Your Grace, It Was a Mistake! - Chapter 24

I stared at the Grand Duke, my heart racing with nerves.

“To be honest, I was going to ask if you also thought of me as a monster, Vivian.”

“What?!”

I shouted back in pure absurdity. In that moment, ripples spread across the surface of the quiet lake.

‘What was that?’

I widened my eyes and scanned the water, but the ripples had already settled back into a calm stillness.

‘I thought I saw something. Was it just my imagination?’

I tilted my head and shifted my gaze back to the Grand Duke. Honestly, how could he misunderstand things so much?

‘Me, thinking the Grand Duke is a monster? That’s impossible!’

I thought I had explained exactly what he meant to me. Was I not clear enough? Well, I’d just have to explain it again!

With a determined look, I firmly grabbed the Grand Duke by his shoulders.

“Grand Duke. To me, you are like the stars in the sky, shining so brightly”

And on and on I went.

I poured out a stream of embarrassingly sweet words. When I finally finished, I dropped my head in shame, only to feel his hand gently caressing my cheek. When I slowly looked up, I saw the Grand Duke smiling. However, his expression was somewhat bittersweet and complex.

“I’m grateful that you see me in such a positive light, Vivian.”

” ”

“But the version of me that you don’t know”

His face turned cold for a fleeting second. Yet, the hand touching my cheek remained warm.

“Might be a person scary enough to be called a monster.”

Hearing that, I recalled the time the Grand Duke got incredibly angry. That man who had been rude to me and even tried to hit me.

‘Viscount Alvin, is he still alive?’

Actually, I don’t really care if he’s alive or not. Someone like that doesn’t deserve my concern! The only person who mattered was the Grand Duke.

“There were times when I was a little scared of you, too.”

The Grand Duke flinched slightly at my words.

“But that doesn’t mean I think poorly of you, you know?”

He looked almost timid, as if he were walking on eggshells around me. Wow, that really doesn’t suit him.

‘But seeing this side of the Grand Duke! This is a keeper!’

I have to draw this right now! Paper! Pencil! Ah, darn it. I didn’t bring them.

Sob.

I stared intently at the Grand Duke, trying to burn the image into my memory since I couldn’t sketch it.

‘I’ll draw it when I get back to my room. Fighting, my memory!’

“I see, Vivian,” the Grand Duke said quietly. “So you like me regardless of what kind of person I am?”

“Yes!”

I answered instantly with a vigorous nod. But a simple “Yes!” felt insufficient, so I hurriedly added:

“If this world and you both fell into a lake, I would save you first!”

I realized how strange that sounded the moment the words left my mouth. How does a whole world fall into a lake?

‘I said something weird again.’

Whenever I did this, Marina would say: ‘Is it because of your wild imagination? Your thoughts are truly unique.’ Then she’d pat my head. But that was Marina. What if the Grand Duke found me ridiculous?

I stole a glance at him. His lips were twitching as he watched me. What kind of expression was that?

“Haha.”

Suddenly, he began to chuckle low. Even his laughing voice was handsome. How can a person be this perfect?

‘Ah, I’m acting like such a doting fool.’

“Thank you, Vivian.”

Peck.

‘Huh?’

The Grand Duke gave me a light kiss on the lips, and my eyes went wide. Looking at me from up close, his eyes curved like crescent moons.

“I would also save you before the rest of the world, Vivian.”

“Grand Duke”

“Because you are the most precious thing to me.”

I held his hand and looked at him with an expression full of emotion. The blue lake water sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight. We began our boat ride. As the Grand Duke skillfully handled the oars, the small white boat glided toward the center of the lake. I marveled at the scenery, which looked like something out of a fairy tale.

“Wow, it’s truly beautiful.”

“Isn’t it? This is one of the places I’ve loved since I was a child.”

My ears perked up at that. The Grand Duke’s childhood, what was it like? Since I had been a fan—no, an observer—since he was a young man, I was curious about his younger years.

‘I wonder if there are any childhood portraits left in the castle?’

A young Grand Duke, he must have been so cute. I’m sure of it! Hehe.

‘I’ll have to ask the Grand Duchess to show me later.’

I leaned over the side and reached my arm toward the water. When I dipped my hand in, it was ice-cold, just as I expected.

‘If I fell in here, I’d freeze to death.’

Of course, I wasn’t worried about falling in. Why? Because the Grand Duke was right by my side! When I looked up at him with eyes full of absolute trust, his brows quirked up and he gave a faint smile. I really loved it when he smiled for me. I beamed back and spoke up.

