Lady Crystal Is A Man - Chapter 3
The black hair that made those who saw it feel numb, the black eyes that seemed to have brought the night sky, and the white skin that made him look inhumane… Like the rumours, it gave off an atmosphere that will gently tear people apart and kill them. A cruel and frightening man.
Ironically, the Ellian Pentrine had fine lines and a beautiful, graceful appearance. It was quite unexpected because Crystal imagined a man like an iron wall.
“Why are you here, Grand Duke?”
“Is this a place I can’t come to? This is my castle.”
To Damien’s puzzled question, Ellian answered with a slight softening of his eyes. The voice that flowed in Crystal’s ear without missing a single letter was higher than expected. It was a neutral feeling, but even that remained a charm for Ellian, who seemed to be walking a tightrope between a boy and a young man.
‘If a beast growled satisfactorily, it would have sounded the same as that’, Crystal thought.
“Yes, but… Why did you come back, no, how did you come back already?”
Damien, who had played the role of a perfection butler a moment before, collapsed in an instant. Seeing that he stammered and even said what he shouldn’t say, it seemed like it wasn’t planned for Grand Duke Ellian to appear here now.
Crystal’s visit to Pentrine Castle was as sudden as the marriage proposal. Usually, after sending a letter of approval, they first should have a meeting, which included the adults of the family.
After talking, the next step would be to fill out the marriage registration form on the spot. In addition, when the bride’s side gets the jewellery and arrives at the groom’s, a normal marriage takes place.
As soon as Crystal Rotary confirmed the letter, he sent a letter saying he would go to Pentrine Castle first. In other words, he suddenly asked the Grand Duke to meet him. And he really came.
Maybe they were planning to have a meeting during the night when they put Crystal in the room.
“I came back quickly when I heard that the Lady had arrived.”
‘Look at how shameless he is. If you’re back, you can’t appear from above!’
Crystal’s image of the Grand Duke was getting weird.
Rumour had it that he was a bad man who had the perfect appearance to charm all women, but his heart was as cold as ice and he never smiled. Fairytale-like rumours were often heard about the Grand Duke, who supposedly could kill people with his breath, who was cursed by a witch at an early age and forgot how to love as a result.
‘But what’s the Grand Duke I’m seeing now?’
In fact, the image of the Grand Duke changed from the moment he entered the castle. The possibility that the fearsome, cold-blooded Grand Duke of the North might actually be gloomy, who hated people and liked seclusion was enough to shake the imagination of the Grand Duke that Crystal had built up in his mind.
Damien made the greatest contribution. The man who seemed to be strangely comfortable with the Grand Duke, whom he had imagined would attack everyone, came as a fresh shock.
In his imagination, Grand Duke Ellian was a handsome monster. But maybe he was a decent guy, too. That thought was beginning to spring up.
But now Grand Duke Ellian…
“Nice to meet you, my lady.”
Ellian, who came down the stairs alone in a relaxed manner under the impression of mesmerizing the two, stood in front of Crystal with a very different attitude from how he treated Damian. His soft voice was full of good feelings. It was almost embarrassing.
‘Grand Duke Ellian… he’s like a Casanova now.’
Casanovas pretended to be cool and handsome but seduced women. They were the type of people Julia used to tell him to be careful about. The difference was that the Grand Duke was not pretending to be cool, but not cool, handsome, but not handsome.
He was a man who could draw a good impression on everyone. But the opponent was Crystal.
“Hello, I’m Crystal Rotary.”
Crystal smiled beautifully.
Crystal’s voice was so loud that he felt his voice was hoarse. It was too thin to be a male’s voice, but it was too awkward to be a female’s voice. However, when rumours and complexions about Crystal’s health were mixed into the equation, it was somehow understandable.
Medicines that inhibit growth and transformation also helped the excuse that his body was sick seem plausible. There was no colour on his lips and no fat on his body. If Ellian was white, Crystal was pale.
Ellian still smiled leisurely, but an interesting look crossed his eyes. At the same time, his brow flinched slightly, but Crystal did not notice.
“My lady is as beautiful as I’ve heard.”
“Thank you. Grand Duke Ellian is as handsome as I’ve heard.”
