“Who, who is looking for me…?”

“Isn’t it someone the Young Lady knows well?”

“So, who is it?”

“Cain Destro, the only Grand Duke of the Lian Empire.”

“That psycho Grand Duke…!”

“Hey, how about covering your mouth a little—!”

The man standing in front of me hurriedly stretched out his hand to block my words, which were about to pop out unexpectedly. His pot-lid-like* hand reached out towards my face without consideration.

[ T/N: It’s a figure of speech, which pretty much means a very big hand. ]

His hand smelled like cigarettes mixed with a strong buttery smell. So, I hurriedly struck his hand, frowning at the disgusting smell.

“Keup—Cus! What are you doing?”

“Oh, even though we are the only ones here, I thought it would be better to think about what we say.”

Cus let out an awkward laugh with a very suspicious face.

As I stared at him suspiciously, Cus, who rolled his eyes around as if embarrassed, quickly added to his words.

“He’s the only Grand Duke of Lian who can even make a bird fall*.”

[ T/N: It’s a Korean proverb. Its meaning is figuratively referring to a state in which one can do everything as he pleases due to his great authority. An exaggerated expression of ‘dropping birds, too.’]

“….”

“So, you’ve to be careful with your words so there won’t be any problems…”

Even as he glanced at me, Cus steadily gave advice after another.

I took out an old wooden chair and sat down, letting out a breath after hearing his words. As I sat cross-legged and looked at him still, he continued to smile awkwardly, raising the corners of his mouth.

Seeing that, I sighed and opened my mouth towards him.

“I told you, Cus.”

“…Yes?”

“No matter what I do, or to be extreme, even if I have a dance in the square on a rainy day, the Grand Duke has no interest in me.”

“….”

“No, that person probably doesn’t even know there’s someone like me?”

At my decisive reply, Cus’ eyes fluttered anxiously here and there.

“Well, you can only be so certain…”

“I am certain.”

“….”

“I know everything.”

There was a reason why I was able to speak confidently despite Cus’ unreliable eyes looking at me. Because I really knew everything that was going to happen in this world.

Where I am, and who I am.

Cain Destro.

He was the male protagonist of the novel, 「 The Grand Duke was saved by the Saint 」 which was ‘GDS’ for short, and was the only Grand Duke of the Empire Lain.

He was also a war hero who ended the war by leading the battle of Vandro Gorge to victory in the war against the Repli Empire several years ago.

According to the description from the author in the original novel, he was the most handsome man in the Empire with jet-black hair and red eyes reminiscent of the ruby, the jewel of the Grand Duke Destro.

Corresponding to the setting of the world’s most handsome man, the author praised his appearance whenever he had time, though it was expressed that Cain’s personality was cold and sensitive because he could not sleep properly.

Despite the fairly stark expression that he was unparalleled, I enjoyed it, thinking that it was an appropriate balance mark if it was just that much of an appearance.

First of all, it had nothing to do with me.

Regardless, even though he had a good-looking appearance, I did not want to get involved with him because his personality was so crazy.

Though now, that male protagonist of this novel was looking for me?

…An extra who did not even appear in the original novel like me?

No, why…?

“Why is he looking for me?”

“Yes?”

“Why is he looking for me? You don’t know that either…?”

Contrary to the words that began with confidence, the ending was hazy. A sigh escaped from my mouth at the stupidly returned question.

At that, I spread my palms out in front of him.

“Oh, no, don’t tell me. I think I know.”

Now, let’s think about it slowly.

So, this place was definitely in the world of the novel ‘GDS’ that I was reading right before I died.

That, I could be sure of.

Because it was a novel that I had read more than a hundred times before I died, I have always wondered what the characters of a book that has sold over a million copies would be like. However, no matter how much I tried to remember, I could not remember the male lead, Cain having an interest in the extra, Adelia.

No, to be precise, the novel did not even mention a character such as Adelia in the first place.

Cus, who was looking at me wandering without a clue, shook his head.

Even though I was dissatisfied with his expression as if he knew it, no matter how much I recalled my memories, I could not figure out why.

As I kept sticking out my lips like a duck and muttering, Cus, the man in front of me and the representative of the Waffle Publishing Company, coughed heavily and carefully opened his mouth.

“Honestly, I don’t think the Young Lady is asking because she really doesn’t know…”

“….?”

“That, that…”

“What? Tell me, now.”

His constant hesitation made me lose my breath.

It was the same for him. At my urging, Cus glanced towards a small alley near the publishing house for a moment. And, before doubt could arise from his awkward gaze, he took a deep breath and uttered quickly.

“I think it’s because of the book, ‘The Mad Grand Duke Loves Me’ that the Young Lady published this time.”

“…What? What book?”

“The book Young Lady published two months ago.”

