The Duke’s Obsession Leads to a Death Flag

When I opened my eyes, it was not morning but midday. I lifted my heavy eyelids and looked toward the window, where the noon sunlight streamed in. Perhaps because I had tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep due to various thoughts, I still didn’t feel refreshed despite having slept for quite a while.

“It’s so peaceful.”

In the clear sky, devoid of even a single cloud, the sun and the moon coexisted. No matter how many years I had spent here, I could never get used to that sky. Every time I faced it, I was reminded once again that I was still in this world.

Yeah. I am still inside Mad Love.

“Haah….”

What a deceptive day. Everything was astonishingly the same as usual. It was hard to believe that the protagonist, who would bring ruin to Zone 5 in the near future, was right nearby.

Well, the people here didn’t even know that the child was in this place. That was precisely why Han Jae-hoon had abandoned the child in the western warehouse. It was the only place in the mansion where no one would notice.

It’s a relief that it’s spring right now. If it were winter, even I wouldn’t have been able to reach the child.

“First, I should wash up.”

Snapping out of my daze, I got out of bed. Stretching my stiff arms high toward the ceiling, I headed toward the bathroom. Just then, I met eyes with the butler, who had come to wake me up.

“Young Master Seo-yul, you’re awake?”

“Yeah, just now.”

“You seem to have slept well today.”

I didn’t really feel like I had, but answering was bothersome, so I simply nodded vaguely. As I dragged my slippers into the bathroom, the butler followed behind, preparing a fresh set of clothes and a towel.

After taking off my pajamas and tossing them into the basket, I stepped under the stream of cascading water, washing away the sleep that clung stubbornly to my eyelids.

Once I dried myself with a towel infused with the deep scent of sunlight, I stepped outside. As I lowered the towel and spread my arms, the butler, who had been waiting in front of the bathroom, quickly dressed me.

Clad in a neat shirt, suspenders, and a blue ribbon, Han Seo-yul truly looked like the young master of a noble house. Well, even if Zone 5 was more rundown compared to other zones, Han Seo-yul was still the son of the zone’s ruler.

Compared to my time as Jung I-hyun, this was an excessively abundant life. But in the end, I was still just a kid who couldn’t smoke or drink.

‘Only thirteen years old.’

When the hell was this body going to grow up? The seven years left until I turned twenty felt unbearably distant.

To be honest, I was deliberately ignoring the possibility that even as an adult, Han Seo-yul’s body might not be able to smoke or drink. A life without cigarettes and alcohol—what could be more dreadful than that?

“It’s a bit late, but shall I prepare your meal?”

“I don’t feel like eating.”

“The lord of the zone said that since you skipped breakfast, you must eat lunch.”

There was never a choice to begin with, so why even ask? Resigning myself, I weakly replied, “Alright.” At that, the butler clapped his hands lightly. The attendants entered the room and set out a meal—an overwhelming amount for a first meal of the day.

“I prepared soft foods since it’s your first meal.”

“…I don’t like radish soup.”

“You still have to eat it.”

Hearing my muttered complaint, the butler spoke firmly. I stopped stirring the soup with my spoon and glared at him, but he remained entirely unfazed. Instead, he even nudged the bowl slightly closer to me.

“I’m not eating it.”

“You must.”

“I’m not a kid.”

“At thirteen, you are most certainly a kid.”

It was frustrating that I couldn’t tell him the truth even if I wanted to. Suffering in silent irritation, I eventually had no choice but to force down the radish I didn’t want to eat. The butler clapped in praise, but I felt no gratitude whatsoever.

I managed to eat half of it, but that was my limit. I couldn’t stand the way it melted unpleasantly the moment it entered my mouth.

Yeah, being thirteen means I’m allowed to be picky about food.

“Young Master Seo-yul.”

The soup bowl I had just pushed away came right back. I sent the butler a pleading look, but he remained unmoved. In the end, I decided to be stubborn.

To refuse the meal, I put down my spoon and crossed my arms. Turning my head away, I clamped my mouth shut in protest. The butler sighed and said,

“They’re all good for your health.”

“As if I don’t know that. I do know, but I still can’t eat it.”

“Then how about just half—”

“No! I’m done eating. I hate cooked radish. It tastes awful!”

As always, I was the victor in this childish battle. At times like this, I wondered if my mind was regressing along with my younger body. But since this method worked quite well, I used it often.

Besides, it was actually beneficial for me to appear like a child to these people. That was how I justified my own fussiness over food.

“When will our young master stop being picky with his food?”

“I probably won’t, even when I grow up.”

“Eating a balanced diet is important for your health.”

“The doctor said I’m already healthier than before.”

At my confident response, the butler was at a loss for words and let out a deep sigh. Pushing away the disgusting radish soup, I found my appetite returning. Humming to myself, I picked at the various side dishes and ate them one by one.

“That was a good meal.”

