The Monstrous Grand Duke's Fake Lady

“Then, can I ask him for this favor? I will pay him fairly.”

“Don’t worry, ma’am. He will do it even if you don’t pay him.”

Vivian would usually say that it was a waste of money or the fact that she had no time. Since she was someone who had said that to Ez’s offer before, he became nervous thinking that she would be saying the same thing this time as well.

However, after thinking about it for a while, she shook her head.

“But I might feel very guilty about that.”

“It really is fine. You don’t have to worry about anything, ma’am.”

“Okay.”

As if he still couldn’t relax despite hearing Vivian’s answer, he merely stood up after covering her with a blanket—right up to her neck. Unfortunately, the inn couldn’t be left unattended for too long. Accompanied by a sad look on his face, he gradually drew a soft smile.

“Please rest well.”

As he stepped out of the room after turning off the light, Vivian closed her eyes.

Fatigue eventually swept over her whole body. Vivian, who kept on worrying while not wanting to sleep, began to leave herself to languor at a moment’s impulse.

Is it fine for me to do this—a worry of hers that she eventually put under the water before she slowly started to fall into a deep slumber.

As the festival day approached, each of the shops began to add more activities. It was up to the point that wherever pairs of eyes had landed, there would seem to be an event taking place.

After a good night’s sleep, Vivian also began to move in accordance with the lively shopping district. She had to suffer from Ez’s nagging that was filled with worries everyday, but when he was working at the busy inn, Ez’s worries would then dissipate away.

Then, it was when Vivian began to proceed while looking at him, who was already busy moving around.

As usual, the door eventually opened and he entered. The tall height had caused Vivian’s eyes to naturally look upon him.

Knox had immediately spotted Vivian after looking around before he approached her a little faster.

“Are you okay?”

Vivian wondered how he knew about her condition when she ascertained that he didn’t show himself at the inn yesterday. Perhaps since he had looked for her, his dry lips immediately triggered her pity, but she still replied coldly.

“You don’t need to worry about that, sir. I’m fine now.”

“Are you really okay? Is it really fine for you to work like this already?”

Vivian quickly stopped Knox from asking one thing after another—like a close friend. She was too occupied to even answer such trivial questions of his.

“It’s true, sir. Rather than that, didn’t you say that you won’t be disturbing work, sir?”

When he met her gaze, Knox parted his lips before closing them back in a mere second. After blinking rather slowly, he then lowered his hand, which had been worrying about her since before.

“…okay. If you’re okay, then it’s fine.”

“Please take your seat, I’ll serve you your dinner soon. It’ll be your usual order, right?”

“No, there’s no need for that today. I just came to check if you’re okay.”

Right after saying that, he turned his body. It seemed like even cold was exuded from his huge body, but Vivian still had to head over to the pot that was still on the stove.

By the time she reduced the heat and turned around once more, Knox had already disappeared.

Knox had always been the same ever since.

When he saw that Vivian was busy, he refused dinner altogether. He didn’t seem like he would starve since he was the Grand Duke, but the fact that he wasn’t in his usual place had disturbed her nerves quite a bit.

Time flew by and it was finally the day of the festival. Everyone had taken out everything on them as if they had only been waiting for this day. The neighborhood had always been lively, resembling the scorching heat of the sun, but on this festive day, the heat was raging even more so.

“Sale, sale! If you don’t get it now, you won’t be able to buy it again at this price!”

“How about quenching your throat with a drink under this heat?”

The loud noises quickly infiltrated the inn. Perhaps due to that, most of the people who had entered the inn looked excited as if they were gradually affected by the festival itself.

The hall of the inn had also been decorated in time for that festival. Although she only added a few more to the interior, it was already enough to enhance the excitement. Whenever she saw the heat of the festival had elevated through the mouths of people who went back and forth between inns, Vivian smiled with satisfaction.

As time passed by after some moments, she then entrusted Ashley to Aunty Monie from next door.

The old lady had always preferred to watch the lively atmosphere from afar in relaxation rather than enjoy it closely. As she readily accepted Ashley, her wrinkled cheeks immediately lifted up while saying that the smiling child was just adorable.

After she had left the child in her charge and went out to the street, Ez was already waiting not that far away.