The Past Life of the Arrogant Archduke - Chapter 7
Tears welled up in Yulia’s eyes.
To feel this lonely on the night of her own wedding… Was this life ruined too? In her previous life, at least she had her Ray, so the nights hadn’t been so lonely.
With a voice full of yearning, Yulia murmured,
“Ray……”
After a day full of tension, Yulia’s heavy eyelids finally gave in to fatigue and closed.
Swish.
Not long after midnight passed and the new year began, the door to the bridal chamber quietly opened.
Step by step, Raymond entered. He stopped in front of the bed. He stared intently at the peacefully sleeping Yulia.
Those slightly tearful eyes. That innocent-looking face. It was loathsome.
Four years ago, Raymond had undergone his family’s rite of awakening one’s past life… and learned a horrifying truth about his former self.
Everyone in the household had firmly believed that his past life had been a sword.
But in truth… his past life was a toy.
A d***o, no less. A toy held in that woman’s hand, shoved beneath her, bringing her pleasure.
That the past life of himself—the highest noble of the North who upheld honor—had been nothing but a mere s*x toy that comforted a woman.
It was something he could never accept.
After awakening to his past life, Raymond developed a deep aversion to women.
It tormented him. So he fled to the battlefield, where there were hardly any women. He unleashed his fury by cutting down demonic beasts.
His swordsmanship improved by the day, and his reckless valor at the frontlines inspired the knights and soldiers, raising morale across the ranks.
Raymond gradually began to regain his self-worth, earning looks of reverence from those around him. But then, something began to irritate him.
Nobles began arriving at the front, under the pretense of offering support and resupplying goods—while bringing their daughters with them.
Their aim was obvious: to flaunt their fragrant, pampered daughters in this sweaty war zone in hopes of capturing the heir’s heart.
“A noble lady who dares visit a war-torn battlefield with her own hands full of supplies, well. Surely, such virtue makes her worthy of being Grand Duchess.”
Raymond’s response was consistent.
He refused meetings under the excuse of battle fatigue. When forced to meet them, he would show up drenched in beast blood, offer curt thanks for the supplies, and disappear.
Noble ladies who tried sneaking into the command tent at night were punished under military law.
Their antics became a source of amusement among the knights and soldiers.
The nobles, infuriated, began to gossip.
“The heir seems unusually close with the knights and soldiers. But he treats noble young ladies so coldly… Could it be…?”
These rumors were troublesome for the Grand Ducal household.
The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, who were well aware of their son’s issues, grew deeply concerned.
The heir’s aversion to women hadn’t improved at all.
The Grand Duke made a decision for the sake of the family.
If the heir failed to find someone he liked at his coming-of-age ceremony, they would proceed with an arranged marriage.
To Raymond, the news was like a bolt from the blue.
Returning from the battlefield after four years, he attended his coming-of-age ceremony. As he entered the ballroom, his patience was already stretched thin.
Seeing the hall packed with women nearly drove him to murderous rage.
His highly trained senses made everything worse, with perfume more suffocating than battlefield blood, high-pitched voices, dazzlingly garish outfits.
Just as Raymond was about to forcibly shut off his senses—
He heard someone whisper.
“Ray…”
The fine hairs on Raymond’s body stood on end. A chill ran down his spine.
‘Why am I hearing that voice now?’
The voice that used to call his name in a past life, spoken by the woman who had once used him as a toy.
Raymond sharply focused on the direction the voice came from. He saw her, a plain-looking woman with black hair, far off.
The moment their eyes briefly met, Raymond was sure.
That woman was the very one who had been his owner and master in his past life.
Grit.
Raymond bit down hard inside his mouth.
‘Master? How dare she.’
To him, that woman felt like a beast sent to destroy his life.
His pride as a noble.
His dignity as a knight.
His very worth as a human being.
She was a monster who had trampled all of it.
And as if it wasn’t enough to give him such a degrading past life, now she had the gall to appear in this life too?
