Chapter 22

Most of the characters have appearances commonly seen in East Asia. What does this have to do with the genre of this novel?

Callian tried to explain a few times but ultimately gave up with a sigh, unable to make a coherent sentence. I stopped trying to guess what Callian’s unfinished sentence could be. Unless the world is pulling a surprise camera on me, not everyone here can be a possessor, right?

“Is it not just because a Korean wrote it?”

“No.”

“Then what is it…….”

There was no clear answer no matter how much I racked my brain. A world where gas lamps and magic stones coexist. Dresses spanning centuries, uncomplicated palace etiquette, and flush toilets. This place, where backgrounds from all sorts of eras are mixed, must be a romance fantasy.

“You said you knew why you ended up here, right?”

“It’s a guess.”

“What I can’t say – it might be a genre that doesn’t exist in this era. But, there are ordinary popular novels, right? Are you saying it’s not that?”

Callian licked his lips as if he was frustrated with my guess. I thought my life was the most complicated thing in the world, but seeing him with restrictions on his actions and language, this seemed manageable. Ah, I shouldn’t judge the standard of my life by comparing it with others.

“……Let’s think about it slowly for now. After all, we’ve confirmed that time isn’t passing anymore, right? So, it might be better to stay calm rather than getting unnecessarily anxious.”

Knowing that no matter how much time passes here, time in the original world isn’t passing made me feel a bit more at ease. I also felt that things would somehow work out since my Minsu wouldn’t starve. And having an unexpected comrade right next to me also helped.

“……Calm?”

“Your expression is really disrespectful.”

“It’s nothing.”

Why does this guy’s eyes look like a 5-year veteran male idol?

“Ah, before that, there’s something I want to confirm.”

“What is it?”

“I understand that your words and actions are restricted, like the Northern Grand Duke. But then, what about the kisses you were talking about with me? If only your mouth is restricted, would you really want to rub your lips against mine?”

Ugh, Callian’s half-hearted face crumpled like the newspaper in a shoebox.

This guy, isn’t he too disgusted for someone who didn’t want to rub lips?

***

The day of Callian de Winter, the Northern Grand Duke, was tough. Even if he was the one who had lost his parents at a young age and had been managing his territory until now, it would be quite a hardship. What if the one who suddenly had to bear this weight was an ordinary citizen of South Korea? And one who could get a youth discount at Gyeongbokgung?

“I have to accept it.”

He didn’t even know why he was doing it.

“Because I’m preparing enough so that the plan doesn’t go awry.”

It meant that the big picture of the world was controlling Callian.

“You also live a hard life.”

“I think so too.”

I think the condom should be put on Callian’s head, not mine. There were a few things I noticed while working in Callian’s office, and one of them was that this world is not just modifying Callian’s speech or behavior.

“Your Grace! The budget plan I mentioned last time,”

“It’s here.”

Seo, who was worn out from working late, took the document handed out by Callian and went back alone. His pitiful back view made me think he should be given a special vacation.

“It’s amazing every time I see it.”

“I think so too.”

The paper Callian just wrote on was a complete scribble. It was really just writing anything like the scribbles in the corner of the official document I first saw. But Seo looked at it and went back without a word.

Now, what is this? It’s not that Seo is so used to the Duke’s nonsense that he just passes it by, but the world is adjusting Callian’s abilities regardless of how incompetent Callian actually is.

No matter what kind of rubbish documents are made, the territory, the empire, continues without deviation. There are no rumors that the Grand Duke turned around while catching a monster. Because in the eyes of others, it was an entirely ‘normal’ document.

“Is this how you handle the monsters too?”

Callian slowly nodded, tidying up the humble documents. Undoubtedly, as the Northern Grand Duke, he had to be more outstanding in martial arts than the youngest knight commander in the empire, and he had to calmly annihilate enemies in front of him with his sharp eyes.

Although I can’t get a detailed explanation, using the sword will also flow like a game set to autoplay, regardless of Callian’s will.

“Oh dear, our life is so complicated.”

I sighed, patting Callian’s hand. Callian answered by not shaking off my hand. Callian de Winter, I don’t know his real name, but anyway, this boy who is two years younger than me doesn’t hate me. But that doesn’t mean he passionately loves me.

“I at least do what I want to do, but you must be really annoyed.”

Maybe ‘Callian’ was destined to like ‘Adriana’. Or it could be a matter of course, flow, or setting.

“Since when have you liked ‘Adriana de Winter’?”

“Since a very long time ago.”

It was common for the Northern Grand Duke to show such an appearance – wrapping his arm around her waist and looking at her with melo eyes, even though she didn’t agree – when confessing his feelings to his lover. Callian, who was set to fall in love with Adriana, had no choice but to behave like that.

Sigh, poor guy.

“Should I just call you Bakbok?”

“That’s too much of a joke.”

It was basically a get lost kind of remark. That brat, so cheeky. I pinched Callian’s cheek with my thumb and index finger and left the office. Unlike the stern Northern Grand Duke, it wouldn’t be strange for the crazy Grand Duchess to chop the cutting board in the kitchen with a knife.

Hohohoho!

***

The couple, who used to be cold to each other and growled without any shame, suddenly became as close as hot dogs and sugar – yes, I’m the type who believes that sugar should be sprinkled on hot dogs. How can one tolerate such a barbaric act like ketchup – so the servants were in a small uproar.

Regardless of this and that, it was a fuss at the level of ‘it’s a celebration, it’s a celebration’ because the two highest-ranking people were getting along well.