“Grand Duke, by the way, for our engagement ceremony, will the Crown Prince also”

Be coming?

That was the moment I was about to ask. Suddenly, something inside the water grabbed my hand and yanked.

“Vivian!”

Sensing the danger, the Grand Duke quickly grabbed me and pulled me into his arms, but the small boat lurched, and we both fell into the water.

Splash!

The freezing lake water soaked my clothes instantly; the chill felt like it was piercing my very bones. I was terrified that I might freeze to death right there. But when I came to my senses, the Grand Duke had already brought me to the shore.

“Vivian! Are you okay?”

“Gr, Grand Duke”

Though he was soaking wet, the Grand Duke looked surprisingly fine. I was glad he was safe, but I was the problem. The November cold was rapidly draining my body heat, making me shiver uncontrollably.

“Vivian, hang in there. Let’s get back to the castle quickly.”

I gritted my teeth against my chattering jaw and nodded. The Grand Duke, having grabbed the dry blankets we’d left on the shore, wrapped me up and began to run. He moved so fast the scenery was a blur.

“My goodness! Lady Vivian!”

“Your Grace!”

“What on earth happened?!”

We reached the castle in no time. Servants rushed over in a panic the moment they saw us.

“My lady, are you all right?”

“She must have fallen into the lake, oh no.”

“Ah, that lake”

The expression on the servant who mentioned the lake was strange. Was there some kind of secret to that water?

“First, let’s get the fireplace going stronger!”

“I’ll bring warm tea”

“Prepare the bath water too!”

The servants bustled about, and the Grand Duke carried me up to the room. As soon as he set me down carefully on the sofa, he threw off his shirt and spoke.

“Vivian, let’s change your clothes.”

“Yes?”

“Your clothes are wet, so you need to take them off immediately.”

“Wait, um, excuse me”

I can undress myself! But the Grand Duke stripped me of my clothes in a flash. W, wait a second, Grand Duke. Why are you so good at taking off a dress!

“Have you ever seen me do anything poorly?”

” ”

He spoke as if he had read my mind. I see. You’re good at everything, aren’t you!

Soon, I was left without a stitch of clothing on. The same went for the Grand Duke. He picked me up and strode toward the bathroom.

‘The Grand Duke’s body is warm.’

It probably felt that way because my body temperature had dropped. His skin was as smooth as silk, and the sensation of it touching mine felt good.

‘Aaaah!’

I covered my face with both hands, writhing at my own shamelessness. What am I thinking, honestly!

The warm bath water was already prepared. The Grand Duke stepped in while holding me and sat down. The water smelled wonderful, as if scented oils and bath salts had been added. As the warm water enveloped me, the tension in my cold-stiffened body began to melt away.

“Haa”

I let out a sigh and instinctively burrowed into his embrace. The Grand Duke flinched. I realized what I had done and froze.

‘Eek!’

I tried to pull away in a hurry, but he laughed and pulled me closer.

“Grand Duke.”

“Yes, Vivian.”

“We aren’t even engaged yet, but I think things are moving too fast!”

I voiced the thought I’d been having for a while in a tearful tone. The Grand Duke laughed out loud.

“My self-control is incredible, isn’t it?”

“Pardon?”

“Do you think it’s easy to just stay still like this?”

“!”

Then, he pressed his lips against my shoulder. The strange sensation made me tense up instinctively.

“Gr, Grand Duke”

“To think I only get to have a little taste like this, it’s driving me crazy”

“Hut”

“We need to hurry with the engagement ceremony, and the wedding too. Otherwise, I might die.”

Throughout the bath, the Grand Duke’s subtle and strange teasing continued. Every place his lips or hands touched felt so bizarre that my head was spinning. Why was he doing this? Is it always like this?

‘I’ll have to borrow a smut novel from Marina to read and study, I can’t go on like this!’

Smut novels were stories that dealt with darker, more adult themes than light romance. For example, secret and thrilling relationships between men and women!

“Vivian, what are you thinking about?”

“Hiek!”

I almost bit my tongue because he called out while I was having such secret thoughts! I laughed awkwardly and acted coy. I was definitely not thinking about naughty novels.

“By the way, what was it that grabbed me and pulled me in the lake earlier?”

“Ah”

I attempted to change the subject, and it worked perfectly. The Grand Duke frowned and crossed his arms. I sipped some tea and quietly admired his angry-looking face.

‘He’s even handsome when he’s mad. Hehe.’

Wait, that reminds me of the timid face he showed on the boat!

‘How, how did it look? What kind of face was it again?!’

