Chapter 25
Chapter 25
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Giving Her Something She'll Like
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Don't avoid me. Look at me."
A voice like a beast growling.
Laura gazed into the man's eyes, which were fixed straight on her.
Even at his young age, his pupils brimmed with the arrogance of the man who propped up one of the empire's great pillars.
But deep within those eyes, which seemed filled with fury at first glance, dark and murky emotions churned like waves.
Anxiety. And desperation.
They were base emotions unfit for someone so noble.
And those emotions didn't exist solely within him.
A faint tremor ran through the arm gripping her.
Now, even his rough and curt expression couldn't hide it—he was pleading with Laura.
Don't abandon me.
"Why are you avoiding me? I am Dominica. I can give you everything. Everything in this empire!"
"...You know that's not the reason, Leon."
"Then what is it?!"
"I... I'm not a good match for you. You... you have to think of your family."
"Family? Family?!"
"Yes. You know it too, don't you? That the lady of the Mondial family is the path for your house."
A lie reluctantly spoken to mask her true feelings.
Leon tore it apart in an instant.
"No, that's wrong."
"Wrong? That's—"
"The family is for me. Not me for the family! You showed me that. You, of all people, showed me!"
"But Leon, you've lived your whole life for your family."
"Yes, I have."
Leon smiled.
Then he reached out and brushed Laura's chin, as if touching thin glass.
His body heat transferred over.
At this distance where their breaths mingled, Leon revealed his true feelings to Laura—feelings he hid from everyone else.
"But if I have you, none of that matters."
"...".
"Be mine. Look only at me, accept only me."
Then, I'll give you everything I have.
Laura looked into his eyes as his voice whispered to her soul.
Pupils drawing her in with inescapable gravitational pull.
Laura realized it then.
Ah, I can never escape these eyes.
Just as she had captured Leon's heart, he had unknowingly seized her soul.
Laura's lips parted slightly.
From them escaped a small moan.
It sounded like pain, yet also like ecstasy.
Realizing this, Leon smirked darkly and drew closer to her—
...
Thud.
As I closed the book, Robin, who had been watching me with a pounding heart, asked,
"S-So, what did you think?"
What did I think?
I pictured the scene I'd just read in my mind, then said to Robin,
"Not helpful at all."
"N-No way!"
Robin looked so disappointed it was like an explosion sound effect was about to burst out.
But even that expression didn't change my evaluation.
This novel—
"How is this supposed to be me in any way?"
There's nothing of me in it at all.
What was I supposed to reference from this?
****
Instead of punishing Robin, I'd asked him to write a novel.
Part of it was that the novel, which I'd read after so long purely for fun, had been enjoyable—
But mainly because, since it was a 'romance novel,' I thought I might pick up some hints on relationships between men and women.
That's why I'd told him to change the protagonist 'Leonhardt Dominite' to 'Leonardo Dominica' and make him as much like me as possible.
But I'd been mistaken.
About how simply changing the protagonist's name to mine wouldn't reflect my actual behavior.
And about how Robin only used my image without knowing me at all.
That's why seeing the 'I've lived madly for my family, but for you I'd throw it all away and become your dog' type of male lead made my head spin a bit.
My head spun so much that, without realizing it, I confronted Robin.
"The dialogue flow is weird from the start. A guy boasting about giving everything and invoking his family's power suddenly says the family doesn't matter? Does he have split personality?"
"Humans are inherently dualistic beings..."
"Sure, that could be. But obsessing alone and trying to force a kiss when she hasn't even answered properly? Isn't that just psychotic?"
I imagined such a person existing in reality for a moment and shuddered.
If I were the Laura in this novel, I'd probably wet myself and run away.
Betting the family on one woman? Is that even a plausible plot?
Even if it worked, if she accepted, he'd be 100% assassinated.
A ducal house isn't some neighborhood shop—would the retainers just sit by while the head did something insane?
But surprisingly, Robin pushed back against my words.
"B-But I think this plot really works..."
"What are you talking about, Robin?"
"Saying he can give everything shows the man's high status, and choosing the woman despite giving it up proves how intensely he loves her..."
"But abandoning the family means he loses that status."
