The Duke's Secret Mistress
The young lord of Everfrost City was ambushed and fell into a coma from severe injuries. The ambitious Oliver, coveting the territory, constantly pressured the young lord’s wife, Aixi. With nowhere left to turn, Aixi made a secret deal with Freeman, the ruler of Everfrost City, in order to survive and preserve any hope of succession. What began as a mutual bargain gradually bred deep feelings through one crisis after another. Oliver kept devising schemes to frame them, repeatedly pushing them into danger. Just as their relationship was becoming stable, the gravely injured young lord unexpectedly woke. The secret they had buried was on the verge of being exposed, and guilt and love tormented Aixi endlessly. In the end, the young lord died of illness. Unable to bear the weight of the past, Aixi left Everfrost City pregnant and went into hiding in a remote border town. Freeman did not force her to return; instead, he silently protected her and her child from the shadows for a full year. When a riot suddenly broke out at the border, the two met again. Letting go of the barriers in their hearts and the pain of the past, they chose to face their feelings for each other.
Story Guide
Episode 1
In Everfrost City, Aixi's husband Ed has been left crippled and comatose, and the wolves are already circling. She goes to Freeman, the city's ruler, with a desperate request: she needs a child. His answer is cold—no woman has ever dared demand that of him, and she is his son's wife.
But Aixi has no other choice. Ed was the heir until he lost the use of his legs, and cousin Oliver has decided that by law the title now belongs to him—along with Aixi herself. When Oliver corners her, she fights him off and throws a gamble in his face: she's pregnant, and that buys her time. The trouble is, it isn't true yet.
Episode 2
Aixi's lie about a pregnancy has a deadline, and she knows it. If Oliver discovers she isn't carrying a child, he'll tear her apart—so she goes back to Freeman and makes her case plainly: she has already announced she's carrying Ed's child, and surely he doesn't want Everfrost to fall into the hands of scum like Oliver.
Freeman doesn't make it easy. He gives her one shot and a short window to convince him, watching to see if she'll really go through with betraying his son. Aixi doesn't flinch. She says yes.
Episode 3
Oliver returns and makes his real business the succession. He reminds Freeman that Ed is crippled and that the council is whispering Everfrost can't survive without a healthy heir. For the sake of stability, he argues, a new successor must be named—and by law, that successor is him.
Freeman doesn't hand it over. He says he'll decide the heir when he's ready and orders Oliver out. Oliver leaves, but the message is clear: he believes the seat is his by right, and he isn't above pressing the point.
Episode 4
Rumors start to follow Freeman—people notice he doesn't care for women, yet there's one in his chambers. Oliver hears the whispers too, and he isn't finished with Aixi. He corners her and boasts that he saw the duke yesterday, that he will be the heir, and that sooner or later she will be his.
Aixi throws his words back at him: as long as this child is alive, he'll never be more than a lap dog. That's when Oliver turns dangerous. He calls her pregnancy convenient and decides he'll strip her and find out for himself—right there, in front of her crippled husband.
Episode 5
Freeman arrives before Oliver can carry out his threat. His warning is flat and final: touch her again and he'll kill him. Oliver scrambles out, and Aixi is left shaking—but not alone. When she tries to pull away, Freeman tells her not to look at Ed, to look at him instead.
That display doesn't go unnoticed. Oliver admits he hasn't seen Freeman that angry in years, and he knows it wasn't the fury of a man defending his son's wife. He saw the marks on her neck. Now the question is spreading: are the duke and his own daughter-in-law sleeping together?
Episode 6
Freeman wants his payment, and he names it without softening the blow—Aixi on her knees, wearing only a necklace, crying as he takes her. She asks him to stop, and he tells her to loosen up. Whatever warmth has grown between them, the bargain still has teeth.
Then the accusation lands in public. A witness claims Aixi is cheating on Ed, calling it treason against her husband and a disgrace to the family. The adulterers, he says, should be hanged from the city gates. Freeman cuts the outcry short and has someone outside let them hear exactly what's happening inside.
Cast
- Aixi — young lord's wife
- Freeman — ruler of Everfrost City
- Oliver — cousin and ambitious claimant to heir
- Ed — young lord, crippled and comatose
FAQ
Who is Aixi in The Duke's Secret Mistress?
Aixi is the young lord's wife in Everfrost City. When her husband Ed is left crippled and comatose, she becomes the target of his ambitious cousin Oliver, who claims the title and Aixi herself by law.
Why does Aixi ask Freeman for a child?
With Ed unable to rule, Oliver is pressing his claim to the title and to Aixi. After she lies to Oliver that she is already pregnant to buy herself time, she goes to Freeman, the ruler of Everfrost City, to make the lie real and secure her position.
What is the relationship between Freeman and Aixi?
Freeman is the ruler of Everfrost City and the father of Aixi's husband, Ed. Aixi comes to him with a desperate request for a child, and he agrees to a bargain with her. Their secret deal gradually breeds deep feelings as they face repeated crises together.
Who is Oliver and what does he want?
Oliver is Ed's cousin and an ambitious claimant to the heir's seat. He argues that because Ed is crippled, a new successor must be named, and by law that successor is him. He also threatens Aixi, insisting that sooner or later she will be his.
What happens when Oliver accuses Aixi of adultery?
