Chapter 9
“I trust you didn’t write that cheap, dirty ro… no, that erotic novel.”
“Mother, your son is a naval commander. A proper commander shouldn’t even have time to write love letters.”
Ian suddenly remembered the apricot-colored envelope and added,
“With Ernest being bad enough, now you children too… Ian, I’m exhausted.”
Violet whispered as if she might disappear at any moment.
“I’m only holding on to Edward by force because of my own greed, but I feel like he’ll give up his succession rights at this rate. Of course, I’ll try to persuade him somehow…”
When his mother summoned him to Windsorbell Palace, Ian had expected the topic of succession to come up.
“Ian, do your duty.”
He expected it, but he still felt like he couldn’t breathe. Those words meant she wanted him to prepare to inherit the throne instead of Edward.
“I always tell you this. You were all born to live lives others would envy, lives of value.”
Value. That was the word Violet always repeated to her children.
“To destroy your own value with your own hands… I’m so disappointed in Edward.”
“……”
“Please, don’t disappoint me too.”
She even brought up ‘disappointment’ in the end. She was perfect.
“So I want you to clear up these rumors first. I can’t stand my children being the subject of obscene gossip.”
Violet pointed at the ‘Noble Cut’ on the table with her eyes. Her blue gaze was icy.
“I trust you’ll handle it cleanly.”
With that expression, there was nothing Ian could do.
Misfortune always comes without warning.
“Natalie!”
“Ugh…”
She groaned even in her sleep, probably hungover again today.
But Natalie? Who’s calling my name so loudly?
“Get up. Wake up right now.”
“Ah… Mary, just a little longer…”
As usual, she tried to hide under the covers, but suddenly the blanket was yanked away.
“I said get up now!”
Before she could even come to her senses, someone grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up. Blinking in confusion…
“What, what? …Bianca?”
In front of her was her younger sister, Bianca, dressed perfectly even early in the morning.
But she wasn’t the elegant and dignified Countess of Rutherford. She was just “Bianca Dawes,” with her sharp temper. For a moment, still half asleep, Natalie felt like she’d gone back to being fifteen.
“Why are you here so early without warning… Let go of me and then talk!”
“What on earth have you done?”
“What?”
Bianca glanced over her shoulder to check the door, then let go of Natalie’s collar roughly.
“You really do hide that temper well! Does the Count know?”
“Keep your voice down. Damn it.”
Bianca gritted her teeth, muttered harshly, and pulled a wad of papers from her coat. She threw them in Natalie’s face.
“Hey!”
“Read it.”
Bianca spoke with a stiff face.
What’s with her? That expression only came out when Bianca was truly angry, so Natalie started to feel uneasy. She quietly picked up one of the scattered pages from the bed and began to read.
The lower her eyes went, the paler her face became.
She didn’t even have time to feel the shame of having her secret diary exposed to the world. When she finally looked up, her fingertips were trembling. It was out of fear.
“How did you get this?”
The pile of papers Bianca brought was evidence proving that David was actually Natalie Dawes. There were handwriting analysis of letters exchanged with the publisher, bank account details, and more.
“…You’re not even denying it.”
Bianca turned her head away, her face twisted. She stared into space for a long time, then spoke calmly.
“My husband didn’t tell me right away, so I found out too late. It looks like the prosecutor has already decided to put David on trial, so the police might show up today.”
Natalie just stared at the scattered papers with a pale face. Bianca hurriedly gathered the papers and spoke.
“First, let’s see a lawyer.”
“Wait, just a minute.”
She’d already decided to quit everything. She was going to seriously look for a husband and settle into that so-called lady’s life.
So why?
When Natalie couldn’t pull herself together, Bianca shouted.
“We don’t have time for this, Natalie! Get up!”
“No… but, the prosecutor…”
“The House of Lords has accused David of ‘serious obscenity’ in court, and the prosecutor has already decided to indict. So hurry… ”
“Me…?”
Natalie muttered blankly.
At the same time, Bianca, who was pulling Natalie’s arm, froze. Her face twisted in misery.
“…Yes, you.”
Bianca whispered weakly.
“You’re about to go to jail, Natalie.”
Apparently, agreeing to let the past go didn’t mean it was really over. Serious obscenity? Natalie felt like she was dreaming.
“…Why did you do it?”
Bianca asked, looking like she might cry.
‘I just wrote down my fantasies. If you ask why…’
Natalie’s lips parted as if she wanted to say something. But she couldn’t speak easily. Seeing this, Bianca finally raised her voice.
