The Heroine in The Novel Died - Chapter 5

“The Duke wasn’t dreaming.” (Kyle)

As I proudly entered the Duchess of Cassiar’s mansion as a prospective duchess, I was greeted by a young man named Kyle.

Kyle had a look on his face as if he had seen a ghost when he saw me.

“When he said his wife would come, I thought he was just lonely and hallucinating because he didn’t even have a cup of tea with the young lady at official events.”

Kyle was thrilled and wiped his tears with a white handkerchief from his suit pocket. How did the Duke get so far away from people that his closest butler reacted in this way?

Was it more realistic to accept the hallucinations as they were rather than saying the Duke had a hostess?

“This is a rather tardy greeting. Madam, my name is Kyle, and I’m the man in charge of this mansion and assisting the Duke in his duties. I’m not up to the task, but I’ll do my best to assist you in the future.”

Kyle extended a formal greeting to me. The Duke had a worker who appeared sincere, unlike Duke Cassiar.

“Don’t get too worked up about it. I’m just a temporary Duchess.”

“Madam is temporary Duchess. What does this imply?”

Kyle didn’t seem to know exactly what had happened between me and the Duke of Cassiar yet. I didn’t think it was necessary for me to go out and tell the entire story.

“There is a reason. Kyle, let’s listen carefully to the details from the Duke. Could you please take some of my belongings?”

I returned my gaze to my previous attendant, who stood behind me.

“Lili.”

“Yes, miss!”

At my call, Lili handed over the items she was holding in her hands.

“What’s all this?”

Kyle’s eyes widened as he saw the massive amount of luggage I had brought with me.

“These are the things I’ve brought specially for the Duke. I’ll only ask you to cook with these today.”

“I’ll do as you say, but the Duke refuses to eat anything unless it’s meat.”

Kyle looked embarrassed as he looked at the green grass in the basket.

“Don’t worry about that. I have everything in my mind.”

Kyle, who was nervous, heard me confidently say.

He then docilely left to do what I had to do after I reassured him that he had nothing to be concerned about.

──・・✧・・──

And now, at Duke Cassiar’s luncheon, the green vegetables I prepared in a variety of ways.

Yes, it was all vegetables.

“I’m not hungry for some reason.”

When the Duke saw today’s special meal, he tried to leave with a nonchalant shrug. Then I pressed my hand against his shoulder and sat him down again.

“Duke will not be able to get up until you finish eating all of the food here.”

“Do I really have to do this?”

Duke Cassiar, who appeared uncomfortable, gave me a suspicious look.

“Duke, you must trust me completely. You made a promise to me. You will comply with all of my suggestions.”

At a glance, I could tell. The Duke of Cassiar expressed regret with his facial expression for promising to fulfill my ‘condition’ within a day.

“I mean, isn’t this a little early? We haven’t even set a date for the wedding yet……”

I put my hand on Duke Cassiar’s chin and and the other covered his mouth just as he was about to say something else.

‘Instead, there are conditions.’

Instead of accepting the Duke of Cassiar’s offer, I offered one condition the day before.

‘From now on, I’ll try everything I can to get the Duke to ‘sleep’. But this is something I won’t be able to do on my own.’

‘How can I help you?’

‘Please accept whatever I ask for if it is for the Duke’s ‘sleep.’ After all, you should put forth that much effort, right?  I feel like I’m being dragged away for the Duke when I get married to you.’

Duke Cassiar, who appeared to be threatened by my bright smile and even my face brighter than ever, reluctantly accepted my conditions.

The Duke, as promised, had no choice but to follow my orders.

“If possible, I’d like to see the results before we get married.”

The sooner a solution could be found, the better, because I decided to get a fair price just to find a way to cure the Duke of Cassiar’s insomnia.

I smiled at the Duke from an oblique angle after subduing him with my eyes.

“Now, leave it to me. All of the Duke.”

The Duke’s life would begin and end with sleep as long as I was here.

I brought a hand-made dish and even made him hold a fork, desperate for my fortitude.

“Today’s special dish, which the Duke despises, is made with a vegetable called romaine lettuce. I had heard that eating this a lot causes you to fall asleep, so I brought it with me.”

Romaine was a vegetable similar to lettuce and it had the effect of inducing sleep like medicine.

When I was a student, the afternoon class was wiped out by a nap when lettuce was served at lunch.

It was now a faded memory, and it became a past life from which I couldn’t return.

Although lettuce could not be obtained for this purpose,  the customer was given romaine as a substitute.

The important thing was to let the ‘sleep’ come to the Duke, so it wasn’t a big deal.

“I see.”

