Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Don't You Want to Write It Properly?
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Don't you want to write it properly?
Laura's reaction when I asked about her favorite things had stuck with me—
but I couldn't find an answer to it.
Even asking Kiara or Nicholas yielded the same result.
They responded to my question like this.
"Her face fell when you asked about her favorite things? You didn't phrase it weirdly again, did you?"
"I can't imagine her expression changing just from that question. You should look into whether there's another reason."
It sounded plausible at first glance.
I even thought they were right myself.
But for some reason, my intuition told me that wasn't the answer.
So, I still had no idea what the real answer was.
'Tricky.'
No matter how much I pondered, there was no way I'd figure it out right now.
Maybe if we got closer later, I could casually ask then.
By that time, the answer might turn out to be something utterly mundane.
Hoping for that, I kept walking.
A tall building stood prominently in the center of the academy.
It looked like a mage's tower at a glance, and magic faculty students frequented it, but it wasn't related to magic.
This building was the library.
As I opened the door, the rush of book scent brought back a wave of nostalgia.
'First time in this life, huh.'
In my previous life, I'd been quite the library rat.
This life, I'd been too busy with work to visit until now.
Our family had more books than most libraries anyway, so there'd been no need.
The reason I'd come to this library I'd all but forgotten was, naturally, to borrow a book.
A book for the book discussion I'd promised Laura.
I stood at the entrance for a moment, taking in the interior, then slowly headed toward the shelves.
'What book would be good?'
I should've asked when the discussion came up.
But Laura's expression back then made it hard to say anything, so I'd awkwardly wrapped it up.
She was smiling, but it didn't feel like a real smile.
I shook my head to clear the thought.
'No point dwelling on it.'
Like most things, time would sort this out too.
Shaking off the worry, I wandered the shelves, browsing various books.
For dozens of minutes, I guessed at contents from titles alone.
Suddenly, my eyes caught on one corner of a shelf.
Among the neatly aligned books, one stuck out awkwardly.
Curiosity piqued, I reached for it.
'What's this one?'
The book I pulled out felt distinctly out of place.
Unlike the others, the binding was amateurish, and the title handwritten.
It screamed homemade by a novice, not professionally produced.
And the title was unusual too.
'Please Tame Me, Duke?'
This didn't seem like something that belonged in the academy library, no matter how you sliced it.
Flipping it open confirmed it.
This was a romance novel.
One where a spirited young lady tames a gruff, savage duke who inherited his title young.
Common fare in my old world, but pretty stimulating here.
Especially in a place stocked with nothing but noble eccentricities disguised as novels—this was like a dish loaded with MSG.
I dove in eagerly.
'Whoa, cliches like this without web novels around?'
This was quality stuff.
Did another regressor write it, maybe?
Nodding to myself, I read straight through right there.
The novel was fun, but also oddly familiar.
The characters felt like ones I'd seen before.
'No way the author’s an academy student?'
It’d make sense if they modeled them after people here.
Especially the male lead.
'Duke Dominite'? Just tweaked the end of Dominica.
Though the power-tripping didn't match me...
A mix of people I knew?
Tilting my head, I kept reading until the last page.
'Not finished yet.'
Right when it was getting good.
After days of dry paperwork, this flooded my brain with dopamine.
As I closed it, savoring the aftertaste, there was a thud.
Not from my hand—from beside me.
'Huh?'
Beside me?
I turned toward the sound.
There stood a familiar face.
Robin, from knight faculty class, who'd been in my group.
His face pale, he'd dropped his book and was staring at me.
Terrified, just like our first meeting.
I tilted my head at the sight.
'What's up? Surprised to see me?'
He'd gotten used to my face lately—no big reactions.
Oh, maybe he wanted the book I was holding?
On a hunch, I offered it to him.
"Were you looking for this?"
"Ah... A-ah..."
As I handed it over, Robin started trembling violently, his face full of despair.
It was so dramatic, it felt like I'd handed him a grimoire that could destroy planets, not a romance novel.
Having witnessed impossible despair, Robin squeezed his eyes shut, bowed his head to me, and shouted.
"I'm sorryyy!"
Sorry for what, exactly?
Bewildered by the sudden turn, I blinked.
After Robin got a stern warning from the weary librarian.
Robin and I sat across from each other in one corner of the library, talking.
Or rather, I was hearing him out.
"This novel—you wrote it?"
"Yes..."
"You're in the knight faculty, though. Wouldn't humanities be better if you aspire to be a novelist?"
"I-I wanted to, but..."
He let out a weak sigh and spilled his story.
Robin was the eldest son of his family, but his timid personality displeased the family head, who forced him into the academy.
Told him to man up in the knight faculty and come back a real man.
But Robin had always preferred books to swords.
No way entering knight faculty suddenly turned him into a testosterone-fueled knight-Robin.
To endure his daily torment at the academy, he escaped into writing—
That seemed to be the gist.
Explains why he lacked any knightly spirit.
I nodded and got to the point.
"So, why the sudden apology to me?"
Sad story, but what did it have to do with me?
As I asked with that look, he squeezed his eyes shut and stammered.
"I-it was just a hobby, but... I wanted someone to read it, so I hid it in the library secretly..."
"And?"
"B-but it got more popular than I thought... Word spread among the young ladies... They kept saying they wanted a sequel..."
"They did?"
"...I ended up writing you as the male lead without thinking..."
Ah, so that's why the name was so blatant. It really was based on me.
And Robin was shaking because he thought I'd be offended.
I looked down at Robin, head bowed like a criminal, and tapped the desk.
'I'm not even mad.'
Honestly, I couldn't fully grasp why he was so terrified.
Intellectually, sure, but it didn't resonate emotionally.
Just a romance novel, right?
Not satire mocking me—no one would rage over that.
If anything, fame-hungry nobles might beg to be the protagonist in an engaging story like this.
Not that I'm one, but—
Novels are just novels.
I'm literally living in one, so appearing in another isn't groundbreaking.
But that's my take.
Generally, using a noble's name without permission and getting caught isn't good.
Even for lower nobles, it could spark bad rumors—but for a grand duke's kin?
The ending wouldn't be pretty.
Thinking that way, it's not something to brush off.
Robin would see forgiveness as just delaying punishment.
Forever anxious, waiting for my axe to fall.
Already timid, the stress might drive him mad soon.
'So I need to suggest some substitute "punishment" to resolve this.'
What could I say to wrap it up neatly?
I pondered, then it hit me.
"Robin."
"Y-yes, sir!"
"You said the protagonist is me."
"Y-yes, it is..."
"Then the heroine is Laura?"
".........Yes."
I see...
Perfect. I knew how to handle Robin.
I placed a hand on the shoulder of the trembling, bowed Robin.
He flinched at the touch and slowly looked up.
To his bewildered expression, I said,
"Don't you want to write it properly?"
Not half-baked lookalikes, but using the real us as characters.
That way, I might get a hint about Laura's reaction from it.
Robin blinked at me in confusion.