Chapter 1

I was nothing more than the kept woman of Ludwig Von Bergen, the scion of Prince Yeatling.

I rarely saw him in the daylight. Most of the time, all I ever glimpsed was his aloof, departing figure as he left.

Every time I woke up, I always received the same cup of safflower tea, delivered by those frosty-faced guards.

Ludwig would indulge in my eager passion in bed, yet he always resented me for lacking the haughty elegance and poise of a noblewoman.

But he seemed to have forgotten. I was never a noblewoman in the first place.

The true beauty, as unattainable as the moon, was someone else entirely.

However, he could never have her.

Years ago, I was just an illiterate village girl and nothing more.

Just because I looked a bit like her, his men rounded me up and presented me to him as his plaything.

Maybe it was a new trick I had just learned that pleased him, but he once absent-mindedly caressed my face and told me in a husky voice, "Using you as her substitute might not be so bad after all."

He thought I would be thrilled, and that I would work even harder to please him.

However, he was only drawn to my looks. Likewise, I was only attracted to his face and body.

In fact, I wasn't only interested in him. There were others I wanted too.

One of them was Ingwald Nordt.

He was the King's youngest son, and he and Ludwig Von Bergen had grown up together. They were as close as brothers.

Then the other was Wolfgang Freuer.

He was the only son of the richest man in the land, and he and Ludwig went to the same academy. They only got to know each other after one heated confrontation.

The three of them were about the same age, and they were either very wealthy or from noble backgrounds.

Yet each had his own unique looks and charm, and their bedroom habits were vastly different.

I did everything I could to experience what each of those three had to offer.

Ludwig was the easiest catch because he was obsessed with someone he could never have.

And I just happened to resemble the girl he was besotted with.

I just had to be there whenever he was feeling heartbroken.

A heartbroken guy who was also drugged would find it very hard to resist a lookalike who would do whatever he wanted.

But even though he was the easiest to catch, he was actually the most disappointing one in bed.

He had no clue how to please anyone, and he always had so many demands.

I wasn't allowed to kiss his lips, and I was not permitted to face him directly. My side view resembled her the most.

In fact, he could even pull away at the height of passion, just to go see that noble lady off.

In truth, this was also what I appreciated the most about him. He was all action and no emotions.

Today, he actually thought he could use me as a substitute for the real deal. But had he considered that I might get sick of him myself?

At that juncture, getting rid of him would be difficult.

After Ludwig said this, even that once-a-week thrill with him lost its appeal for me.

I suddenly stopped what I was doing and just lay down beside him.

He looked at my side view with a puzzled look. After a moment, he said thoughtfully, "Although I want you to be just like her in every way, you can retain this distinctive trait in bed."

I gave a scornful snort inwardly, but my face remained impassive.

At any rate, Ludwig would never make things hard for me.

He couldn't stand to see his beloved suffer even the tiniest bit of hardship. Therefore, even those who resembled her received a modicum of protection from him.

I stayed still for so long that he finally noticed something was not right. He finally asked reluctantly, "Are you still mad about the Springtime Fête?

"Blossom didn't mean any harm. Heidemarie treats her like her own sister, and to be honest, I see Blossom as a little sister too.

"It's just a rabbit kite. If Blossom wanted it, just let her have it," Ludwig said.

Even someone as devoted as Ludwig was prepared to accept a substitute like me in moments of distraction, leaving me all flustered.

But now that he had regained some measure of rationality, even the maidservant of his beloved was more precious to him than a knockoff like me.

Maybe it was because he mentioned his beloved, or maybe he was momentarily distracted by how much my side view resembled her.

For once, the usually aloof Ludwig Von Bergen spoke with rare gentleness.

"It's just a rabbit kite. Tomorrow, I'll get someone to buy you something nicer."

But he didn't understand that kite's significance. It was not equivalent to some cheap little token he tossed my way after getting his kicks.

Wolfgang Freuer made that kite for me himself.

If that little demon ever found out that the kite he made with his own hands ended up in the hands of Heidemarie's maidservant, I would be in deep trouble.

Blossom, using her status as Heidemarie's maidservant, thought my kite was adorable and unique, and tried to buy it off me for a hefty price.

Thankfully, Heidemarie was gracious enough. Seeing that I wasn't willing to sell, she gently persuaded Blossom to let it go.

Whenever Ludwig took me out, he always kept a good distance from me.

He was always very cautious, terrified that anyone might find out about our messy entanglement.

But that day, he actually grabbed my kite and handed it over to Blossom. He even introduced me as his "distant cousin," just so he could exchange a few more words with his beloved.

It had been nearly a week since then, and every day I had been fretting over how to cover this incident up so that Wolfgang wouldn't find out.