The First Night With the Duke Chapter 46-54 explores the power, faithfulness, and broken destiny of Ripley. When Duke Zeronis goes to the battlefield, Ripley promises herself to keep her home and heart together, but sinister plots and the sorrowful news come. From defending her name amidst scandalous rumors to boldly addressing palace staff, she steps up as the true Duchess of Inglid. However, peace does not last long. As the rumors of the death of Zeronis and the manipulative nature of Prince Sharman become deadly, Ripley is pushed to a corner, both emotionally and physically.
The First Night With the Duke Chapter 46: A Deal, A Dream, and A Letter
The First Night With the Duke Chapter 46 begins with Ripley teasingly confronting Etoile and Wright about their closeness. Both blush, flustered. Even though her heart is hurting, Ripley cheers them up and promises to manage the duke’s household responsibly until he returns. Afterwards, Prince Sharman visits her casually, and he observes that her signature has changed. She explains to him that she is already married. The official ceremony is to take place after the duke returns.
Sharman, taking tea under a suspicious air of ease, says he will be happy to come. He next introduces the excess supply of ointments. Ripley states that she does not want to make money out of war and will donate them. As usual, Sharman the deal-maker proposes that he buy 100 boxes, and the rest can be used as donations. He says the deal is win-win. She is reluctant, but she accepts.
Ripley spends that night thinking over what he said. She believes Sharman appears good despite the warnings that both Duke Zeronis and Etoile give her. She even imagines Zeronis getting jealous, cute at her affairs with another man. As she is lost in a daydream, Sylvia comes with a letter, and it turns out to be from the Duke. Ripley reads it, her emotions bubbling over as tears fall down her cheeks. The letter takes her heart right back to him, grounding her from all of her distractions. The First Night With the Duke Chapter 46 ends with Ripley holding onto the duke’s letter like a lifeline—because even if he’s far away, his words still reach her.
The First Night With the Duke Chapter 47: Lines Crossed and Lips Missed
The First Night With the Duke Chapter 47 begins with Ripley emotionally reading a letter from Duke Zeronis. He updates her on his safety. There has been no battle so far, only drills. She cries in silence because she feels overwhelmed by the fact that she misses him. She later meets Prince Sharman for the final installment payment and delivery. Though business is smooth, he surprisingly asks her to stay for dinner. She refuses in a polite way. He escorts her out,–strangely agreeable, then in a cool way asks her how she came to be introduced to the duke. She tells the overall story. Sharman continues to fish, this time it is about her “ideal man”. She blushes and says she likes blond hair and blue eyes–just like her husband.
Ripley tells him to stop beating around the bush when his questions become a little too personal. Sharman smiles, pleased that she caught on to his flirtation. He is about to kiss her when Ripley totally destroys the mood by asking if his real intentions are about discovering her secret bomb-shot recipe. Then, without a moment of hesitation, she sets forth a complete and eager explanation. The twist leaves Sharman dazed.
Ripley’s Letter
Just before Ripley rides away, Sharman hints at the Duke having charged him with her protection. She is touched and again recollects how much Zeronis cares. And that night, she writes to her husband a letter full of dreamy eyes and yearning. But at the time when she so badly wants peace, Sylvia chooses to relieve stress. The solution? An unwilling journey into the go-to coping mechanism of Ripley, Isla the witch. The First Night With the Duke Chapter 47 ends with Ripley reluctantly preparing to meet the witch again.
The First Night With the Duke Chapter 48: A Prince’s Dinner Request
The First Night With the Duke Chapter 48 opens with Sylvia dragging a reluctant Ripley to visit the mysterious witch Isla—again. She even gives Ripley her personal wallet to pay the fortune fee, and this touches Ripley very much. Ripley does not want to disappoint Sylvia, so she goes in. Upon questioning by Isla on whether the dreamcatcher worked, Ripley finds it very difficult to answer the truth and simply lies that it did.
Then, the Isla mysteriously states Ripley has let go of someone very special and wonders whether she is concerned about that person. Although she suspects that it is gossip-related, Ripley gets emotional when she thinks of Zeronis. Isla tells her that her love will come back safely. But then immediately adds a creepy and unspecific prophecy: “Once the ending comes, it will be over.” Ripley is rattled. She nervously asks what that means—Isla just shrugs and vaguely hints that the whole world might end. To top it all off, she also attempts to upsell a black cat doll that is creepy. Ripley turns her down with flimsy excuses and runs away
A Wish and A Windfall
Outside, while walking, Ripley is shocked to witness a huge number of people lined up outside their ointment shop. Their whole inventory is exhausted! Sylvia’s jaw drops, too. Etoile comes along with new production plans. At the moment when they are ready to enjoy their unexpected success, Prince Sharman appears with his typical arrogant smile. He lightly reminds Ripley that his deal was the one that created the popularity of her product.
