DTEYH 02

chapter 02

“Please Break Off the Engagement, Duke—I Don’t Want to Die”

What would you do if you found out that, in the near future, you were going to die—bleeding profusely?

Unless someone had a special desire to die, struggling to survive was only natural human instinct.

In the dimly lit room, I stared into the mirror.

A beautiful woman looked back at me—hair the color of clear seawater, and pale green-gray eyes filled with sorrow.

Yes… that was me.

Until recently, I had lived in this world without a single doubt that this was my life. But now, faced with this unfamiliar realization, a chill ran down my spine.

I glared at my reflection as if it were someone else and muttered,

“…I’ve been reborn as Hazel from a novel? Why?”

It was a ridiculous question.

After being reborn and living twenty whole years as Hazel, asking myself why I was Hazel now was laughable.

For a brief moment, I denied reality.

I buried my face in a soft pillow, desperately insisting it was all just a dream. I even kicked my slippers across the room for no reason, trembling.

But then I remembered—

My fiancé’s name was the same as Hazel’s husband in the novel. And everything around me matched the story perfectly.

At that point, denying reality became impossible.

I punched the pillow repeatedly.

In the end, I had no choice but to accept it.

I had been reincarnated as Hazel—the pitiful mother in the novel “Dad Is a Monster Duke” who gives birth to the female lead and then dies.

“I die after giving birth? That’s ridiculous… I want to live.”

I really do!

To anyone else, I might have looked insane, clutching my hair like that—but I had my reasons.

I had memories of my past life since birth.

In that life, I grew up as a poor orphan in a wealthy country called Korea. Ironically, no matter how hard I tried, my life never improved.

“A pitiful child with nothing. A hungry child. A lonely child.”

That was all there was to say.

My last memory was collapsing from hunger and falling asleep.

“…I must have starved to death.”

When I was reborn with those memories intact, I was shocked—but I adapted quickly.

Sometimes, I even wondered if those memories might become some kind of cheat code in this life.

But…

“A cheat code? Yeah, right…”

Of all things, I had been reborn as the female lead’s mother in “Dad Is a Monster Duke.”

That was practically like being handed a guidebook to my own death.

I really could have done without that kind of kindness.

My throat went dry as I recalled the story.

In the novel, Dante Romanov loses his sanity after Hazel dies giving birth.

But there had been no romance between them, so it wasn’t love that drove him mad.

Regardless, he becomes so deranged after her death that he is often described as a monster.

Naturally, he fails to care for his newborn child—and rumors even spread that he tried to kill his own baby.

(Of course, from the reader’s perspective, that was just a misunderstanding.)

At that time, a maid fakes the baby’s death and secretly takes her away. The female lead is then raised by a kind man until she returns to her father at the age of seven.

“…Wait a second.”

As I retraced the story, I suddenly remembered something important.

“If I really live the same life as Hazel… won’t I die from illness even before giving birth?”

According to the side stories, Hazel had a congenital illness even before meeting her husband.

Her mana was blocked, causing her organs to fail one by one—until eventually, even her heart stopped.

Fortunately, I remembered enough of the story to estimate the progression of the disease.

“It hasn’t started yet…”

I even knew the cure.

The problem was—it was an extremely rare herb found in a distant, dangerous place.

In the novel, Dante easily obtained it and cured Hazel.

“But then she died giving birth anyway… so what’s the difference?”

I shook my head.

There was no point dwelling on Hazel’s original fate.

I had no idea why I had been reincarnated into a novel, but my previous life had ended in starvation…

“If this happens again, that’s just too unfair.”

I had no intention of following the original storyline.

According to the novel, Dante and Hazel didn’t even love each other.

Why would I risk my life to maintain a relationship with no emotional connection?

“Of course I wouldn’t.”

If there was one concern, it was the child—the future female lead.

It felt like I might be stealing the chance at life from a child destined to be born.

“But…”

No matter how much I thought about it, I didn’t have the kind of maternal instinct that would make me sacrifice my life for a child I had never even met.

The guilt lingered, staining my heart, but I forced myself to push it aside.

Knock, knock.

A sound came from the door, and it opened.

It was Hannah, my always cheerful personal maid.

“Oh my!”

She was startled to see me glaring at the mirror in a dark room.

“My lady, you’re awake after all. The maids passing by said they heard strange noises from your room…”

So my muttering had leaked outside.

“Yeah, that strange noise was me.”

At my firm response, Hannah simply nodded, as if it made perfect sense.

Everyone around me—including Hannah—considered me somewhat… unusual.

Unpredictable.

Of course, I insisted I had a perfectly normal personality—but no one believed me.

Which was fair.

Since turning fifteen, I had shut myself in my room, focusing solely on magical research.

And not just quietly—I lived completely on my own terms.

I was a duke’s daughter who ignored her duties, snuck out whenever I pleased, and avoided my family.

When I did see them, I often acted like a moody teenager.

“…I had my reasons, though.”

Looking back now at twenty, it was a bit embarrassing.

But even if I could go back, I would probably act the same.

Back then, I was too young—and I didn’t know how to deal with something that had shaken my entire life.

“Anyway.”

Now, everyone simply thought of me as an eccentric shut-in noble lady, so no matter what I said or did, they just accepted it.

That made things easier.

“Hannah.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Is the Duke asleep right now?”

Hannah’s eyes trembled with unease.

“…The lights in his study are off, so he must be in his bedroom.”

I stood up abruptly.

“I need to see him.”

“Now? Right now?”

“Yeah.”

I quickly walked to the door and opened it.

My lace nightgown didn’t bother me at all.

Hannah followed behind, shaking her head, draping a shawl over my shoulders.

“My lady… if you go now, the Duke will be very surprised.”

“That’s unfortunate. And your voice too—do you have a cold?”

“My lady!”

I didn’t hesitate.

Right now, there was only one thing on my mind—

Escaping the death ending of the novel.

And to do that, I had to meet my father.

My footsteps echoed boldly through the halls—far from what one would expect of a noble lady.

Soon, I arrived at his bedroom.

Knock, knock, knock.

The sound rang heavily in the silence.

“Who is it?”

A low, slightly hoarse voice responded.

I forced myself not to sound nervous.

“Your Grace, it’s me.”

There was no reply.

“Your Grace?”

Instead of answering, the door opened—and my father appeared.

“…Hmm.”

Jeremy Lindbergh.

Head of the Lindbergh Ducal House—and my adoptive father.

He frowned slightly as he looked down at me.

“…Come in.”

“Yes.”

I entered without hesitation.

He tilted his head slightly.

“What is it at this hour?”

“Your Grace.”

Since I was fifteen, I had never called him “father.”

Nor had I ever come to him like this on my own.

Perhaps that was why—his response was slightly delayed.

“…Go on.”

“I have a request.”

“A request? At this hour?”

I took a deep breath.

Then I said it.

“Please cancel my engagement to Duke Romanov.”

His brow furrowed deeply.

“…What?”

“I want to break off the engagement.”

“What on earth are you talking about—”