Only a moment ago, I was singing my own praises as a genius, and now I buried my face in my hands in utter despair. Sure, people read such novels for that one particular thing, but once past the midpoint, I had skipped every single scrap of exposition.
No, why of all things did I do that?
I was the sort of person who hoarded every last square of toilet paper, so why on earth had I skimmed through a novel I actually paid for?
Instinct is a terrifying thing, but fortunately, the heavens hadn't entirely abandoned me. Why? Because I had still read every bit of dialogue.
“……”
Nothing read faster than smut dialogue. The leads' impassioned moans went a long way toward setting the mood.
And even in *The Beauty and the Beast of the Night*, the protagonists conversed quite a bit in their own way. Rather than everyday chit-chat, it took place in bed, but a novel couldn't run entirely on panting and sighs forever.
“……Ah, your grace. If you do this from the morning…… Didn't you say an envoy from Hessen is coming today regarding the division of the southern fiefs? And yet, you're doing this again…… ahn.”
Embarrassing as it was, it went something like that.
Filter out the gasped ahs, ohs, and whimpers, and a few useful nuggets could be gleaned from the mess.
“……What nuisance is the capital bringing this time?”
“Well…… the Emperor wishes to build a summer palace here, and wanted to consult Your Grace……”
“A detached palace? Why here, of all places?”
“……Please don't be like that, just meet with them. He only wishes to remain on good terms with Your Grace…… Won't you do it for my sake, please?”
“Whew, tiresome beyond belief.”
Oh please, he acts like that and meets them anyway.
Not that the meeting was ever shown on page, of course, but the male lead would never refuse a plea from the female lead he doted upon. After acting gruff in front of her, he secretly summoned the count while she was asleep.
“Meet them in my stead and tell them this: if they insist on building a detached palace, there are a few places available.”
“……Wait, here?”
“It borders both a lake and a mountain, so it wouldn't be a bad site for a villa. Naturally, keep this from Cecil.”
What a scheming grand duke.
In the end, he fulfilled his male lead duties down to a tee, discreetly providing the count with a location he had scoped out in advance and granting her wish behind her back.
If only the count had been a little kinder, he would have said, 'Wait, isn't this 30-5 Lake Brundel, roughly twenty kilometers from Liden?' instead of merely, 'Wait, here?' But the count was no such person. At the end of the day, he was just an old man meant for the epilogue, trailing around little lords and ladies clinging to his coat.
“……Rose.”
“Huh? I'm keeping watch, unnie.”
Rose tilted her head at the sudden wistfulness in my gaze.
Hang in there, Rose.
I had to nail down the parcel of land first so I could buy my little sister a grandfather figure to dangle from while kicking her feet. Two years, tops. Put in the effort during that time, and a cozy, peaceful life would be guaranteed for Rose and me.
And there was another reason I needed the land approved quickly.
“You can do it, unnie!”
I needed that land so we could raise our poor cat to our heart's content.
Not that the Grand Duke cared about me in the slightest anyway. As long as I didn't cheat, he wouldn't give a damn about what I did or where. If I built a cabin like a weekend farmhouse and stayed there, it would be none of his business whether I brought my sister from home or ran a cat sanctuary.
Of course, I had to stay at the Grand Duke's residence until then, but I had other plans for that……
“Unnie! Bella unnie……”
“Yeah, hold on. Unnie has to look at this for a second……”
“S-someone's coming! Footsteps……”
“What?”
My voice raised before I could stop it, and the pen slipped from my hand. Wait, that old man said no one would be coming!
Turning pale, I hastily rolled up the pen and map while Rose scurried straight toward the crate on her own.
“Unnie, I'll come out later. Bye.”
“……Rose.”
My heart ached at the sight of Rose waving her hands vigorously with both feet tucked inside the crate. She even pulled the lid shut over herself with her tiny hands, as though completely used to it.
Who the hell is coming so late that they won't even let a child rest in peace!
A surge of irritation boiled over, but truth be told, I already knew who it was. Shield or not, I was officially destined to be the Grand Duchess. The only person who could barge in on me at this late hour without prior notice was, of course……
Rattle!
The door swung open, and my eyes snapped from the shabby wooden crate toward the entrance.