Then–daringly enough–he asks her to give him a treat as he highly helped her greatly in making a profit and by selling the ointments. The First Night With the Duke Chapter 48 ends with a royal dinner request that no one saw coming.
The First Night With the Duke Chapter 49: Dinner Diplomacy and Sleepover
The First Night With the Duke Chapter 49 begins with Ripley cornered into accepting Prince Sharman’s dinner invitation. Mainly because Etoile bails and Ripley still feels indebted. Ripley and Sharman are the subjects of everyone’s eyes at the venue. Ripley is more preoccupied, though—her thoughts consumed by Zernois, worrying about his safety on the battlefield.
As night sets in, Sharman raises a toast to their business success and praises her achievements. However, when he says that he wants to purchase still more ointment, Ripley loses it. She is furious, as she declares that she will never feel better, no matter how many sales they make. War is not a business opportunity; it is a tragedy. Sharman smiles and agrees with her, saying that he also hopes that there will be peace.
After a couple of drinks, he cannot even stand straight, and Ripley, as the responsible adult, has to pull him back to the palace. There, she unintentionally encounters the young princess, the spoiled and excessively bratty younger sister of Sharman. The small girl is sweet and messy; she wants Ripley to play with her all night long. She gets her way through with a bit of blackmail.
Rising Trouble
Finally, they both collapse from exhaustion. When the princess hugs Ripley and refers to her as her sister, Ripley looks at the blue eyes and blonde hair and wonders whether her children would look like her. The sweet scene is quickly ruined when the princess, all of a sudden, says, “How are babies made?” Ripley is caught in the middle of a thought, her expression a priceless mix of horror and disbelief. The First Night With the Duke Chapter 49 ends with Ripley completely unprepared for such conversations that especially with a child.
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The First Night With the Duke Chapter 50: Rumors And A Sip of the Royal Tea
The First Night With the Duke Chapter 50 begins right where the last left off—with Ripley getting an unexpected question from the princess about how babies are made. Ripley, flustered and blushing, stammers a succession of strange, PG-13-rated excuses. The little sister is not buying any of it, though. She is very sure that babies are created when a couple holding hands at night love each other.
Then she reverses the situation and asks about the feel of the hands of the Duke. Ripley flushes and murmurs, “Very soft,… and warm.” She confesses that when she holds his hand, she feels they are forever together. It is a sweet moment- until Ripley realizes that the small one is already asleep.
But peace does not last long. The following morning, Ripley goes out only to find everyone murmuring. She is confused, and things are weird. And, in no time, she is met by a breathless Etoile who comes in running with the awful news not about ointment this time, but about Ripley. Rumor has it she’s having an affair with none other than Prince Sharman!
Ripley is shocked when she recalls the night before, knowing that her overnight stay at the palace appears utterly scandalous. Etoile and Sylvia believe her innocence, and attempt to comfort her, but Ripley has had enough of being the centre of a royal gossip column. She is determined to correct it and storms into the palace and instructing Sharman to deny the rumor in public. He takes a calm sip of his tea and with a devilish smirk says, “I don’t want to.” The First Night With the Duke Chapter 50 ends with Ripley ready to explode.
The First Night With the Duke Chapter 51: Duchess in Defense
The First Night With the Duke Chapter 51 begins with Ripley staggered by Prince Sharman’s blunt confession. When she asks him to deny the rumor that they were involved in an affair, he does not deny. Instead, he goes the extra mile and says to her, “You are my type.” (What? )Ripley’s jaw drops expectedly. He further says that he was in love with her as soon as he laid his eyes on her. Bold much?
After all the drama, Ripley is already tired and attempts to dismiss it by pretending not to have heard about it. She sits up and proudly tells them that she is Duchess Ripley de Inglid, a name she is proud of and a life she chose. And so she walks out, leaving the flirting prince shocked in the dust.
Later, while eating, she asks Sylvia what the household staff thinks of her. Sylvia does not bother to sugarcoat it. They believe she is a traitor. It seems that long before the gossip, she was not popular among many people because she was not born into some glamorous noble family–she was only the daughter of a count. It is only that the Duke loved her that the staff accepted her. And now with the latest rumors? They see her as a betrayer.
