ITCYLITCOTRGC CH 09

You can only go so far with a prank. Even though it had only been a week, I had spent several miserable days worrying myself sick. Every night, I had nightmares in full, vivid color. And now what? After all that anxiety, it had all been nothing but a prank?

I didn’t know why he had decided to reveal the author’s identity to me, but to me, it was about as meaningful as a cat worrying about a mouse. Apparently, he had gotten tired of teasing me. What a nasty bastard.

I wanted to huff and throw the book! But this was a limited edition among limited editions, complete with the author’s handwritten letter and personal seal. I couldn’t exactly treat it carelessly.

I calmly closed the book in my hands and carefully placed it on the table. Then I started throwing a full-blown tantrum like a child lying on the floor of a supermarket and kicking and screaming. I didn’t think I could vent my anger any other way. Even Shasha flinched at the sight of me.

“You’re angry?”

“He played with me? I’m not letting him get away with this!”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Armin Gray. That awful, bad-tempered man!”

In my fury, I punched my pillow for no reason. Seeing me so worked up, Shasha’s eyes began to waver with worry. After all, he was the person who knew better than anyone how I completely lost my sense of reason whenever I got angry.

“Calm down, Vivi. You’re going to cause another accident at this rate…”

“An accident? What accident have I caused? Huh? Is reading a book such a terrible thing? Is it?!”

“A book? What on earth are you talking about?”

“Big Brother doesn’t need to know! How am I supposed to teach that bastard a proper lesson so that everyone in town will hear about it?”

My legs trembled with anger.

“Teach… Vivi, who are you planning to teach a lesson to? Don’t tell me—!”

Shasha grabbed my shoulders and shook me, his face tense.

“You’re not talking about Armin Gray, are you? Huh? Answer me!”

“Shasha!”

“Why are you shouting?!”

“How many people these days get reported to the Inquisitor for being devil worshippers?”

Until just a moment ago, I had been talking about a book, then I said I was going to teach Armin Gray a lesson, and now I was talking about devil worshippers? Shasha couldn’t keep up with the rapid changes in my train of thought and frowned.

However, having learned through long experience that refusing to answer me properly would only make my outburst worse, Shasha quickly sorted through the information in his head and answered.

“None.”

“None?!”

“None. The Inquisition has been closed for ages.”

Shasha sighed and explained it to me, as though this was basic knowledge.

“The days when people were accused and judged as witches or devil worshippers ended more than a thousand years ago. Did you sleep through history class?”

I didn’t know. I genuinely had no idea. I wasn’t interested in theology, so why would I have cared?

Besides, to a person from the twenty-first century, whether it was the Middle Ages or not, any era where people walked around wearing dresses was bound to look more or less the same. And that bastard had lied so seriously that I naturally believed him.

“Ah! Aaaah!! Aaaaargh!!!”

A devil worshipper? Right. I had wondered how someone could make such a terrifying threat in this day and age when there weren’t even any devil worshippers around.

“My mom and dad must really think they failed miserably at raising their child…”

This wasn’t just a bad harvest. This was a complete agricultural disaster. Threatening a young lady he’d never even met before with such an utterly ridiculous accusation? I didn’t know what kind of heir training the ducal family provided, but they had clearly managed to raise a psychopath fit for the end of the world.

“Then… then why the hell did that bastard make such a huge fuss about devil worship and all that with me?”

“Devil worship? Armin Gray said something like that?”

Once again, I completely ignored Shasha’s question. One complicated thought after another was tangling together in my head, to the point that I couldn’t even hear my brother’s voice properly.

What had he gained by lying to me?

If he’d wanted to frighten me, he hadn’t even come to check on me during the past several days.

Then what?

‘I’m taking this book with me.’

Suddenly, I remembered Armin Gray holding the book and smiling at me.

‘No way.’

Could it be that he’d done all that because he wanted the book? Because he wanted the book his own mother had written?

No. That couldn’t be it. If he’d wanted his mother’s book, there was no way he’d have returned it like this. Especially not with the seal and letter included.

There was only one conclusion.

“Who does he think he is, Jeomsuni?!”

My pent-up frustration finally exploded.

Fine, he could be proud that his mother was an author. I could understand that. But his method was completely wrong! What was the difference between what he had done and pointing a gun at a child just to steal the coins stuck to their nose?

Seeing me become so furious that I was practically dizzy with anger, Shasha forgot his original purpose and started trying to calm me down. It was obvious that he was worried I might collapse from stress.

“All right. I understand, so calm down, okay?”

