Former Fake Becomes Grand Duke of the North

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Wulfe is a mercenary who earns a living by hunting demonic beasts, dangerous monsters that seek to snuff out all life and corrupt the very land itself. While the pay is good, his real goal is to make a name for himself and join the Order of the Coldsteel Blade, one of the most renowned knightly orders in the entire Reichwald Empire. However, after another day of hunting demonic beasts, a friend of Wulfe’s comes to him with an offer too tempting to refuse.

After accepting his friend’s offer, Wulfe is thrown back into a world he had left behind once before: high society. Now, instead of demonic beasts, Wulfe must contend with scheming nobles who hide their intentions behind insincere smiles and flattering words. Despite its glittering and beautiful façade, Wulfe knows that high society is a battlefield as dangerous as any other, where the weapons are words and one move can decide the fate of an entire realm.

New chapters released on Tuesdays and Fridays

cover art by CREADFECTUS

Information

Status: Cancelled
Year: 2024
Author: hearthshope

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.7/ 5.0
Followers: 624
Views: 245,637

Chapters(71 total)

What readers say about Former Fake Becomes Grand Duke of the North

“This is compelling story of political maneuvering, swords and aura mastery. Story follows a young man's struggle to find acceptance by his adopted family (who actually love and accept him). Through his work as a mercenary he is secretly hired to be an heir…”
Ode123Royal Road5.0 / 5
“Based on the 10 chapters available, I can infer that this is a political story with an aspect of progression and monster fighting. As a commoner, the main character finds himself entwined in the affairs of not 1 but 2 of the strongest ducal houses in the em…”
Prince AndromedaRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(10)

