
The Devil's Duchess
Ilham Fathur · Ongoing · 47.0k Words
Introduction
Luna, a modern-day 21-year-old, wakes up in 1692 England as Lyra—a Duchess despised by the entire kingdom. Her husband, Duke Rex, is as cold as ice. Her mother-in-law calls her a family disgrace.
But when she is tied to the stake and the flames rise, he finally runs to save her.
“Why are you saving me?”
“So you owe me a debt of gratitude.”
After barely surviving death, Luna is no longer the desperate woman begging for love. When the cold Duke starts to feel uneasy at her distance, when the man who once threw her to the wolves now kneels before her.
“In this life, I’m the one begging you to love me.”
Chapter 1
A deafening roar erupted, mingling with a torrent of profanities. Blood dripped steadily from Lyra’s lips. She was a beautiful woman of twenty-one, her body now lashed to the gallows.
“Die, witch!” a voice shrieked, and a shower of pebbles struck her flesh for the countless time.
“You devil of a woman!” another voice screamed, every bit as vicious.
Lyra’s vision swam. A ghost of a smile touched her lips. Through the haze, she could just make out the distant figure of her beloved husband, Duke Rex Raimonds, watching his wife—was it pity in his eyes, or satisfaction? She could not tell. What Lyra knew with absolute certainty was that her husband was no human, but a monster.
A monster as vile as Rosaura, the Dowager Duchess of Lanchasire, Rex Raimonds’s mother. It was she who had orchestrated this—the reason Lyra’s body now hung from the post, clad in nothing but a thin scrap of cloth.
Lyra and Rex had been wed for six years. She had been only fifteen, he twenty-five. In this seventeenth-century world, a girl who remained unmarried past her sixteenth year was deemed a disgrace to her family. Men, however, were free to choose when they wed; they were free to pursue careers, proper education, even to explore the world.
The year was 1692, in the English region of Lancashire. Rumours painted Lyra Lensford, wife of a respected duke, as a cursed, barren woman—and far worse than that, a murderer.
To many, Lyra was no dutiful duchess to be emulated. She was a noblewoman utterly devoid of decency and manners.
She had openly defied her husband’s commands before the gentry, caused upheaval at every assembly, and—in the greatest impropriety of all—had once demanded her husband take her to bed.
Of course, it was easy to pronounce Lyra barren; the fault, after all, always lay with the woman. But the truth was something else entirely. Duke Raimonds had not once, in six long years, wished to touch his wife’s body.
Lyra grimaced, pain laced with bitter irony, as she saw with perfect clarity her husband and his mother watching her torment at the hands of the mob.
“You orphaned witch, perish!” A large rock struck Lyra’s temple with a sickening thud, splitting the skin to reveal a gaping wound. Blood streamed down her cheek.
“Die! Die! Die!” they chanted in unison, thrusting their torch flames closer.
Lyra merely grimaced. “Fools…” she breathed, barely audible.
“Tell the truth! You are the one who killed him, aren’t you?!” a man’s voice thundered, met with savage cheers from a crowd thirsting for justice.
“Come on, burn her now! This madwoman is clearly possessed by a demon!”
A bitter laugh broke from Lyra’s lips, a mockery of the madness around her. “What sane person would believe such an accusation? Ha!”
“Die! Before more misfortune befalls our town because of your wickedness!”
Stone after stone flew at her, accompanied by heart-wrenching curses. More kerosene splashed around her feet. A torch was cast, and flames erupted, greeted by jubilant howls.
Lyra swept her gaze through the crowd, now blurring with smoke and tears, searching desperately for the man who ought to have been standing at her side.
But there was no one. He had abandoned her. Again.
Had he not, at least once, made a promise?
Even if he did not love her, he should have kept his word. Just this once, before the world devoured her body and every last shred of her self-respect.
Flames leapt into her eyes. Her body was already broken, her coughing beyond meaning. The blaze surged higher, and through the inferno she glimpsed a shadow drawing near—the face of the person she hated most in all her life: her husband.
“Y-you… you came too.”