“Oh, forget it! Don’t say anything. It’ll just be that ‘special life’ excuse again!”
She turned her back with a look of utter disgust.
“I’m sick of your indecisiveness. I don’t know what you want.”
Indecisive was the right word.
Natalie had never really wanted to be a writer. Writing dirty stories in secret was just a hobby to relieve her frustration.
After debuting in society and meeting Christina Doweigh, she got back into erotic novels and, as a joke, sent her writing to a publisher.
So even when her work was serialized in magazines and finally published as a book, Natalie never really felt like she was David.
‘What’s a single young lady doing as David, anyway?’
She had unconsciously drawn a strict line between herself and ‘David.’
In the publishing world, writing wasn’t considered a woman’s job. To avoid prejudice and criticism, women writers often used male pen names.
That was still the world they lived in.
But a lady, writing erotic novels? She knew she’d be condemned if her identity was revealed.
“I just felt trapped. I wanted to try something besides becoming someone’s bride, someone’s wife, someone’s mother…”
Terrified, Natalie stumbled over her words, then closed her mouth.
Ah. What are you babbling about, Natalie Dawes? Look at Bianca’s face. Look at those disgusted eyes.
Yes, she was afraid of looks like that. But when she wrote, she could finally breathe, so she couldn’t stop. It was all her own fault for being so indecisive.
“You wrote that filth for a reason like that? If you wanted to write so badly, you should’ve written criticism or something. Why write stories you can’t even admit are yours!”
What’s so wrong with chasing pleasure and excitement? Is it really that bad? Everyone enjoyed reading it, but the moment they found out a young woman was the author, it became a serious obscenity.
But she couldn’t say it out loud.
“What kind of thinking leads you to write that stuff? How could an unmarried young lady write like that! What do you think people will say? What do you think they’ll say about the Dawes family now?”
Natalie’s eyes started to shake even more anxiously.
“What about our little sister? What about Dorothy’s life? You might not care and did this in secret, but Dorothy dreams of marriage. You should’ve at least only ruined your own life.”
Like Bianca said, this wouldn’t end with Natalie Dawes being kicked out of society. At this rate, the Dawes family wouldn’t even be able to set foot in Dwan.
‘Dorothy. She hasn’t even debuted in society yet. What am I going to do?’
Tears quickly welled up in Natalie’s dark eyes and soon started falling onto the white blanket. Bianca saw this and wiped her face in frustration.
“Natalie, do you think everyone else is stupid?”
Her voice was full of despair.
No. That’s not true. But Natalie held her breath and just let the tears fall.
Would it have been okay if she’d stopped writing a little sooner? She had no idea how to fix the disaster her carelessness had caused.
“But Natalie, I didn’t just accept a lady’s fate because I’m stupid. I’ve enjoyed privileges, so I did my duty and faced reality. How long are you going to live in a dream?”
“Bianca, I…”
“I thought you just liked to complain, but you were actually doing something. No, it’s even worse. You should’ve done nothing at all.”
The moment Natalie stopped breathing, the door opened and a gloomy shadow stretched across the end of the bed.
Natalie and Bianca instinctively turned their heads toward the open door.
Standing in the doorway was Mrs. Heaton. The light was behind her, so her expression was hidden.
“Get out of my ‘Heaton Park’ right now.”
It was the coldest voice Natalie had ever heard from Mrs. Heaton.
Only then did she notice the newspaper, crumpled in Mrs. Heaton’s hand. Bianca squeezed her eyes shut.
The shocking truth about David. The shame of all ladies, Miss Natalie Dawes.
It was only some time later that Natalie learned the headline on the front page of the paper Mrs. Heaton had been holding. Her world began to fall apart rapidly.
***
Prince Ian’s aide, Marcus Peeble, stood at attention and began to explain.
“David is classified as an erotic novelist, so the critics were sure he was a man…”
He’d already spent ten years with the prince, but since Ian started his military service, they barely saw each other. Maybe that’s why he still wasn’t used to that cold gaze.
Still, Marcus was afraid he’d lose his job, so he kept talking.
“So everyone was sure it was the famous critic, Marquess Norbeck…”
“It wasn’t.”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
A deep crease formed between the prince’s brows.
Marcus bowed his head deeply in apology. At times like this, it was best to grovel.
The man he served always wore a heavenly smile on his angelic face, but that didn’t mean he had an angel’s heart.
The shame of all ladies, Miss Natalie Dawes.
Ian looked at the headline on the front page of the newspaper as if it were an uncontrollable headache.
