ITCYLITCOTRGC CH 11

A ball was an event with a very clear purpose. Like peacocks showing off their magnificent feathers, it was a stage where people competed to flaunt their beauty, bravery, knowledge, or the wealth of their families.

Armin had attended the ball only because of his father’s relentless pressure. He had just about reached his limit from being surrounded by people of all ages who were making a fuss, desperately trying to strike up even a single conversation with him.

Very few people knew that there was a hidden space inside this room, whose layout was different from the others. Armin Gray often used this place whenever he felt tired.

That was when—

Creak.

The door opened.

Armin’s head shifted slightly toward the sound.

He was mildly annoyed by the person disturbing his rest. Normally, he would have gone outside and chased the unwelcome guest away.

If it hadn’t been for the humming.

“Hmm-hmm~”

The person who had slipped into the room seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood. She began humming to herself, turning her own mutterings into song lyrics.

“This is paradise on earth, that’s for sure!”

Along with a breathy laugh came a soft thump.

It was the sound of someone dropping their weight onto the comfortable sofa.

Armin Gray couldn’t suppress his curiosity. Everything had been so tedious and boring lately, but this woman’s behavior and voice both felt new to him.

Armin slowly rose from his seat. Then he hid himself behind the wall and looked outside.

In front of the fireplace, there was a woman with her nose buried in a book, completely absorbed in reading. She was sprawled carelessly across the sofa, excitedly turning the pages.

‘Brown hair. She must be the Roha family’s daughter.’

From what he’d heard, she was supposed to be sickly and timid.

The corners of Armin Gray’s lips lifted.

Which part of that woman was supposed to be sickly and demure?

Every now and then, he could hear the words “Author Alji.”

The title of the book, accompanied by various exclamations of admiration, was The Demon Duke Is Obsessed with Me, a third-rate romance novel.

Armin Gray knew the novel quite well.

It was his mother’s secret hobby, after all.

‘Your personality is really awful in real life, but you’re quite popular in my novels.’

His mother’s voice seemed to echo in his ears again.

Armin stood there and watched Vivian reading.

Her neatly pinned-up brown hair left her pale back exposed, but he didn’t find the sight particularly indecent.

That was because of her childlike behavior.

Vivian displayed all sorts of amusing expressions until she finished reading.

“Huh?! Ah!” and similar little exclamations escaped her again and again. Then, as she closed the final page, she let out a deep sigh.

It was the sigh of someone who had just finished a satisfying meal.

Afterward, she shivered from head to toe, and even from behind, Armin could tell how deeply moved she was by the book.

Armin couldn’t understand it.

He had barely flipped through the book his mother had tossed at him before, but there had been absolutely nothing in it that could hold his interest.

He had never properly read it, despite his mother’s insistence.

Yet, watching this woman react to it made him think that perhaps he should read the book again when he returned to the ducal residence.

Without realizing it, a laugh escaped Armin’s lips at Vivian’s behavior.

Vivian wasn’t the only one surprised.

Armin himself was even more startled, because he couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually laughed out loud.

Not wanting to face Vivian Roha as she looked around in confusion, Armin quickly hid himself again.

He didn’t even need to look to know what was happening.

The hurried sounds of her gathering her things and making a great deal of noise told him just how flustered she was.

Armin had no intention of meeting Vivian.

Everyone he’d ever met was like that.

The moment they learned the name Gray, their attitude changed noticeably.

There was no reason this woman would be any different.

Armin didn’t want Vivian, who had shown him such an amusing side of herself for once, to become boring and predictable.

He heard the door open.

Perhaps the rumors about her being timid were true. It seemed she was running away.

That should have been the end of their encounter.

But that day was somehow different.

By the time Armin came to his senses, he’d already rescued her from that fool from Count Jericho’s family.

The way her large eyes rolled around, and the way she stubbornly tried to run away even after realizing who he was, was refreshing.

Everyone else went to extraordinary lengths just to get another word out of him.

But this little young lady from the minor Roha Viscountcy was different.

Armin found it amusing.

So he deliberately made the uncomfortable Vivian sit at the table and began making ridiculous jokes.

Even he didn’t understand why he was doing it, but her innocent reactions—how she jumped at even the most absurd things—were cute.

“Oh! Th-the thing about ‘Yeopo’ is… well, it means something like, ‘There’s Popori here.’”

“Yes. Um… I’ve thought I looked like Popori ever since I was little…”

Even though her face turned as red as if it had caught fire, she continued making ridiculous excuses until the very end.

Armin Gray knew he should stop teasing her, yet he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He even went so far as to ask whether the novel written by his mother might actually be a book of the devil.

