Chapter One

"So the duke wants to propose a contract marriage to me?"

"That's right."

The woman with silver hair and ruby eyes took a sip of coffee while studying the man in front of her.

It had been eighteen years since she had arrived in that world and become the daughter of Duke Albert Maximillan. It had taken some time for her to adjust to her new appearance and identity.

In her previous life, she was a high school final year student. She was not the best student, but she was one of the most renowned ones. Math and English were her best subjects.

But it all came to an end when she was murdered by her stalker, who she only found out about the day she died. The stalker turned out to be her childhood friend. She was aware that she was being followed, but she had not expected it to be her friend. Before she died, she remembered him saying, "How dare you hug someone else in front of me and a guy at that!" 

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭! 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘯. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦?

The next thing she knew, she was inside the novel her older brother had written. It was just a manuscript that she forced her brother to let her read. 

'Eternal Regret' was a tragedy-romance novel in which the heroine died at the hands of the male lead due to her obsession with power. In the end, the male lead cried as he penetrated the sword into her stomach.

She did not care about the novel, but that was until she found herself in the world of 'Eternal Regret'. She became the character named Alessandra, the daughter of Duke Albert Maximillan of the North.

Their names, as well as their personalities, were the same. Her brother even admitted that he created the character of Alessandra with her in mind. Alessandra Maximillan did not appear in the plot, but she was mentioned several times at key points for being an important figure in the political world. She held a great amount of power despite being very young as she was the heir to the North Maximillan Duchy.

The novel made no mention of Alessandra's personal life. That was why she began living her life as she pleased, unconcerned about the plot. Just like the real Alessandra, she had also become a vital person in the political world.

Everything was going perfectly until he appeared in front of her with a contract marriage offer.

"However, Duke Alexander, why should I accept your offer?" Alessandra inquired.

The man in front of her had long black hair and dead-looking gray eyes. He was the Duke of Terrence Duchy and one of the most handsome and powerful men in the world of the novel. But he had a questionable personality. 

"It will be beneficial to both of us. The Maximillan and Terrence duchies are now at odds over the diamond mine in Lostfall Mountain. The diamond mine will greatly benefit the financial system," Alexander said, his arms crossed. "If the young duchess marries me, the Maximillan duchy will have the mine."

"And the duke will find a suitable marriage partner because he is of marriageable age," she added.

"That's correct."

Alexander Terrence was not present in the plot himself as well, but he was mentioned several times. He was known as the mad duke and was assassinated by his younger half-brother, the next duke of the South Terrence Duchy. However, nothing about his murder was mentioned.

"I refuse," Alessandra stated flatly.

"Is there a reason for the young duchess to do so?" he asked without showing any sign of discomfort.

She nodded. "First of all, even if we don't have the mine, we are financially strong enough and besides, it is not easy to take the mine away from the Maximillan duchy. Secondly, our names crash. I don't want my husband's name to seem like my brother's. Thirdly, I don't want to be the duchess of the Terrence duchy."

"If the mine is not enough, after the marriage, magician Dashiell will be handed over to the north duchy as well," he said.

Magician Dashiell was taken prisoner by Duke Alexander when he failed to complete a mission for the north duchy. He was trying to find out more about the Terrence duchy, but failed and was taken prisoner by Duke Alexander. As he was a key figure for the Maximillan duchy, his absence was a hindrance to completing some missions. 

"But I'm afraid I cannot do anything about the names, though I wonder why the young duchess doesn't want to be the duchess of the Terrence duchy," he said. "I can guarantee the young duchess will live comfortably there."

𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘳.

"I have my reasons. I like the Maximillan duchy better. I wonder why? But now that the duke said it, magician Dashiell- I would like to know if the duke truly will hand him over to us."

"I'm not going to break my word. And, if the young duchess so desires, we can make a deal with the magical contract," he said. "After all, magical contracts are unbreakable, and breaching the contract can result in death."

"But does the duke not know that I am engaged and that's also to the duke's younger brother?"

"Since the young duchess brought it up just now, it can't be that big of a deal," he smirked.

"However, I see that the Duke lacks morals," she said. "But I will pretend not to care since I can annul the engagement any time and I want to as well. But I still don't agree with one point."

"What is it?"

"I'm not interested in a contract marriage," she stated. "We either marry for real or don't marry at all."

"Does the young duchess want to marry me for real?"

"Yes. The Maximillan duchy does not allow divorce and I don't have any plan on giving up my family name," she said. "And besides, I don't plan on ruining my life with a contract marriage. I have reached the age to marry for real, not to fool around."

"... I'll think about it," he said after a brief pause.

"The way the duke is talking, it appears as if I proposed, not the duke," she bitterly chuckled. "Well, the duke shouldn't keep me waiting for too long. I may be the only suitable option for the Duke, but the Duke is not my only option."

"All right, then. I will let the young duchess know in seven days," Alexander said.

"No. The duke needs to give me a reply within three days."

"In three days?"

"Yes. If it's a yes, I'll have to make some plans, including a trip to Terrence dutchy to cancel my engagement to Lord Hayden. And if it's a no, I'll have to go to Terrence duchy to break my engagement to Lord Hayden," Alessandra explained. "I had intended to call off my engagement in the first place and I am planning to do it within three days."

"Will Duke Albert concur?"

"The duke knows what is best for his daughter," she said.

"Ah, then I will take my leave, Young Duchess," he said as he stood up. "I will send my reply within three days, though I still don't understand the reason completely."

𝘞𝘰𝘸, 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭!

"Please do," she said as she stood up as well. "I will be waiting for the duke's reply."

As Duke Alexander left, Alessandra sighed and flopped on the couch. In the novel, Alessandra never married anyone. It was mentioned that the person she loved died and so, she never married anyone. But it was not said who that person was.

Perhaps the real Alessandra was proposed to in the novel by Alexander, but she did not accept. And even if she did accept, it did not matter since, soon after that, Alexander was killed.

𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘢'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘵...𝘖𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺? 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺? 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘢 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥.

Alessandra had the intention of marrying someone, unlike the real Alessandra. She did not have anyone she liked, but she also wanted to know what it felt like to have a romantic partner. 

"Well, he is good-looking and handsome. Besides, he might be mad, but I can't say I am normal either. I think we will fit," she mumbled to herself.

"My lady, are you really going to marry him?" Matt, Alessandra's personal guard, asked.

"Hmm, I will," she replied.

"Are you sure he will agree?" Matt asked as he took a seat next to her.

"Yeah, he has to. Well, thanks to Duke Albert's and my natural-born ability to scheme, I happen to have a good position in the political world. And Duke Alexander must marry because he has reached the marriageable age. I am the most appropriate partner for him. Marrying me will benefit him politically. I am eighteen already. I have to marry sooner or later as well. It better be him. I mean, it's not like I have to, since Duke Albert will do whatever I want to. Even if I don't marry, no one can do anything. But I want to get married."

"You were not going to marry Lord Hayden Terence in the first place. You never even held his hand," he pointed out. "Well, you haven't held any man's hand other than your family and me, I guess."

"Why would I marry him? That idiotic little shit head that can't even be cleaned...," she grumbled.

"Well, the engagement was necessary to gain a bit more power than usual. If I marry Duke Alexander, I will get more power as well," she added. "And besides, he is only six years older than me. He is also handsome. It all fits."