Villain Transmigration: Author Transformation

"Wait, what?"

It was all Nathalie breathed as he couldn't believe what the words came out of his mouth.

The statement alone was mind-blowing. The Grand Duke of the South, Nathan Kiel Forsberg, was the Commander of the Arctic Order—the Second Division of Knights in Blackwell Grand Duchy, Keith Alexander Dewlake.

Keith drooped his head, unable to contest his gaze out of the embarrassment he had. From time to time, he would shudder, then shook his head.

Right after having a sumptuous breakfast, Keith set aside the tablewares to the trolley, and he averted his gaze for quite some time now.

His gestures remained calm and collected, but there was no denying the deep breaths and few beads of sweat now trickled on his forehead.

It was time to prepare for tea.

Meanwhile, Nathalie never let go of her scrutiny as she wasn't able to get over it.

Aside from her wanted to probe that situation, it was one of her goals as an author to venture in that direction.

The kind of genre she planned to look forward to as a spin-off.

Indeed, THAT genre.

Suppose she wasn't that too subtle about it, or else her fandom might've been shaking in their boots for the sudden release.

As Keith poured the white ceramic teapot into her cup, the aroma of the honey and lemon rose along with its steam, gracing the air with such a warm embrace. Catching its tangerine scent had her eyes wide open on the fresh color of the tea cascading into it.

Then, she arched her neck. Even his sullen eyes never failed to have such a soft gaze and fine lips that slipped to a smile as he continued to pour some tea for her. He had such an amicable look that he was so happy to serve the new master he swore fealty from now on.

If anything, Nathalie would have to thank Mystique; her natural stoic face helped her not compromise her feelings.

Day by day, it was as though her admiration of him grew stronger, and she would giggle from the way he treated her so well.

But it still didn't stop her from thinking of such a possibility.

'Oh, girl. This is one piping hot tea over here.' 

Withal, her eyes gleamed. She began to lean forward with interlaced fingers propped on her chin.

'Can't wait for him to spill the tea for me.'

"Your Grace?" Once seated, Keith finally dared to check her abrupt trance with a gentle tone and a slight tilt of his head.

[Well, as you can see...] A clicking sound came from her nail tapping on the teacup's rim. [My mind is a little hazy, and I don't think I remember everything, yes?]

Though he somehow looked so repulsed on the direction they wanted to go, he still nodded regardless.

[How did it happen?] She then sipped her tea as she listened to him.

After a moment of humming deep, crossing his arms, he shared how Athan, Sylvester, and Nathan were the kind of camaraderie every noble kid hoped for amidst the trickery, malign intentions, and schemes set within the aristocrats.

Having the support of one another to grow without pulling themselves down was impeccable. 

The Grand Duchy of Forsberg lost so much after the rough foundation era of the Empire, it was a heavy pressure for a young child like him, but he didn't give up with the help of the two.

Yet, everything changed when Mystique came like a storm.

'Which I'm not gagging… With such a high chance...'

There were a lot of things. Mystique did beyond despicable, and even Athan had a hard time trying to fix the nigh irrevocable damage. Everything came and crashing down.

One of which struck Keith the most was when she spread rumors about how Nathan would get attracted to fellow men. 

Nathalie couldn't help but almost choked herself from the tea she drank.

The target of the scandal included Keith, as one of the 'bachelor bucket lists,' and with that, she was floored by the news. 

A groan left Nathalie's lips as she thought about the sudden revelation, and she had to put up with it from now on as another light of realization dawned upon her.

It was one of the discernible specks the villainess did for so many things so far.

The devil worked hard, but Mystique worked harder.

...And she made another enemy out of her foolish acts….

This was the truth of Keith; in no way would he make up for it. 

Her truth somehow aligned with Athan's.

Nathalie had no idea who this character was and what role he would play in the story...

For as far as she could remember, there was only Grand Dukes that ruled the four cornerstones of the Dysnomia Empire.

Mystique's side has an antagonistic dynamic with Athan, as opposed to Sylvester, who supported his every endeavor. The other two remained a mystery; she already laid out a few core information that she had yet to finalize for the sake of her readers.

Either to crop them out of the story or to show an overview of the past, which resulted in a tragic occurrence of the south before it molded to what it was as of the moment.

There was a reason why Tyler opted to cut off unnecessary parts or what he deemed info dumps as they don't necessarily advance the plot. 

Even Nathalie agreed with it too: of all the things she set for him, he was dead.

The world-building aspect is such a holistic idea—broad enough to tackle different circumstances like economics and politics. They weren't the highlight of the story, and the book could only hold so much.

The more unknown factors rose, the lesser her chance of changing the fate she had. All she wanted was to return to where she was in the first place, but with how this magical encounter happened, she needed to find out the answers she'd been dying to hear since day one.

Now that she had to deal with it personally, 

This was also why it cast doubt on how Nathalie would fare inside the world she created: the deep admiration she had with the creation she made of the scenery and the characters and the dark side of it.

Perhaps the better way to rely on her supposedly arch-nemesis, but she still has her reservations. 

She had to get ready herself later for the 'Grand Auction' on this good day.