Ripley is furious yet calm and asks Sylvia to call all the employees. She stands before them, unapologetically addressing the scandal. She even confesses that they do not believe her, but she loves Duke Zeronis. With full confidence, she declares: “Duke Inglid is the most handsome man I have ever seen!” Then she challenges anyone to contradict her. The First Night With the Duke Chapter 51 ends with stunned silence—and a Duchess not backing down.
The First Night With the Duke Chapters 52: Whispers of Loyalty, Echoes of War
The First Night With the Duke Chapter 52 goes on with Ripley standing tall and stoic in front of all the employees of the Inglid estate. She makes an emotional speech to wash her name off the ugly rumors associated with Prince Sharman. Ripley defends her innocence with humor and truth–saying that Duke Zeronis is the handsomest man she has ever seen, and that he loves her so much that he says he could never stop loving her even if her face were all mangled up. She promises to defend him at all costs and requests that they help maintain their home in his absence.
One of the young servants offers to plant daisies, which were the favourite flower of the Duke, to greet him on his arrival. This moves Ripley, and she gets a new strength, as everyone helps her out, supporting her. At the same time, at the battlefield camp, Duke Zeronis reads the letters from Ripley with a silent smile. But when he is informed that the supply lines are almost over and gets a hunch of the ulterior motives of Prince Sharman, he becomes tense. He feels an ambush and decides to leave westward. Just then hen he is assailed in the rear by a man with an axe.
Back in the Inglid mansion, Ripley gets a cold feeling. The wind is blowing her dreamcatcher in a sinister manner. Shortly afterward, some horrible news is brought: “The Imperial army is defeated.” The First Night With the Duke Chapter 52 concludes with a spooky cliff hanger where Ripley is left with the harrowing thought of tragedy that may strike on the battlefield.
The First Night With the Duke Chapter 53: Proof or Nothing, Your Highness
The First Night With the Duke Chapter 53 begins with Ripley in full panic mode as she receives the horrifying news: the imperial army has been defeated. But what breaks her isn’t the defeat — it’s the claim that Duke Zeronis is dead. The “proof”? One bloodstained scarf and rumours surrounding it. Not even the enemy had displayed the severed head of the commander. That’s it. No body, no witnesses. Nothing more than a bloody scarf. Ripley’s anger finally reaches its boiling point. She passionately states, “Duke Inglid is undoubtedly alive.” Period. Not a single crappy evidence will change her mind otherwise.
Ripley begins to pack and intends to go straight to the battlefield and find him. Her ride-or-die Sylvia tries to calm her down, telling her that grief is blinding her judgment. However, Ripley is not going to sit and weep; she will search for him on her own, in case nobody does.
In comes Prince Sharman, full of concern and sinister charm. He takes her hand and attempts to console her using words that are a bit too smooth. Ripley feels the creepiness for the first time. Then he sadly calls her a “poor thing”, and he kisses her hand. Big mistake.
SMACK. The tension is broken like a sword by the slap. Ripley flashes her eyes: she will never be pitied, handled, or kissed by anyone but her Duke. Her heart tells her– he is still somewhere. Alive. The First Night With the Duke Chapter 53 ends with Ripley’s unwavering belief and a slap that echoes far louder than any royal whisper.
The First Night With the Duke Chapter 54: Not Yours, Never Yours
The First Night With the Duke Chapter 54 opens with Ripley slapping Sharman, echoing in the halls of the palace like a cannon. Her voice is loud and angry -“My husband is not dead”. She has fire in her eyes and unquestioned faith that Duke Zeronis will come back to her, so she insists that Sharman should not call her by her name any longer but by her proper title: Duchess Inglid. Sharman apologizes, humbled and even demands she take something to eat, to the point of saying that he will spend the night in their residence. Ripley is stunned — rumors are already flying, and this will only fuel the fire. However, she cannot just outright say “No” to him.
That night, Ripley could not sleep and held onto the promise given by the Duke that he would come back safely. Her resolve sharpens — she will send soldiers or even hire mercenaries to go to the border herself if needed. As she stands alone thinking, she encounters Sharman again.
The Proposal No One Wanted
Sharman begins by expressing his concern, then suddenly he drops a bomb, saying,” I think you and I should get married”. Ripley yells back at him. Sharman dismisses her objections with a smirk he wears too often. He says he will care for and protect her in this fragile state. However, Ripley is not a helpless damsel; she pushes him off and firmly tells him to go to his room. However, something changes. His tones grow dark, his eyes squint. He grabs her by her face and snarls, “I’m saying I must marry you… Do you get it now, my dumb little bride?” The First Night With the Duke Chapter 54 ends with a chill of real danger hanging in the air.
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