I Stole The Duke - Chapter 17

Freya took a deep breath, pushing down the swirl of confusion threatening to engulf her, and turned to the second article on the page.

Karl Espensen VS Davide Joseph
Duel Result: Davide Joseph Dead.

The news of her brother’s duel, which should have dominated the front page, had been relegated to second place.

Her eyes drifted naturally to the photo printed beside the article. The woman’s face was obscured by the wide brim of her hat, but the man standing beside her was unmistakable—the Duke of Ascher.

Freya’s eyes narrowed as she read the article slowly, each word sinking heavily into her mind. The woman’s name was printed clearly in the detailed section.

Eliana Acklera.

A name buried deep in the recesses of her memory, forgotten because it was insignificant. The betrothed who had died before ever meeting the Duke of Ascher.

Her death had once served as a convenient excuse for the Duke to avoid marriage altogether.

“The shock of losing his fiancée…”—a lie no one truly believed, especially since he had never even seen her face.

And yet, here she was—alive.

‘Who are you?’

A woman who should have been dead by now was walking the world alive and well. Freya felt a jarring sense of wrongness, an intrusion into the reality she had come to know, the reality she had once believed unshakable.

If it were the future, perhaps this could make sense.

But for the past to change—a past that should have been set in stone—was something else entirely. A blemish on the world she had painstakingly understood.

According to the article, the wedding was set for May 23rd.

There were ten days left.

“Jessie, is Father at home?”

“Yes, Young Lady. He didn’t go to the palace today, so he’s in his study.”

“Is that so? I’ll go see him—prepare my things. I’m going out.”

“Yes, Young Lady.”

Freya’s mind was racing.

If she wanted to attend that wedding, there were things she needed to prepare—quickly.

At the same time, in the halls of the Duke of Ascher’s estate, the air was frozen solid.

“Your Grace, it was entirely my failure.”

Puelini, one knee on the ground, kept his head low as Michalis, the Duke of Ascher, sat before him, his face an emotionless mask of cold fury.

“I will accept any punishment you see fit.”

“Sir Puelini Carlyle.”

Michalis’s hand tightened around the half-crumpled newspaper, the paper rustling under the pressure.

“Yes, Your Grace!”

His frigid gaze bore down upon Puelini’s bowed head.

The failure of a trusted subordinate. Unacceptable.

“You are hereby sentenced to one week of house arrest and three months’ suspension from your duties as Commander of the First Order.”

Michalis delivered the judgment with an air of finality after a tense silence.

“Yes, Your Grace! I am grateful for your mercy!”

Puelini bowed deeply, his voice ringing with unwavering conviction.

“And also—”

Michalis’s voice dropped, cold and sharp. In his mind, he saw the face of a slippery, wretched man, one he had dismissed as beneath notice. That carelessness had now brought about this disgrace.

“Before your house arrest begins, bring him before me.”

He had been negligent, and Michalis now acknowledged that.

“I will follow Your Grace’s will at once. For honor!”

“Carry it out.”

With precise discipline, Puelini gave a crisp salute and exited the office.

“Haah…”

Alone in the tense stillness, Michalis ran a hand through his hair, releasing a quiet, wearied sigh. His gaze returned to the newspaper sprawled across his desk—the very root of his anger.

<Wespera Times Weekly>

[Exclusive] The New Duke of Ascher Caught in a Romantic Scandal
A Love Marriage, Not a Political Union?
What Will Become of the Silver Cinderella’s Fate?!

The engaged couple, set to marry on May 23rd, was spotted on a tender date, their affection evident.

The bride-to-be, Eliana Acklera (19), a northern beauty with silver hair and green eyes, radiated a mysterious charm that seemed perfectly capable of captivating the Duke of Ascher.

However, concerns were raised due to her delicate frame, especially in light of the violent legacy of House Ascher.

The previous Duke had a record of four deceased wives and three divorces.

Will the violence of House Ascher carry into the third generation?

What fate awaits the Silver Cinderella from the North?

The article concluded with a sobering quote from the former Duchess, who had survived a divorce from the previous Duke:

“That place was hell.
If you want to live… run.”

—Reporter: Krinekt the Scandal-Monger

Veins bulged in his clenched fist.

That kind of gossip, the sort that belonged in back-alley tabloids, had ended up printed in a reputable newspaper. If his father, a war hero, were still alive, such an article would never have been allowed to see the light of day.

‘So the hero is dead now—that’s what this is.’

Glory was gone, and only the sins of the past remained—passed down like a curse. The burden of restoring lost honor now fell on those left behind.

‘Where is Eliana?’

There was no time to sit and wait. Swallowing his fury, Michalis glared at the newspaper before rising to his feet.

How deeply this article might wound Eliana, whether she now regretted agreeing to their marriage, or worse—whether she might come to despise him—even those possibilities were now his responsibility to bear.