“Hold on,” he whispered, his voice barely reaching her. He crouched low, shielding her from the burning debris, his fingers working frantically to untangle the rough ropes that bound her.
“Why? Why… are you… helping me?” Lyra whispered between broken breaths.
“Why?” Rex repeated, as if weighing the answer. “So that you may know what it means to owe a debt of gratitude.”
Through her agony, Lyra snorted, then coughed violently until blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.
“I would rather die… than be indebted to a man like you,” she hissed from the very depths of her heart.
Rex did not answer. He simply gathered Lyra into his arms and lifted her with aching gentleness.
But the pain had already spread through every fibre of her being until she could bear it no longer. Tears spilled down her face, though she fought with all her remaining strength to hold them back. Her eyes began to close, and at the very edge of her life, Lyra glimpsed the end. So this is what death feels like, she thought. She had died at the stake, condemned as a witch.
And the truth was… even at the very end, she had still been unwanted by anyone.
That was the end of Lyra’s story.
Her breath stilled. Her eyes shut completely. Everything went dark.
᯽ ᯽ ᯽ ᯽ ᯽ ᯽
A woman clutched a knife behind her back, retreating in terror. “Don’t come any closer!”
“You’re hiding something behind you, Luna?” a deep voice sneered, the footsteps drawing nearer. “I’ve told you again and again—never ask to break up with me.”
“You just want to take advantage of me! I’m tired of this! Let me go!” Luna screamed, wild with fear.
“Who is taking advantage of you? I am only asking for your help. Besides, you have no one else in this world but me.”
“Go away!” Luna shrieked again, stumbling backward until her spine pressed flat against the apartment wall.
Luna Larrington, a twenty-one-year-old girl, wore a tattered dress. She could scarcely believe that for the past year, she had actually been entangled with a madman named Arden.
The relationship should have ended two months ago, yet the more she struggled to break free, the more Arden lost all reason.
“I am asking you nicely, Luna.” He extended his hand. “Give it to me.”
Luna had nowhere left to retreat. Her back was flattened against the wall of the luxurious apartment. She glanced sideways through the window and saw the dazzling lights of the city far below. In that moment, she thought it might be better to die leaping from the thirty-first floor than to die at this man’s hands.
“Why? Do you want to jump?” Arden asked with a smirk, as if daring her.
“Stop it, Arden! I cannot comply with your demands any longer. It makes absolutely no sense!”
Arden’s footsteps halted just before her. “I am not asking for much, sweetheart. You only need to keep my guest company for one night. Just one night. After that, you will come back to me. Besides, he has already paid a fortune for tonight.”
A tightness seized Luna’s chest. “Now you are selling me?!” she whispered, her voice barely a thread of disbelief.
“I am not selling you, Luna, darling. I am merely… asking a small favour. You know I have mountains of debt to pay. And I have to support you. Do you imagine I can keep going like this? You must understand—you are nothing but a burden!”
Luna fought to contain her tears. “I never asked for your help! I never once asked you to support me!”
“Do you mean to boast about that pathetic little job of yours? You know, Luna, we are supposed to be married, are we not?”
Luna levelled the knife at Arden once more. “And starting this very moment… I want us to end this. Right here, Arden.”
Arden went still. Then fury erupted across his features. He lunged forward, seized her cheek in a brutal grip, and squeezed so hard her face was forced upward.
“Stop spouting nonsense!” he snarled. “You are mine, Luna! Mine! And you will obey my every word!”
Luna whimpered, struggling to wrench free, but she was too slow—Arden’s hand snatched her body the instant her guard slipped. He knew Luna could never truly fight him; she was just a weak girl.
“Argh! Let me go!” Luna screamed, and the knife she clutched clattered to the marble floor as Arden overpowered her.
“You stupid girl! Do you not know how to be grateful, hmm?!” Arden shoved Luna’s body until she crashed onto the bed, pinning her thin, slight frame beneath him.
“Please…” Luna tried to crawl away, but Arden’s body was far too strong.
