♛
Just by looking purely at the comics, most of the male leads have black hair, aren’t they?
A combination of a soft blonde sub-male and a rude black-haired male lead!
Although various hair colors appear in romance and fantasy novels, the most sought-after male protagonist was black hair.
‘That’s probably why the male lead in many novels has dark hair.’
It was the same for me. In 『The Duchess for a Limited Time』, my favorite was Nepenthes, but I liked Ellex as well.
How many readers would not like the male protagonist pushed by the author?
“Was black hair… such a good thing?”
Grandiel, with his eyes widened, asked if my answer was unexpected. Instead of answering, I just nodded and fell deep in thought.
‘Why are you so serious about my liking for black hair?’
I didn’t understand the subject of his question, but I couldn’t understand Grandiel’s reaction even more.
“It’s here. Thank you for seeing me off.”
I gave up on grasping Grandiel’s unpredictable mind and opted for a quick loss.
Grandiel, who smiled brightly, pointed to the necklace and said, “Please contact me if anything happens.”
Nodding my head, hoping that wouldn’t happen.
♛
The sun was setting when we arrived at the Imperial Palace.
I sighed deeply as I looked up at the sunset-colored sky. ‘It was a hectic day.’
From Acker who appeared out of nowhere, to Ellex who came without warning, to Grandiel who came to help but was not very helpful.
‘I didn’t know I’d meet the three male characters in a day.’
There was no physical work, but I was rather tired. As I swept my face walking down the hall of the Imperial Palace and headed for my room. I couldn’t wait to go back to my room and have a delicious dinner with Radiata.
‘I want Daphne to be there too.’
The three of us moved forward, thinking that we wanted to have a pleasant evening while having a friendly conversation.
However, an unwelcome person was waiting in front of the door.
“Stella was calling for you.”
It was Erica who was blocking the door with an annoyed face. She had already been walking without hearing my answer.
It was a room where I could take a deep rest with just one more step… Despair that follows hope was even greater!
Staring blankly at Erica’s back as she walks ahead. Clearly, I knew I had to go, but I didn’t want to follow.
Erica, who was taking the lead, stood in place and stared, perhaps noticing that I was standing still.
“Hurry up and follow me.”
Rendle was standing in front of Stella’s door as if he had been dragged by her.
When our eyes met, he frowned. He looked like he wanted to say something, but glanced at Erica next to me and sighed. Erica knocked without glancing at Rendle.
“Come on in.”
The voice from inside was unusual. Swallowing my saliva anxiously. Stella’s call, who said she didn’t want to see my face, would never be a good thing.
She was sitting at a tea table drinking tea like the first day I saw her. The tangerine-colored sunset leaking through the large window harmonized with the scent of tea, creating a warm atmosphere.
But the expression on Stella’s face as she put down the teacup was far from cozy.
“It’s late. The tea was cold enough.”
Stella stood up from her seat. Her face was in front of the window’s light, I couldn’t see what expression she was making, but it was clear to see the force in her hand holding the fan.
She could not break the fan with her slender arm, but it showed how angry she was.
“Today… I heard that Duke Ellex came to see you, right?”
‘Oh, I’m doomed. The news travels fast.’
No, it happened in her palace, so there’s no way she wouldn’t know. Looking at Stella’s expression, she seemed to be very angry when she heard the news that Ellex had come to see me today.
‘That guy wasn’t helpful in reality…’
Things kept getting messed up every time Ellex was involved. I can’t blame him for everything, but I couldn’t help but be annoyed enough to reconsider my contract with him.
Stella shouted while I was thinking that I might have to back down from signing the contract.
“Tell me why Ellex came to see you!”
Her sharp high-pitched voice was filled with anger. Mayerie couldn’t answer her question.
Stella was a descendant of the imperial family but did not inherit the golden eyes. She didn’t know this ability or hidden stories.
‘What should I say…’
Should I pretend it wasn’t a big deal, but I couldn’t come up with a lie because of Stella who drove me without time to think about anything.
“It wasn’t a big deal.”
“Of course it was! Who would ask if they know that?”
‘You asked because you didn’t know.’
She looked like she was dying to know why Ellex came to me, and not her, because I, had no special identity and appearance.
Furiously thinking about what excuse I could make to overcome this situation somehow. As much as I could, I squeezed out any excuse that would not go against Stella’s nerves.
