Your Grace, It Was a Mistake! - Chapter 30

The bustling streets of Elveheim, capital of the Elpidius Empire.

I stood there, dressed in my absolute best and holding a parasol, waiting for Marina.

Hehehe.

I’m only meeting Marina for a quick errand. In one hour, for the first time in my life, I have my first date with the Grand Duke!

A date! My first date! With the Grand Duke!

‘Eeeek!’

My heart was fluttering so hard I almost punched a nearby wall in excitement, but I restrained myself. If I did that, it wouldn’t be the wall that broke, but my hand.

‘Hoo, calm, calm down.’

I stroked my chest and took slow, deep breaths. After a while, I heard Marina calling my name.

“Vivian!”

“Oh.”

Marina was carrying her schoolbag over her shoulder, looking like she’d come straight from her Academy classes.

“Wow, Vivian, you”

Marina scanned me from head to toe and gave me a big thumbs up.

“You look really pretty today.”

“I think so too”

When I asked, “Don’t you think I’ve gotten a bit prettier lately?” Marina made a disgusted face.

“Get a grip.”

“My apologies”

Fortunately, Marina generously forgave my delusional remark. We headed toward our destination while chatting. Today’s stop was the largest bookstore in the capital. Only a store of that size would carry romance novels from A to Z.

The book I intended to buy today was a smut novel, one about the secret relations of adults.

“You know, lately, whenever I have physical contact with the Grand Duke, I keep feeling strange.”

“ ”

“I feel like I need to read some novels for reference.”

“Learning about romance through books”

“Hmm?”

“Nothing. Let’s go.”

Marina shook her head and walked ahead. Why is she like that? I tilted my head and followed. Inside the ring, Undine whispered.

‘So Master learned about romance from novels.’

I snapped back.

‘What? No, I didn’t!’

At that, Undine giggled. This privacy-invading spirit!

‘I, I learned everything I needed to from my tutors!’

‘But theory and practice are different, aren’t they?’

‘Practice’

I recalled the moments I’d shared with the Grand Duke. Truly, the kind of physical contact that only happens in romance novels.

‘I did those things with the Grand Duke.’

Aaaaah!

I covered my cheeks with my free hand and squeezed my eyes shut. I almost tripped, but Marina caught me.

“You’re as clumsy as ever. Be careful. It would be a waste if you got dirt on those nice clothes.”

“Yeah”

I fanned my burning cheeks and nodded timidly. Marina’s eyes narrowed as she watched me.

“Vivian, you”

“!”

N-No! I wasn’t thinking anything weird!

“Do you have a fever? Your face is so red.”

“ ”

Phew. Thank goodness. She didn’t catch me having spicy thoughts about the Grand Duke.

“I, I think it’s just because it’s a bit hot! Haha.”

“Hot?”

“Y-Yeah. I’m wearing quite a few layers”

“Hmm, well, I suppose the weather is a bit warm today.”

Marina said, looking up at the sky. I followed her gaze. The sky was clear and deep blue, without a single cloud. It was just like

“the color of the Grand Duke’s eyes.”

“ ”

As I blinked blissfully while admiring the sky, I saw Marina’s expression had turned bizarre.

“That, my friend, is what we call being lovesick.”

“!”

Marina let out a heavy sigh and started walking again. I trotted after her. Before long, we arrived at the bookstore. However, there were people there before us.

‘Gasp!’

It was none other than the daughter of Marquis Morias and her entourage. I grabbed Marina’s arm and quickly hid.

“Vi”

“Shh!”

I put my index finger to my lips and pointed toward the counter. Marina saw them and mouthed, ‘Ah.’

“Yeah, there’s no point in running into them”

“R-Right. Even though we’ll run into each other eventually”

“But about Lady Morias, wasn’t she your fan?”

“?”

I thought, ‘What is she talking about?’ before it clicked, and my eyes went wide.

‘Right, Lady Morias liked Bibi-Rabbit.’