“Say you love me!” He forced her jaw, his fingers pressing cruelly into her chin.
“Umm…” Luna shook her head and sealed her lips tight.
“SAY IT!!!” Arden roared, his voice nearly shattering her eardrums. “Say it, sweetheart… say that you love me!”
“P-please…” Luna was gasping for breath. “Please… let… me go…” She clawed desperately at his hand.
SMACK!!!
A hard slap landed on Luna’s cheek—once, twice, three times—and just before the fourth, Arden’s hand froze in mid-air as Luna forced words from her throat.
“Y-yes… I… I… I… love… you, Ar-den…”
SMACK!!!
The fourth blow landed. Arden then choked her neck and brought his face so close she could feel his breath. “Do you know what your mistake is?”
Luna beat at his hands, her legs kicking wildly, begging to be released. “Ugh!”
“DO YOU KNOW WHAT?!” Arden screamed, squeezing tighter still.
“Eerghh…” Luna groaned, her breath deserting her. No matter how fiercely she struggled, Arden’s body was stronger than hers now.
“Why didn’t you call me ‘honey,’ huh?! You dared to say ‘Arden’?! Just die! You are utterly useless!”
“Erghh…” Luna’s body could no longer mount a fight. The more she tried to pry his fingers away, the tighter his stranglehold became.
“If you want to leave me, that means you want to leave this world too, Luna!” Her vision started to blur. She could only faintly discern Arden’s satisfied smile. She did not know what madness had claimed his mind, but one thing was terrifyingly clear: Luna had very little time left.
“Goodbye, Luna!”
Luna exhaled for the final time, and then everything went dark.
Last Chapters
#39 Chapter 39 The Lesson
Last Updated: 8/5/2026#38 Chapter 38 The Ravishing
Last Updated: 8/5/2026#37 Chapter 37 The Blood and the Bottle
Last Updated: 8/5/2026#36 Chapter 36 A Dark Punishment
Last Updated: 8/4/2026#35 Chapter 35 The Truth Revealed
Last Updated: 8/4/2026#34 Chapter 34 The Duke's Protection
Last Updated: 8/4/2026#33 Chapter 33 The Vipers of High Society
Last Updated: 8/4/2026#32 Chapter 32 The Parfume and the Schemer
Last Updated: 8/4/2026#31 Chapter 31 Assigned a Personal Maid
Last Updated: 8/4/2026#30 Chapter 30 A Face in the Garden
Last Updated: 8/4/2026
You Might Like 😍
Where The Ice Gives Way
Blake Atlas scents his mate the moment Charlotte arrives. The bond hits hard and unmistakable, but Charlotte doesn’t recognise it. She doesn’t know why her chest keeps pulling toward the one boy she absolutely cannot afford to want. Blake is Charlie’s new hockey captain. Charlie’s chance at making something good. Charlie makes it clear; his sister is off-limits and Blake tries to do the right thing, but secrets don’t stay buried forever. Rogues prowl the edges of town. The ice cracks. The bond tightens. Then Charlotte’s rare white wolf awakens, the very thing that makes her powerful, also makes her a target.
Shanti needs Shakti. (Peace needs strength.)
Where the Ice Gives Way is a slow-burn YA paranormal romance filled with fated mates, protective alpha energy, fierce sibling loyalty, found family pack bonds, hurt/comfort, and quiet, aching tension. It’s a story about first belonging, learning to be cared for, and what happens when the girl who has always held everyone else up finally falls, and someone catches her.
Let Them Kneel
Cast out by her pack. Forgotten by the Lycans.
She lived among humans—quiet, invisible, tucked away in a town no one looked at twice.
But when her first heat comes without warning, everything changes.
Her body ignites. Her instincts scream. And something primal stirs beneath her skin—
summoning a big, bad Alpha who knows exactly how to quench her fire.
When he claims her, it’s ecstasy and ruin.
For the first time, she believes she’s been accepted.
Seen.
Chosen.
Until he leaves her the next morning—
like a secret never to be spoken.
But Kaelani is not what they thought.
