Under Ground King Was Bound by Duty, Chosen by Love

I am the heir to the Blackwood crime family.

To protect me, my mother adopted and trained ten orphan girls from childhood to be my personal bodyguards.

When I came of age, my mother told me to choose one of them as my wife.

Without hesitation, I chose Elara, the leader of the ten, the woman I had secretly loved for years.

After we were married, I was kidnapped by a rival family.

They strung me up in a flooding cell, iron chains biting through my collarbones.

With my last ounce of strength, I managed to call Elara for help.

All I heard was her cold, mocking laugh.

"Stop playing games, Caspian. Your tracker clearly shows you're still at the villa!"

"You'd sink to such a pathetic trick just to keep me from spending time with Jude?"

Despair washed over me as I listened to her heartless voice.

The water rose, covering my mouth, my nose.

Then, everything went black.

I woke with a gasp.

I was back on the day my mother told me to choose a wife.

Staring at the ten photographs spread before me, I knew.

I had been reborn.

This time, my finger didn't hesitate.

It landed on the very last photo, the one that was always overlooked.

Lyra.

My mother raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you've always favored Elara. Why choose the tenth?"

I just shook my head, saying nothing.

In my mind, I could still see Lyra's frantic expression as she rushed to my side in my past life, could still hear her final, desperate scream.

Thankfully, my mother didn't press the issue.

She simply nodded in agreement.

Leaving her study, I walked out into the villa's courtyard.

Suddenly, Jude appeared and dropped to his knees before me.

"Sir, I'm begging you, please, let me have Elara,"

he pleaded.

"You have everything in the world. All I have is her. Please, I'm begging you, let her go."

I stared at him, stunned.

This was different from my past life.

Could it be that Jude had been reborn, too?

Just then, Elara rushed out.

The sight of Jude kneeling made her eyes blaze with fury.

She hauled him to his feet and glared at me, her voice dripping with venom.

"Caspian! How long are you going to keep tormenting him?"

"Just because he's the housekeeper's son, you think you can treat him like this?"

A sharp, familiar pain lanced through my chest.

It was always like this, in both lifetimes.

Elara never, ever believed me.

She shot daggers at me.

"I'm telling you, even if you choose me as your wife, I will never submit. You won't have me!"

An icy chill seeped into my bones, as if I'd been plunged into a frozen lake.

The memories of my death swirled in my head.

I had let them be together in my past life precisely because I knew she would never choose me.

And still, the dull ache in my heart persisted.

Before I could speak, a van screeched to a halt outside the courtyard gates.

Men with guns jumped out and opened fire.

Elara's training kicked in instantly.

She moved like lightning, sprinting toward me.

But then, Jude let out a pained groan and collapsed, a crimson stain spreading across his pant leg.

A flicker of conflict crossed Elara's face, but it was gone in an instant.

Without a second thought, she changed direction, throwing herself over Jude to shield him with her own body.

I watched them, and the blood in my veins turned to ice.

As one of the gunmen leveled his weapon at me, a figure blurred past, tackling me to the ground.

The sound of gunshots echoed around us.

When I opened my eyes, I saw who was shielding me.

It was Lyra.

Seeing their chance was lost, the assassins retreated.

Lyra got to her feet, an aura of cold fury surrounding her.

She glared at Elara.

"Did you forget your mission?"

"What would have happened if the Young Master had been hurt?"

Elara looked away for a second, a hint of guilt in her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by defiance.

"Jude was shot! Who else was going to help him?"

"Besides, Caspian's fine, isn't he? What's the big deal?"

Lyra scoffed.

"So you can just abandon your duty to the Young Master? It seems your obsession with that man has made you forget why Mother took us in in the first place!"

Elara flinched, clearly aware she had crossed a line.

Just then, Jude moaned from her arms.

"Elara... it hurts..."

Her resolve hardened.

"He's not hurt, so it doesn't matter. I need to get Jude to a doctor. We can talk about this later."

She lifted Jude into her arms and stormed off.

Lyra's expression was glacial.

She turned to me, her eyes burning with frustration and anger.

"This is the woman you choose? The one who abandons you at the first sign of trouble?"

I shook my head.

She didn't know yet.

"I didn't choose her."

Lyra looked at me, disbelief written all over her face.

"Who else would you choose?"

For once, she lost her temper with me.

"Fine. Choose whoever you want. Just don't come crying to me when you regret it."

I watched her storm away, a small smile playing on my lips.

