Chapter 57

Vivian was unsure what kind of an expression she should wear before she burst into laughter. It seemed the Grand Duke’s social phobia was far worse than she had imagined. He truly was like a cat.

“Did you like books since you were young?”

“I read fairy tales very often.”

“That’s rather unexpected. I thought a younger Ray would have read non-fiction books like you do now.”

“The selection of books wasn’t large.”

“Excuse me?”

As Vivian asked him to expand on his words, Aidan just pressed his lips shut. Since he didn’t look as though he wanted to talk about it, she tactfully changed the subject herself.

“I liked fairy tales as well. The kind of fairy tales where the witch kidnaps the princess, imprisons the princess at the top of a tower, and she waits for her prince to come to her rescue. Now that I think about it, fairy tales were what inducted me into the path of an author.”

“Vivian was a normal child when she was young.”

“What do you mean, Your Highness?” Her eyes shook as she asked. Aidan practiced his right to silence this time as well.

“My certain sexual curiosity was what gave birth to Perdie that your Highness praised as the best as the best erotica author. A few more compliments are always welcome!”

“How great.”

Aidan spat out a soulless compliment with a completely indifferent face. Vivian’s chest hurt as she watched his totally different attitude in comparison to the time he told her he’d sponsor her work.

Those indifferent eyes were the same as before, but at the very least, hadn’t he told her she was the best with much passion and sincerity before? Where had all that passion gone?! Was he to say that she was a fish that has already caught?!?

As Vivian pouted, he let loose a sigh and added a few more words at the end, “Are the fairy tales the reason you started writing?”

“Hm, yes, I suppose that’s true.”

When Vivian was around eight, her father, who barely held onto his aristocratic title, scrapped up all the money he had and started a new business. Her father was a person that was easily persuaded, stupid, and quick to act.

Within 2 years, on the day Vivian turned ten, he lost all his fortune in a single morning with the business that seemed to be rather profitable. The household’s ship that had travelled to another continent had been met with a storm at sea and had sunken without a trace.

Her mother, who’d been born wealthy and vain, was so shocked she took her own life, and her father died in an accident when he had crossed the street drunk and was hit by a carriage. His title was passed over to her father’s younger brother. Within a single day, Vivian had become an orphan and her guardianship was handed over to her relatives.

In her hardships, she grew the dream of becoming an author in the attic while she read fairy tales. While she was unsure how her motivation which had started pure had extended into becoming an author of erotic novels, in any case, she wished that a prince would come save her like those princesses in fairy tales.

“Though the person who saved me was myself in the end.”

Vivian spent an unfortunate childhood where she had never received a stranger’s help without paying for the consequences. The lesson she’d learned then was that in order to escape from her fate, she, herself, had to become strong and decisive.

Unconsciously, her lips moved.

“Ever since I was young, the only time I felt truly free was when I was writing. It could be I lifted the pen without much of a process. It could be that the ink and pen was a sort of shield for me. In the end, it had become my entire life.”

Aidan, who had listened silently, opened his eyes softly for a moment and spoke. His finger tapped the carriage seat,“What a coincidence. Fairy tales held a similar meaning for me as well.”

“Ah, is that so?” When Vivian answered with a question, Aidan once again shut his mouth tightly over his past.

He acted all mysterious unnecessarily. Disappointing, she muttered in heart, and her eyes sparkled with mischief momentarily. Then, she pushed towards him with sparkling eyes and asked. “How about I wake Princess Ray who lives in such a scary estate with a kiss?”

Vivian closed her eyes and readied her lips, but Aidan merely pinched her cheek and responded, “I tend to veer on the side of the witch who imprisons the princess in the isolated tower.”

“Then, what was the fairy tale that left the greatest impact on you when you were young?”

“Bluebeard?”

(T/N: Bluebeard is a fairy tale that tells the tales of the blue bearded man who lives apart from the village in a terrifying-looking manor all by himself. There are horrible rumors about him in the village, and one Bluebeard marries a woman. Bluebeard tells his newly-wedded wife that she may go in every room in the manor except the one leading to the basement. Unfortunately, his wife couldn’t defeat her curiosity and she wanders into the basement at night one day. There, she finds the heads of Bluebeard’s previous wives hanging from the ceiling. At this point, Bluebeard arrives and tells her that she ignored his warning and murders her. There are several variations to this particular fairy tale, but this is the basic plotline. You can read more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebeard)