‘Shouldn’t you help the crown prince come to his senses and become a good emperor? I don’t know who he resembles, but he is so stubborn and won’t listen to anything… At least when it comes to his cousin, the Grand Duke, he wakes up and jumps out even when he’s sleeping, so please take care of him for the sake of the empire. okay. How about you serve as the axis of evil? As he overcomes and overcomes difficult situations, he will have no choice but to grow, even if he doesn’t like it. I believe the Grand Duke would know exactly what he was talking about.’
The growth of the crown prince who defeated the villain, the Grand Duke. They thought there was no way something like that would work unless it was some sort of heroic epic. But it is said that reality always surpasses fiction. Even though half a lifetime had passed since he had been served, His Highness the Grand Duke, who had no idea what he was thinking or what he was planning, accepted the imperial order obediently. As always, he didn’t even lift an eyebrow, and as always, he displayed tremendous power…
Ludwig Gru, who was the envy of everyone in the empire, soon became the object of everyone’s fear after receiving a secret royal order from His Highness the Grand Duke of Caliente.
“I am. Do you know what the most asked question was while preparing for this party?”
“I think I understand. Because I heard the same thing.”
“Where on earth! Is this some kind of monstrous nonsense coming out that says His Majesty the Grand Duke is going to gather together ladies he has never met and suck their blood?”
“Yes! Are people who believe in such nonsense wearing their hair as decorations? And even if you answer that it won’t happen, what the hell! Those suspicious eyes! The answer is predetermined and all you have to do is answer!”
The older aide, who was listening to the two aides’ complaints, quietly took a step back. After he started preparing for this party, something the Grand Duke said in passing came to mind.
‘There are too many ladies accepting the invitation. I need to reduce it.’
It’s really gone down quite a bit since then. Because families in remote mountainous regions that I had never heard of and families in the outskirts who were said to be struggling had changed their words. Such a strange rumor about what you did to reduce the number of people attending your party. The ridiculous rumor that the two aides were spouting came from His Highness the Grand Duke. How he came up with such a brilliant idea will never be known until he dies.
“But anyway, this party is happening. I will die again until the end… what?”
The dejected young aide blinked while speaking.
“What?”
The aide who was searching through the list to find a lady whose residence was not yet confirmed asked. The answer came from the mouth of an old aide.
“It’s a party to select a candidate for Grand Duchess.”
“Yes. Not even the Grand Duchess, but a candidate… Yes?”
There was silence for a moment. Soon, the three aides looked at each other with strange faces: joy on the left and anxiety on the right.
“This damn party.”
“Maybe it won’t open?”
That shocking sight today. Even if you think about it while rolling forward, backward, and sideways, it is clear that His Majesty the Grand Duke was having sex with a woman in the bedroom… No, a friendly look!
“No, it won’t open.”
The corner of the elderly aide’s mouth rose to the sky as he firmly gave the answer that all three of them wanted.
“Let’s put all the documents related to this party aside.”
* * *
It was the second morning after Asili fell into Ludwig’s bedroom in the book.
“I told you to prepare for all the things you said you would enjoy. I told them to be careful to post spicy things since it was breakfast. Asili?”
Asili… As of yesterday, she has been called Asili. She looked at him blankly and opened her mouth.
“Ludwig.”
He locked eyes with her as he pushed her not-strong-tasting pumpkin soup in front of her.
“I forgot to ask you yesterday.”
“Why did I say I would know you?”
If you pretend, you pretend. Without even mentioning her, Ludwig gave her the answer she wanted as easily as if he had taken her candy out of his pocket.
“Huh. That…”
“If you don’t like it.”
“It’s not like that, Asili. It’s a pretty name.”
If it were originally her world, she would have been a name used only in places other than the country, but this was no longer Asili’s world.
“I’m just purely curious.”
“We’ve never shared names, have we?”
Asili, who had tilted her head at Ludwig’s brief words, let out a laugh.
“Now that I think about it, it really is. Even though we’ve been seeing each other for quite some time, I didn’t even know his name. Why did you do that?”
“Because there was no need to know.”
“Oh, yes. Yes.”
The answer he came up with without any hesitation was the perfect answer. In a dream where only two people existed, there was no need to call each other’s names. If you stretched out your hand, you could reach it at any time, and even if it was out of reach, you could catch it with a blink of an eye. Since this wasn’t their first meeting where they started by announcing their names, they lost the opportunity to speak clearly.
“You.”
Ludwig paused for a moment. He didn’t want to bring up again the situation she had been in when he called her yesterday.
