Chapter 1

 

The male protagonist is the flower of the romance novel!

Cordelia pretended to be lying on the table while she yelled and heard a loud voice.

“Oh, it’s the author.”

Ugh. 

Cordelia straightened her back right away and turned toward the door. 

A girl who looked to be about ten years old walked into the room with her head sticking out of the doorway.

Rosetta Luther was Mason Luther’s only daughter.

“Author, are you doing that again?”

“What do you mean again? I’m serious Rosetta.”

Cordelia’s voice hinted at a very close relationship between the two of them, which was different from how she talked to Luther. 

Even though he was treated badly, Luther did nothing but shake his head. 

Rosetta turned her head to the side and spoke quietly.

“But Author, you said the same thing months ago when the deadline was coming close.”

“Oh… did I?”

Cordelia coughed without success. 

In fact, Cordelia’s deadlines always included the problem of the handsome male protagonist. 

That’s likely because she doesn’t really have a keen eye towards men at this time.

Luther had to change the rhythm to fit Cordelia, who insisted that even the fiction should be perfect because it doesn’t exist in reality or is just someone else’s bread. 

He had a sudden idea.

Making a living is very hard.

“Are you leaving your job?”

“Calm down.”

Luther put the cake in front of Cordelia to calm her mind, who was moving around a lot. 

Cordelia’s fork cut sharply through the air as she looked at the tart with apricots on top of the crunchy cheese.

“Oh, it’s delicious! Luther cooks really well.”

“Ah, that’s reassuring.”

Luther thought that it’s a very hard job, but he also placed a slice on his daughter’s plate.

Cordelia was one of the most honest and demanding writers, even though she seemed like she wasn’t.

Most of the time, nobles don’t have to deal with commoners.

So, unlike other aristocratic writers who usually only send their manuscripts by subordinates, Cordelia came here when she was bored and Luther was overwhelmed by her affinity. 

She has been doing this for over 10 years.

“Why not try magic? You said you know a priest, didn’t you?”

No matter what time it was, a mysterious ability will get everyone’s attention. 

Even though the temple is the only place wizards can be found, it is said that the only time you can see magic in action is at a temple event.

To figure out why, we have to look at the history of the kingdom. 

The Kreits Kingdom, where they live, has a history that goes back about a thousand years.

In the founding story, Kardian Rinaen, the first king, and three people who helped him set up the kingdom are shown. 

People say that, unlike the two public servants who were given dukeships for their work, the third asked the first king quietly.

‘Power is not a bad thing. It just depends on how you deal with it.’

The believer who served the god Felicie and was the only one of the three to be a wizard felt sorry for magic, which was seen as a special trick at the time, and for the wizards who were treated badly because of it. 

He talked with the royal family about building a temple, and he and the temple came to an agreement that they would be in charge of everything magic-related.

The leaders of the first temple, Abis and Hellas Sandria, are this person.

So, not all priests are also wizards, but every single wizard had to be part of the temple. 

After talking with the royal family two years ago, the law was changed so that an awakened wizard no longer had to join the temple, but they could if they wanted to. 

The result wouldn’t be clear for at least a few more years.

So, magic does exist, but to people who didn’t have anything to do with the temple, it was just a story like the one about the nobleman.

Just enough to think that there is something like that?

Even if they were nobles, many people had never even seen magic in their lives, unless they were involved in the event. 

Unless the information was about magic, it was hard to find out how well information was controlled in the temple.

It’s not a very flexible group, so if she puts some magic stories in the book, the temple won’t stop her… 

Cordelia gave a sad head shake.

“No. They have no idea that I’m a writer. I have no plans to tell anyone, and even if I did, they would have been bugging me for three hours about how magic isn’t so easy.”

“Magic isn’t that convenient.”

“And now, I care more about the main male character than the story itself, so what?”

Still, there are more worries than usual. It was clear, but Luther asked another question first.

“Is it because people didn’t respond well to ‘Grey Dorian’s Letter’? It was the only one of your stories with a sad ending.”

Grey Dorian’s Letter is the latest story from Cordelia.

A man fell in love with an aristocratic woman who was as beautiful as a rose. 

He told a woman who was married to another man once a month about his feelings.

The number of books sold wasn’t much different from the last one, but many people wrote to the publisher to say that the ending was disappointing.

Cordelia gave a firm nod of her head.

“No, the ending was good enough for me, so that’s it. It’s too far to have a happy ending.”

It was written in beautiful sentences, but in the end, it was sad because she was constantly watching other people’s private lives. 

She didn’t even think about how the two stories would end.

Because she’s been in a similar situation.

She doesn’t have a man!

So she couldn’t do anything to her character.

It left her with no choice.

She felt so good when she killed Namjoo!

Cordelia was usually happy and upbeat, but she had a stubborn corner where she wouldn’t give up on her work no matter what.

In particular, she was very mean because she didn’t think twice about taking money from people around her. 

She didn’t forget to change it in a way that it wouldn’t be recognized, of course.

“Ugh, but I can’t really think of anything! How can I even make a good male lead?”