It would have been better if I had at least changed clothes, but the milk was already spilt and the man was in the room. Casting my gaze down, I lightly lifted my skirts, stepped around the table, and sank into a curtsy.
“……I greet Your Grace, Master of the North.”
……This is right, isn't it?
Every person who met him in the novel addressed him as Master of the North. Reading it, I had found the title rather cheesy, but standing before him in the flesh, I understood why they called him that.
The sheer weight pressing down on my shoulders.
I hadn't even gotten a proper look at his face yet, but the chilling aura rolling off him made me shrink back instinctively.
Is this what a true protagonist feels like, or was the beast's curse still lingering over him?
Oh, right, the curse!
The thought hit me a second too late, and I swallowed hard. Given the title, he was bound to look literally like a 'beast.' A being feared and revered by all, both a hero and a monster held in contempt.
Realizing he stood right before me, my cheek twitched faintly despite all my preparation.
“I am…… Elijah of Viscount Mayfield's house.”
“……”
With a heavy stride, he stepped closer.
His black shoes blended into the dim room, but so far, nothing seemed terribly abnormal. The idea of a beast had naturally brought an animated film character to mind, but as I lifted my gaze, my throat ran bone dry.
“Ah……”
When my eyes finally met his face, the breath caught in my throat. That same dread and dizzying awe I had felt upon first laying eyes on the Grand Duke's castle enveloped me from head to toe.
He looked nothing like the beasts people commonly described. Yet to say he wasn't one wouldn't be true, either.
Clad entirely in black, his physique was taut and sleek, fit for a hero who had swept across battlefields. But his face…… was indecipherable. From the nose up, a black mask concealed everything, making it impossible to read his features.
Is he a beast, or a man?
To call him merely a masked man didn't do justice to the aura he radiated, which far exceeded human bounds. Calling him a human or a beast both seemed fitting. An innocent onlooker would be seized by reverence, while anyone guilty would find their knees buckling.
Incidentally, I belonged to the latter group, so I quickly averted the gaze that had been fixed on him in a trance.
“……Well. Have you enjoyed your look?”
“N-no, not at all.”
How was I supposed to see anything when it was completely covered up?
If he were an outright monster, it would at least feel like a trip to the zoo and seem fascinating; this just left me feeling suffocated and hesitating at every turn. His low, murmured voice blended seamlessly with the Grand Duke's castle itself.
“I should have received you in person today, but I was unable to do so.”
“Pardon?”
What? He uses honorifics? The unexpected phrasing caught me off guard. Come to think of it, the first time he spoke to his first wife was after Elijah had committed adultery. Seething with murderous rage as he marched in sword in hand, there was no way he would have used polite speech with the woman.
“……Come out.”
Just two cold, sharp words. That was all there had been, leaving me no room to speculate. Judging from the way he spoke to the female lead Cecil, though, I had assumed he would naturally speak down to me without honorifics.
Seeing that he maintained this level of courtesy sparked a flicker of hope that perhaps he would be easier to reason with than I'd feared.
“……It is quite alright. The count guided me with great kindness.”
“Ahem.”
Seizing the moment to smoothly credit the count, I heard the old man let out an embarrassed cough. Killing two birds with one stone by earning some brownie points with his advisor.
I looked back toward the Grand Duke.
“……”
Beneath the mask, a crimson gaze was fixed directly upon me. All I could discern was the shade of his irises, yet an inexplicable chill crept down my spine.
A mere glance, yet it seemed to tighten around me like a net woven of blood. I began to understand a little better why rumors pegged him as a beast. A creature didn't have to look like a monster to be one.
“It seems my appearance does not surprise you as much as I expected.”
“Well…… I had already heard rumors, after all.”
Vehemently denying it might backfire. Anyone could see how terrifying he was, so insisting I wasn't afraid would hardly explain my trembling hands. Nor would breaking down in tears and fainting do either of us any good.
Just what kind of man was he? I needed to figure out what he was like to map out a strategy, but every memory I had of Kiers was centered strictly on smut. Since he rarely left the bedroom, there was no information to piece together how he dealt with other people.
Overpowering, frosty, yet surprisingly courteous. What was certain was that he was neither an innocent young lad swayed by a shy smile like Sir Jerome, nor a seasoned, gentle elder like the count. Far too much remained hidden behind that mask to make any hasty judgment on how to handle the Grand Duke.