In the first place, I shouldn’t have been alone with Ellex, and it had to appear that he didn’t come to me for a specific reason.
It feels like a detective was investigating many people who passed by the murder scene! I needed an excuse to look like villager #1.
First I brought up a case that I couldn’t hide.
“On the day of the tea party, on the way back with the cart… The Duke caught me.”
Many employees saw me and Ellex having a conversation that day. Even if I try to hide it, I wouldn’t be able to hide it!
She wouldn’t believe me even if I said he caught me out of the blue, so I needed an additional explanation.
Sure enough, when I said Ellex caught me, Stella crossed her arms and gave a suspicious look.
Before she could tackle anything, I quickly added, “The Duke caught me asking what happened on the first day of the New Year’s party. That day, I ran into the Duke in the hallways of the imperial palace.”
“So it’s a Coincidence? Don’t lie! You said you followed Ellex! Did you follow him that day as well?”
When Erica, who was listening to me, whispered something in Stella’s ear, her eyebrows soared into the sky and she cut off my words.
Why doesn’t that carrot leave me alone? Erica, who was fueling the fire, was annoying, but first of all, I denied Stella’s words without changing my expression.
“No. On that day, I was not feeling well, so I was about to leave without having the first dance. If you don’t believe me, ask the Crown Prince. When I met the Duke, the Crown Prince was also there.”
The reason I dared to mention the first day of the New Year’s party was because of Grandiel’s existence.
There was also the tea party incident, but at that time, he was in the form of Nepenthes, so I couldn’t use the status of the Crown Prince.
That’s why I deliberately mentioned the first day of the New Year’s party.
‘At this rate, Grandiel’s name was like a universal key.’
On the surface, he appears to have no power, but his status was also the best. Stella also responded to Grandiel’s name.
“Was that guy there too?”
Wow, you don’t even call him brother. It was a scene that revealed how much Stella was ignoring Grandiel.
Compared to Stella, Rendle still treats me like an older sister.
Taking a little comfort from her reaction, I calmly answered, “Yes. The Crown Prince was also there.”
No matter how low the imperial power was, there was no noble who would try to swindle using the name of the Crown Prince.
If caught wrong, they’d be arrested and executed for contempt of the imperial family. Unless their lives are wasted, they wouldn’t mention the name of the imperial family
Even the aristocrats who ignore the imperial family use metaphors such as ‘a dry twisted tree’ or ‘a powerless puppet’ when ridiculing them.
Thanks to the weight of Grandiel’s name, Stella couldn’t recklessly pursue me.
“I’m going to ask him myself! If you’re caught lying, I won’t let this go!”
As I talked with Stella, I realized that she was not even an adult yet. When we first met or at a tea party, she seemed to have acted like an adult, but now it felt like seeing a whining child.
“Yes, please do so.”
It was okay because I could tell Grandiel in advance later. There was no problem even if I met Stella first before I spoke to him about it.
If it’s the quick-witted Grandiel, he’ll figure out the situation and match my words, even if they weren’t any specific details.
There was still a slight suspicion in her eyes, but it was no longer stretched out, perhaps because of my confident attitude.
“…Keep talking.”
“We met in the hallway of the imperial palace, but only exchanged a brief greeting and parted. But then the Duke said that he had lost something.”
It couldn’t be helped so I improvised an excuse by mentioning Grandiel’s name, but there was a limit to it.
I couldn’t think of any plausible reason why Ellex came to visit me. But if I hesitated here, she’d probably think it was weird, so I just said anything.
“What did Duke Ellex lose?”
Stella was interested. She waited for my next words, but I couldn’t speak easily.
‘Was there anything Ellex might lose that he might carry around? No, wasn’t it strange that he came to me to find something he lost?’
But I couldn’t stop that excuse now. I spat out what came to my mind right away without filtering the words. It felt like I became an MC who did ad-libs on a live broadcast.
“Yes. He visited me at the tea party to make sure I saw the item.”
“What kind of item was that? Why did he come to you and ask?”
“The Duke said it was a wine-colored velvet box and it was about the size of a woman’s fist.”
“What’s inside?”
“I don’t know that much. I asked, but the Duke said straightforwardly that I don’t need to know the details.”
Having known the personality of Ellex he would definitely say that. Stella was also gently convinced of my answer.
Stella muttered, “Was it jewelry or accessories because it’s in a velvet box?”
‘It’s a relief that Stella couldn’t ask Ellex about such things.’
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