“Serina, what are you doing?”

“Don’t bring him back.”

“Serina, please, ··!”

“!”

The pathetic-looking boy cries and desperately grabs my skirt.

I don’t care about a boy like that.

The boy, who was just 14 years old, had an extraordinary aura.

His purple eyes sucked you in. They were dazzling, bright and captivated all the people they met. The more you looked, the more compelled you are to keep looking.

But the people in this family are indifferent in the face of the enchantment.

The boy begged me again.

As usual, I wore the same detached expression as the people around me.

His hands mirrored each other in a prayer posture.

Gak’s leash was desperate.

“Please, Serina, will you bring the Alastair to me?”

“You have to be educated, but you don’t listen.”

The dark gray eyes echoed in her hair color, stare at me with a cold surging force.

The eyes of the Duchess of Melford, were so icy that a frosty pressure filled my face which resembled her.

“My good daughter, come here,” she had such power.

“Yes.”

The ability to overwhelm with just her eyes—not even needing action to dominate. That’s why she beat those brothers and became the Duke, even though she was a woman.

“Please, Serina, please.”

“……Go. Give up this much, Alastair.”

Alastair was still holding on to my skirt. I pulled the hem gripped tightly in his hand but it didn’t budge.

If I were you, I’d grab someone else’s skirt and run away.

Of course, running away doesn’t mean you’ll succeed, but could postpone the enviable.

“My daughter is so tender-hearted,” the Duke of Melford mused at Alastair.

Her child, who knew what the servants wanted, began to come this way.

Tick, tack.

The sound of a heels hitting the cold marble floor is exceptionally sharp.

As the footsteps of the servants neared, the Alastair trembled like a decaying tree in autumn.

His white skin frightly turned paler.

Sadly, however, there was no one here to sympathize with him even after seeing his despairing visage.

The Duchess of Melford had only these kind of people around her. Like herself, there is not a grain of empathy, only a joyful sadism.

But there is one exception.

“Mother, he dosen’t look well today, so why don’t we do it next time?”

“’What do you mean he is not feeling well? Then the brainwashing will work even better.”

The Duke of Melford grinned and clapped as if she had accomplished something. Her laughter did not resonant at all with the situation.

To my disgust.

This is mainly what the Duke of Melford does to Alastair.

Brainwash him to obey the people of the Melford family. And love Serina.

It was bizarre.

I try to tell myself I’m used to it, but every time I heard it, I frowned.

It was a cruel act towards a young boy, but it was inevitable deed for our family.

When I turned to Alastair, I saw the room of hallucination.

A place specially made for Alastair’s brainwashing. He visited it weekly.

In the Room of Hallucination, the Duchess’s specially-made scented candle produced hallucinations strong enough to melt the average person’s brain.

Therefore, Alastair should not be locked up frequently or for long periods of time.

At last the servants were just around the corner. The servants who came to my door paused.

A servant was politely bowed to me and then took Agester’s arm with a throbbing grip.

“No, no, no, no, no, no!”

Alastair struggled to pull out his seized arm, but the more he resisted the more he was trampled on.

The Duke’s servants overpowered him, refusing to let him go. Their ruthless hands seized Alastair’s head and plummeted him into the floor, and twisted his arms behind him, immobilizing him. The more they do, the more aggrieved they are.

It got worse. “Oha!”

“Serina, ···?”

“?”

Alastair’s arm escaped from their ruthless grasp and unintentionally brush my ankle. He only frowned small in astonishment at the touch, but Alastair’s face was stained with sweet sulphur.

At my verbal surpise, Alastair’s attention immediately focused on me. The servants didn’t miss the chance.

They completely overpowered Alastair and bound his arm with a rope. Alastair quickly calmed down, perhaps surprised by the fact that he hit me.

The servants slammed his face firmly on the floor and forced him to stop moving. In the process, Alastair’s fine black hair was pulled and rolled back on the floor. His eyes still contained only me.

As I tried to keep looking at the wobbly eyes, I felt guilty and inadvertently avoided his gaze.

“Take care.”

I turned my back on the tumultuous situation, leaving only the words.

There was nothing I could do for Alastair.

What can a 14-year-old girl do? Come to think of it, it’s already been three years since Alastair was brainwashed.

I don’t know if the brainwashing worked well or not, but one day he began to blush at me.

It may seem that the brainwashing to love Serina worked, but strangely enough, the other brainwashing did not.

He’s not at all following the orders to obey our family.

