blur, the words I truly felt slipped out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

“I…… want to go to the South……”

Mikhail Rittervan.

At the relatively young age of twenty-six, he was a Grand Duke who commanded the largest army on the continent.

Up to this point, it was the typical perfect-man setup befitting one of the male protagonists.

He had a strong attachment to his birthplace, the North, where he had been born and raised.

There were even rumors that he rejected people from the South because he was so deeply devoted to the North.

And despite his prickly personality, there was an additional setting that he would fiercely protect the people of the North.

Perhaps that was why I’d clearly made a mistake.

“Tell me, Aisha.”

“…….”

“Why do you want to go to the South?”

The problem was that I’d mumbled something about going to the South while I was unconscious.

For the past thirty minutes, he’d been keeping me in bed and asking me the exact same question over and over.

I’d told him several times that I’d just been talking nonsense and that I had no intention of actually going.

But he didn’t listen to a word of it.

I was too exhausted to make any more excuses, so I simply stared at Mikhail’s face.

Was this what an obsessive male lead was normally like?

Come to think of it, why was he acting like this toward me instead of the heroine?

Ah.

The novel hasn’t started yet.

He hasn’t even met Mabel.

When exactly does the story begin?

All right.

Let’s think about this slowly.

Mabel, who had been a commoner, lost her parents and struggled to survive on her own before getting a lucky opportunity to become a maid in the Imperial Palace.

There, she caught the attention of the Empress because Mabel bore a striking resemblance to the princess who had died when she was young.

Overwhelmed with emotion, the Empress immediately made Mabel her youngest daughter—the youngest princess.

With the protagonist’s special heroine privileges, Mabel quickly won over every member of the Imperial Family.

She became the darling of the palace.

And before long, she met the two male protagonists.

Mikhail had no Imperial blood and had shut himself away in the North, while Daven had been passed over for the position of Crown Prince since childhood and had been sent down to the South.

Both men became completely captivated by Mabel’s uniquely innocent personality and free-spirited behavior.

That was more or less how the story went.

So when exactly am I supposed to fall in love?

If I keep waiting for the right timing, won’t I freeze to death first?

“Mikhail.”

“The South is out of the question.”

“……That’s not what I wanted to say. It looks like the doctor is here. He’s been standing there awkwardly, watching us, unable to come in.”

Mikhail himself had ordered someone to call the doctor.

Yet he narrowed his eyes and glared at the innocent physician.

The doctor, who looked quite old, cautiously approached me.

“I’ll take your pulse.”

The doctor closed his eyes as he felt my pulse and remained silent for quite some time.

What was going on?

Why was this making me nervous?

I glanced up at Mikhail.

He was still glaring at the side of the doctor’s head as though he intended to bore a hole straight through it.

After a few seconds, the doctor seemed to realize something.

His eyes suddenly widened, and he turned toward Mikhail.

“Your Grace.”

“Take your hand away and speak.”

Mikhail’s gaze had shifted to the doctor’s fingers resting on my wrist.

The doctor jumped in surprise, trembling as he hurriedly removed his hand.

Excuse me?

He’s an old man.

He’s literally an old man…….

“Now tell me. Why does my wife keep collapsing?”

“B-Before that, may I ask where Her Grace is originally from?”

Where I’m from?

I don’t even know that myself. What am I supposed to say?

Just as I began to sweat nervously, Mikhail answered for me.

“……If you’re asking such a question, I assume it’s information you genuinely need for the diagnosis.”

“Yes, of course.”

“My wife is from Moltian in the South.”

“I see.”

The doctor nodded several times with a serious expression.

Whoa.

So I was from the South.

But Moltian……?

Where have I heard that name before?

Ah!

I remembered.

Moltian was Daven’s territory.

That’s why his full name was Daven Moltian.

Moltian was a place where many minor nobles lived.

Then was I one of those minor nobles……?

So Aisha and Daven were from the same place.

That was kind of fascinating.

“Since she came from such a warm place, these symptoms are only natural.”

“What?”

Mikhail stepped toward the doctor with a terrifying expression.

The frightened doctor immediately clamped his mouth shut.

This is an opportunity!

I grabbed the doctor’s arm and put on my most fragile, wistful smile, pretending to be sickly.

It’s okay.

Go ahead and tell him.

Hurry up and say it!

Perhaps encouraged by me, the doctor, visibly moved, continued speaking with renewed confidence.

“In addition, it seems that Her Grace naturally has a rather cold constitution. I believe she collapsed because her body simply couldn’t withstand the cold air of the North.”

“I see. Then what should I do now? Should I keep the fireplace burning all day……?”

“Well, that might work as a temporary measure. However, the harmful substances produced by constantly burning the fireplace would only make her condition worse.”

“Oh my. What should I do, then? Would it be better if I went somewhere warmer for a period of recuperation?”

I asked while squeezing as much worry as possible into my eyes.

The doctor’s face immediately brightened.

He even clapped his hands together.

“That would be an excellent idea! For example, the Sou—”

Yes!

The South!

I stared at his lips with sparkling eyes.

But just then, a sinister shadow fell over the doctor’s gleaming bald head.

“Go on.”

As if he were in a horror movie, the doctor slowly raised his eyes with a creaking motion.

The moment he saw Mikhail’s face, his expression stiffened.

“S-South…… Rather than the South, I think it would be better for Her Grace to recuperate somewhere in the North with clean, fresh air!”

“What?”

You have got to be kidding me.

How can you suddenly change what you were about to say?!

But the doctor had already been seized by the knights and was being dragged outside.