To be precise, she liked the novels written by Bibi-Rabbit. The only people who knew I was Bibi-Rabbit were my family and Marina. Well, probably

‘My pen name makes it a bit obvious it’s me, but I’ve always pretended I can’t write, so’

My perfect “ordinary person” cosplay!

‘If she finds out I’m Bibi-Rabbit, how will Lady Morias react?’

I watched Gwendolyn Morias’s back with bated breath. Having quickly finished her purchase, she handed a mountain of books to her servant and left the bookstore. The way she gracefully opened an expensive-looking fan was truly befitting a high-ranking noblewoman.

“Lady Morias is really pretty.”

“She is.”

“I heard suitors are lining up for her.”

“But she’s also completely devoted to the Grand Duke.”

“Ugh, am I in big trouble?”

“Don’t wimp out. You have a spirit now. A spirit of the Grand Ducal House of Glenn, no less!”

“R-Right! I have Un-un!”

“Un-un?”

“Yeah, it’s a nickname I gave her. Cute, right?”

“No. I think the spirit would hate that nickname.”

My shoulders slumped. A moment later, Lady Morias disappeared from view, and I stood up with Marina. Ugh, my legs ache from sitting in that awkward position. I patted down my slightly wrinkled skirt. Luckily, there was no dust.

‘I’m meeting the Grand Duke; I can’t look untidy’

Hehehe

“Vivian, let’s go.”

“Oh, right!”

I ran toward Marina, who had already walked ahead. We climbed the stairs to the second floor. This bookstore had three floors, and the romance novels were on the second.

Using my folded parasol like a cane, I said, “I wonder what books Lady Morias bought.”

“Today’s the day a lot of new releases come out. She probably swept them all up.”

“Gasp. I hope the book I want isn’t sold out!”

I hurried my pace up the stairs. Finally, I reached the second floor and ran to the new release section. Fortunately, the book I wanted was there.

“Wow, there’s only one copy left.”

On the left edge of the book was a red label indicating an age restriction. In other words, this was an adult book.

‘Heh’

I felt grateful to be 21 as I picked up the book. As I stood there grinning at it, Marina approached and called my name in a sour voice.

“Vivian”

“Yes?”

“Don’t stand there holding a smutty novel like that”

“Oh, right!”

I hugged the book tight and quickly looked around. Fortunately, Marina and I were the only ones on the second floor.

‘Phew’

As I let out a sigh of relief, Marina asked me, “Anything else you need to buy?”

“Oh? Hmm, what about you?”

“I’m getting a novel and a few magic books.”

“I see, well, I”

I stared into space, thinking.

Hmm. Should I buy a gift for the Grand Duke? What kind of books does he like?

‘Actually, it’s likely there isn’t a book in existence that isn’t already in the Grand Ducal library’

I wandered from section to section, looking for a suitable book. Then, I found a rather romantic book of poetry. The cover said it was a collection of love poems perfect for gifting to a lover.

‘Yes, this is it.’

I snatched up the poetry book. I’ll ask the clerk to wrap it nicely when I check out. The thought of giving it to the Grand Duke made me smile. After choosing our books, we went down to the first floor to pay. The poetry book for the Grand Duke was wrapped elegantly, while the red-labeled novel was hidden deep inside a paper bag.

‘Perfect.’

I left the bookstore with Marina. But maybe because I’d only eaten a little for lunch, I was hungry.

‘Hmm, I still have plenty of time. Should I grab a snack?’

It would be better to eat something now than to have my stomach growl while walking with the Grand Duke.

“Marina, want to grab a snack?”

“Why? Are you hungry?”

“Yeah”

“Didn’t you eat lunch?”

“I did, but only a little.”

“Eat properly. You’re skin and bones.”

Hmph.

I went with Marina to a cafe we frequented. They had delicious crepes, so we went there often.

“Two coffees, a chocolate cream raspberry crepe, and a vanilla almond crepe, please.”

After ordering, we sat down, and a moment later, the server brought the crepes. Marina’s was the chocolate cream raspberry, and mine was the vanilla almond. I started eating the crepe in small bites. Eating it with coffee was pure heaven.

‘Maybe it’s because I’m hungry? It tastes even better today.’

