To confess now, I was what you might call a “keyboard warrior.”
What is a keyboard warrior? It’s someone who, with just a single computer and a keyboard, can vanquish armies on the other side of the monitor.
From a very young age, my life had been a series of fringe genres.
When internet novels were all the rage, I didn’t fall for the main character or the second lead; instead, I fell for the friend of the male lead, who barely had any lines, and even started a fan cafe for him.
When I was into idol groups, I would pick as my favorite the least popular member, the one who was always left out in a five-member group.
And when romance fantasy novels were booming, while everyone else swooned over the black-haired, red-eyed northern duke, I was the one betting all my stocks on the green-haired, barely-there bodyguard.
Thanks to this, every time I clashed with mainstream fandoms on SNS platforms like TwXter, I had to endure being thrashed like corn in a threshing machine.
“People still ship this?”
“A×B is the official ship, and you’re bringing up C×A?”
“Wow… I’ve never seen someone with that taste. Do you also eat cereal with chocolate milk?”
“No taste. Not worth engaging with.”
‘Annoying mainstream people….’
Didn’t someone say it? There’s no winning against a mob.
The ones with the numbers were always worse.
After enduring such hardships for 10 years, I grew into a master of keyboard battles, with a mental fortitude that could withstand even the most vicious online bullying.
It was no different when I read this novel. No matter how much the male lead’s fandom attacked me in the comments or on social media, I held my ground, proudly displaying Diana’s profile picture and leading the charge in battles of will against those idiots.
I’m embarrassed to admit it myself, but I was even called the Joan of Arc of the Diana fandom.
‘That is, until the author ended the story so poorly that it sapped all my fighting spirit.’
Anyway, why am I bringing this up now?
Because unlike me, the male lead of this novel, Ian Cloud, had a fragile ego.
He was, to put it nicely, rigid; to put it bluntly, stubborn and foolish.
He was ridiculously stubborn, yet he had failed to overcome the trauma of his childhood, leading to nearly 30 years of emotional repression—need I say more?
So it wasn’t particularly difficult for me to win a battle of wills against this emotionless robot of a man.
I wrote down all the nasty rumors Vivi had told me on a piece of paper and then read them over carefully.
Right now, all the gossip was directed at me, but if things continued this way, some of it could easily be turned against Diana.
“That won’t do.”
After all, everything I was doing was for the sake of Diana’s bright future.
‘Diana, just wait. I’ll whip this guy into shape for you!’
❖ ❖ ❖
That night, Ian returned to the mansion late, just as he said he would.
It was a time when even most of the servants were asleep.
I had been leaning against the window, and as soon as Ian entered the main building, he immediately headed for his office.
From what I knew, Ian almost never went straight to bed after coming home.
He would usually stay up in his third-floor office, working on paperwork until just before dawn, then briefly sleep in his bedroom before daybreak.
‘How can a person survive on less than four hours of sleep a day?’
Did he think he was Napoleon or something?
The author tried to pass off Ian’s lifestyle as perfectionism, but to me, he was just a workaholic with a broken circadian rhythm.
‘Keep that up, and you’ll die young.’
Human lifespans are affected by sleep, after all.
I clicked my tongue inwardly and stood in front of the office door.
As expected, the door was firmly closed, and faint light was leaking out from inside.
Knock, knock.
I knocked softly and waited only a moment before hearing a voice from within telling me to enter.
Ian, who had been reviewing documents, frowned when he saw me open the door and walk in.
“Why have you come here, madam?”
Even if I had walked in on my hands, his tone would have made it clear how irritated he was.
Ignoring him, I crossed the room.
“I have something to discuss.”
“We agreed not to seek each other out except at breakfast unless it was important.”
“……”
“Is it so urgent that you couldn’t wait until tomorrow morning?”
Ian took off his glasses and rubbed the corners of his eyes in annoyance.
‘What an insufferable….’
I wasn’t thrilled to see you either, jerk.
Feeling my hand tighten into a fist, I forced my twitching lips into a smile.
“Yes, it’s something important.”
“…Is that so.”
Ian gestured with his chin as if to say, “Go ahead, speak.”
I had been waiting for this, and I promptly placed the paper I had brought with me onto his desk.
“They say these are the names I’m called by the public.”
Ian, who had been staring at me intently, picked up the paper. It was filled with the vulgar nicknames and rumors that I had heard from the maid just hours before.
After scanning the paper for a few seconds, Ian set it down.
“And what exactly do you expect me to do about this?”
There wasn’t even a hint of guilt in his shameless expression.
‘Of course, I expected this.’
If he had shown any reaction at this point, he wouldn’t be the infuriating Ian Cloud I knew.
“Doesn’t it bother you at all that your wife is being spoken about this way, Your Grace?”
“Do I have to concern myself with your reputation as well?”
Listen to this guy.
I wasn’t about to back down.
“So, you’re completely fine with your wife being talked about like this in public?”
“I asked if I have an obligation to care.”
“All of these rumors are about me because of my connection to you, Your Grace.”
Try to refute that, you jerk.
“……”
Ian, who had been quick to challenge my every word, suddenly fell silent.
Naturally, every nickname on that paper had come about after Eloise had married Ian.
No matter how heartless he might be, it seemed he still had some semblance of a conscience.
“So, you admit it then.”
After her marriage, Eloise had significantly reduced her attendance at social events. Although it was something they had agreed upon, it wasn’t beneficial for her to let the world know that she had become merely a nominal duchess.
However, as a duchess, it was impossible to completely avoid social circles forever.
There were occasions when the two had to attend official functions together, and each time, Ian would make it painfully obvious to everyone that “we’re in a loveless marriage.”
It didn’t take long for the rumors to spread throughout the capital.
Eloise was the duchess in name only, ignored by her husband.
“I’ll ask again. Are you really saying there’s no reason to care?”
I looked at Ian intently, enunciating each word carefully.
“……”
Ian glanced back and forth between the paper on the desk and my face before slowly running a hand through his hair.
“…So what?”
“……”
“Why don’t you get straight to the point? What exactly do you want to say?”
So, this is how he’s going to play it.
His wife has become the talk of the town because of him, and he doesn’t even offer an apology or a word of comfort?
I took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye.
“No matter how much this marriage was for mutual benefit, I can’t live like this anymore.”
Ian’s brow furrowed once again.
“‘Like this,’ you say…”
“……”
“It sounds like you have something else in mind.”
He paused for a moment, then looked up at me with a hint of disbelief in his expression.
“If you’re about to say something as clichéd as asking me to change my mind now, you can stop.”
“Me?”
I shuddered and shook my shoulders in disgust.
Was he out of his mind?
I’d rather spend my life pining for Diana in vain than ever seek his affection.
What I need is my beloved character, not you.
“Don’t even joke about something like that.”
Ian looked me up and down with an incredulous expression in response to my strong reaction.
“Then what is it? What’s this important matter that brought you here at this hour?”
Finally, it was time to say what I had come to say.
“…Your Grace, have you ever heard the saying, ‘You can’t change a person’?”
“…Excuse me?”
As expected, his response was one of utter confusion.
I ignored the look in his eyes and continued to stare him down.
I couldn’t see my own eyes, but I could bet they had the gleam of a madwoman who had found her purpose.
“I don’t believe that.”
“What are you talking about?”
I grinned at him.
“What do you think? I’m telling you, I’m going to change you from now on.”
I’ll become your conscience and give you the proper education you need.
♧♧♧
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