Chapter 3

“A-as you heard, Lady Adelia Blaise, the daughter of Count Blaise, is ‘Million,’ the author who wrote the book.”

Cus jerked his head as he watched the man walk out from a room that had been tightly shut.

The man strode past Cus, who was internally beating himself up because the floor was covered in dust, without hesitation. A dry saliva passed over his neck when he saw the man sitting in the seat where Adelia had been sitting a while ago with a smooth step.

Carefully, he raised his gaze and glanced at the man’s black shoes, though there was still no sound of breathing from the man sitting in front of him.

The creaking sound of the old chair sounded eerie.

“…That psycho Grand Duke.”

“That, that madman doesn’t mean Your Highness the Grand Duke…!”

“It’s okay.”

“…Yes?”

“I don’t think it’s that wrong.”

The man, who answered with a smile, brushed Adelia’s book on the desk with his long finger. The calm voice of the man made Cus wonder if he was not as angry as he thought he was. Thinking that, the tension on his face was released at the unknown hope that slowly rose.

“Of course, it’s not such a pleasant thing to say.”

At the brief reply, his heart fell to the floor again. Contrary to the corners of his lips, which had risen barely visible, his eyes were cold and frozen.

Cus, startled by the blood-red eyes of the man who was staring at him, slammed his head back to the floor again.

“I, I have sinned to death, Grand Duke Destro!”

“….”

“But, but I’ve never been involved in a single part of this book! Young Lady Adelia requested me just to publish the book, no, because she threatened me—!”

“Your Highness.”

As Cus was trying to secretly pass all the sins onto Adelia, he could see Lyle, the knight of the Grand Duke who was approaching Cain, and bit his lip hurriedly. Meanwhile, Lyle, who seemed to went somewhere for a moment and just came back, lowered his hand and whispered carefully toward Cain.

“I just confirmed that Adelia Blaise will also be attending the debutant dance in a few days.”

The corners of Cain’s lips twisted upwards at his careful words.

…Adelia Blaise.

He had no intention of losing the woman who had miraculously appeared in front of him, who was standing on the edge of a precipice.

ﾟ･ : * ✧ * :･ ﾟ

Sitting in the rattling carriage, I gazed out towards the window.

The dense green forest and the clear sky without a single cloud were unrealistic landscapes to the people of Seoul who had lived against the background of a forest of buildings.

As I was lost in the scenery that seemed to be healing just by looking at it, Lily, who had been sitting opposite of me, called me with a cautious voice.

“Young Lady.”

“Huh?”

“Is that really okay?”

“What are you talking about?”

Lilly glanced around with a frightened look painted on her face. Even though it was just the two of us in the carriage, she was restless for a long time.

“The Grand Duke Destro. I wondered if he was really angry with the romance novel that was written about him, like Cus said.”

“Oh, no way.”

“…No?”

“Of course, definitely not.”

At Lily’s prudent question, I shook my head, saying there was absolutely no way that was the case.

…At least, if it was the Cain I know.

“He’s rude, cold-hearted and has a crazy personality, but…”

“But?”

“He’s not such an unreasonable person.”

“….”

“Perhaps, even if I wrote a romance novel about the Grand Duke publically, he wouldn’t be someone who wouldn’t understand it as a novel’s permission. First of all, he’s a good person by nature.”

“…A good person?”

“Yes.”

It was because he became sensitive since he could not sleep properly after the war.

The battle of Vandro Gorge.

The battle earned Cain the title of the only Grand Duke of the Empire and re-established the precarious status of the Duke. And, ironically, the battle also gave him severe PTSD – post-traumatic stress disorder – which was the insomnia that ran through the entire novel.

Cain was a war hero who dramatically led the battle to victory, though in the process, he lost his only brother.

In consequence, he suffered greatly at the fact that he had won by sacrificing his brother’s life. Of course, it was a secret that even the Emperor did not know that he was suffering from such severe insomnia after the war.

Still, the fact that no one knew about it did not lessen the person’s pain.

Anyway, Cain’s insomnia lasted for five years after the war, until Irene, the heroine, returned to Aren with his younger brother, Abel.

I smiled as I looked at Lily, who was waiting for me to speak with a questionable face. Cain’s insomnia was one of the secrets known only to Roan, the butler of the Grand Duke and his knight, Lyle, so I should not be talking about it here.

“Well, anyway, he’s a good person. In fact, it’s a more definite reason that he’s not interested in whatever I do.”

I gazed into Lily’s eyes that were shaking anxiously and spit out the answer confidently.

Yes, at least, if it was the Grand Duke that I knew.

He spent most of his time in the Grand Duke’s residence and had no interest in women. He had even been completely indifferent to Evelyn, the villain in the novel, who was courting him to marry her…

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