Duke Cassiar took a step back and noticed Kyle standing there watching the meal. The Duke seemed to be questioning as to why Kyle didn’t stop me until I did this.

“Duke, would you like me to prepare the meal again now?”

Kyle broke out in a cold sweat as he was startled by the Duke’s stare. Whatever I did, I was not going to put Kyle in a bad situation because of me.

“It’s alright. Kyle, you made this delicious dish. I can’t believe you want to throw away the food you worked so hard to prepare. The Duke is not such a heartless person.”

I praised and encouraged Kyle prior to Duke Cassiar’s approval. So that he did not become a heartless person.

“It must have been hard, but take a rest. Don’t worry, I’ll be here.”

In case he did, I took Kyle to a location where he wouldn’t be seen by Duke Cassiar. Kyle left after watching the Duke’s eyes until the end.

“More than that, Duke, don’t you think you’re going to eat anything? It’s a vegetable-based dish that I’ve been bringing for the Duke since early in the morning.”

I fixed my gaze on Duke Cassiar.

His actions were not gentle, despite his gentle words. Maybe my eyes were deceiving me, but the Duke took the dish and stuffed it into his mouth with a glum expression.

“How do you feel about eating a dish made with love?”

“I feel like a rabbit.”

I gave the Duke a bright smile as he chewed his vegetables and expressed his dissatisfaction.

“That’s great. Rabbits enjoy vegetables, so eat them while in a good mood.”

The Duke had a half-crazed expression on his face when he looked at me. I worked in a service position in my previous life, even if it didn’t appear that way.

I met a wide variety of people while selling cosmetics. Dealing with the truth was the best course of action. It was so hard to deal with the truth.

“Look over there. The Duke really brought the madam.”

“She is even beautiful. How did the Duke bring such an angel?”

“The Duke has never brought a woman to the mansion. Isn’t it possible it’s a ghost?”

They seemed to be hiding behind the wall and watching me. Were these the people who worked here? It was nice to be told that I was an angel, but I got the impression Kyle and the others regarded me as an unrealistic being.

By the way, the fact that I was the first woman Duke Cassiar brought to the mansion was a little incomprehensible to them.

In the original, Duke Cassiar was quite popular with young ladies. They had a lot of unrequited love for him, even though they knew he had madness.

It was strange if someone was not interested in his looks. 

Even when someone brought up Duke Cassiar in the original novel, they continued to talk nonstop.

“I don’t think so. We can see her with our own eyes.”

“Does the depressed Duke finally have a wife?”

“Is this true? Could you give me a pinch on the cheek? Ouch! It hurts! How did you get such a hard pinch on my cheek?”

“Whatever the case, it was clear that this wasn’t a dream.”

“Is that so?”

“Nice!”

After their short, deep scream and a dull thud passed by, cheers that seemed to hold their breath were heard.

Then the sound of footsteps coming from here dispersed them.

You seemed to have finished the food.

“Have you already finished your food?”

Even if he died, he pretended not to touch the vegetables, but Duke Cassar emptied the bowl while I was distracted.

“Promise is a promise.”

Duke Cassiar cleared his throat as he gazed at the empty bowl with satisfaction.

“Do you think it works?”

“What do you think?”

Duke Cassiar gave me a direct stare.

Jesus Christ. He looked at me with those sun-gold eyes, as clear as the morning dew, but even clearer.

Romaine was completely useless. What else could it be if not lettuce?

Duke Cassiar seemed to be suffering from severe insomnia, as he showed no signs of being sleepy. But it was too early to panic, because I still had one card left.

“Do not worry. It’s not over yet.”

I turned to face the direction where the employees were whispering.

“Would you like to come in when it’s ready?”

“Yes. This is chamomile tea that has been freshly brewed.”

An elderly servant with a friendly face brought tea into the room.

She came out and placed the teacup in front of Duke Cassiar with a smile on her face as if something pleasant had occurred.

“I should’ve greeted you earlier. It’s great to meet you. Madam, my name is Tiffany, the Lord Chamberlain of this mansion.”

Tiffany introduced herself to me after she finished her tasks.

Tiffany was a name I was sure I had heard before. But when was it?

“Tiffany. That’s the name of what the Duke said when he was asleep!”

I thought her name was familiar, but it was the name he mumbled in his sleep the day I met Duke Cassiar.

“Oh, my goodness! You’ve already heard how the Duke talks while he sleeps. Thank you. Thank you very much. Madam.”

Tiffany, who appeared to be moved, clenched her hands despite the fact that I said nothing special.

Her moist eyes lit up as she screamed.

“Our Duke was not an eunuch!”

A loud clinking sound was heard as someone’s teacup fell.