Sometimes, I think it would be better for Alastair to be prefectly brainwashed. Then this cruelty would come to a stop. But there is also the important fact that he firmly refuses to be brainwashed till the end.

From the moment he is perfectly brainwashed by the Duke of Melford, he will live as her puppet.

I’m tired. I arrived in my room and for a long time was lost in thoughts. I lay my tired body on the bed because I didn’t want to think any more.

The warmth under the quilt did not go at all with the cold violence of this family.

When I was here, I often fooled myself and mentally escaped— like I was somewhere other than the Melford duchy. In that sense of deluded comfort I fell into a numb and deep sleep.

* * * *

“Um, ···.”

Half asleep, I can feel something warm and cumbersome on the ankle. Nervously, I took my foot away from it, but an unknown ‘something’ caught my ankle again. Something that wouldn’t budge.

“···Ahh?”

“?”

I wondered what it was that kept bothering my ankle, and it was Alastair. He treated my ankles like the precious water of a desert oasis. He didn’t move.

“What are you doing now?”

“……I’m sorry, Serina.”

“Huh?”

“I made you sick.”

Ah. I guess you’re talking about your hand grazed by my ankle during your struggle earlier.

“It’s not something worth mentioning.”

Maybe it’s because the brainwashing worked well. Alastair overreacted like I would die if I was pricked by a thorn.

I could see his brainwashing clearly.

He stroked my ankle with an anxious look.

He never got sick in the first place, but he is ridiculous in treating people as critical patients, which makes me laugh.

Who’s worried about who you are when you’re the one trouble? The sight is funny, and one laughs at the absurdity.

“No thanks. It’s just a tap. Yes, don’t react sensitively.”

I pulled my ankle from him.

He couldn’t take his eyes off my feet as if he had lingering feelings.

“I’m sorry, Seri,” he called my pet name rarely.

Ttukttuk, Alastair began to shed tears like chicken poop with a mournful face, and my body trembled at the embarrassing sight. Here the victim was apologizing to the real assailant.

What do you mean? What a strange sight it was.

“…. “

”·····, I was wrong. So don’t leave me with that foot.”

The Alastair sat with his knees bent under my feet, imploring earnestly.

Please don’t lose yourself. I felt so sorry. Alastair’s feelings were not real. It was a misleading, irrational emotion created by brainwashing.

The reason why he is afraid to be abandoned by me is because he believes he loves me. To love and to believe in love are different levels of emotion.

If he doesn’t believe in love, he’ll have no more feelings for me.

I stroked his black hair with these complex thoughts. The fine black hair curled up between my fingers. I savor the soft touch.

Patting him on the head as if he were crying, I soothed him.

“Why don’t you come here and sit next to me?“

To my words he strained his shaky legs and got up from his seat and settled next to me. There’s really no other dog that listens this well.

Alastair, sat on my bed and stared at my red eyes for a while with a hazy, slightly loosened, longing eye. Charmed eyes were on me

My insides gently bent.

For a weightless moment, I felt as if time had stopped.

A beautiful face smiled and I almost fell in love with him.

I thought I got used to it, but I guess not. It’s a beautiful image that I always feel and linger for.

“Serina, can I hold your hand?”

“Sure.”

As soon as my permission was given, Alastair hurriedly grabbed my hand.

My slender hands are enveloped in his rather large hands.

He relaxes his grip as if he were being careful in case my hand gets hurt. It was a very humorous sight.

Holding my hand and fiddling, he suddenly lowered his head and kissed me small on the back of his hand. Maybe that was the beginning, my hand, my head, and my mouth.

“Serina,” he raises his head and looks at me.

Looking at the hazy eyes, I wondered if the day would come when the brainwashing would be relieved.

Seeing him looking at me as if he was loving Serina made me upset.

“Serina Melford” is a blessed character who faces death by relying on the villain, the final boss of the novel. She looks like a pure and innocent beauty. From the description of her in the novel, I think she’s a villain.

Long curled eyelashes curled like curves caught people’s eyes at once whenever they blinked. The curving silver hair looked like a thousand sparkles at first glance, and the red-eyed eyes were brighter than any ruby.

At first, I didn’t realize that this place was a fictional novel or there was a charater “Serina.”

I thought it was just a dream.

Then, I felt more and perturbed.

When I was eight years old I had a mental age of twenty.

In the beginning of my discovery, I felt blessed to be a character named “Serina.” Most of all, my background was made of diamond spoons.

