The Monstrous Grand Duke's Fake Lady

Vivian, who became speechless for a moment due to his unexpected look, set herself straight before launching a brusque expression on her face.

“I’m sure Ez has already told you that you don’t need to help out, sir.”

“I just want to help you out since it looks rather arduous.”

“Really—I said, it’s…”

“Don’t you take orders here?”

“Yes! Please wait a minute!”

The guest’s voice that intercepted Vivian’s words was soon heard. Then, right when Vivian was just about to head towards the urging voice after wiping her hands off with her apron—

“I’ll go.”

While stopping her from going out, he stepped forward.

“You stay here.”

“But—”

It was at the moment when she tried to firmly shake her head at the Grand Duke, who had never attempted to bow towards others. But she quickly turned to the stove at the smell of something burning. Eventually, she just bore a hole at the Grand Duke.

“You can’t impose on the guest, okay?”

“Of course.”

He nodded his head. Vivian then heaved a faint sigh at his pair of prudent eyes.

“Well then, please. If something happens, don’t hesitate to call out for me.”

“Understand.”

Vivian fixed her gaze for a long time at his back, which had already left without any delay. Back when she was still Alexia, it had become her routine to stare at that back of his. Nevertheless, the back which always induced sadness to her then had somehow felt rather closer today.

When dinner time had eventually ended somewhat, only then Vivian could finally manage to take a breather. The moment she scanned through the hall after she finished organizing the last bit of ingredients, she could then find Ez.

“Ez!”

“Ah, ma’am!”

He stopped cleaning the table before smiling brightly as he approached her.

“Have you finished preparing for dinner?”

“Yes. That customer is the last one.”

“I’m glad, then. I never knew that this many people would be visiting and how successful our inn truly is.”

Vivian laughed unconsciously along with Ez, who uttered the remark playfully, before stopping herself.

“By the way, Ez, I asked you to send that person back, but why…”

“Ah, actually, I went up to see Ashley for a moment—since you kept on looking upstairs, ma’am.”

Vivian’s hand ceased to move abruptly. During the time she was cooking, she thought that Ashley might be whining to which she kept on looking upstairs and it seemed like it was eventually noticed by Ez.

As her face slightly reddened at the feeling that her heart had been exposed, Ez smiled brightly in response.

“Don’t worry, ma’am. I looked after Ashley for a little while and perhaps because she was hungry, she quickly calmed down right after I fed her some milk.”

“Thank you, Ez. Thank you so much.”

“You don’t have to be. Now, let us work together and wrap this all up.”

She reached out to Ez, who revealed that he was still in full spirit, and continued to stroke his head. At that very same time, his face crimsoned deeply.

“I-I’ll go and clean up the table over there then!”

Vivian then looked away from Ez, who immediately rushed ahead while bringing along the dishcloth, and turned to Knox, who was already by her side ever since he had finished taking orders from the guests.

“It’s okay if you leave now.”

“Is it really okay?”

His hand reached out to her cheek. The moment his hand had carefully brushed against her cheek, he immediately flinched before clenching his fist.

“You look pale.”

“When did you ever look properly at my face?”

As she recalled how he couldn’t even discern herself and Alexia before, Vivian’s voice unconsciously grew sharp.

Even though you always thought it’d be me if they just had those fancy hats and red hair. She shook her head as she was reminded by him, who danced with the Young Lady at the ballroom without suspecting anything back then.

“Thoroughly.”

“Pardon?”

“I’ve been looking at you thoroughly this whole month. How you smile, how you move, how your lips part when you talk, how your eyes become round when you’re anticipating something—everything. I’ve already gotten as much as I haven’t been seeing you.”

Her words were snatched in an instant.

Come to think of it, it had already been a month since he showed up. If he came here to punish me, he would already do something when he found me back then. So, what is it then?

“…How did you even find me?”

For the first time, Vivian slowly met with his gaze. Knox’s eyes, which were now meeting hers, trembled with excitement, albeit slightly.

“I’m sure it must’ve been hard to find me.”

“…I used some people.”

“What did you say?”

Vivian, who was bewildered by a rather coercive measure, immediately gasped.

“At first, they did say that it was hard finding you. But I couldn’t believe it, so I commissioned them once more. And this time, they said that you weren’t here anymore. When I commissioned them again one more time, I heard that you might no longer be in this Empire—or perhaps, you might have been dead already.”

As if he was confessing, his whisperings continued.

“I wasn’t sure if your hair was actually black or red, so I suffered a lot. There were times when I had a run the moment I heard that they had found you, but it wasn’t truly you.”

The more she heard of it, the more it felt like his words weren’t really a lie.