I Don’t Want the Obsession of a Twisted Archduke

We returned to the Great Duchy from a rather long exploration of the temple and I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed at the moment. I had no choice but to.

There was an untimely wind blowing around the domain. The wind of paint candy I sent along with the snack I got from Pandora’s store owner.

‘However, I don’t understand what’s going on here .’

All of the employees were currently churning around the castle, their lips turning red and blue. Moreover, the atrocities of those employees didn’t end here.

Somehow, whenever I run into them, or they come to me first, they begin to send mixed greetings. Like a ritual of something. I thought flattery started again.

“ - Master of Romani, our miraculous and mysterious Highness. Did you have a great day today? We always cheer for you.”

Later, during the afternoon. Walking in the garden, I quickly greeted the passing employees and then heard the sound of two maids passing by, giggling.

“Have you heard? Your vision told me that you were very active in the war instead.”

“Of course I heard it. I heard our Highness put the Archduke to sleep at once when he was about to go on a rampage. He said it looked like an angel.”

“Really, I hear that the Goddess of the Empire has come down?”

“…”

“…”

“That’s love.”

“It’s love.”

Instead, they were making a fuss about what happened in the past.

‘I can hear that, too.’

I became gloomy at that moment. The rumors had already reached the ears of the employees here. I was wondering who had spread the words on those events. There were so many candidates this time that I couldn’t guess.

Eventually, I headed to the dining room with a rotten look on my face.

“Your Highness, the snacks you sent me have always been favorable to the nobles and the common people.”

This was Jean’s usual banter as he served me my meal.

It was said that this was the beginning of the work. When huge amounts of snacks flowed into the Great Duchy, Jean distributed them to the employees. However, that amount was huge.

Those who usually would not have been able to afford such snacks distributed it to family members and their acquaintances. However, the families and acquaintances couldn’t handle the amount of snacks, so they sprinkled them to people around them. As everyone ate the snacks, and it was a delicacy that they had never eaten before, it was said that the number of people looking for it increased dramatically.

‘There.’

When rumors spread that the snacks originated in the Romani Great Duchy, the number of people who wanted the snacks increased by joining the nobles who were watching the situation silently.

‘Oh, my God. Is it something like the butterfly effect.’

Nonetheless, the funny thing here was that there were still a lot of snacks in the warehouse.

‘… That man. How many snacks did you send?’

“As with the other sweets, in particular, the tongue-changing paint candy, against its uniqueness, is so popular among the common people and even the nobles.”

“… I see.”

‘Didn’t you say you’d give me 10% off the proceeds from selling snacks?’

Hmm. This was pretty good.

Should we make dalgona coffee now? If I could do well making whipped coffee, it could become a trend.

I picked up the snack in front of me thinking about how I could make money one way or the other.

As I was long in my thoughts, Jean made another fuss, referring to what happened before. Apparently, Jean was not the source of the rumor at this time. Well, that was enough.

‘What will I do if I know who spread the rumor? Let’s give up and stop worrying over details. Let’s just eat some snacks and the worry will melt away.’

I picked up another cookie with an expression of euphoria, and as I was about to eat it, Jean suddenly looked like he thought of something important.

“Oh, my God. Elvin is back, have you met him?”

‘Huh? Elvin?’

I shook my head lightly.

“No, we haven’t met yet.”

‘I haven’t seen Kyle since this morning, it’s probably because of Elvin… But why?’

Jean looked perplexed at my answer.

“That’s strange. Elvin said he had a letter for your Highness.”

A letter? This news pricked my ears.

***

After finishing the meal and heading to the office, Elvin visited me shortly after.

“Welcome, Elvin. I’ve already heard you had something for me.”

I greeted Elvin as if I had waited for him. As I faced him, he looked surprised. I didn’t mean anything by it. The reason for his bewildered expression came from another place.

“I’ve heard that you have an office, uh…”

That was right. It was because of my office that Elvin had such a face. As soon as he came in, he couldn’t take his eyes off every corner of the place. He probably thought I would have a rough arrangement dropped randomly, but the office was comparable to Kyle’s workplace. He seemed very surprised.

“What do you say?”

Elvin nodded softly. I felt as if I were pointing out Elvin’s mind.

“Yes, I heard it was made in a hurry, but it's better than I thought.”

At first glance, it sounded like a compliment, but it had a thorny meaning; this much office was too much for me as the hostess.

‘I can’t help thinking like that.’

Elvin has never even seen me work. For him, the only master in this castle was the Archduke; Kyle.

‘You wouldn’t feel happy that I have a similar level of office to Kyle, which probably looks like a gimmick to Elvin.’

He might even think that it didn’t make sense. Well, it didn’t matter.

“At this time, Elvin’s also should make an…”

“No, thank you. How can an aide have an office or something?”

Was it not blasphemous? Were you not working that hard?

I was tempted to say those things to him… but I contained myself to keep quiet. He was a man of tenacity.

When a man was so obstinate, he would never listen to what others say by his side. As such, I noticed he had been frowning for quite some time.

“Oh, I have a letter for you, my lady.”

As Elvin was about to hand the letter from his arms, he added as if he suddenly remembered something.

“These days, I’ve heard from rumors that your Highness has a very good reputation. I heard you calmed down his Highness who was about to go on a rampage.”

I couldn’t believe the rumors already reached Elvin’s ear? Then there must already be a lot of rumors in society. It was so fast..

I put on a smile radiating with positivity instead of answering, Elvin kept talking.

“Honestly, I didn’t know you’d be this good to play the role of a fiancé. So I look forward to your kind cooperation in the future.”

What Elvin was holding out to me this time was the high probability that this letter was from Doman.

‘How dare you say that while giving me that letter.’

This must be some kind of warning; don’t betray my master recklessly.

Just by looking at the timing, it was clear that Elvin was a bad-tempered man in many ways.

“Thank you, Elvin. I’ll keep that in mind.”

I accepted the letter with a smile keeping my eyes open; staring at him. Then, suddenly, there was something that caught my eyes. They were old snacks on the desk. I looked at the snack and asked Elvin.

“Elvin, these are popular snacks. Would you like to try them?”

“Snacks? I don’t really like that kind of thing. However, if it’s a gift, I appreciate the gesture.”

What was he saying? Did Elvin want snacks or not? It seems it was the kind of situation where I would just have to give it to him.

I pointed my hand at the snacks and suggested.

“Well, let’s pick what you could like here.”

“Thank you.”

Elvin picked up a cookie, peeled it, and chewed it off. Wait. What? Did you peel it?

“Wait, Elvin. If you eat it like that…”

“What?”

Oh, my God.

“Why do you have to choose that?’

Elvin seemed unexpectedly fond of snacks, unlike his previous words. However, Elvin’s choices were a paint candy mixed with the cookies.

It was blue. From his lips to his tongue, everything was blue.

As I have said before, Elvin has generally shown a favorable attitude to everything, but he was a very hard-headed man.

In short terms, it was about him being highly knowledgeable.

Elvin was also the one who preached the most to employees and knights in the Great Duchy. Clothing, hair, cleanliness, words, actions and deeds. If it was a school, would he be like a teacher?

What if such a person finds out that his lips unexpectedly turned blue?

“Then, my lady. I will be taking my leave now.”

“Oh, wait, El…”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m busy with my next schedule, so I think I should get going. We’ll talk about something else later. Then goodbye.”

I didn’t even have time to say anything as Elvin basically talked to himself, cutting any words I could have said.

With his blue lips.

‘Well, what should I do?’

It was a bit of a problem, but it was also due to his bad attitude. It would disappear by the end of the day, so it would be fine.