However, when I found out that my mother was the last boss and ‘king of villains’, I was a little reluctant with a clear understanding that the ending of this novel is when the heroine and the male lead kiss each other at a grand wedding.

In contrast to that, Serina, a villain of the novel, was hugging a dying man in the bell tower. His name is Alastair Cichelon Ponnell Aguernia.

The man is a dark horse who lived an unlucky life.

The Duke of Aguernia was so famous that he belonged to the four largest families of the Empire. With its reputation, there is rumor that the goddess of good fortune guarded the Aguernian family.

The goddess, Ji, has always made Aguernia’s businesses successful. Infinite glory was synonymous with the Aguernian family.

Nevertheless, after the death of the Duke of Aguernia, their glory and success also followed suit. Aguernia’s new Duke had no talent for business. His business is always failing and there was loss after loss.

Fortunately, the ducal house had accumulated a great deal of wealth so their losses weren’t felt in their day to day lives.

But slowly a financial crisis loomed like a dark cloud growing heavy with a storm.

The Duke of Aguernia, who continued to engage in business despite his poor ability, suffered more and more losses, and eventually the family’s finances were exhausted. To make matters worse, the luxury of the ducal couple was truly enormous. But the worst was yet to come.

A natural disaster. Seven trade ships from the Aguernian family on their way to the north were hit by the typhoon and sank without leaving a trace. It was something no one had ever predicted. The sinking of seven trading ships is simply a huge blow.

The story stayed in the newspapers for almost a month. Because of this enormous incident, the Duke of Aguernia finances sank with the ships deep in the sea.

At that time, there was a person who put out a helping hand, the Duchess of Melford.

The Duke of Melford proposed bestowing a large investment to the Duke of Aguernia for the restart of business. As there is a saying that there is no free lunch in the world, her proposal was conditional.

Send the successor of the Duke of Aguernia to the ducal house of Melford. That was the only term. But if the son of a duke became a plaything of the Duke of Melford, it was no less than that the Aguernians would bow to Melford.

If it had been yesteryear the pride of the Aguernia house would never have allowed it, but things were different now. In the past, they had money and ability to back up that pride—facts that were absent from the new lord.

So he accepted the offer immediately. The son of the Duke of Aguernia, who was sent to the House of Melford in such a process, was Alastair.

‘Who knew?’ The fact that the Duchess of Melford was brainwashing his precious son.

The Duke of Melford, while brainwashing Alastair, did not neglect the education of his successor, which he had begun to receive in Aguernia.

My brother, Carron, noted this. So he said. -If he’s educated like that and he becomes the Duke of Aguernia, then he’s going to use my sister to gulp down Aguernia.

He was not wrong. More precisely, that was what the Duke of Melford wanted: a bloodline between Serina and Alastair.

Alastair was a magic genius. I’ll tell you the amount of mana he has.

It’s impossible to describe. The novel mentions that there is no magician on the continent who can follow Alastair.

The Duke of Melford wanted his talent. Melford had been the home of wizards and magic for generations, but even the second most powerful wizard was no match for an Alastair.

The Duke wanted to further her family’s power. That’s why she was brainwashing Alastair.

Obey Melford, love Serina.

Alastair, who loved Serina dug to his brainwashing, blindly followed her like a faithful dog.

In the novel Serina used and abused Alastair to the point he was ruined.

The heroine of the novel, the saint, Juliana, only found out later that he had been brainwashed.

Feeling sorry for him, she released him from his brainwashing. With her remarkable sanctity the no-longer brainwashed Alastair is in a state of tumultuous confusion and Juliana takes care of him.

Then one day, the Alastair disappears without notice. Juliana searches for him for a long time, worried. But no trace of him is left and in the story he doesn’t show up for a long time.

After time passes, Alastair appears at the end of the story. It was Serina to whom he ran back to and it was her who destroyed him.

When she sees Alastair, she laughs and destroys him without mercy. Of course, Alastair wasn’t someone she could directly kill. But he died in her hands.

Why did he do that?

-My lovely, tell me. You wanted to get away from me like that?

-…. I‘m not sure.

That was their last line.

* * *

-Deng

Three years have passed since then.

The sound of a bell ringing at the funeral resounded through the forest like an echo. The forest where the funeral was held was as lifeless as a corpse.

The nobles present expressed their condolences for the deceased and the families of the departed were busy suppressing their grief.

The star of the funeral was the late Duke of Aguernia, Alastair’s father.

His death was unexpected to everyone. Who knew he would die of a sudden heart attack?