After finishing the crepes, we stood up. We were chatting as we left the cafe when someone passing by dropped something.

“Oh?”

I stopped and picked up the item from the floor. Looking closely, it wasn’t just a scrap of paper with numbers, it was a check!

‘Yikes!’

Wait, my god, how many zeros are there?

‘This is insane.’

I trembled at the sight of all those zeros. It would be dangerous to keep something like this in my hands!

‘I-I have to return it quickly! Who is it? Who’s the owner?’

I whipped my head around, scanning every corner of the cafe. But because I hadn’t looked closely at the person who passed me, I couldn’t find them!

‘That person looks rich, and that person over there looks rich too’

Ugh, this is driving me crazy. As I was stressing out, Undine whispered from the ring.

‘Master, the owner of that paper is that woman over there with the blue hair.’

‘Wait, really?’

‘Yeah, I saw it.’

‘Thanks, Un-un!’

‘ ’

I thought I heard Un-un mutter, ‘I shouldn’t have told you,’ but it must have been my imagination.

“Vivian?”

“Oh, I’m just going to return this to that person!”

“?”

Leaving a puzzled Marina behind, I approached the woman with blue hair. She had already finished ordering and was sitting leisurely at a table, unaware that she’d lost her check. I stood in front of her and spoke up tentatively.

“Um”

“?”

“You dropped this.”

I definitely didn’t steal it. I held out the check with the most honest expression I could muster. The woman’s eyes went wide when she saw the check, and she looked at me in surprise.

“When did I lose this? Thank you for returning it.”

“It’s nothing. Please, take it.”

Please! Get this dangerous piece of paper away from me! I stared intently at her. At that, the person in front of me suddenly started laughing.

She took the check from me and said, “You are quite a unique person.”

“I hear that a lot.”

“I meant it in a good way.”

The woman smiled. Now that I looked, her eyes were a deep sea-blue. And she had a beauty mark under her right eye, with very striking features

‘Wait?’

No, it couldn’t be. Why would someone of royal blood come to a cafe like this? The woman tried to say something more, but I shouted, “Well then, goodbye!” and quickly hurried away. For some reason, my heart was pounding.

“Vivian, did you return it?”

“Yeah”

“? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“Really? Hmm, let’s go.”

“Okay.”

I left the cafe with Marina. The image of the woman I’d just met lingered in my mind. Blue hair, blue eyes; she was a graceful beauty.

‘Could that person be Princess Eunice?’

I felt a bit uneasy. But I had to calm down. The time to meet the Grand Duke was approaching.

‘First, let’s focus on the date.’

Right, it’s my first date; I can’t ruin it! I took a compact watch from my bag to check the time. There were about 10 minutes left until our meeting.

‘I should start walking over now.’

“Marina, I’m going to go meet the Grand Duke now.”

“Oh, okay. Have fun.”

“Yeah! See you later!”

I waved goodbye to Marina and left. I almost tripped a couple of times while walking, but fortunately, I didn’t fall!

‘Hoo, my practice in walking is paying off.’

It would be embarrassing for the Grand Duke’s fiancée to keep almost falling, so I intended to be mindful of my gait from now on.

‘Right, let’s make an effort.’

I walked gracefully and arrived at the meeting spot. However, the Grand Duke was already there waiting.

‘Gasp, what if he’s been waiting a long time?’

I ran over to him. As I reached his side, he looked up and saw me. The Grand Duke smiled as our eyes met. He is so incredibly handsome. Looking at his handsome face, my uneasy feelings seemed to melt away.

‘Hehe’

“Welcome, Vivian.”

“Grand Duke, have you been waiting long?”

“No, I just got here myself.”

I’m glad he just arrived. I was worried I’d made him wait.

“So, where shall we go?”

The Grand Duke asked. I took his hand and replied, “Anywhere is fine with me.”

The Grand Duke gave a lovely smile and was about to speak when he suddenly froze.

‘?’

What’s wrong? He looked at me intently, then checked my surroundings before speaking in a much deeper voice.

“Vivian.”