The Heroine in The Novel Died

at, the Duke of Cassiar grabbed my hand and placed it on his cheek.

After a brief silence, the Duke of Cassiar’s body fell back.

“Duke! What’s wrong with you? Please wake up!”

My father jumped out of his seat, startled, and took a close look at the Duke who had collapsed.

I think I had seen this scene before.
Did you fall asleep again?

When I saw him lying down, it seemed that my assumptions were correct.

“Father, please take a step back for a moment.
I’m sure I’ll be able to figure it out.”

I stood with my back to my parents, covering the Duke of Cassiar’s upper body.

Again, he was dead to the world.

“How can you sleep here? Duke, you have to wake up.”

I’d have to show you a spicy taste to wake you up if you weren’t going to.

I tried to wake the Duke of Cassiar up with a soft voice.
How peaceful it was that sounded like a lullaby.

With one hand, I pretended to try to wake him up softly while blocking my parents’ view so they didn’t notice, and with the other, I slapped his cheek mercilessly.
When the Duke of Cassiar was slapped by my hand, he awoke with his eyes wide open.

“Ah, I think I fell asleep right away because I was up all night last night.
I’m embarrassed.”

The Duke’s cheeks were burning red on both sides as he sat in formality again.

He didn’t seem to notice the pain in his cheek, perhaps because he had just woken up.

I wished he would have awoken a few minutes later.
Two more slaps.

It made me feel guilty, but it also made me feel relieved from my frustration.

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“I don’t take strong sleeping pills, because Riel can put me to sleep with just the touch of her hand.
With this, I realized once more that Riel is my fated love, whom I will never miss.
Although I have flaws, can you trust me this once?”

I couldn’t believe the Duke of Cassiar was acting when he looked at my father with a gleam in his eyes. 

Why were you so good at talking?

His eyes and acting like… He was such a rascal, right?

“Oh my, is it like a fateful love in a novel?”

My mother was moved by the Duke of Cassiar’s words, and was in a melancholy mood.
It was true that this was in the novel.
A novel in which everyone was ruined.

This was a difficult situation.
Even my father was about to fall for it at this rate.

“Would you like to go out for a little while to wake up, Duke? There’s something else I’d like to talk about.”

I interrupted the flow of conversation and stood up before my father could give him an answer.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

The Duke of Cassiar expressed regret for not being able to get a response from my father, but he nevertheless followed me.

 

──・・✧・・──

 

“Marrying me without discussing it? What the hell are you doing right now?”

I took a look around and let out the rage that had been building up inside of me.

“Hasn’t this been decided? You will grant me one request if you do not keep your promise.”

“There was no mention of marriage! Who decides and informs on important events such as marriage on their own?”

“Then, are you willing to put your life on the line?”

The Duke of Cassiar’s gaze became icy.

If I said I’d pay with my life, he looked like he’d cut my throat right away.

This f*cking mouth! Why would I risk my life?

Whatever he did, it was like I was on an express train to the afterlife.

“All I have to do is let the Duke fall asleep.
We don’t know each other, and you don’t have to murder someone, but do we really need to get married?”

I was not very good at this, and I’d always been straightforward about my feelings for the Duke of Cassiar.

He still needed my power, but did he really want to kill me?

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“This isn’t the first time you’ve known that I was so anxious to kill you.”

“I’m glad you’ve figured it out now.
So let’s pretend we’re not married.
I’ll make sure to explain everything to my parents.”

I pretended to be unconcerned about what he did to me, claiming that I didn’t want to marry him even if I died soon.

“Do whatever you want.
Acting nice is irritating to me as well, and when rumors circulate that an unmarried noble young lady enters the bedroom of an unmarried man, she must be the one who loses the most.”

It was infuriating, but it was exactly what Duke Cassiar had predicted.

It was obvious that if rumors spread that an unmarried noblewoman, a young lady, would visit the Duke’s residence, it would harm not only me but also the marquis’ reputation later.

It was possible that the rumors about me would have an impact on the company.

Furthermore, the Duke’s condition for the Marquis was a one-of-a-kind support that had never been seen before in the marriages of other nobles.

It was a loveless marriage that nobles who valued their family’s honor would have welcomed.

“Wouldn’t it be better to gain more than to lose?  If not, is there any particular reason why you can’t get married?”

The Duke of Cassiar posed a serious question to me.

True, his words tempted me for a while, but my thoughts remained unchanged.

What was the point of having good conditions? Once you were out of control, I was done! There was no need to go to the underworld for money or fame!

Marriage to the Duke should be avoided in any case.

“There is a reason for this.
I’m a misogamist.
I don’t plan on marrying until I’m dead.”

“Since when?”

It starts today, you punk.

“Since I was born.”

I was adamant about my refusal to marry the Duke of Cassiar.
When I told him I was a misogamist, I thought he was taken aback.
He, on the other hand, smiled even wider.

“That’s all right.
It would weigh on my heart if you had been thinking about getting married because I was blocking your way.
There’s no need to be concerned about being a misogamist.
So, are there any more issues?”

The Duke of Cassiar shook his hand, as if the weight of his heart had been lifted.

That wasn’t the reaction I was hoping for.

I was irritated by his laidback response, but it didn’t satisfy my desire for a normal, happy future.

“There is!”

“What else?”

I yelled at the Duke of Cassiar’s poker face, who remained motionless.

“You are not my cup of tea! Duke.”