“I pray for peace for the deceased,” said the Duke of Melford, who approached the Duchess of Aguernia.

The Duke of Melford consoled her and hosted a perfect imitation of the Duchess of Aguernia’s miserable face.

“Look at that—tsk tsk… that pretense.”

Disgusted, Carron, my brother and youngest out of my siblings, clicked his tongue and shook his head with disapproval.

“Seri, what’s going to happen (to him) now?”

“What’s going to happen? We’re going to go back to our own house…”

Maxion, who answered on my behalf, came up from behind and squeezed in between Carron and I.

Carron openly ignored Maxion. “He isn’t completely brainwashed, is he? But can’t he just go?”

“Do you really think so?” Maxion wondered.

Only then did Carron nod as if he knew.

“Then you don’t have to worry.”

“Seri’s pet is as docile as a trained dog.”

They nodded in agreement.

Is it because they’re twins? The two of them gritted their teeth every time they saw each other, but in truth, they got along quite well.

“Hey, but do you know that’s dangerous?” Maxion pointed his finger at the black-haired boy.

Carron and I naturally followed Maxion’s fingers to where he was pointing at me. We were next to the bawling Duchess. And me, now masquerading as the black-haired boy, froze.

The boy’s indifferent gaze turned to the coffin containing his father. In an atmosphere full of grief, the boy’s seemingly insensitive appearance was somewhat alien.

As if this situation has nothing to do with him, or is it because of the unique and remarkable appearance that boy has?

The boy’s red lips were tightly sealed. His eyes, under long eyelashes, searched the funeral hall.

A well-made, beautiful face.

“What’s dangerous?”

Maxion, with a stiff look on his face, he stared sharply at the boy.

“Look at the tip of your hair…”

The glossy black hair was like soft silk. What does he mean? It’s perfect.

My gaze shifted to the corner of my vision to the tips of my hair.

The short black hair was gradually turning into a patchwork color.

It was a subtle change that no one would notice, but at this rate, dark hair will completely turn to my original silver soon.

“This is crazy.”

“…..”

Carron, who grasped the situation, took off his coat. Then he approached the black-haired boy like he was concerned.

“Ek, Alastair. If you’re sad, you can cry as much as you like.”

Carron hid me with his coat, covering the head of the supposed Alastair. Carron spoke to Alastair very naturally.

The aristocrats who saw the scene thought kindly upon Carron’s actions. What a thoughtful gesture, to hide Alastair’s tears.

But the reality was different. Carron only wanted to conceal his dark hair, which was gradually turning into a gray color.

The boys and I headed out, leaving the funeral.

“…. ”

“The disguise is so weak, man.”

“That’s why I said no! Seri is good at changing her appearance, so why are you blaming me? Why would she ask Seri to dress up like a man?”

”Grr…”

My black hair was now completely mud-colored.

Someone called out to Alastair..

It was Mikhail. My brother and the eldest son of the Duke of Melford. Mikhail grumbled and covered my mud-colored hair with his body, blocking possible stares.

We looked on from afar at the appetizers, where the Duke of Melford patted the Duchess of Aguernia. The Duchess of Aguernia gave thanks to her. The last piece of Melford’s familial unit approached us.

“Let’s go back now.”

She whispered gently with a satisfied smile on her face.

We headed to the home to the Melford mansion. It where the real host of the funeral and heir to the Aguernian ducal house, Alastair, was.

Upon returning to the mansion, I threw off my dreary black and silver mourning clothes and changed into a white dress that lightened my mood.

“Where is Alastair?”

I’ve been on edge ever since I left to attend the funeral on his behalf.

Last night, Alastair cut his wrist without a moment’s hesitation after he left my room.

My anxiety drove me crazy. Alastair must have been slowly going mad.

“He is locked up in the dungeon.” As soon as I heard the reply, I headed underground.

When I opened the old iron door there was a sharp ominous sound, I frowned.

“Alastair….?”

“!?”

There was a gag in Alastair’s mouth and his arms were bound by a metal harness. He could no longer be restrained by even the strongest ropes.

Alastair opened his eyes when he heard my little voice.

He began to struggle, trying to close the distance between us.

Soon, magic, which had risen from his body, leaked out. The black mana soon cracked the harness.

“Calm down, Alastair,” I said, and his movements stopped and mana disappeared like it was an illusion.

I approached him and released the gag from his mouth.

He gasped and panted.

It must have been a little hot, but my cheeks were reddening.