A witness publicly claims Aixi is cheating on Ed, calling it treason against her husband and a disgrace to the family, and demands the adulterers be hanged from the city gates. Freeman cuts the outcry short and has someone outside let them hear exactly what is happening inside.
What happens to Ed in The Duke's Secret Mistress?
Ed, the young lord and heir, is left crippled and comatose after being ambushed, which is what allows Oliver to press his claim to the succession. The gravely injured Ed unexpectedly wakes, putting the secret on the verge of exposure.
Is The Duke's Secret Mistress worth watching?
If you enjoy betrayal, forbidden love, and conspiracy dramas, this ReelShort series centers on a young lord's wife who makes a secret deal with the city's ruler to survive her husband's coma and the schemes of his ambitious cousin, with the bargain deepening into real feelings as the secret nears exposure.
You May Also Like
Too Big for Wonderland Plot Recap & Cast
Dumped for being too big, Alice falls into Wonderland, where being bigger than the Queen of Hearts is a crime punished by death. The Queen’s son, a cold executioner who feels nothing, spares her when his heart starts beating at her touch. To get home, Alice needs him to fall in love with her.
My Brother the Don Came to Burn It All Down Plot Recap & Cast
For twenty years, Luca Moretti lived as a dockhand — a disguise that kept the people he loved off his enemies’ radar while he clawed his way to the top of the Chicago underworld. The night he finally takes the throne, he has only one plan: go home, tell his little sister Gianna who he really is, and make up for two decades of absence. But the marriage he helped arrange for her was never the safe harbor he believed it was, and the bruises she’s been hiding go back years — as do the ones on her five-year-old daughter. Now the most feared man in the city has to decide how far he’ll go for the one person he was never there to protect, and the men who hurt her are about to find out exactly whose family they put their hands on.
Confess or Crash Plot Recap & Cast
The whole family was on a road trip when the brakes suddenly failed on the highway, locking the car at 150 km/h. The doors wouldn't open, and the signal was blocked. A strange male voice on the car's infotainment system announced the start of a game: tell the truth, and the speed will decrease by 10 km/h; lie, and the speed will increase by 10 km/h. Infidelity, espionage, secret affairs, a murder case from ten years ago—the secrets of everyone in the car are gradually revealed. Who is really controlling this car?
Ex-Con Nanny Of The Alpha Recap, Cast & Preview
Appearance: She has fair skin, soft facial features yet hidden inner fortitude, and light tea-colored eyes. Her figure is slender with silky long hair. She mostly wears plain cotton long dresses and custom starry evening gowns. Personality: Gentle and forbearing, extremely kind, grateful and loyal to favors. She took the fall for her younger brother and was imprisoned; even after enduring endless abuse, she never complained about fate. She is sensitive at heart and carries slight inferiority complex due to her prison experience, making her timid most of the time. However, she can summon great courage for Rain and her mother. She never forgets William’s scholarship that supported her through college. After learning the blood bond and gaining his love, she grows brave and resolute. Her life is full of hardships, and her lifelong wish is to find her biological son. She holds firm to her principles and never grovels to anyone.
The Baby You’ll Never Claim Plot Recap & Cast
Husband prefers secretary, who looks like his white moonlight, over his wife Iris. Calmly, Iris asks for a divorce, revealing that the baby she's carrying isn't his. Five years later, she returns powerfully with her new flame, while Husband is left drowning in regret.
The Don Who Couldn’t Quit Me Recap, Cast & Preview
After catching her boyfriend of seven years cheating, ordinary office worker Chloe has a one-night stand with Aiden, a dangerously charming mafia boss. A man who has never slept with the same woman twice—and who has never believed in love—breaks his own rules for the first time because of her. A contract relationship binds them together. Knowing she will fall for him, Chloe secretly changes their one-year agreement to just three months. Meanwhile, Aiden becomes increasingly addicted to her, yet refuses to admit his feelings because of a betrayal in his past. As a rival provocateur, the contract's expiration date, and a new suitor push them to the edge, Aiden—the man who has always controlled everything—finally realizes the truth: he is the one with the most to lose.
The Billionaire Loved Me at 200 Pounds Recap, Cast & Preview
At 200 pounds I slept with the campus basketball star, then heard his friends outside the door calling me a pig. Six years later, a new name and a new face put me right back in front of him.
My Family Let My Baby Die for My Husband's Mistress Recap, Cast & Preview
One operating room left, every other surgical team tied up with a highway pileup: Tessa is bleeding out with her baby's heart rate crashing, and Paige — her husband's mistress and her oldest friend — is in labor down the hall. Colin makes the choice, and Tessa's own mother and brother enforce it. The surgeons save her life by taking her uterus. Her son is born without a heartbeat, and out in the corridor Colin is holding Paige's newborn while Tessa's mother tells him to hurry up and hold his son. The disposition form for Tessa's baby is signed three hours before her baby existed. She was trafficked at twelve and Paige took her place in that family while she was gone, so every fight since has ended with Tessa apologizing — but not this one. She pulls out her IV, signs herself out, and makes a single phone call to the boy who was locked in that cellar with her twelve years ago, now a man who walks off an international stage mid-presentation and lands on the hospital roof four hours later. Six months on she has a pottery shop, a divorce filing, and a folder he ordered the day he heard what they named that baby — and it all comes due on a hotel plaza in the rain, with a husband out on a ledge and a fire department bullhorn broadcasting the truth about whose hands were on her IV that night.