‘Don’t make me laugh. There’s no rumour like that. What do you mean, as I’ve heard?’
Thoughts and words do not always coincide. Crystal recalled some of the rumours and admired the Grand Duke’s impudence. Crystal was not well known outside. A very sick, weak lady. That would be all the rumours about Crystal Rotary.
When he saw Grand Duke smiling obligingly while thinking about it, an ominous possibility crept out. The possibility that the Grand Duke’s “as I heard” was not an empty word.
The Rotary family was a family that had been lined up for the previous King. They cannot have good feelings for King Avery at a time when rumours have spread publicly that King Avery murdered his father and took the throne.
And Ellian Pentrine was a close ally of King Avery. There was good reason for him to keep an eye on the Rotary family to prevent possible unsavoury events.
The stupid Crystal Rotary was taken for a bonus.
“Nice to meet you. I was looking forward to meeting you a lot when I received a letter saying that my Lady was coming.”
‘What, the day you would kill your bride-to-be?’
The fact that Ellian was a handsome human being, not a handsome monster, didn’t wipe out other rumours about him. When he met him, the impression that he seemed to cut Crystal’s throat with a smile fueled the rumours.
In addition to the rumours, the relationship between Pentrine and Rotary, due to the situation in the Royal Palace, and now the fraudulent image Crystal was giving to Ellian… it was as though he was pulling Ellian into a common scam. But right now, it was good that Ellian seemed to have mistaken Crystal.
In Crystal’s head, Ellian had already become a man who knew everything and sharpened his blade.
“There’s a lot we have to talk about. The sooner the better… There’s no need to rush it.”
“Is that so?”
“It’s not just anything, it’s a marriage. It is an important task that only comes once in a lifetime, and what could be more unfortunate than doing it wrong due to rushing through it?”
‘You tried to scam me with something so important.’
“And my Lady’s health is the most important thing. We can’t have a long conversation with my Lady in this condition.”
‘You have to be healthy. That way I can kill you myself.’
“It appears to have gotten late because I inserted myself in the middle of your way. You must have been tired since you came a long way, so I’ll leave you for today.”
‘I’ll spare you today.’
“Let’s meet again tomorrow and talk.”
‘You’ll die tomorrow.’
Crystal heard his words, but in his head, the words got changed. It must have felt like when you feel dizzy.
Crystal, who grew up in an environment where a calm daily life was repeated, was experiencing the second most frightening thing.
The first was not long ago, when the Duke, his biological father, first came by unannounced. He really thought everything was over that day. Had Julia not been there, Crystal would have had to return to a more difficult path.
After talking, Ellian reached out his hand gracefully. Crystal couldn’t help but understand what the posture with the palms facing him meant. Crystal put his hand on it, praying that his hand would not tremble.
Grand Duke Ellian also wore gloves. The hands in thick winter gloves touched one another. The thick leather gloves made the person beyond the gloves feel no warmth.
Even considering how lightly Crystal had placed his fingers on it, it was not too much like a human hand. In fact, it seemed that he had grasped a well-made doll’s hand.
Thinking like that, he noticed that Grand Duke Ellian’s hands were smaller than he thought. If you put their palms together, Crystal’s hands would be bigger.
Damien followed them silently. He walked two blocks down so that he wouldn’t disturb them.
Then Crystal caught sight of a strange observation. Grand Duke Ellian was walking one step ahead of Crystal. It was hard to notice because Crystal moved naturally at the time of realizing it, not being up in front.
Grand Duke Ellian was shorter than he thought.
‘Is he a little taller than me?’ As soon as that thought came to mind, they were at the top of the flight of stairs, and Ellian kissed the back of his hand.
“Have a good night, my lady.”
Whispering, Ellian climbed the next step as if nothing had happened. Damien quickly took over escorting Crystal.
Even the back of the hand was covered by leather gloves and there was no feeling. A light kiss cannot pierce thick leather. But for some reason, the back of the hand under the gloves felt itchy, so Crystal pressed the back of the hand with the other hand.