“You?”
After finishing her pumpkin soup, Asili tilted her head.
“The only name I could think of to call you was Asili.”
“Uh, so why? Was it Asili?”
“Because Asili is a dream.”
Asili opened her eyes wide. Ludwig’s dry fingers gently grazed her chin. The skin must have been quite weak, but there was a faint trace left where he had grabbed it yesterday.
“A dream…? Asili is a dream… This is it?”
“Yes.”
“That… really… hmm… okay. A dream.”
Her name, Asili, was so appropriate that she couldn’t find anything else to reply. Was there anything better than that in the name of a woman who suddenly became a reality in a dream, and who didn’t know when she would become a dream again? She swallowed her sigh and stirred her soup, crumpling her face at her actions.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t find any manners in front of her at the table.”
“Never mind.”
“No. It’s not a dream anymore.”
A word that came out casually. Asili let go of her spoon.
“I want to stop eating.”
“Didn’t you say you don’t have a short mouth? You ate too little.”
“I know. I’m a person who is good at eating anything… I just have no appetite. Oh my god, I never imagined that I would say I had no appetite!”
The breakfast prepared was excellent. No, it was more than that. In the original world, you had to be willing and prepared to spend a lot of money to eat things that you could eat, and that was because only things you liked were placed there. But she really had no appetite. It tasted like spoiled food, so no matter what she ate, it didn’t go down properly.
Ludwig looked at her spoonful of soup and then nodded at her.
“If there’s anything you want to eat, I’ll prepare it for you, so just tell me anytime.”
“I need really hot coffee right now.”
She needed some very strong, hot coffee to relieve the whiskey she had yesterday. There was no hangover, but humans were creatures of habit. Even in this ridiculous situation where her dream had become reality, she desperately wanted coffee the day after drinking.
“Coffee. Tell Sebastian to get it ready. Anything else?”
“I can’t believe it. Is there coffee here too?”
“Although it is extremely difficult and rare to obtain, it is a highly sought-after luxury product, so there will be people drinking it even within the mansion. If you don’t have it, you can make it.”
The answer was so simple that even after hearing him say that he would make it if he didn’t have it, which clearly showed the enormous influence he had, she didn’t notice anything else strange and just passed on.
“Still, I’m glad the food is similar. Are they all similar because they are places where people live?”
“None of the things you said you liked was ramen.”
“Ah… is it. Umm… Maybe it’s because I don’t have an appetite right now, but I’m not really sad about it.”
He extended his hand towards Asili, who was sitting crookedly in the chair. As she sat on Ludwig’s legs, holding her hand in a flowing and natural manner, she pulled her chin in and lowered her eyes half-closed.
“It’s a hassle to have to act every time.”
“If I didn’t have to do this, useless words about you wouldn’t leak out.”
“There are no absolutes in everything in this world. Grand Duke Ludwig’s lover fell from the sky! We need to make it clear by rushing in while everyone is shocked and unable to come to their senses. That way, even if word gets out, there is no problem.”
No sooner had she finished her sentence than there was a knock on the door.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
Sebastian, who appeared behind the door, calmly bowed. The workers who came in after him kept their heads down, minded their own business, and quickly disappeared.
“How should I prepare tea?”
“Coffee.”
Sebastian raised his head. Asili leaned the back of her head against Ludwig’s chest with a drowsy face and opened her mouth again.
“Very hot and thick.”
“I will prepare accordingly. And they say the clothes are on the way right now, so I’ll post them as soon as I get them.”
Asili didn’t give much of an answer. As soon as the door closed without a sound and Sebastian’s figure disappeared, Asili went limp.
“I think I’ll come to my senses if I drink some coffee.”
“Where does it hurt?”
“I’m just tired. Other than that, nothing in particular.”
Her dry, cool hands covered her forehead. She held his hand and covered her eyes, letting out her breath mixed with a slight heat. This was not the time to be hanging out like this… There was a lot of work to be done right away. First of all, she was glad that she could understand the language, but since she didn’t know how to write, she needed to study the text, and know at least the surface of culture and history… Even if she was out of her mind and she was shedding an ocean of tears, the world still worked. Wasn’t there a song like that too? Even if your lover leaves and you are immersed in the sadness of separation, you still eat well. She bobbed her head as she wouldn’t turn. There are so many things to do that she could count them on both hands, but the problem at hand was clear.
A party looking for Ludwig’s wife tomorrow, that is, looking for the Grand Duchess.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on April, 3.
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