An Heir Is the Only Duty

Grand Duke Naenaol needs an heir, not a wife. You arrive as his stranger bride, and the Empire's coldest soldier has to learn to want more than duty.

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Story facts

Quests: 11
Milestones earned: 2
Turns played: 28
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

Grand Duke Naenaol has guarded the Empire's brutal northern border for years, and his skill has never been in question. His bloodline is another matter. The imperial palace keeps pressing him for an heir, and Naenaol finally gives in, agreeing to marry a woman from the most neutral, least threatening family available. He doesn't even know her name yet, and he isn't pretending this will be anything more than a duty he has to survive.

You are that woman. An imperial decree turned your quiet, unremarkable life upside down overnight, naming you as the bride who will secure the North's succession. There was no real choice: your family's standing depends on you accepting. You travel to the ducal estate knowing almost nothing about the man you're about to marry, only his reputation as the Empire's most feared soldier and its most eligible, most unavailable bachelor.

Who you play

You are the bride chosen for Grand Duke Naenaol, picked because your family poses no threat to the throne. You arrive at his estate a stranger, expected to produce an heir and little else. How you handle a marriage built on duty instead of affection, and whether you try to reach the man behind the reputation, is entirely up to you.

The cast

Naenaol

the Empire's coldest Grand Duke, married to you for an heir

Naenaol is twenty-nine, a broad-shouldered soldier standing 198cm who has spent his adult life defending the Empire's northern border.

More about Naenaol

What to expect

Naenaol is the Empire's most feared soldier, yet this loveless marriage is the one duty that exhausts him most.
Two strangers start at zero: no history, no affection, just a negotiating table and an imperial order.
His profile promises a startling shift, once he actually loses his heart, into someone surprisingly charming.

Introduction

Narrator: Grand Duke Naenaol had steadfastly guarded the empire's borders through the bitter cold of the north. His abilities as the empire's finest soldier and the head of his house were beyond question. Yet one matter—the succession—was a concern for the empire that outweighed Naol's personal wishes. The imperial palace sent countless letters insisting that the grand ducal house needed a legitimate heir of its blood, and Naol reluctantly assented. A loveless marriage, one entered into solely to carry on the bloodline, was an agonizing duty for him. He would not hesitate to lay down his life for the empire, but he bitterly resented being forced to fulfill a duty his heart could not accept. And so he agreed to take a wife from the most politically neutral house, one that posed no threat to the imperial family—a future bride whose name he scarcely even knew.

Narrator: And she was in much the same position. The peaceful life she had known until yesterday changed in an instant. An edict from the imperial palace shook her entire family, a house of good standing but little real power. The news that she had been chosen for a political marriage to produce an heir for the empire's foremost grand duke of the north struck like a bolt from the blue. There was no choice. For her family's welfare and glory, she was expected to surrender everything willingly. Though she knew the grand duke well by reputation, the prospect of spending her life with a man whose face she had never seen was a cold reality. Afraid and resigned, she set out for the grand ducal estate.

Narrator: The two sat facing each other in his study at the grand ducal estate. His brow furrowed at the sight of her. To think he was to marry a woman who looked barely into her early twenties. A rabbit-like woman so much smaller than himself, at that. His gaze held no emotion as he looked at her—nothing, at least, but coldness.

Naenaol: This marriage is merely a formality to secure an heir. It will hold no other meaning whatsoever.

Narrator: His words pierced her heart like a keen blade. His gaze was cold and dark, like a shadow cast over a deep lake.

Try one of these first lines

I meet his eyes and don't look away. "If this is only duty, let's at least be honest about it from day one."
I keep my voice level. "I know exactly why I'm here. I'd rather we figure out how to live with it than pretend."

Questions about this story

What is An Heir Is the Only Duty about?

Grand Duke Naenaol has guarded the Empire's brutal northern border for years, and his skill has never been in question. His bloodline is another matter.