“Come here!”

“……As a Grand Duchess, please, behave-”

It was a surprising sound. I can open the office door a bit harshly, so I naturally pulled out the assistant’s chair and sat next to Callian. Our poor worker, Seo, was resting at home on special leave due to my strong insistence.

Undoubtedly, the Northern Grand Duke who fell in love was a creature who couldn’t move at the words of his beloved, and the words or actions that Callian couldn’t do as the ‘Northern Grand Duke’ were somewhat tolerated if ‘loving’ Adriana asked. Correcting one’s character collapse is love right away!

It was an incredibly troublesome structure. For instance, Callian alone could not enter the kitchen. Because the Northern Grand Duke should be indifferent to housework.

But if Adriana asks or demands, he can enter the kitchen. He might even try cooking. Because it’s romantic to hold a frying pan and grease it for the first time for a loved one.

So- “Do you want to eat potato pancakes for dinner? With sweet potato fries. There’s honey and sugar here too. The sweet potatoes in this world look a bit strange, but they taste just like pumpkin sweet potatoes. Is it a chestnut sweet potato? Anyway, you’re going to eat too, right? Should I make a lot?”

“If you made it, as much as you want.”

It was a great compliment. How painful it must have been to elegantly slice the meat he doesn’t really like, moreover, the more painful point was- “Is this how it’s made? Or not?” “Wait a moment.”

The point is, he’s originally very good at cooking. Callian changed the handle of the frying pan and skillfully flipped the sweet potatoes. But if it’s not a situation where I’m asking, he can’t even go to the kitchen, what a lonely restriction this is.

Can he only cook in the kitchen for a thousand years if I just ask? That wasn’t it either. Perhaps because of the Northern Grand Duke who mercilessly slaughters monsters, there is a penalty that isn’t a penalty- he has to leave his place after staying in the kitchen for a certain amount of time.

At least it wasn’t a cooking competition genre novel.

“You were in a cooking club when you were in school, weren’t you? Ah, there wasn’t one? Wow, this fish stew is insanely delicious. Isn’t this a national loss? Being a Grand Duke is not a job, is it? Can’t a Grand Duke also be a chef? What did European nobles live on, anyway, if they didn’t work? Did they? Ah, I should’ve paid more attention to world history. Ah, but it’s really delicious. The outside is totally crispy, and the inside is completely moist. This is what a country should be. Hey, is there anything you really want?”

“Your smile is reward enough for me.”

His slightly upturned lips didn’t fall, as he looked at me intently. Aw, what a cute guy. I know this line wasn’t of his own will, but from a third-person perspective, it was funny and cute.

There were times when his eyes were completely empty. Poor guy in many ways.

“Ah, right. I don’t know about breaking the curse, but I did hear a way to go back to my original world.”

“How?”

“But it was a bit vague. You know, there’s the Witchmaster. You may not know, but Adriana and the Witchmaster schemed to summon me. Adriana herself wanted to run away from her body? Anyway, the Witchmaster, Eselmond, told me to ‘fall in love,’ like in a novel.”

“Love? A novel?”

“At first, I thought it was nonsense, but original novels usually have an ending, right? So, I thought that the ending might be Adriana’s romance.”

“How do romances usually end?”

“…Actually, I’ve read very few romance novels to their conclusion. Haha.”

“Usually, it ends in marriage, right? And in spin-offs, there are pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare routes.”

“We’re already married.”

“Exactly. But I haven’t really read much about ‘marriage first, love later.’ It’s driving me crazy, how do those end?”

“What do you like?”

“Me? I’ve read a bit of everything. I like stories where a cute female lead and a sweet male lead flirt with each other, stories where the revolutionary female lead holds the severed head of the emperor male lead and cries, and stories where the knight male lead kneels down and kisses the empress female lead’s feet. Just normal, really normal.”

“You are, consistently, quite strange.”

“Ah, it hurts so much…”

“Weren’t you the one who swung your hand?”

Why is this guy’s back so hard? Is it true that the skin of the Northern Grand Duke is made of dragon scales?

“Are you by any chance half-human, half-dragon or something? Or is there a setting where one of your ancestors was a dragon?”

“I haven’t heard anything like that.”

I ambitiously slapped his back, but the one that got heated was my palm. Complaining that there’s no one in the world to trust, Callian looked at me as if he was looking at a criminal. His triangular eyes were disapproving.

“Ah, anyway, back to the point. I don’t know about the ending, but the idea is to fall in love, right? But love is a broad spectrum. Comradeship is love; friendship is also love. However—this world doesn’t have a narrow definition of love, so since we’re inhabiting what, a standard romance novel? Let’s limit it to popular romance novel love, and um…”

While I was thinking about how to end this novel, the communication stone on my office desk flashed brightly. One of those stones is worth a whole castle, right?… And usually, the people who can use such expensive tools are—

“I greet the sun of the Empire.”

It’s either the Emperor or his close associates.

– Let’s skip the boring greetings. Good, Callian’s face looks good, thankfully. I have something urgent to tell you.

“Please speak.”

– You must come to the capital as soon as dawn breaks.

“If I may ask, what-“

– A girl has appeared in the rear garden pond. She’s wearing clothes unlike anything seen in the empire. Although Arnen found her first, the Grand Chamberlain says she is a saintess… We need to decide what to do with her, so enter the palace as quickly as you can.

“Understood.”

As soon as the communication stone turned off, both Callian and I immediately looked at each other and distorted our features as best as we could.