MTLNOVEL Chapter 49
“Huh? Thigh?”
“What do you mean, I Fe-Fe- Feeling up!?”
Without realizing it, I snapped, my voice turning shrill.
Just how had he interpreted my desperate plea for help?
“You were Feeling up. Like you were seducing a stranger.”
“Wha—? No, I wasn’t!”
“You totally were. And you even started digging deeper, more blatantly, toward the inside.”
“I-I-I didn’t know!”
“You didn’t know?”
His green eyes were filled with unmistakable disbelief.
“The person who ‘didn’t know’ just kept getting more persistent with their touch…”
“S-stop!”
If I listened any further, I felt like I’d have to explain something irreparable, so I quickly cut him off.
Holding onto my soul that was about to escape, I fumbled to explain myself.
“I was asking for help. I had no choice but to…”
Whew.
Just recalling last night made me feel completely drained.
I had already thought I needed to tell the Grand Duke, so wasn’t it actually lucky that I had a chance to be alone with him like this?
“Actually…”
I took a short breath and checked my surroundings.
Then, lowering my voice as much as possible, I whispered into the Grand Duke’s ear.
“I met His Highness the Crown Prince yesterday.”
“…What?”
Freeze.
The Grand Duke’s movements halted instantly.
I hesitated, gauging his reaction, before continuing.
“I was really shocked too. I couldn’t sleep… so I thought I’d go for a short walk, but who would’ve guessed I’d run into the Crown Prince?”
“Where did you meet him?”
“In the… garden. It’s not too far from where we’re staying.”
“That place is somewhere Raiden Cletan has frequented since childhood.”
Oh, crap.
So I had walked straight into the lion’s den.
Suppressing the grimace trying to take over my face, I heard his voice again.
“Did you have a conversation with him?”
“Well…”
Where should I even start?
After briefly organizing my thoughts, I decided to share the most crucial part first.
“We talked about the weather.”
The explanation that followed was pretty much a reenactment of last night’s events.
I had commented that it looked like it might rain, the Crown Prince had asked about it, and I had dutifully answered.
“Hm.”
However, as he listened, the Grand Duke’s expression gradually hardened.
Along with that, my growing anxiety deepened even further.
Eventually, I blurted out the words swirling in my mouth.
“Was that… an interview?”
“…An interview?”
His tone was bewildered, but there was no outright denial.
So I made no effort to hide my dismay.
“I think it was an interview. It felt like he was asking unnecessary questions for no reason… What if His Highness decides to tie me down to the Kletan Imperial Palace?”
Part of me thought I might just be overthinking things.
But having read the original story and thoroughly analyzed ‘Psycho Raiden’s’ personality, I couldn’t ignore the creeping sense of foreboding.
Just earlier, he had bombarded me with questions—didn’t that mean he was interested?
‘I just got used to this place—I don’t want to leave.’
The cozy and warm Blaire Grand Duchy, no, my room.
Leave that behind?
I had even (mentally) picked out my future home in the heart of the Grand Duchy!
‘And the Imperial Palace is totally not my vibe.’
My deeply ingrained homebody instincts rejected the idea of unfamiliar places.
Especially ones with lots of people.
While I was flailing in a whirlwind of catastrophic imagination…
“Sigh…”
The Grand Duke let out a deep sigh.
His exhale snapped me back to reality, and when I looked up, his expression had softened slightly.
After a brief pause, he rubbed his temple out of habit and spoke.
“First of all, do not wander around alone needlessly from now on.”
The sheer emphasis on “needlessly” made it clear—this wasn’t just my imagination.
Feeling more than a little guilty, I meekly nodded.
Then, he continued.
“Even if the Crown Prince was conducting an interview, it doesn’t matter for now. You’re bound to me by contract.”
“C-contract?”
At those words, a memory surfaced in my mind.
“Before that, Princess. Shouldn’t we settle our outstanding accounts?”
“…Outstanding accounts?”
“You’re well aware of how expensive the items used in high-ranking noble households are, aren’t you? If I were to charge you for everything, it would be no less than 10 million tri per month, and if we include the artists’ fees, it would amount to about 80 million tri.”
Ah, so in other words…
“My… lodging fees?”
“You read the contract terms, didn’t you? It clearly states that until all your debts are settled, you must remain in Blaire Grand Duchy.”
“R-r-right…”
At the time, I had been too flustered to pay attention, but apparently, that clause existed.
‘So, in the end… is this a good thing?’
It felt oddly like I was being swindled, but his reasoning sounded entirely logical to my confused ears.
While I was nodding internally, he smoothly changed the subject.
“Anyway, it’s a relief that you didn’t eat anything bad.”
“Oh, yes.”
“…But what were you so deep in thought about?”
He had taken a step back before asking.
“Ah.”
That’s when I finally remembered my original purpose.
I had planned to rush back to my room and ask Bonita about minerals suitable for making tumblers.
But now that I thought about it…
‘Wouldn’t the Grand Duke know best about this?’
A flash of insight struck me.
Maybe being dragged here without a chance to resist was fate’s way of guiding me.
Since arriving at the Imperial Palace, I had barely found the opportunity to speak with him, so I decided to seize the moment.
“By the way, about the item I discussed with Her Majesty the Empress yesterday…”
“…Work talk?”
I nodded as if to say, “Obviously.”
Honestly, ever since meeting the Empress, my mind had been occupied solely with merch ideas.
“I’m thinking of making a tumbler—it’s a kind of cup. So basically…”
I gave him a brief rundown of the concept and function of a tumbler.
At first, he seemed skeptical, but as I continued, he gradually leaned in with interest.
The idea of a cup that could maintain the temperature of its contents must have been quite novel.
After listening intently, he gave a straightforward answer.
“For that kind of material, wouldn’t you be the most knowledgeable?”
“Me? When?”
His response was so unexpected that I blinked in confusion.
Shaking his head, he elaborated.
“You even smashed the Magic Tower’s core with that material.”
The Magic Tower’s core?
In that instant, my face lit up, and I clapped my hands to my cheeks.
Right—Parthanium!
I had read about it in the Grand Duchy’s library.
Parthanium was highly resistant to magic, temperature, and corrosion.
That also meant it required extremely complex processing.
And complex processing meant an astronomical cost.
But that wasn’t an issue for me.
Why?
‘Because my sponsor is the Empress of Kletan!’
Remembering that the Parthanium mines were located in the Tower’s domain, I felt triumphant.
I even had two remaining wish tokens as the ‘Ear of the Tower,’ so getting their cooperation was practically guaranteed.
With my plan solidified, I stepped forward and grabbed both of his hands.
“Thank you so much!”
“…For what?”
“For everything today!”
I beamed up at him, full of genuine gratitude.
He had defended me against the Crown Prince and helped me find the perfect material for the tumbler!
If that wasn’t helpful, then what was?
After shaking his hands a couple of times, I turned and dashed off.
“I’ll head in first! See you at dinner!”
‘Huh?’
Why was he staring at his thigh?
…No way.
Was he thinking I was thanking him for letting me touch his thigh? Ha, ha, ha…
Shaking off that ridiculous thought, I sped up, my mind focused solely on tumblers.