The Monstrous Grand Duke’s Fake Lady

In the end, Knox was the one who finally broke the silence.

“I heard that this is your first time being invited here. So, how is it? Are you having fun?”

“Yes, this is quite fun.”

Knox’s gaze immediately fell upon Alexia, who seemed to be responding rather carefully.

“I also heard that you enjoyed the time with your friends.”

“Yes, it is all thanks to you.”

Unlike the usual, he had somehow gotten a dry response from her. At first, he merely thought that she was being wary about the gaze of others, but then, even when it was just the two of them together, she was behaving just the same.

Why is she acting like this? According to the maid’s words that night, it shouldn’t be like this at all.

Knox sneaked a glance towards her before roughly running his fingers through his own hair. There’s no meaning for me to come here if it’s just like this. Knox then turned his whole body facing towards her.

“Alexia. Look at me.”

Ultimately, Knox could no longer hold it in anymore and began to touch her cheeks. The moment when those big hands had caressed her cheeks, Knox immediately caught on her surprise in her pair of eyes.

* * *

A few hours ago—

Vivian briskly entered to wake Alexia up, just like how she always did in the mornings.

However, perhaps due to the fact that she had drunk too much cocktail the day before, Alexia wasn’t opening her eyes easily at all. In fact, when Vivian had already drawn the curtains and shook her body softly, she had only waved her hands a few times in response before slinking back her head on the pillow yet again.

“…I can’t get up.”

“My Lady, the hunting will soon start—not before long. I’ve already arranged a dress for the said event.”

She was the one who had been looking forward to enjoying the gaze from the others. She had even intentionally prepared a new dress for this particular day. But, where did her vanity from that time go?

Vivian heaved a soft sigh—without Alexia’s awareness.

“Then, shall I inform them that you will not be participating?”

“No… I can’t just do that. If I, myself—the one who is participating in this event for the first time ever—were to be absent, who knows what kind of words will be spread around then.”

“In that case, you have to wake up even more then…”

“You—go in my stead.”

“Pardon?”

Vivian’s hand immediately stopped while she was tidying up the blanket, at Alexia’s shocking words.

“What is that supposed…”

“There is still a little bit of medicine left—from the one I gave you, no?”

“Yes. However, My Lady was the one who said that it was for just in case…”

“It’s fine, I don’t really need it. We’ll be returning tomorrow anyway, so nothing would actually happen. I mean—I haven’t even met him once till now, right?”

She still had her head buried in the pillow while she waved her hand dismissively—as if she found the topic to be rather annoying.

“So, you will go. Right after changing the color of your hair, of course.”

“However—My Lady, if I were to do so, then I’ll be unable to assist…”

“You.”

After she managed to raise her head, Alexia immediately expressed her caprice. The expression was dreadfully unpleasant, which made it seem like she was in a hurry to grab a hold of something before hurling it away.

“Are you trying to disobey my order, right now?”

“Not at all, My Lady.”

Vivian quickly bowed her head down.

Vivian’s shoulders automatically flinched in response to the seething voice, but she wasn’t caught through Alexia’s hungover eyes.

Vivian eventually managed to raise her head, albeit a little and there stood Alexia—glaring at her with her wobbly head. Nevertheless, as it seemed like her head was still hurting, Alexia immediately shoved her head back into the pillow before she muttered.

“Then, just do as I say. Don’t you ever complain.”

Vivian exhaled under her breath at that whim of hers, which she couldn’t really grasp its meaning. She was supposed to bathe the Young Lady and dress her up, but with this limited time constraint, she had to start by applying magic to her own hair instead.

And what was even worse—this time, she had to stand in front of so many other nobles. If they found a single fault at her, the one who would be getting her reputation tarnished in the end was undoubtedly Alexia.

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