“Big Brother.”

“Yes. Yes, Vivi. Tell me. Hmm? Anything you want.”

“Go get that bastard. Bring him here. I want to talk to him while looking at that smug face of his.”

“Vi… Vivi. That’s a little…”

No matter how capable Shasha was, there was no way he could casually order the heir of the Gray Ducal Family to come and go as he pleased.

“Aaaah! I’m going to kill him! I’m seriously not letting him get away with this!”

I continued punching my beloved pillow again and again.

What? A beauty whose radiance could be seen from ten kilometers away? The most handsome man in the Empire? Tell them all to shut up. He was nothing but an immature, personality-defective jerk!

Eventually, the corner of the pillow burst open, and goose feathers scattered everywhere like snowflakes.

That was when—

Knock, knock.

A knock suddenly came from the door. The timing couldn’t have been worse.

Shasha quickly went to the door in my place.

“What is it?”

“Excuse me. A guest has come to see the young lady.”

At the maid’s words, Shasha asked,

“A guest? Who? There shouldn’t be anyone who would come looking for Vivi…”

“Well…”

The maid hesitated before carefully saying,

“He says he is Lord Armin Gray.”

A stunned expression appeared on Shasha’s face. He looked at the maid, then back at me, his face filled with bewilderment.

That nasty bastard had actually come all the way to my house to see me? He dared come to my home without fear? Into my own territory?

My competitive spirit burst into flames.

“Tell her that the young lady is ill today and cannot receive guests.”

Shasha hurriedly answered the maid on my behalf.

But who said he could decide that?

“Tell him to wait a moment. I’ll get ready and come downstairs.”

“H-How should I tell him?”

Caught between the conflicting orders of the two people in charge of the household, the maid looked as though she were about to cry, completely at a loss.

Shasha quickly turned back to me.

“Vivi! Just tell him you’re sick.”

“No. I’m not sick, so why should I say I am? I haven’t done anything wrong, so why should I avoid him? No. Big Brother, you go downstairs and receive the guest. I’ll wash up and come down.”

I ground my teeth.

I had no idea why he’d suddenly decided to confess the truth, but I couldn’t stop thinking about that smiling face I’d seen watching me from inside the room on the night of the imperial ball.

Shasha opened and closed his mouth a few times before eventually sighing and leaving.

I immediately ran to the bathroom. I didn’t even have time to call the maids. The maids who arrived a little later were horrified and hurried to get me ready, but quite a lot of time had already passed.

About an hour later, while the maids were still finishing my preparations to receive the guest, Michelle spoke in a worried voice.

“I’m worried that you’re making the guest wait too long, my lady.”

“I never invited him. If anyone is being impolite, he was the one who started it.”

“But still. If it’s the Gray family, that means he’s from a ducal house…”

“So what are you trying to say?”

At my unusually sharp tone, Michelle placed a hand on my shoulder and said,

“I mean… if you had been in the habit of washing properly every day, the guest wouldn’t have had to wait so long.”

“Now that you mention it, I’m even more annoyed. I had to wash up for no reason because of that man!”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

Michelle stopped speaking and let out several deep sighs.

“Yes, you’re right. He really is an awful guest.”

After going through all this trouble, I wondered whether Armin Gray might have gotten tired of waiting and gone home. I quickly called one of the maids.

“Go downstairs and check if the guest is still there.”

“Yes, my lady.”

A little while later, the maid returned and nodded.

“Lord Gray is still waiting for you, my lady.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Lord Alessandro is entertaining him. He said you could take your time getting ready.”

Hmph! I couldn’t help scoffing.

Who was he to pretend to be considerate and tell me to take my time?

Besides, I was in too much of a hurry to take my time. I felt like I wouldn’t be satisfied until I went downstairs and confronted him.

What should I say to him? How could I get back at him enough to make myself feel better?

The fact that he was the heir to a ducal house no longer mattered to me. He had picked a fight with someone who had been minding her own business, so I needed to hear him apologize before I could calm down.

I nervously tapped my fingernails together and bounced my leg. The maids scolded me several times, but I couldn’t hear them.

The moment my pinned-up hair was finished, I hurried downstairs.

For someone who was naturally lazy, the occasions when I ran like this could be counted on one hand each year.

The startled maids hurried after me, but there was no way they could keep up with me as I raced down the hall.

Bang!

I practically kicked open the drawing-room door.

Inside, I saw Shasha, who looked completely exhausted, and Armin Gray, who was setting down his teacup on the table with an elegant gesture.