This is me guessing :
Maaaybe in the OG life, either Aria or someone around her caused the death of the FL (or was somewhat related to her death)
And the duke is so in love he kinda lost it and went after Aria ?
It's very easy to take what the FL read wrong, since she's not getting the necessary POV
But so far it looks like he is heads over heels for her, and the OG FL was drowning in self hatred and never truly saw how he loved her.
Again, just me guessing hehe
Could be what happened and it'd be weird that he was so in love that he went after someone else and rn he's giving obsessed vibes
True true
He is quite unhinged already, my guess is that he didn't go after Aria for romance or anything, but for revenge ... or who knows, this might end up just being a mess haha
I don't get it. Is there a misunderstanding? Does he actually love her or what- if so what's the whole thing with Aria