The woman, who had been so upset because it was a limited edition, was apparently terribly frightened. The moment her eyes met Armin’s, she immediately lowered her head.

Her true thoughts were written all over her actions and words.

Vivian practically screamed with her entire body that she wanted to get out of there.

When Armin finally told her she could leave, she ran away so quickly that she even left her shawl behind.

And, unlike himself, he ended up taking the shawl with him.

He also watched without missing a thing as she heard his voice and quickly fled to the balcony.

His eyes naturally followed her.

That small, brown-haired Popori-like woman.

Even after Armin was surrounded by people, his thoughts remained fixed entirely on Vivian.

She was wearing a dress that left much of her exposed, and it must have been cold outside, yet she showed no intention of coming back inside.

The last thing Armin Gray saw was Vivian, her lips turning blue from the cold, heading toward the carriage with her brother.

“Oh my, Lady Roha must be feeling quite unwell again today.”

“I suppose so. Her lips have turned blue.”

“Her clothes are far too thin. If she was cold, she should have gone back inside. She really ought to take better care of herself.”

The people around Armin noticed that his eyes were fixed on Vivian and began offering their comments one after another.

Was she really that sickly?

Armin frowned.

He regretted not returning her shawl sooner.

Why was he so concerned about a woman he’d never even met until a few hours ago?

Several days passed after that.

Armin’s daily life was no different from usual.

Except for one thing.

The novel with Demon Duke and something-or-other in its title had gone from one copy on his bookshelf to two.

Every night before going to sleep, his eyes inevitably wandered toward that bookshelf.

Why had he accepted the book in the first place?

Should he simply return it?

Or perhaps…

It was largely on impulse that Armin knocked on his mother’s bedroom door late that night.

The Duchess looked over the unexpected visitor from head to toe.

“What is it? And what’s that in your hand?”

Duchess Rebecca Gray had been on the verge of falling asleep when her son suddenly thrust the book toward her.

She accepted it with a bewildered expression.

It was the novel she had written as a hobby.

The protagonist was based on her own son.

She had never actually expected him to read it, so she looked at him with slightly widened eyes.

“Are you returning it?”

“It isn’t mine.”

“Then?”

“It belongs to someone else.”

It was almost like a riddle.

Seeing an expression on her son’s face that she’d never seen before, the Duchess became intrigued and invited him inside the bedroom.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

“She likes your book, Mother.”

‘She?’

The Duchess couldn’t hide the smile that slipped onto her lips.

A woman?

She had always thought that the word “woman” had practically nothing to do with her son, so his unexpected answer amused her.

“And?”

But the Duchess decided not to push him.

She worried that asking too many questions about this mysterious “woman” might ruin whatever was happening.

“I want to return the book.”

“Then just return it. Why did you bring it to me?”

“Please write her a letter.”

Only then did the Duchess understand why her son had come rushing to her bedroom at this late hour.

She nodded.

“All right.”

The Duchess lit a lamp and sat down at her desk.

She picked up her quill, opened the book to its very first page, and quickly wrote a short letter.

Then, as though it were nothing important, she asked,

“What is the young lady’s name?”

As expected, her son frowned as though wondering why he needed to tell her the girl’s name.

The Duchess asked him in return,

“You said it’s a letter, didn’t you? I need to know who it’s for to finish it properly.”

“…Her name is Vivian Roha.”

The Duchess’s thoughts immediately began racing.

Vivian Roha?

So she’s the daughter of the Roha Viscountcy.

She calmly finished the letter by writing the recipient’s name.

It was a rather surprising occurrence, but it was an enjoyable experience for her as well.

Romance novels were not recognized as legitimate literature in this country.

Since it was a secret hobby she couldn’t tell anyone about, she had never revealed her identity despite becoming quite a famous author.

Therefore, to Duchess Rebecca, Vivian was the first fan she’d ever knowingly had.

For some reason, the Duchess found herself growing fond of a young lady whose face she’d never even seen.

She stamped the letter with her personal seal and smiled at her son.

“Here. Take it with you.”

“Thank you.”

As she watched her son walk away, the plot for her next novel began bubbling up in the Duchess’s mind.

She sat down at her desk in her nightclothes and began frantically scribbling out the plot.

Armin, unaware of any of this, returned to his room.

He placed Vivian’s book, now containing his mother’s letter, on his desk.

Then he lay down on his bed and closed his eyes.

Immediately, Vivian’s face from the ballroom came to mind.

That expression she had made while rolling her enormous eyes around.

The corners of Armin’s lips lifted.

He didn’t know why, but besides her surprised and flustered expressions, he found himself curious about what other expressions she might make.