Ode123Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is compelling story of political maneuvering, swords and aura mastery. Story follows a young man's struggle to find acceptance by his adopted family (who actually love and accept him). Through his work as a mercenary he is secretly hired to be an heir for a duke.
I'm impatient so I read this story on Patreon.
Prince AndromedaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Based on the 10 chapters available, I can infer that this is a political story with an aspect of progression and monster fighting. As a commoner, the main character finds himself entwined in the affairs of not 1 but 2 of the strongest ducal houses in the empire. The main question I see so far is whether the MC has what it takes to be high nobility and be one of the heirs/rulers of the empire.
The main character’s situation is unusual but believable as he searches for a place to belong and a family to love him. The MC is a strong fighter, has a good head on his shoulders and shows compassion to those in need. The story has a lot of potential to grow within the genre I’ve mentioned (for example: war, kingdom building, relationship with neighboring states, diplomacy, internal strife, relationship with royalty/nobility, magic… the sky is the limit and it’s up to the author to naturally steer the story in the right direction). It is too early to tell…
If you like political stories with an aspect of progression, young heirs, knights, and monster fighting, give it a try …. I’ll be rooting for the success of the story.
Luther KrellicRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A story like this is very rare. I’m very happy to have found it.
The chapters are a good length, the prose is enjoyable to read, the characters are well developed, their motivations are mature, and the story is a delight. I especially enjoy how the mystery isn’t ‘what will happen next?’ rather it’s ‘how will the character react?’
This is worth the read.
MrWinterRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I love where the author took the story, and that they managed to do so without ever leaning into anti-hero tropes or angsty writing is amazing. The characters are all well done, and we're introduced to different aspects of their personalities as situations arise, rather than a single characterization that never evolves. There's always more to a person than their first impression and that play an important part in getting to know many of the characters.
Fenrir707Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This feels like one of those villainess stories from the male perspective done right.
Style
The author opt for an unreliable narrator from the first person's perspective, it is done relatively well. I do see some missed opportunities though. Adding a POV every once in awhile will do the story justice by showing how his actions might have looked like from another character's perspective or maybe from a third person's perspective from someone far in the future looking at his story. Or maybe the Gods or his ancestors watching him flail around
Story
Cliche yes, however, beautifully executed. The foreshadowing is a little too direct, making it easy for veteran readers to see the plot-twist. Using a more subtle expression like "clenching her fist" or "momentary paused" actions that can be interpreted in various ways would be better compared to just "she scowled for a split second".
Grammar.
No comment, good read. I can feel the difference between each character's choice of grammar relatively well. Some could be improved though. I can't pinpoint it specifically, however, it pales in comparison to novels I've read before. Maybe it's the choice of words or the rare usage of punctuation.
Characters
The MC is done really well. He can feel like a gary stu sometimes, I personally prefer more of a flawed character like a prideful hard-worker or a snarky inferiority complex type of MC but that's up to taste. What is missing though is the same depth on the side characters, not to say they are bad, in fact way better compared to other RR Mcs, when compared to this story's MC though, they feel shallow. This can probably be improved as the story progresses. So far the interesting one is Victor, while the Duke and Commander have more screen time their characterizations are not there yet
Overall, great work author! I hope you can finish it. If you need a reference "The Beast and The Swallow" by Ariana Vivoni has great side characters.
Radriel7Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
minor gripe: I think the setting is a bit simplistic so far or at the very least we haven't had time to delve too deeply into it yet. That said, the premise is very interesting and the characters carry the story.
Clearly a political thriller and character drama at heart, but with breaks for action scenes. Intriguing central mystery with a hidden antagonist. I don't really see too much progression fantasy tropes at this time, though perhaps that could change given the setup of the story's setting. I am very much looking forward to where this goes.
ReallyObnoxiouslyLongNameRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
TL;DR
A great story with political intrigue, and good characters. A bit cliche, but not in a bad way.
Style
The style isn't flashing or poetic, but it works well. It's direct, and easy to read. I do think this would be the perfect setting for a more poetic style, but I'm not mad about it.
Grammar
I rarely notice mistakes or misspellings. Practically perfect in every way.
Character
The characters are all great. They all seem to behave rationally.
Wulfram is the lead character. He's an aura master, which is a very potent combat facing magical warrior. He starts off strong, but the story isn't progression focused, so it isn't an issue. He has his own ambitions, apart from his current contract, so he's not just a leaf in the wind. Overall, no major complaints, other than being a little unobservant, at least in some instances.
The rest of the cast are pretty good. None of them feel unnatural, and some of them are quite enjoyable to read about. A lot of the characters feel very black and white in terms of their moral character. The good guys are good, and bad guys are bad. This isn't a huge issue, but I figured I'd mention it.
Story
The story is a bit of a cliche, and I don't mind that one bit. The author sprinkles in useful information that when collected together, leads to strong conclusions regarding the direction of the plot. It may be a little too on the nose for some, but as far as issues go, this is a minor one. If I had to pick between having no information about where the plot is going and slightly too much, I'd go with the latter.
There is one potential plot issue that I see.
If you didn't know, the story is currently leading to the conclusion that Wulfram, who believes he's an orphan, is actually the son of the Duke Kaltbrand, and Countess Bardin. It's not confirmed as of writing this review, but the writing is on the wall. For now, I'll assume that it is actually true. If so, then I don't think it makes much sense for the Duke and the Countess to continue hidi
EmpireofTrustRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
What it says on the box, an outsider thrown into noble games in a place power is king.
A little light on the scattered greebles that add texture and colour to the story description of place or people but the tale itself is strong and engaging enough to carry into a great read.
Intrigue, skilled magical fighters and demons are the setting so far, while a young man takes a decoy role in noble succession manoeuvring.
Looking forward to more.
GheldanRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
So originally I would have rated this story a 4 or a 4.5. It has interesting characters, is decently written, and the premise was interesting. There however lies the crux of the issue. The premise was interesting when the main character was a nobody who somehow manages to slowly work his way up to being a duke.
Alas the author soon pulls out a tired trope in which the MC is raised by nobility despite not being a noble himself. Not great as it gives the MC a massive leg up, but it isn't the end of the world. I can still work with this, the MC is not a noble but still has to work his way up.
And then is my second and most major issue. Turns out the MC is just a super special boy with super special blood and he really doesn't have to work for anything because he will just get plot armored or deus ex machina'd through everything.
So suddenly the stakes are almost non-existent. The character is no longer very likeable and everyone bends over backwards to please or help him. Yes there are villains but they suddenly became mole hills where once they were mountains.
So in summary that is why I'm giving it 3 stars. It just isn't interesting when the MC is a super special Gary Stu.
DefinitelyNotAReptileRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
This feels like a self insert fanfiction written by a 14 year old. The writing consists of 90% telling and only 10% showing as you only ever get told that something happens like "i spent the day familiarising myself with the city" instead of writing about it. Enormous amounts of exposition is shoved into the reader's throat at all times in awkward ways. The main character is so perfect and powerful that he ends up being uninteresting, as nothing is ever real hardship for him. Not even talking about how he's a walking talking list of YA tropes. The plot is very predictable, which is made even worse by the absurdly unsubtle "hints" that basically tell you all the details of the upcoming "plot twist" in advance. There's also some rather unsavory passages in there about women like
The protagonist says to his maids that if a certain noble were to rape them he would kill him, which isnt that bad, but then the author felt the need to add that it makes the maids oh so touched by his words??? Also the main character says he doesnt like how his maids look because he has "higher standards" because he was brought up as a noble...
It's a shame because overarching plot would be interesting if it wasnt so telegraphed...