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Chapter 2
The Demon Grand Duke’s Cute Niece was the first novel in Seohwirin’s romance-fantasy reading life to deliver a massive betrayal from behind.
A northern grand duke who may seem cold to others but is hopelessly doting when it comes to his own child, an adorable niece overflowing with cuteness, and a puppy-like male lead who falls for that niece.
Even the story description itself had sounded this sweet and heartwarming.
‘……Heartwarming, my foot!’
No matter how many times she thought about it, it still made her blood boil.
Unlike its title, The Demon Grand Duke’s Cute Niece was the very definition of extreme dark tragedy.
It wasn’t just kidnapping, obsession, or regret—it was a story with absolutely no hope or salvation at all.
The tragedy of the Latis Grand Ducal Family, which ruled the northern region of the Empire, began when the Grand Duke and his wife were suddenly caught in an avalanche while traveling.
The heroine, young Lady Elenora, was only five years old. With no other choice, her uncle Thermion—an illegitimate son of the previous Grand Duke, the grandfather of Elenora—succeeded to the title in her place.
The only relief was that he genuinely cherished his niece like his own daughter. But there was a problem.
‘Thermion was only seventeen. How is a kid supposed to raise another kid?’
Elenora, staying in a townhouse in the capital, used a communication device to talk to her uncle who had gone to the Grand Duke’s castle because she missed him.
But Thermion, exhausted from work, unintentionally raised his voice.
Elenora, who ran out of the room crying, wandered alone through the mansion garden until she grew tired and fell asleep—only to be kidnapped and abandoned in an unfamiliar, deserted forest.
‘Up to that point, I could still tolerate it.’
Elenora was then imprisoned by a witch living in the forest and subjected to brutal abuse for nearly two months.
Eventually, Thermion found her and killed the witch in a single strike—but even at the moment of death, the witch did not stop her evil.
She placed a curse upon Thermion using her very soul.
The Grand Duke, who had finally rescued his niece, slowly descended into madness due to that curse.
By the time Elenora turned sixteen, Thermion—who had endured for over ten years—completely lost his sanity.
‘And that’s when the real mess begins.’
After Thermion dies, unable to resist the curse, Part 2 becomes even worse.
Whenever it seems like an incident might be resolved, it ends in mass death. At the end of every episode, at least one major or supporting character dies—no exceptions.
Even the male lead who had once stopped Thermion’s rampage in Part 1 was infected by the curse. In the end, he dies in Elenora’s arms.
‘And the epilogue after the male lead’s death is pure despair.’
Elenora, having lost everyone she loved, isolates herself inside the Grand Duke’s castle, despairing over her fate.
One morning, as she slowly withers away, the final scene shows her walking alone into the depths of a snow-covered mountain range.
‘……Even so, I loved this story so much.’
No—more precisely, she couldn’t help but love Elenora and Thermion.
Elenora, who lost her parents in an accident but was raised with endless affection by Thermion.
Thermion, the uncle who doted on his niece and raised her in place of her deceased half-siblings.
Elenora reminded Wirin of her own childhood, and Thermion—though male—was just like her aunt in every way. Even their age gap was the same twelve years as hers and her aunt’s.
In the final episode of Part 1, Thermion, having exhausted all his life force due to the curse, sheds tears of sorrow.
He is not even thirty yet, yet he must die, leaving behind his still-young niece. Unable to bear the thought of Elenora alone, he cannot even close his eyes in peace.
“Sorry…… Eli…….”
“Uncle, please! Don’t sleep! Open your eyes!”
“I wanted…… to make you…… happy……”
“You promised me! You said you’d walk me down the aisle when I got married! You’d name my child! You’d teach me swordsmanship! Liar! You liar!”
“Second Prince…… please take care of…… our Eli……”
“……Uncle? Uncle!”
Wirin had read that scene dozens of times.
Even as she cried her eyes out, it felt as though it mirrored the final moments she had shared with her aunt, and she could not bring herself to put it down.
After briefly recalling the original story, she let out a long sigh and stood up.
“……Nothing is going to change right now anyway.”
Staring blankly at the lake would not solve anything. Now that she understood the situation, she needed to find a way to survive.
‘Get a grip, Seohwirin. Are you going to let Thermion kill you like this?’
The witch who cursed Thermion even in death was the root of all evil.
If she had never placed that curse, Thermion would not have gone mad, and none of the tragic events that followed would have happened.
‘But that witch is me.’
Still, that might actually be a good thing. She already knew everything about the original story.
With that knowledge, couldn’t she change the original mass-death ending into something else?
Preferably something happy—where everyone survives and finds peace.
‘Why I was possessed? Who cares. I wasn’t planning to go back anyway.’
In less than thirty years of life, she had already experienced nearly every form of human joy and sorrow.
She lost her parents before she could even go through adolescence, and just when she was trying to stand as an adult, she lost her only aunt.
And now she had even been dropped into an unfamiliar world alone.
At this point, it felt like the universe itself was telling Seohwirin to end her turbulent life and start anew.
She would forget her unfortunate past life and begin again in this new world.
“Alright, let’s do this!”
With a newfound goal for the first time in a long while, her energetic voice rang out.
And so she waited every day, eagerly expecting the original story to begin.
A day became a week. A week became a month. A month became a year.
But time only kept flowing endlessly.
“……Should I just enjoy some isekai life instead?”
Tired of waiting, Ailesia eventually headed to a completely different continent unrelated to the original plot.
She mastered countless fields of knowledge and skills. She became an elegant noble lady who dominated high society, an adventurer who enjoyed exploration, and even founded a massive trading company to enjoy wealth and luxury.
After finishing her adventures, she returned to the forest and devoted herself to magic—until the present day.
‘Should I just go look for them? Do I really need to keep waiting?’
If they never appeared, that would be a problem in itself.
As she fell into thought—
“ROAAAR!”
“BARK BARK BARK!”
What’s all that noise?
She turned her head slightly in irritation.
A massive brown bear, at least five meters long, was pushing away the wolves and stealing their meat.
Normally, it would have been a laughable sight—but perhaps because her mood was already unsettled, Ailesia’s eyes flashed as she stormed into the yard.
“Hey, Polaris!”
“Grrr?!”
“I told you not to steal your friends’ food! You glutton!”
WHACK!
“Gwooooh!”
The bear clutched its head after receiving a solid flick and groaned in pain. But Ailesia didn’t even blink.
“What kind of acting is that? Hands up and reflect properly! Higher!”
“G-gnrrr……”
Startled by her scolding, Polaris quickly raised its paws, but Ailesia only continued to fume.
Even the wolves lowered their tails and quietly observed her mood.
Just then, something rustled behind her, followed by a small, bright voice.
“Wow!”
Wait—don’t tell me……
Ailesia stiffly turned her head.
“Bearie and doggies! So big! Wow! Woooow!”
A small girl with black hair tied into cute twin tails blinked her green eyes in amazement.
Tilting her head as she looked between the bear and wolves, she suddenly noticed Ailesia and pointed at her.
“Fairy?”
……So that’s why today felt unnecessarily bright.
“I’m not a fairy.”
“Then fairy queen!”
“……What’s the difference?”
“Queens are more sparkly and prettier!”
The child, showing no fear toward a stranger, hopped around cheerfully.
‘Finally……!’
The moment their eyes met, she knew it.
This child was Elenora—the heroine of The Demon Grand Duke’s Cute Niece.