"W-Well, that's just talk... It probably works out later somehow...?"
So, 'an amazingly capable guy who claims to love me more than everything he has and would prove it, but actually doesn't, and just loves me'?
What a contrived setup, cherry-picking only the sticky human desires to stimulate.
Of course, I knew that.
Novels are like that by nature.
Especially in this type where as long as it's fun, any lack of logic is forgiven.
But with my name slapped on it, I couldn't accept it that way.
My instincts rebelled, screaming 'Get this blasphemous pile of text out of here!'
I shook my head to dispel the romance novel text rattling in my brain.
'Novels are just novels, after all.'
I'd asked for it hoping for even a small hint on how to get along with Laura—
But it didn't seem reference-worthy.
At this point, I might as well just use this novel for casual reading—
As I thought that, a voice called out.
"Oh my, Leon?"
"...Kiara? What are you doing here?"
"What else? I came to borrow a book or something. You're the surprising one here, aren't you? The kid who never cared about books."
And call me big brother.
Kiara spoke in a more subdued voice than usual, perhaps because we were in the library.
Robin flinched at her sudden appearance, and Kiara glanced at him before pointing to the book in my hand.
"But what's that book? It doesn't look like one from the library."
"This guy's the one who wrote it."
"A student wrote it?"
"Yes! Yup!"
"Hmm, is that so?"
Robin answered loudly on reflex, then shrank back, glancing toward the librarian.
Kiara snatched the book from my hand with a quick "Excuse me for a sec" and skimmed through it.
A moment later, her eyes widened as she said,
"Wait, this is 'Tame Me, Duke'! And it's the unpublished part!"
"You know it?"
"Of course! It's trending so hard right now, you can't have a conversation without knowing it! So you're Robinson the author?"
"Y-Yes... Ahaha..."
"Nice to meet you, author! I'm a fan!"
Robin gave an awkward smile as he affirmed her excited question.
Robinson? Pen name, huh?
Real name Robin, pen name Robinson...
Good at writing novels, terrible at naming.
'Trending to the point where you can't talk without knowing it?'
I'd thought it would sell well when I read it, and he'd admitted it himself—
But I hadn't expected it to sell that well.
I looked at Robin with newfound eyes.
He fidgeted awkwardly at meeting a reader in person.
But the corners of his mouth crept upward in contrast.
He must have been thrilled to hear 'fan.'
After pulling Robin's mouth corners up to his ears with her praise, Kiara grilled me.
"If you knew Robinson the author, you should've told me sooner! I wouldn't have had to come to the library every day begging for the book!"
"How was I supposed to know? Why would I mention it ahead of time?"
"You're always so oblivious to trends! Ugh, whatever. So what were you doing? Helping with new story ideas? Or wait, this version's a bit different from the original—"
Kiara bombarded us with questions, curious about what Robin and I were up to.
I picked out the key points from her barrage and explained the situation.
Well, not the full story—just that I'd been checking the novel for ways to get along better with Laura.
But Kiara found my answer amusing and covered her mouth, chuckling.
"Studying romance from a novel? You're more innocent than I thought."
"...I just wondered if there might be something useful. It was a waste of time in the end."
"Yeah, learning love from a book is pretty dumb."
Kiara nodded with a mischievous grin at my words.
But then she changed her expression and contradicted herself.
"Still, it's not without reference value. Especially for you, Leon."
"Reference this?"
Reference the incarnation of contrived convenience, molded purely for reader fantasies...?
Act out the 'I've lived madly for my family, but for you I'd throw it all away and become your dog' male lead right now?
Kiara shook her head at my words.
"No, not acting."
"Then?"
"Doesn't the Leon in this novel do something to win her favor?"
Something Leon in the novel does to win favor?
Wasn't it just 'You're more important than my family, boo-hoo'?
Kiara shook her head again.
"No, even before that."
"Before that? The only thing before was him showing off his wealth—"
"Yes, exactly that!"
Huh? That?
Show off my wealth to Laura?
Before I could ask, Kiara revealed the answer.
"It's about giving her something she'll like! Wouldn't that make things better between you?"
Ah, a gift.
...Now that I thought about it, that was an option.
The idea was so unexpected that my face went blank.