Gah! I forgot!

While I was despairing over my terrible memory, I heard the Grand Duke’s voice.

“You know that the founder of the Glenn family was an elementalist, don’t you, Vivian?”

“Oh, yes! It’s a famous story!”

I answered quickly like a diligent student. Actually, I should probably leave out the part where I dug through every detail of the House of Glenn’s history because I was a fan. Revealing the depth of my obsession to the man himself felt incredibly humiliating!

‘That’s how sincere I was about being your fan’

“The spirit that made a contract with the founder of the Glenn family still lives in that lake.”

“Pffft, what?!”

What? So the thing that grabbed me and pulled me earlier was a spirit? I blinked, wiping my wet mouth with the handkerchief the Grand Duke handed me.

‘Why did the spirit… choose me?’

“That spirit promised the founder to protect the Glenn family, but it has such a picky personality that it refused to choose a contractor after the founder died.”

” ”

“The last contractor died over two hundred years ago. It’s quite unusual for that spirit to show interest in you, Vivian.”

I muttered in bewilderment.

“I agree. It’s very unusual.”

“Mother will be intrigued when she finds out.”

“Oh, come to think of it, the Grand Duchess is also an elementalist. Did she not make a contract with the Glenn family’s spirit?”

“Mother already has a contracted spirit, and its power is so immense that there was no need for her to seek out another.”

“I see”

I nodded in understanding. It was rare for an elementalist to contract with more than one spirit.

After chatting with the Grand Duke for a while, the Grand Duchess and several others burst into the room.

“Dear!”

“Vivian!”

“I heard you fell into the lake!”

“Are you all right?!”

Everyone was fussing over me, stroking me and pouring out their worries until I was practically dizzy. And so, a peaceful afternoon passed a few days before the engagement ceremony.

Time flew by, and finally, the day of the engagement ceremony arrived. I couldn’t sleep a wink last night!

‘The Grand Duke and I are getting engaged?!’

Is this real? Am I dreaming? What if I wake up in the morning and I’m back in my room at the Lewis manor instead of the Grand Ducal castle? I had so many thoughts that I couldn’t fall asleep!

‘But when I opened my eyes, I was still at the castle.’

I’m getting engaged to the Grand Duke today.

Gasp.

Is this for real? I can’t believe I’m a successful fan!

“Vivian, you really are a successful fan.”

” ”

Marina confirmed it for me from beside me. I looked at myself in the mirror and nodded blankly. The cream-colored dress, specially ordered for the engagement, had an off-the-shoulder design. It was accented with red ribbons and jewels, and my makeup was light. My hair was naturally braided and adorned with small pearls.

“Vivian, you look truly beautiful today,” my mother said, her voice filled with emotion.

Looking at her face, my eyes started to sting for some reason. As I teared up, Emma patted my shoulder to stop me.

“My lady, it’s just an engagement, not the wedding. You can’t cry already.”

“She’s right, Vivian. This is your big day. Enjoy it.”

Marina gave me a thumbs-up. I laughed out loud looking at my friend, who had also dressed up for the occasion.

‘I don’t even know what to say to everyone’

I should say thank you. And apologize for making them worry. Just as I was about to speak

Knock, knock.

“Lady Vivian, it’s Valter. The Former Grand Duchess has requested that you come down to the Great Hall once you are ready.”

“Oh, yes! I’m coming now!”

I headed down to the Great Hall with my mother, Marina, and Emma. When we arrived, an enormous number of guests were gathered, buzzing with excitement.

“Wow, so many people came”

“Y, yeah”

I felt a little intimidated. I had heard that since it was a sudden engagement, not many guests would make the trip to the castle.

‘That was a lie!’

I didn’t expect this many people, so I naturally became nervous.

“Oh, dear! Over here! Come this way!”

“!”

The Grand Duchess waved at me from a distance. Someone was standing in front of her, but their back was turned while they spoke to someone else, so I couldn’t see their face. I hurried over.

The Grand Duchess smiled warmly and said, “You look lovely again today. These days, I live for the joy of seeing our Vivian. Hehe.”

“Thank you, Grand Duchess,” I replied shyly, blushing.

At that moment, the person standing in front of her turned toward me. Finally, I could see his face.

“!”

Black hair with a bluish tint, vivid golden eyes. An impossibly beautiful face with a distinctively languid and gentle aura. I stood there frozen, my mouth hanging slightly open.

He was none other than the Crown Prince of our Empire. The very person who was said to be in a strange rivalry with the Grand Duke!

It was Asmode Bleak Elpidion.