“Serina…..” he groaned and buried his head on my shoulder.

My body trembled with a numb heat at our contact, but I accepted him calmly.

“I don’t know what to do in this situation.”

The key to unlock the harness was in the hand of Melford‘s head. I didn’t know what to do. My face reflected the tension and bewilderment in my heart.

The harness along with the mana restrainer ball cracked. It was Alastair’s force. The broken mana ball fell powerlessly down and rolled on the floor backwards.

It can’t be that simple.

I stared at him blankly in astonishment.

As I was busy gawking, two hard arms hurriedly enveloped me in a tender hug.

I was firmly clasped in his arms.

His hug grew with intensity. As it got tighter, it was harder to breathe.

“Alastair, I’m suffocating,” was meant to be relaxed. I’d be surprised if you were an ordinary jester.

My regular person would have taken their hands off me, but he didn’t. Instead, he hugged my body harder.

“Can’t you hear me?”

Well, he must have been brainwashed in the hallucination room for a long time yesterday, and the day before. He couldn’t come to his senses in a day.

He usually would have reacted immediately to my words, but now he couldn’t. I wondered when he would wake up.

He usually waited for my permission to touch me.

Meh, I guess I’ll just have to wait this out until he comes to his senses.

“……. Serina.”

How long has it been? At long last, Alastair slowly loosened his arms around me. I slipped away from his chest and increased the distance between us.

“Are you in your right mind yet?”

Alastair nodded timidly. His eyes were still drenched in a hazy reverie.

“…… Serina, I was dying to see you. Where have you been all this time?”

Alastair stared into my eyes and curled his eyes with envy. Unlike his small smile, my mouth shut tightly. I couldn’t bear to say that I had been to his father’s funeral and even attended on his behalf.

I know he will find out eventually, but my mouth just wouldn’t open.

“….. “

“······, I just went somewhere.”

Alastair smiled and asked no more. A guilty conscience choked my heart; I was deceiving him.

“Is your wrist all right?”

“It’s all right.”

His left wrist was bandaged.

The bloodstains on the white bandage indicated that he was not alright at all. I’m glad I brought a new dressing just in case.

“Give me your wrist. I’ll change your bandages.”

“You’re very kind.”

At some point, Alastair started using honorific language with me. Entering the room of hallucination and being brainwashed regularly gradually changed him.

He didn’t refuse to do it and didn’t cry anymore.

Are my eyes faulty, that he smiled under any circumstances?

“Don’t do this next time.” ‘

“Well…”

“What?”

“You look at me a little bit. I can do more if you give me your attention.”

“…..”

“Serina, you’ve been so careless with me lately.”

“Is it possible… that you’re only slitting your wrists for that reason?”

“What do you mean? You’re not supposed to say that.”

Alastair’s smile was twisted. He was completely sincere. Nevertheless, his sincerity was due to his brainwashing.

It’s just that.

It’s absurd.

How far is he going to fall?!

I didn’t deserve to say a word because here I was on the sidelines, being a spectator to his torture. Whether it was intentional or not— it didn’t matter because the result was the same.

Alastair had not yet fully succumbed to his brainwashing. But if we brainwash him anymore, there’s no turning back. Just within this year, he has changed so much.

For years he had resisted the brainwashing that commanded him to obey the Duke. But now it was different.

He had disobeyed the Melford household members—except me, but now he has not resisted the Melfords anymore.

I made an oath in my heart when I witnessed his long-standing torment. I’ll release him from brainwashing no matter the cost.

“Alastair, I have something to tell you.”

When I released the bandage, I saw a deep wound on the white wrist of Alastair. I applied the medicine as carefully as possible.

“You will soon be inheriting your title as Duke of Aguernia.”

I took my eyes off his wrist for a moment and looked at his expression.

Alastair’s eyes opened a little wide. There was something mysterious about his face.

Yes, you are finally going to get out of this hell.

Er, what —you should be happy, but why do you have such a face?

Somehow his face looked overwhelmingly angry and a little remorseful.

“Why, no?”

“Are you abandoning me?”

To my confusion, he looked dismal.

I didn’t expect you to be happy, implying his father’s death, but I certainly didn’t expect you to react like this.

“Are you sick of me now?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Then why would you want to abandon me? You locked me up, hypnotized me, and now… Why do you want to abandon me?”

Alastair was smiling because he couldn’t cry.

His greatest fear was abandonment to the point that he asked me to kill him if he was going to be thrown away. But there is no way I would do such a thing.