Kissing on the back of the hand was a farewell that you’d often see when you part ways. But he would be seeing Crystal often. The kiss on the back of the hand was an expression of affection Hans poured on Marianne under the pretext of greeting.
It was the first time Crystal received it himself. It felt strange.
“Oh, my Lady, I almost forgot this.”
Crystal turned around at Ellian’s call.
Just like when he first appeared, Ellian stood on the stairs and met Crystal’s eyes. His black eyes were so deep that Crystal couldn’t guess what he was thinking.
“Welcome to Pentrine Castle.”
Ellian said with sincerity.
Unfortunately, his welcome had a different meaning to Crystal. Crystal heard his words as so:
‘I can see clearly what you’re thinking. I know you’re a man, cheater.’
‘You think I didn’t know you proposed to me because you were running away from the Rotary family’s succession fight?’
‘Did I look so complacent? Do you think I’ll fit into your plans?’
‘Why? Why would I have allowed you to use me? You’re gonna make it to the castle and then I’m gonna end you myself.’
Crystal interpreted his words and imagined them to the point of the Grand Duke stabbing him.
His face turned white.
***
“Grand Duke, this is different from the plan!”
“Plan? Wasn’t meeting Crystal the plan?”
“According to your plan, you were supposed to meet the lady tomorrow morning.”
“Tomorrow morning or tonight, it doesn’t make a difference.”
Ellian lazily leaned back in his chair and took off his gloves. Damian, who was stomping his feet, lightly knocked on the desk.
“It does make a difference. We don’t have any information on Lady Rotary yet. You don’t know what she’s here for?”
“Is there anything else besides marriage?”
Damien wanted to thump his chest and scream at Ellian. He felt frustrated whenever Ellian acted nonchalantly about his secret.
“She is a Rotary. She may come and try to kill the Grand Duke under the pretext of getting married. Or maybe she came to catch the Grand Duke’s weakness.”
“What weakness.”
“Anything. What would happen if that young lady found out that the Grand Duke was a woman?”
Even in front of Damian, who spoke of her own secret, Ellian remained unconcerned. Normally, it would be a secret, but not a weakness. However, if she was a marriage partner, the story was different.
“Of course, the Grand Duke’s acting as a man may be a flaw, but it won’t be a weakness. But with a Rotary lady, it’s a different story.”
“…”
“If they claim about the Grand Duke, that you played a man and harassed a lady from the Rotary family…”
Damien sighed deeply. If they claimed it was a fraudulent marriage, they had no excuse. The Rotary lady proposed first, but it was true that Ellian married her without saying Ellian was a woman.
At least they had to be prepared for a situation where they could make a deal with Crystal if the secret was found out. Whether it was threatening by catching a weakness or negotiating by giving them what she needed.
“Tomorrow morning or tonight. How would I walk around outside if it was a secret that would have been discovered by such a time difference?”
Ellian, who spoke nonchalantly, took a comfortable stance. Neither bravado nor arrogant. Ellian was really sure that she will look like a boyish man on the outside.
That was because no one noticed, at least until now. It was a short meeting, but she didn’t think the woman, Crystal, was very smart.
Damien wanted to refute Ellian’s words, but he had nothing to say. He had seen Ellian for too long to say anything. He had been anxious to see her casually hanging out among men, but that was all in the past.
This case was not like that, though. Damien shook his head.
“Because you never know. You should have made your decision after receiving the letter from the informant at dawn.”
“Ah, the letter… It’s already here.”
A flowing finger that exposed her bare skin pointed at the stack of papers in front of Damien. He saw an envelope with a red wax seal on the paper. Damien smiled and picked up the letter.
“There it is. I thought there was no way the Grand Duke would ignore the plan without thinking.”
“It is here.”
Damien’s joy was short-lived.
“You haven’t opened it.”
The wax seal still sealed the envelope without a scratch. Ellian took the letter from Damien’s stiff hand that was holding it.
“Let’s see. What kind of lady is she?”
[Ed./N]: Hello it’s me again! Just wanted to say, concerning Ellian’s pronouns, it will be the same situation as Crystal’s (explained in the previous chapter). Again, if you find it a bit too confusing or have any suggestions, please let us know and we’ll take them into consideration 🙂
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