Satisfied with my soup-free meal, I left the dining table and perched myself on the windowsill. Basking in the drowsy afternoon sunlight, I let my mind wander before reaching for today’s newspaper, which the butler had left on the table.

The paper, bearing traces of Han Jae-hoon’s reading, had multiple folded corners, most of them marking articles related to Zone 1.

Even since last month, the amount of electricity being sent from Zone 1 had visibly decreased. Because of that, the mansion had already replaced all its electric lights with gas lamps long ago.

“Looks like we won’t be able to use anything that runs on electricity anymore.”

We were already conserving as much as possible, enduring the inconvenience of regressing into the past, but now, with an even greater reduction ahead, this must have been yet another piece of news that made Han Jae-hoon sigh as he read it.

Zone 5, which already had a strained relationship with Zone 1, suffered from an unreliable electricity supply compared to other zones. Without electricity, development naturally lagged behind, and the environment only grew worse.

This is all because of Luis Shining.

The unpredictable lord of Zone 1 adjusted the electricity supply to each zone according to his mood. Because of that, the zone lords had to go out of their way to stay on his good side.

The reason Han Jae-hoon had been away from the mansion for a week was also to visit Zone 1. He had gone to practically beg for an increase in Zone 5’s electricity supply, but all he brought back was a useless ‘gift.’

Yes, he had brought back the very disaster that would one day completely destroy Zone 5.

“Young Master Seo-yul.”

The butler returned after clearing the table and handed me a steaming mug. For a brief moment, I had hoped it was coffee, but the thick, chocolate-colored liquid inside quickly erased my expectations. I hid my disappointment as best I could.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

“Oh, just… this and that.”

I mumbled an evasive answer as I sipped the cocoa, which had become more familiar to me than coffee. I hated sweet things, but by now, I had at least gotten used to enduring the cloying taste that coated my mouth. Still, I definitely preferred coffee.

“Watching you these days, I can’t help but wonder if you’re going through puberty.”

I almost responded that I had long since passed puberty, but then I remembered—Han Seo-yul was only thirteen. Right, it was still too early for puberty. I set down the half-empty mug and mused to myself.

“Young Master Seo-yul.”

Warm green eyes gazed at me. In this mansion filled with people who had black eyes, the butler was the only one from Zone 1.

Yes, the very place that was currently giving Han Jae-hoon a headache and was eating away at me from the inside.

Han Jae-hoon called him ‘Luel,’ while the attendants addressed him as ‘Mr. Connor.’ Unable to choose between the two, I simply called him ‘butler.’ But the original Han Seo-yul had called him ‘Lou.’

I discovered that fact a year after possessing this body.

It was a cold winter, and I was forbidden from leaving the mansion. Bored out of my mind, I had been wandering the halls when I happened to overhear the attendants whispering to each other.

The attendants had whispered that ever since the young master—who used to affectionately call him ‘Lou’—had fallen seriously ill, he had begun calling him ‘butler’ instead, as if drawing a clear boundary. And that change had deeply hurt the butler.

If I had known that earlier, I would have called him ‘Lou’ like the original Han Seo-yul. But unfortunately, by the time I learned about it, the word butler had already become too ingrained in my speech to change.

“Have you given any thought to what I mentioned last time?”

“Last time…?”

Out of the countless conversations I had shared with the butler, I had no clue which one he was referring to. I stalled for time by pretending to think, and noticing my blank expression, the butler provided the answer himself.

“A new attendant.”

“Oh.”

Three years ago, when my only younger sibling left for a boarding school in distant Zone 1, the butler, worried that I would be left alone, had been persistently trying to assign a companion of my age by my side.

Even when I pretended to be shy and refused, the butler seemed convinced that my changed personality over the years was due to loneliness. He never gave up and kept repeating the suggestion.

Even Han Jae-hoon had finally given in to the butler’s persuasion and suggested that I should have a personal attendant of my age. At this point, it seemed like I needed a different excuse—shyness wasn’t going to cut it anymore.

“I’m fine as I am.”

“Maybe being alone makes you overthink things.”

I wasn’t lonely at all, but I swallowed those words and simply offered an awkward smile.

The butler stared at me for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.

“If you ever change your mind, please let me know. I will select some suitable candidates.”

“Yeah, got it.”

Of course, I had no intention of bringing it up again, but I ended the conversation on a positive note.

I picked up the half-full mug of now-cold cocoa, only to quietly set it back down.

Instead of this, what I really wanted was a cold Americano and a bitter cigarette. But as a thirteen-year-old Han Seo-yul, I could have neither. So, once again, I could only swallow my disappointment and long for the fading taste in my memory.

“If you’re feeling cooped up, you can take a walk in the garden,” the butler suggested.

Unlike Han Jae-hoon, who disliked letting me leave my room, the butler didn’t mind me going outside as long as the weather wasn’t too cold.

I had been worried that my frequent absences from my room these past few days might get noticed, but this was the perfect excuse.

Grateful for the opportunity, I quickly nodded.

“Thanks, butler.”