“Ah—! My lady!?”

“What is it?”

Eliana, who had arrived at the archives that morning, halted her steps. She had just entered when she caught sight of the librarian hastily slapping a newspaper shut, startled.

It was the look of someone caught red-handed reading something they shouldn’t have.

“N-nothing at all, my lady.”

“May I see that newspaper?”

The librarian’s attempt to act innocent was painfully unconvincing.

Eliana raised a single brow, unimpressed, and stepped toward the librarian, hand extended.

“Please.”

“Here it is…”

Upon her second request, the powerless librarian had no choice but to hand over the slightly crumpled newspaper.

The moment the paper touched her hand, Eliana’s expression hardened.

“This is…”

From the front page, a large photo immediately caught her eye—a familiar image. As expected, it was of herself and Michalis, taken just two days ago.

As Eliana read through the article, her expression darkened further and further, until her face was completely shadowed.

“……”

The librarian, now without even the newspaper for distraction, stood awkwardly frozen, unsure what to do.

“Now…”

Eliana’s voice escaped her lips so faintly it was almost inaudible, her gaze fixed on the page.

The story had begun.

But it wasn’t the article about herself and Michalis that truly held her attention.

Karl Espensen VS Davide Joseph
Duel Result: Davide Joseph Dead.

It was the article that marked the beginning of the novel Broken Clockwork Doll.

The novel was a typical regression-revenge story.

The incident that ignited everything was the duel, in which the female lead’s older brother killed Davide Joseph, the third son of a steward, over a drunken insult.

Davide had harassed the heroine, Freya Espensen, while drunk, and her brother, witnessing it, had executed him in a duel. At first, it should not have been a problem.

The House of Espensen was a prestigious swordsmanship family, one of the founding noble houses of the Wespera Empire. The steward’s family, by contrast, was a minor barony, and Davide, the third son, was a reckless fool who wouldn’t even inherit a title.

The problem was that Davide Joseph was a secret illegitimate son of the Emperor, born to a woman the Emperor deeply loved—a woman who, due to the Empress’s icy control, could not be made a concubine and died giving birth in secret.

The child, Davide, had been secretly registered as the steward’s third son.

The man known as a foolish drunkard was in truth the Emperor’s beloved son, unknown to all.

Because of this, ten years later, the Espensen family would be framed for treason and executed.

Freya regresses after her execution.

But the tragedy was that she regressed to the day after Davide’s death—when it was already too late.

No matter what she did—whether she gained political power, built her own faction, or became Crown Princess in a desperate bid for the Emperor’s affection—her family always ended at the execution block.

Broken by countless regressions, Freya finally resolved to drag the Emperor to the guillotine.

She seduced the Crown Prince again, becoming his Crown Princess, and to gain military support for her rebellion, she chose to use the Duke of Ascher.

It was a novel Eliana had once read casually for entertainment.

If she had any real thought at the time, it was just: “The Crown Prince is my type.”

“Haah…”

Eliana sighed, her chest heavy with unease as she recalled the novel’s plot.

It had 33 chapters. Michalis Ascher appeared in chapter 30, and by chapter 33, he experienced for the first time a heart-fluttering emotion for Freya Espensen.

That was all the story ever covered.

“Eliana.”

Still holding the paper blankly, Eliana turned toward the voice that called her from behind.

“Your Grace…?”

Michalis stood at the entrance of the archives.

“Leave us.”

“Y-yes, Your Grace!”

The librarian, flustered, scrambled away as Michalis gave a slight nod.

Thud.

As soon as the librarian was gone, Michalis shut the door, his gaze landing on the newspaper in Eliana’s hands.

After a long pause, he finally spoke, his voice low and steady.

“You’ve seen it?”

“…Yes.”

Eliana looked as if tears might spill at any moment. His emotions, which had already been scraping the bottom, now plunged into the depths.

“……”

The silence between them was heavier than any outcry.

‘What… what am I supposed to do with this man?’

Staring at one another without speaking, tears silently streamed down Eliana’s cheeks.

The more she thought, the more her heart ached. In the original story, the fate awaiting Michalis, once the plot began, was that of the tragic second male lead.

Before all this happened, she had never considered the story from Michalis’s perspective. But now… it was all she could see.

The heroine never loved him—she only wanted his military power.

If the rebellion succeeded, the Crown Prince would become Emperor, and Michalis would have to watch the woman he loved ascend as Empress.

Whether rebellion succeeded or failed, only wounds would remain for Michalis. After all, a second male lead’s love is never rewarded.

‘I know how it ends… Can I really just leave this man to his fate?’

Just two days ago, she had made up her mind to distance herself from him.

But now—Eliana’s emotions wavered so violently, it felt like she might drown in them.

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