Not wolfless. Not weak.
There is something ancient inside her. Something powerful. And it’s waking.
And when it does—
they’ll all remember the girl they tried to erase.
Especially him.
She’ll be the dream he keeps chasing… the one thing that ever made him feel alive.
Because secrets never stay buried.
And neither do dreams.
Falling For The Playboy Billionaire
Henderson Bain a playboy billionaire cares about nothing else aside from his daughter, Itzel who is a spoilt brat all thanks to her father.
Lena Cohen is hunted by her past but despite that, she is an amazing mother to Trent, a sweet well well-behaved boy but life wasn't rosy for them.
Henderson Bain is having a hard time searching for a nanny for Itzel until shows up though qualified, Henderson refuses to offer her the job because of their first encounter but seeing how Lena and Itzel get along, he decides to employ her.
Lena and Henderson were two worlds apart but one thing they never saw coming was them falling for each other.
Will they finally let go of their past, and give love a chance? Or try to suppress their feelings for each other? And what if their past comes knocking at their doors once again?
Goddess Of The Underworld
When the veil between the Divine, the Living, and the Dead begins to crack, Envy is thrust beneath with a job she can’t drop: keep the worlds from bleeding together, shepherd the lost, and make ordinary into armour, breakfasts, bedtime, battle plans. Peace lasts exactly one lullaby. This is the story of an orphan pup who became a goddess by choosing her family; of four imperfect alphas learning how to be better. Steamy, fierce, and full of heart, Goddess of the Underworld is a reverse harem, found-family paranormal romance where love writes the rules and keeps three realms from falling apart.
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother
"What is wrong with me?
Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?
It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.
He’s my boyfirend’s brother.
This is Tyler’s family.
I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.
**
As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.
Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.
When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.
I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.
**
I hate girls like her.
Entitled.
Delicate.
And still—
Still.
The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.
Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.
I shouldn’t care.
I don’t care.
It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.
It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.
I’m not here to rescue anyone.
Especially not her.
Especially not someone like her.
She’s not my problem.
And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.
But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
Confined To The Alluring CEO
As she tries to pick up the broken pieces of her heart and move on she is forced to make a life-changing decision in order to save her grandpa's life from the clutches of her wicked stepmother.
Tyrell Achilles is the man whom Penelope has to marry. He is rumoured to be a crippled, hot-tempered, cruel man with a damaged face and the son of the Achilles family which was once the wealthiest family in the country until they went bankrupt.
After the wedding, Penelope realised everything was not what it looked like, but one thing was sure, she was going to use this opportunity to make every single person who betrayed her pay.
She was going to ruin them till the very end but to achieve her goal, she must be able to thread through the traps and conspiracy unscathed.
When she is on the verge of giving up, a hand is stretched out to her, and it is none other than that of her alluring husband Tyrell Achilles and he says these words to her gazing into her eyes. "I never thought this would happen but I'm in love with you, Pennie."
Will she give love a chance or keep fighting the feelings she has for her enigmatic yet alluring husband?
Bella and Her Beast
.
Locked in her frozen tower, Bella dreamed of warmth, of touch, of freedom and of love. Cursed with the power of ice and snow, she’s spent her life alone. A secret they tried to protect the world from. Her only escape comes in the form of the books she reads. Stories of heat, desire, and the kind of love that could melt even her frostbitten heart.
Damien is the Beast. A dragon King with a temper forged in flame and a soul hollowed by duty. The world fears him. The people call him a monster. But beneath the scales and the rage lies a man who has never been touched by love.
When frost meets fire, the world shatters. She was never meant to leave her tower. He was never meant to find her. But destiny doesn’t bow to kings or care for cages and now the question burns through them both: Can Bella have her Beast? Or will the girl of snow melt in the heat of his desire?
.
"I’m keeping her."
"What?"
Before I can react, he scoops her up. Her small body fits easily in the cradle of his talons. For a split second, she looks startled, but not afraid. Her hand rests against one scaled finger, and she stares up at him with that same curious wonder, as though she’s already forgotten she was ever meant to fear me.