I wondered what her face would look like when she found out the person I chose was her.

A few days later, a haggard-looking Elara appeared in my room.

Before I could speak, she fell to her knees.

"Please, give me the life-saving serum. Jude... he's not doing well."

I stared at her, incredulous.

She knew what that serum meant to me.

My father was from a long line of brilliant biochemists.

When he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, fearing I'd be targeted by our enemies, he used his final days, enduring immense pain, to create a single dose of a miracle antidote.

It was my last line of defense, a final gift to keep me alive.

Elara bit her lip, her voice trembling.

"I'll marry you. Just give the serum to Jude."

"This is all your fault anyway! If it weren't for you, none of this would have happened to him!"

A wave of weariness washed over me.

She was a stranger to me now, so quick to cast all the blame on my shoulders.

She remained on her knees.

"If you give me the serum, I'll obey Mother's command and marry you. I'll send Jude somewhere safe and never see him again."

I let out a hollow laugh.

"There's no need. I never chose you."

Elara froze, her eyes flickering with disbelief.

"Caspian, stop lying. I've already accepted my fate. Just give the serum to Jude!"

I turned, opened the safe, and took out the vial I had treasured for so long.

I tossed it to her.

"Get out. And from this day forward, we have nothing to do with each other."

Not in this life, not in the last.

Elara looked at me, a flash of surprise in her eyes, but she said nothing more.

She clutched the serum and rushed out, desperate to save her precious Jude.

I leaned against the wall, my heart a block of ice.

I couldn't believe how blind I had been in my past life, dying without ever seeing her true colors.

For the next few days, Elara stayed by Jude's side, nursing him back to health.

Then, one evening at dinner, my mother made an announcement.

"In a few days, we will celebrate Caspian's eighteenth birthday. At the party, I will officially announce his future wife."

The ten girls at the table reacted in their own ways.

Lyra just kept refilling her wine glass, drinking silently.

Elara looked miserable, her gaze darting between me and the direction of Jude's room.

The other eight, however, smiled and congratulated Elara.

"Congratulations, leader. You'll officially be part of the family."

"Take good care of Caspian for us."

My mother listened to their chatter with a serene smile, saying nothing.

Her silence was taken as confirmation.

Everyone assumed Elara was to be my bride.

That night, Jude mysteriously vanished.

Elara burst into my room in a frenzy, her eyes wild as she grabbed me by the throat.

"Where is he? What have you done with Jude?"

"I already agreed to marry you! Why can't you just leave him alone?"

"He's afraid of the dark! What will he do all by himself without me?"

I was shocked, but quickly recovered.

"Are you insane? What does Jude's disappearance have to do with me?"

Her face was ashen, her eyes bloodshot.

"Who else could it be? You're jealous that he and I are close!"

"You're afraid I'll back out, so you had him kidnapped, didn't you?"

"I'm begging you, bring him back. His wound hasn't even fully healed. After we're married, I'll send him away, I promise!"

I shoved her away.

"Elara, I didn't choose you! I don't care who you're with!"

"Jude's disappearance has nothing to do with me, whether you believe it or not! If you cause another scene in my room, I'm telling Mother!"

That threat stopped her.

She turned and fled, desperate to find Jude.

The next morning, she returned with him in tow.

He looked weak and disheveled, collapsing into her arms as if he'd been through hell.

Elara marched right up to me, her face a thunderous mask.

"Caspian, if you have a problem, take it out on me! Why do you always have to involve Jude?"

"If you keep this up, I will never marry you!"

With that, she turned and left with Jude.

I watched her go, a cold smile on my face.

To think I died in my past life for someone so utterly blind.

That evening, Jude came to my room.

He glared at me, his face twisted with resentment.

"You were reborn too, weren't you?"

In the dim light, his features were distorted by jealousy, his eyes burning with venom.

His voice rose to a shrill peak.

"Why do all the good things happen to you?"

His chest heaved.

"You're the golden boy, the Blackwood heir! You were born with everything!"

"And me? I'm just the housekeeper's son, living on scraps, always watching my back. The only thing I've ever had is Elara's love!"

His voice broke.

"Why do you have to take that from me too?"

"You already have so much, Caspian. Why are you so greedy?"

"If it weren't for you, Elara would never have changed her mind! Just now, she told me she's sending me abroad!"

He grabbed my arms, a strange fire in his eyes.

"I won't give up!"

Then, he lunged, dragging me with him as he threw himself over the second-floor balcony railing.