“You know why I cut my wrist.”

“Why?”

“In my nightmare… you left me.”

Alastair’s eyes reflected a numb despair as he recalled his hallucination. I don’t know what he saw, but the pain was written on his countenance and distorted his forehead.

“So please, please, please, be with me. Don’t leave, Serina.”

Alastair’s eyes shone red with unshed tears.

He hugged me. As if he never wanted to let go, he tightened his arms and didn’t budge.

I didn’t bother to push him away.

What were the two of us like in the original novel? The story only focused on the main character.

The villain’s childhood was not in the novel.

I only know the protagonist’s past and future, and nothing meaningful about the villain’s life.

“Alastair, are you worried that I’m abandoning you right now?”

“… I’m afraid.”

“But I don’t want to abandon you… right?”

He didn’t answer.

“However, it’s my heart’s choice to reject you or not reject you, right?”

My voice was weak and soft as I mustered up my courage. Alastair squeezed my waist tighter against him. It made my back ache even more, but I didn’t mention it.

“If you don’t want to be abandoned by me, prove your worth.”

“…. then you are not afraid of keeping me by your side?”

“Yes, if you prove yourself, there’s no reason for me to leave you.”

I didn’t have to tell him how he should prove himself; he already knew what I meant. Restore the Aguernian ducal house’s glory and enjoy a period of prosperity at a level even your ancestors couldn’t imagine.

I’m confident because I know the original content. I’m sure I recall Alastair achieving a lot in connection to his family.

He will try to prove his worth because of his “love Serina conditioning.”

I know it is cruel to use his indoctrination to manipulate him, but it’s the only way to get away from the Duke of Melford.

If you keep bowing to Melford like you are now, you will never be free.

“I’ll give you three years. Until then, prove your worth.”

And I had to figure out a way to solve the brainwashing in those three years, at any cost. Alastair would be twenty.

“If I prove the value you want…”

Alastair raised his head. There was a smile in his eyes.

That’s cruel, too.

“Don’t ever leave me then.”

It was a kind of deal.

I don’t leave his side if he proves his worth.

I don’t know if this will be valid after I wipe away his inculcation.

“If you prove your worth.”

I laughed softly once again, and Alastair looked at me like that in a dreamy way. It was very peaceful.

I wish time had stopped like this.

It was unusually sunny.

The sun was dazzling, and blooming flowers brightened the atmosphere.

I looked around the garden in a daze until I focused on a point in front of me.

“Serina, we have a date.”

The date that the Duke of Melford was referring to was the day Alastair would return to the dukedom of Aguernia.

“When?”

“In a few days’ time. Surprised?”

“It is faster than I thought, but it’s not surprising.”

I sipped the tea lightly.

I wasn’t fond of the bitter tea, but it was manageable.

“I’m sorry Alastair isn’t completely tamed but is inevitable. I’m glad Seri you are here to help in that regard.”

The Duke of Melford slightly narrowed her eyes.

She put her glass down on the table and watched me.

I wanted to move on and get this done already.

As if to respond to her, I also put my glass down on the table.

“Serina… I have something to say to you.”

“Please do tell,” I said lightly. ,

She has long lips. The Duke opens her mouth

“Make Alastair your concubine.”

“······”

Just what? Ah, my face just stiffened. I’m too obvious.

“What do you think?”

Her remarks are slow, so I have plenty of room for surprise.

“Bring in Alastair as my concubine?”

“Yes, you don’t like it?”

This isn’t a matter of whether I like it or not.

The original Serina hated being bound to anything or anyone. So she had neither a husband nor a lover. So I never anticipated this strike.

No, she didn’t even have men around her. Of course, Alastair was an exception.

However, it was because she enjoyed the process tormenting him and breaking him down, the more he clung to her.

Regardless, the original Serina never accepted Alastair as her concubine.

Instead, I’ve had so many relations with him.

Perhaps the reason why the current situation has changed from the original is that I am not Serina.

Maybe that’s why I am forced to navigate through this sour situation.

Relationships are necessary to give birth to life. Does the Duke of Melford think that if I bring Alastair in as a concubine, I will have that kind of relationship with him?

“It’s not that I don’t like it… it’s that… how can we work when he is going to be a duke soon?”

“Well, he would jump at the chance just to be near you, it seems like he’d do anything, regardless.”

Yes, a brainwashed Alastair would do as she said.

I didn’t want to admit it to a certain extent.

“So how about bringing the Duke into your harem?”