I was speechless at the words that came out of Cus’s mouth.

…No, why that book?

What is wrong with that book…?

Cus continued to speak softly, perhaps, thinking that my bewildered attitude was acknowledgment.

“That’s why I said it was better not to publish that book! I mean, there’s nothing to benefit from it!”

“….”

“How can a novel like that, which described him as a maniac, be pleasant to the Grand Duke!”

“No, but it’s not just me who wrote it that way, to be honest, all writers do it! The three elements that a male lead in a romance novel should have—”

“Even so, you shouldn’t have used him! Even if the Grand Duke had a handsome face, superior skills, and an appealing wealth, you shouldn’t have used him!”

I frowned at Cus’s attitude, which seemed to be praising Cain secretly, or somehow openly.

Didn’t he praise Cain as much as his fingernails…?

Thinking that, I stared disdainfully at the compliments that felt somewhat awkward, before raising my hand to stop him from pouring more words as if he was nervous.

“Wait, Cus, I understand. Okay, so calm down and talk to me…”

“This is all my fault. Even if the Young Lady said that it was okay for the esteemed Grand Duke to see such a low-quality romance novel, I shouldn’t have published such a joke in the first place…!”

“Cus!”

Only then did Cus shut his mouth at the sound of the slight ringing in the small office that was on the verge of collapsing.

“Listen to me when I’m talking.”

He then shut his mouth at the sound of my shouting. Of course, there were still a lot of complaints I wanted to say, so I could not help my lips protruding.

I rubbed my forehead and opened my mouth slowly.

“Okay. Let’s sort this out.”

“….”

“So, you think the Grand Duke is looking for me because of my novel?”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

“Honestly, the fact that person is looking for me sounds ridiculous… All right, I’ll trust you. Well, there’s nothing wrong with being careful.”

After a sluggish conversation, Cus’s face finally turned red.

In my mind, I was disappointed because I remembered my books that were just being displayed on the other side of the bookstore. I thought it was a book that guaranteed success this time. Of course, as I said before, I thought that there was no way that Cain would find me, still…

Anyway, it is better to be careful.

“Then, please collect all my books that were on the market as of today.”

“…Yes? All?”

“It won’t be too difficult because I only paid for a hundred copies, anyway. And, if there is any loss caused by this incident, I will compensate you to some extent. Regardless, it was my fault for writing a book about the Grand Duke.”

“Yes…”

“By the way—”

Even when I talked about compensating for the damage, it was disappointing. Nevertheless, I persisted with my words while looking at Cus, who was awkwardly stiff, and added firmly.

“But, there’s one condition.”

“…A condition?”

“To be honest, I don’t think it’s a good thing if the Grand Duke is looking for me just like you said.”

“Yes?”

It was natural.

The male lead naively looking for an extra young lady, who was never mentioned in the novel? I did not even think it made any sense. How could he suddenly fall in love with an extra young lady, over the heroine, who was pretty and kind, but also has the strongest divine power…?

There was only one such case…

It was the death flag for the extras.

If I was a little more unlucky here, there may be an unfortunate setting where my death would be the starting point of the original novel.

Please, let’s believe that that was not it.

“You have to protect me no matter what, so that the book doesn’t cause any problems for me.”

“…M, me?”

“Actually, I wrote the book under a pseudonym from the beginning, so you’re the only one who knows that I’m the author of the book, right?”

Cus’ eyes fluttered violently at my calm reply.

Seeing his reaction, I raised the corners of my lips slowly.

“So, if the Grand Duke comes to visit me, or if my life is in jeopardy because of the fact that I am the author of the book, then you are the culprit, right?”

“…Oh, Lady Adelia!”

“Shh.”

His eyes widened in surprise at my words.

I continued to squeeze down on Cus’s balloon-like stomach with my finger.

“So, be careful not to spread rumors.”

“….”

“After all, from the moment the book was published, you and I have been on the same boat.”

“Heuk, I’m sure that the Lady told me just to publish the book…!”

“I’m not going to die alone.”

“….”

“You know what I mean, right?”

Cus’s face turned pale white at the words I uttered with a smile. Satisfied, I slowly got up as I glanced at the man’s face.

“Then, I’ll be going now. Don’t contact me for a while until I contact you first.”

“Ah, Lady…!”

“Oh, and…”

As I was heading towards the door, I turned my head to a thought that came to my mind.

“The three most important male virtues in the novel are appearance, wealth, and ability.”

“Yes…?”

“I want you to sharpen your eyes, unless you really want to shut down the publishing house.”

I took a deep breath before finishing my words to Cus, whose eyes widened as though he did not understand what I had meant.

“In the sense, the Grand Duke was like a living model of my novel.”

“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…

⸝⸝⸝ If you like this novel, don’t forget to rate and leave a review on novel updates ·₊°