"Put her down," I try to command, panic threading through my thoughts. "You’ll hurt her."
"She’s ours," the beast insists, possessive and fierce. "Our snowflake."
Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate
He reached for the back of my head and pulled me up just enough to reach my neck. When his fangs slid into me, the pain was instant, electric. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My hands found his shoulders, clawing for something to hold. My legs kicked. Tears streamed down my cheeks.
He moaned against my throat as he drank, and the sound was devastating.
After One Night with the Alpha
I thought I was waiting for love. Instead, I got fucked by a beast.
My world was supposed to bloom at the Moonshade Bay Full Moon Festival—champagne buzzing in my veins, a hotel room booked for Jason and me to finally cross that line after two years. I’d slipped into lacy lingerie, left the door unlocked, and lay on the bed, heart pounding with nervous excitement.
But the man who climbed into my bed wasn’t Jason.
In the pitch-black room, drowned in a heady, spicy scent that made my head spin, I felt hands—urgent, scorching—searing my skin. His thick, pulsing cock pressed against my dripping cunt, and before I could gasp, he thrust hard, tearing through my innocence with ruthless force. Pain burned, my walls clenching as I clawed at his iron shoulders, stifling sobs. Wet, slick sounds echoed with every brutal stroke, his body unrelenting until he shuddered, spilling hot and deep inside me.
"That was amazing, Jason," I managed to say.
"Who the fuck is Jason?"
My blood turned to ice. Light slashed across his face—Brad Rayne, Alpha of Moonshade Pack, a werewolf, not my boyfriend. Horror choked me as I realized what I’d done.
I ran away for my life!
But weeks later, I woke up pregnant with his heir!
They say my heterochromatic eyes mark me as a rare true mate. But I’m no wolf. I’m just Elle, a nobody from the human district, now trapped in Brad's world.
Brad’s cold gaze pins me: “You carry my blood. You’re mine.”
There is no other choice for me but to chose this cage. My body also betrays me, craving the beast who ruined me.
WARNING: Mature Readers Only
Protectors Of Her Warrior's Heart
Rescued by men who call themselves Protectors—warriors from another realm who embody the legends of angels and vampires—she is thrust into a world she never knew existed. For the first time, she experiences freedom, safety, and the possibility of a future.
But freedom comes with a price.
Tali is forced to face the father she believed abandoned her and a powerful council determined to use her for their own ends. Stranger still are the abilities awakening within her—powers no one understands, yet everyone seems desperate to control.
As she learns to trust, she chooses the mates destined to stand beside her. In their arms she finds love, devotion, and a family worth fighting for. But not everyone wants their bond to survive.
When the council betrays the Protectors and attempts to steal her newborn son, it ignites a war that will shake every realm.
Now Tali stands at the center of a conflict far greater than herself. The answers to ancient mysteries, the fate of her child, and the future of countless worlds all rest on her shoulders.
Surrounded by mates who love her fiercely and refuse to leave her side, Tali will battle enemies old and new, forge powerful alliances, and discover just how strong she truly is.
Because this war won't be won for her.
It will be won with her.
And together, they will fight for their future, their family, and a love worth crossing realms to protect.
King of the Underworld
However, one fateful day, the King of the Underworld appeared before me and rescued me from the clutches of the most powerful Mafia boss's son. With his deep blue eyes fixed on mine, he spoke softly: "Sephie... short for Persephone... Queen of the Underworld. At last, I have found you." Confused by his words, I stammered out a question, “P..pardon? What does that mean?”
But he simply smiled at me and brushed my hair away from my face with gentle fingers: "You are safe now.”
Sephie, named for the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, she's quickly finding out how she's destined to fulfill her namesake's role. Adrik is the King of the Underworld, the boss of all bosses in the city he runs.
She was a seemingly normal girl, with a normal job until it all changed one night when he walked through the front door and her life changed abruptly. Now, she finds herself on the wrong side of powerful men, but under the protection of the most powerful among them.











