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The First Night with the Duke

The First Night with the Duke () is a 2025 South Korean television series starring Seohyun, Ok Taec-yeon, Kwon Han-sol, Seo Bum-june, and Ji Hye-won. The series depicts the story of an ordinary college student's soul taking possession of the body of a minor character in a romance novel. It aired on KBS2 from June 11, to July 17, 2025, every Wednesday and Thursday at 21:50 (KST).

The show is available on Viu in selected regions.

Synopsis

A contemporary college student, known as "K", awakens unexpectedly inside her beloved historical romance book, upending her normal existence. Cha Seon-chaek, a minor noble character in the novel, is the person she has transmigrated into. Seon-chaek hails from a wealthy family and at first aspires to a simple, tranquil life, intending to watch the novel's plot unfold from the sidelines before eventually resuming her own life. But when she meets Lee Beon, the chilly, attractive, and seemingly compulsive male protagonist of the book, by chance while intoxicated, her intentions are utterly upended. Favoured by the King, Beon is a prince with royal ancestry who excels in martial arts. He has a tragic history as well. After this unanticipated "first night", Beon grows infatuated with Seon-chaek and demands to wed her. Given that Beon was meant to fall in love with Jo Eun-ae, the original female lead, this completely upends the plot of the original novel. Seon-chaek, still possessed by K, tries desperately to steer Beon back towards Eun-ae and restore the original plot, but no matter how hard she tries, Beon's affection consistently returns to her.

Cast

Main

She is a supporting character who appears only in a single line in the protagonist's favorite novel; the second, a young woman who, due to an unfortunate incident, dropped out of university and whose only hobby in her grim daily life was reading a historical web novel. She is the original Ripley de Liverpool's counterpart.
He is the king's favorite nephew and the male protagonist of this world. He believes that if two people have spent their first night together, they should take responsibility for each other. He is the original Zeronis Inglide's counterpart.
He is the youngest member of Hongmungwan, the son of a prestigious and highly educated family, and the epitome of the upright and caring male lead. Gyeongseong-gun's only friend.
She is a villain, who exacerbates the complex relationship between characters.
He is another nephew of the king.

Supporting

Seon-chaek's Family

  • Seo Hyun-chul as Cha Ho-yeol, Seon-chaek's father and Deok-jeong's husband. He is an upright subject who does not hesitate to speak frankly even in front of the king for the good of the country.
  • Yoon Yoo-sun as Yoon Deok-jeong, the lady of the Cha family, mother of Seon-chaek and wife of Ho-yeol. She is a dignified and tidy woman, but she never loses her strength in the face of a crisis, as evidenced when a man rumored to be her daughter's matchmaker appears.
  • Lee Sang-woon as Cha Jang-ho, older brother by Cha Seon-chaek, Du-ho and Se-ho; eldest son of Ho-yeol and Deok-jeong.
  • Kim Shin-bi as Cha Du-ho, the medicine-obsessed second son of the Cha family.
  • Yoon Jung-hoon as Cha Se-ho, the third son of the Cha family, an unpredictable eccentric with a warm, caring brotherly side.
  • Oh Se-eun as Bang-ul, a servant with high-level secretarial skills who follows Seon-chaek's every move.

Others

  • Song Young-jae as Haengrang-a-beom, a loyal servant of Gyeongseong-gun for many years.
  • Yoon Tae-ha as Ma-yoon, a loyal follower and confidant of Gyeongseong-gun, to whom he swore loyalty. Following his orders, he pursues the mastermind behind the Black Death Group, a force that threatens the royal family.
  • Joo Suk-tae as Seol-jong, the king in the novel, who was not originally in line to succeed to the throne and came to it after a purge.
  • Nam Gi-ae as Queen Dowager (Dae-bi), the former king's first wife, when her only son, the crown prince, died, a bloody storm erupted in the royal family.
  • Jung Hee-tae as Prime Minister Do Bae-myeong, brother-in-law of the Queen Dowager, father of Hwa-seon, for whom he is always worried.
  • Jung Ho-bin as Jeong Moon-seok, a royal secretary according to the long-standing tradition of his prestigious family. He is conservative and controlling, and always disgruntled with his free-spirited son, Soo-gyeom.
  • Kim Young-woong as Jo Byeong-mu, a wealthy merchant who took Eun-ae in, saved her life, and made her his adopted daughter, and whose businesses benefited from her cunning.
  • Park Jeong-eon as the Queen Dowager’s head court lady (Ji Mil-sang-gung).
  • Lee Joo-won as Kkoma, a mysterious boy who appears in every dramatic moment Seon-chaek encounters.
  • Justin John Harvey as Mark/the Westerner

Special appearance

  • Kim Ah-young as Seol-gi, a shaman Seon-chaek often visits.

Episodes

Original soundtrack

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Production

Development

The series is written by Jeon Seon-young, directed by Lee Woong-hee, and co-produced by Studio N and Monster Union. It is based on the original Naver web novel series of the same name by Hwang Do-tol.

Casting

According to an interview with Xports News on July 26, 2024, Ok Taecyeon and Seohyun were considering the lead roles. On November 19, Ji Hye-won was confirmed to join the cast. On the same day, Seo Bum-june was also confirmed to participate. Then, on November 28, Seohyun, Ok, Kwon Han-sol, Seo, and Ji were confirmed to appear.

Incidents during shooting

As of November 28, 2024 the series was in shooting phase. While filming, Seohyun suffered an accident to a leg that forced her to carry a cane for a while: with it she went to present the KBS Drama Awards on December 31, 2024.

The day before, on December 30, 2024, architect Min Seo-hong visited Byeongsan Seowon, a Confucian academy in the vicinity of Andong where the series was being shot. Three days after his visit, he posted on his Facebook page that he had witnessed how the technical staff was damaging this historic site, declared a UNESCO World Heritage List, by fixing some ten streetlights with nails on the pillars. He later discovered that the Cultural Heritage Division of Andong City Hall had granted permission to film, but was unaware they were causing damage. The Korean Broadcasting System apologized after its staff hammered five nails into the complex's Mandaeru Pavilion to hang lanterns as part of shooting for a drama production. Subsequently, the city of Andong sued KBS for damaging cultural heritage and requested the destruction of all scenes shot in Byeongsan Seowon, before which the channel dismissed them. The incident likewise had criminal consequences for KBS staff. On February 10, 2025 the Gyeongbuk Andong Police Department announced that it had reported to the prosecutor's office three members of the utility team, accused of violating the Cultural Heritage Preservation and Utilization Act. Following this incident, the National Heritage Administration announced on the 20th the preparation of theStandard Guidelines for Filming Permits in Nationally Designated Cultural Heritage Sites with which it is proposed to discipline use in future film or television shoots and prevent damage to heritage sites cultural. On June 11, a press conference to introduce the production was held in Sindorim, Seoul, attended by director Lee Woong-hee and actors Seohyun, Ok Taecyeon, Kwon Han-sol, Seo Beom-jun, and Ji Hye-wo. During the conference, the director apologized again for the damage caused to the Byeongsan Seowon historical site during filming and confirmed that scenes filmed there had been canceled.

Viewership

Notes

References

External links