‘First Night With The Duke' Has Fun With A Fantasy One Night Stand
First Night With The Duke is a lighthearted k-drama romance about an unhappy modern-day woman who wakes up in her favorite novel and spends an unexpected night with a prince. It's not a fairy tale ending. At least not right away. When he assumes they will marry, she tries to escape. Is marrying a handsome prince such a bad idea? Yes and no. It's not how the story is supposed to go.
Seohyun plays K, a young woman who retreats from the real world by reading a romantic historical novel. Her real life can't compare to the novel, so she stops paying attention to real life. She's on leave from her job and the bills are piling up. None of that is as interesting as the romance between the novel's poor orphan Eun-Jae and the handsome prince Yi Beon.
Then one day K falls into the novel. It's an improvement. In the novel world she's Cha Sun-Chaek, a side character without too much to do except enjoy her fictional family's wealth. Then the plot goes sideways. The handsome but short-tempered prince, Yi Beon, played by Taecyeon, doesn't meet the female lead that he must fall in love with. At least according to the novel. Instead he saves a very drunken Sun-chaek, who promptly spends the night with him. One night is all it takes for him to propose. It's not just that she seduced him. He's also intrigued by how much she seems to know about the inner workings of his mind. As a faithful reader she read his thoughts on the printed page.
K/Sun-chaek knows that the prince is supposed to meet Jo Eun-ae, played by Kwon Han-sol, a character she genuinely likes. She loves the novel and doesn't want it to change. She's also afraid that if she becomes the prince's fiancée, she might be targeted by the cruel noblewoman Do Hwa-seon, played by Ji Hye-won (Hierarchy). Hwa-seon wants to marry the prince and will seek to eliminate any rivals. Sun-chaek tries to run but the prince is determined to find her and get her to accept his proposal.
Acting in a fantasy rom-com like this must be a lot of fun and Seohyun and Taecyeon play their roles to great comic effect. Both actors have demonstrated their comedy skills before, Seohyun memorably in Jinxed At First and Taecyeon in Vincenzo, Seohyun, a member of Girls Generation, can also be seen in the dramas such as Private Lives and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, while Taecyeon, a member of the k-pop group 2PM, appeared in the dramas Heartbeat and Save Me. First Night With The Duke also stars Seo Bum-june (Hierarchy), playing Jung Su-gyeom, an officer who is Yi Beon's only friend.
A note to viewers who like historical dramas for the costumes, the art production in this drama is lovely and the hanboks are ornately embroidered. The novel's fictional world is suitably embellished with richly patterned silks, colorful ornaments, flowers and decor.
First Night With The Duke is directed by Lee Woong-hee, who directed My Perfect Stranger. The story is based on the webnovel "Namjuui Cheotnalbameul Gajeobeoryeodda' by Hwang Do-tol (published on Naver).
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