Cordelia made a face like she had a lot to do and folded her fingers one at a time.

“If a man is polite and is not lavish, they will say that he’s not obsessed! But it’s scary if he’s too obsessed! If he’s nice to everyone, then the readers won’t trust him! If he’s not up to their standards, they won’t like him!”

“Didn’t you quite like it before?”

“After seeing it in real life, it’s not that enjoyable! Even more so because he’s trying to interfere with my daily life! It’s bad, really bad.”

People say that a novel should make you believe in a fantasy that doesn’t exist in real life. 

However, if you’re hit by reality, you’ll lose the illusion. 

It would have been fine if Cordelia was a reader, but since she was a writer and had to make things, it was a death blow.

“So, did you break up with anyone else this time?”

From Luther’s point of view, when Cordelia acted like that, it was because of her real love story. 

Cordelia spoke slowly, as if she were sad.

“He’s good looking though…”

“So it was his personality again.”

Cordelia’s eyes lit up as soon as Luther took charge in a smart way.

“Right!”

Cordelia chirped loudly as she grabbed Luther’s outstretched arm as if to clear the atmosphere.

“But hear me out, Luther. We met for a few months because we wanted to be well acquainted, but as time went on, we started to see each other so much that it became a burden.”

‘Why is he grabbing me by the wrist or hugging me when I don’t want him to? Where did the man who was polite and nice to me when we first met go?’

Cordelia thought it was because they were in love up until that point. 

The breakup happened for the same reason as always.

“I told him that I don’t like that he’s talking that we’re dating in public, so why is he showing off? And he keeps on asking stuff about Liam, and I thought, ‘What the hell is the reason why he’s asking about a person that I only meet once or twice a year?’”

And that guy is married, to begin with!

As Cordelia yelled in anger, she thought of her old friend.

Cordelia once saw him and started far away because she didn’t want to get in the way of his family matters. 

“Again, Duke Gracia did a great job.”

“I just don’t get it. Why do people think I’m dating a married man everytime I go on a date with them?”

Cordelia pretended to scratch her arm every time she saw Liam, who didn’t smile even after seven years of marriage.

Frankly, it was disgusting. 

Is this how it feels that her younger immature brother acts like he’s an adult?

Liam would have said that he was two years older than her if he had heard that.

“Because there are lots of people out there.”

Cordelia spoke up when Luther brought up the fact that many people had governments.

“But! What does it have to do with me? Should I throw away a 10 year relationship for a new one, then?”

He did nothing that could be taken the wrong way. 

Every time Cordelia saw him, all he did was talk about his family and brag about how great they were. 

Then Cordelia gave him a face-lift to tell him to do it in moderation.

What does that have to do with this?

Still, she thought Eddie would be a little different, but the way he argued and picked up was the same as other men. 

At first, Cordelia tried to make him happy by saying it was all a misunderstanding, but no matter how many times she said that, he kept saying things that made it clear he liked to know.

‘Eddie, I don’t like this topic anymore, and I already said no. I hate how this feels, let’s move on, hmm?’

‘You never know what the other person will think of you, even if it’s not you. You have no idea how men could act noble outside but pervert on the inside.’

‘Well stop it! You’re being mean to a person whose wife is already dead. Don’t step over the line.’

Patience meant that the word ‘it’s a delusion’ should not come forth.

Eddie gave a low sigh like he’s looking at a young and naive child and his mood changes quickly.

‘Who are you trying to teach? I’ve been rolling on this floor for years.’

‘I’m serious, Cordelia. I can’t give up until you promise me that you’ll never be near him again.’

It was funny because he’s making it sound like he can have close female friends but not Cordelia.

Cordelia let out a loud laugh.

‘Right, then we should break up.’

She let out a breath and got into the carriage right away, leaving the man with a confused look behind. 

Before she left, Cordelia, who had been holding herself back because she didn’t know if love or friendship was more important, sighed and said the same thing as he did.

‘Friendship isn’t that important when it comes to relationships, but I think it’s better than what you’re doing right now. It’s hard to like a man who is only curious about my age or what anyone thinks. Thanks but I’m not gonna buy that.’

Even though Cordelia liked him a lot, she’s done.

Cordelia was as clear as a fiery personality to be in and out. 

Cordelia, who is praised for being just like her mother, only got two things from her father, the Duke: a thirst for alcohol and a strong will.

Also, once she starts listening to a compulsion like this, all ten of them want more and more. 

The things she went through as a child made her body shake.

But she didn’t want anyone to know that she was embarrassed to talk about this with Liam and the other people in her life, or that she had a boyfriend like this. 

So she ends up lamenting alone.

“But when I talk to other people, I don’t think that I’m the only one who experiences these kinds of things. I think it would be enough that it’s only you who I could confined to. Do you want someone extra that lives with you?”

“I will politely decline.”

Luther knew it was a joke, but he didn’t even think about it before he said no. 

All workers felt the same way, which was that they didn’t want to spend more time with their boss than with work.

“Ah… where is the man who has a very good look, and nice body. The one who’s nice with me.”