First Night with the Duke episodes 3 & 4 recap: Does Seon-chaek end up falling in love with Lee Beon?

On June 18 and 19, 2025, episodes 3 and 4 of First Night with the Duke were released on Viki. First Night with the Duke follows K, a regular college girl, who one day gets transported to the world of her favorite throwback romance book. She wakes up as Cha Seon Chaek—a side character with a rich family and big dreams of quietly chilling in life.

However, she ends up crashing the storyline by spending a night with the story's main lead, Lee Beon—a royal-born heartthrob.

She tries hard to play matchmaker between Lee Beon and the leading lady, Cho Eun-ae, who was supposed to be his true love. But no matter how she pushes them together, fate keeps taking Lee Beon's feelings back to Seon Chaek. At the end of episode 4 of First Night with the Duke, fans see Seon-chaek catching feelings for Lee Beon.

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First Night with the Duke episode 3: Seon-chaek’s matchmaking plans flop with Eun-ae and Lee Beon

First Night with the Duke's chapter 3 kicks off with K (played by Seo Hyun) attending college, while Ah-young's boyfriend pops the question. She brushes it off, but once she heads to lectures, Ah-young drenches her with water, claiming she lured her man.

On campus, whispers and glances follow, but before long, Seon-cheak reawakens inside the novel realm once more. This time, it’s Lee Beon (played by Ok Taec-yeon) who carried her there and even arranged a physician for her care.

In the background, the healer suggests Lee fetch a rare herb from the hillside for Seon-chaek. Lee climbs up, wrestles a tiger, and returns with the cure. Later, he hands the remedy over to her. On the side, Seon-chaek requests Soo-gyeom to let her join his club and wants Eun-ae along too—turns out, Lee Beon’s tagging in as well. That night, Seon-chaek and Eun-ae land at the gathering.

Behind the scenes, Seon-chaek’s trying to match Lee Beon with Eun-ae, sticking to the original plot. Once the event starts, Seon-chaek showers Eun-ae with praise, hoping Lee Beon will fall for her, but her attempts fail. Before long, Soo-gyeom begins promoting a secret treasure, claiming he has embedded clues within a poem. The reward is open to anyone who can find it.

Eun-ae runs into Lee Beon, and sparks almost fly, but Lee keeps it cool. Meanwhile, Seon-chaek spies on them through a divider, using Soo-gyeom as a step stool, and ends up tumbling right on top of him.

Back at the meeting, Soo-gyeom’s already tipsy and can’t down another round, so Eun-ae steps in and drinks for him. Suddenly, flames break out. Lee swoops in and pulls Seon-chaek to safety. Elsewhere, Soo-gyeom shields Eun-ae. First Night with the Duke episode 3 concludes as sky-bursts light up the air. Watching them, Lee softly says it signals that she’s now ready to become his wife.

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First Night with the Duke episode 4: Lee Beon proposes to Seon-chaek in front of her parents, and she can’t help but fall for him

First Night with the Duke's episode 4 picks up inside the usual club hangout. Everyone’s chilling and wrapped up in rounds of party games. In the middle of all that, Eun-ae suddenly starts feeling off after sipping a peach-flavored mocktail. Red rashes flare up across her skin.

As things go sideways, Seon-chaek rushes to fetch some water to help her. But in a panicky moment, she bangs over a lit candle. Soon, the residence catches fire. Meanwhile, Lee drops by Seon-chaek’s place and formally asks her parents for permission to tie the knot, saying they’ve already spent the night together.

However, her dad puts his foot down, saying she’s not yet fit for marriage. Moreover, he’s against his daughter marrying into royal circles. Lee heads back to his princely estate, lost in old memories. He thinks back to his youth, the night his entire clan was slaughtered. Just when his uncle was about to wipe out both Lee and his father, Lee offered himself as a pawn. Lee promised to obey whatever he said, and in doing so, spared his father.

Since that night, Lee has been gripping a sword and working under his uncle’s shadow. Now, he recalls the moment Seon-chaek told him she knew everything about him from the First Night with the Duke episode 1. That’s the second he realized his heart was already with her.

Soo-gyeom then sneaks over to Seon-chaek’s place. At first, she thinks Soo-gyeom is about to pour out a love confession. But he’s there to ask for her support because he’s begun falling for Eun-ae.

In another corner of the plot, Seon-chaek bumps into a foreign traveler named Mark. She offers him meals, finds him clothes, and even gives him a full town tour. But underneath his friendly act, Mark’s actually a plant. He’s working for Hwa-seon and is there to trap Seon-chaek. Later, as Seon-chaek waves him goodbye and heads home, she suddenly collapses and blood trickles from her lips.

Guards quickly take her to a secluded quarantine zone meant for people hit by a mysterious illness. Turns out, this sickness is being spread by Mark on orders from Hwa-seon. Lee hears about her condition and bolts over to the isolation ward, galloping through guards. Inside, he finds Seon-chaek suffering. But instead of leaving, he stays and helps her pull through the worst.

Meanwhile, Queen Mother pays a visit to the royal chambers and drops a formal request that she wants Lee Beon’s bride to be chosen through a nationwide selection process. Within days, posters go up across the capital from the Ministry of Royal Genealogy, announcing the search for Prince Lee's future wife. Tons of women apply, including Eun-ae and Hwa-seon.

First Night with the Duke ends when word finally reaches Seon-chaek. She quietly makes up her mind that whatever time she has left, she’ll dedicate it entirely to Lee Beon.

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First Night with the Duke is currently available for streaming on Viki. The next episode is scheduled to be released on June 25, 2025.