1. Intimate Secret (Part 4)

When he handed her the paper, she quickly snatched it. Seeing the paper in her hand, he stepped closer. Close enough that their breaths collided, and he brushed his fingertips across her jawline. Alexander smirked as he watched her eyelashes flutter.

It’s a bit amusing.

“Why did you write something like this?”

As Alexander asked, various options flashed before Eirin’s eyes.

Should I claim that I wrote it for myself? Or would it be better to say I wrote it to sell as a novel? 

No matter what, she was already considered a crazy woman.

Since it had already been revealed, she had long since given up on the image she projected to Alexander. Her main concern now was ensuring Alexander didn’t spread the word.

“Promise me you won’t tell anyone.”

“I promise.”

“Never, never, never tell anyone.”

“I promise on my life.”

“Especially not to my brother.”

“I don’t even know what to say to him. I promise, I won’t tell anyone.”

Eirin’s lips trembled at his firm response. It was too embarrassing to say that she’d been reading a raunchy novel and couldn’t control her urges, that she’d written what she wanted to write. It would seem less strange to say she wrote it for money.

“I wrote it for money, to sell it.”

Alexander’s eyes widened at her words.

He had heard stories recently about novels dealing not only with romance but also with passion being popular among noble ladies. He didn’t necessarily think poorly of it. People’s desires need an outlet, and he thought it was good to express it through creative works rather than engaging in promiscuity with multiple partners.

However, he was surprised to learn that Eirin, an unmarried noblewoman, had taken up this endeavor. Usually, such romantic fiction was the domain of well-educated educators or married noblewomen as a pastime.

“How did you end up writing such novels? It’s not something an unmarried lady of a noble family should do, and you know that well.”

“That’s…”

Eirin sighed and spoke.

“I’m 24 years old. Where would I find someone to marry a woman like me who’s already so old? So I need to make some money, and I’ve heard that novels like this can pay well.”

Eirin shamelessly lied, rubbing her forehead with her hand as if she were really in need of money. Without stopping her red lips, she eloquently spun lies to escape this predicament.

In fact, after her first book sold, an unexpectedly large sum of money came into Eirin’s hands. While the initial intention wasn’t money-driven, Eirin had put her heart and soul into deceiving him.

Would Alexander fall for it?

“Lie.”

He’s not buying it.

Eirin’s thin wrist trembled slightly as she bit her tongue at the coldness in Alexander’s voice.

“You do realize that I know Stefan’s finances better than anyone, right down to the hefty dowry that will be due when you marry, right?”

“That’s only if I get married. Stefan will be getting married soon, and then….”

“That won’t happen, but even if you don’t get married, Stefan will still prepare enough money for you to live comfortably alone.”

A sigh escaped Eirin’s lips at Alexander’s resolute tone.

Her flimsy excuse would never hold up under the scrutiny of someone who knew her situation well.

With a voice that was so resolute, a sigh escaped from Eirin’s lips.

It was an excuse that would not work for someone who knew the circumstances well.

However, at this point, she couldn’t possibly say that she simply wanted to write an erotic piece. She decided to stick to her original opinion.

Having made up her mind, Eirin lifted her chin and said stubbornly.

“I can’t just keep taking money from my brother for the rest of my life, even when I turn sixty or seventy without ever getting married.”

Hearing her words, a crease formed on Alexander’s smooth forehead.

“So, you wrote a novel?”

“Yes.”

Thinking he might finally believe her, Eirin put on a dejected expression. Both of them knew well that Stefan wasn’t the type of man who would abandon his sister.

But the anxiety about having to live alone was something everyone had.

Closing her eyes halfway, Eirin put on a gloomy expression. She slowly blinked her long eyelashes, moistening her eyes.

Maybe now Alexander would pity me.

Contrary to her expectations, however, he looked at Eirin with an even more displeased expression. His handsome face, adored by many women of the social scene, was contorted.

Not fooled again.

“Why don’t you just get married then?”

Lowering the hand that had been touching her face, Eirin whispered.

“Because I can’t get married.”

“You do know there are plenty of men interested in you.”

“They’re all low-life bastards who only care about dowries and they see women merely as a means to carry on their lineage. They don’t care about respect or love.”

After spitting out the word “bastards”, Eirin gathered her words again. She was getting too emotional.

“That expression was inappropriate. I apologize for my rude behavior. But I won’t apologize to those men. They deserve that treatment.”

Looking at her firmly closed lips, Alexander couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry.

“Where did you learn such lascivious things?”

“What?”

“Have you been meeting other men?”

“Of course not.”

Her hand crumpled the paper.

“I just wrote it from my imagination.”

Her lips, chewed on meticulously, turned red. So red, it looked like it might ooze blood at any moment.

“But the details were quite vivid for just imagination.”

Though only one page, her novel had a power to depict more intricately than any eccentric painting by an artist.

“It’s because I have a vivid imagination.”

“But there are many things you couldn’t write without experience.”

“Th-that’s because… I’ve read a lot of those kinds of novels…”

She swallowed the words she was about to say. She couldn’t bring herself to explain why she had read such novels. She couldn’t possibly say that she read those novels because her mature body itched.

It’s frustrating that I have no experience!

Eirin quickly cut off the words that were about to burst out and complained.

“I can’t even imagine anything these days, so I’ve been having writer’s block.”

“You’re telling me you’ve never been in a relationship with another man? Never… had such relationships?”

“Of course.”

Eirin lifted her chin. She’d been promiscuous in her imagination, but in real life, she’d never even kissed a man.

“Because of my lack of experience, I was thinking I might have to meet some men… just to get some material for writing.”

Alexander’s eyebrows twisted at Eirin’s words. She hurried to justify.

“But of course, it’s just a thought since there are no men around me. My imagination has run out of material for the story, that’s all.”

She was just thinking about it, of course, she couldn’t put it into action. There were no such men around her anyway. Eirin’s lips moved hesitantly, as if some tension had been released.

“Since I’ve given up on marriage, I’m not too concerned about my reputation. But I don’t want to cause any trouble for my brother. If people find out I’m a troublemaker, it will bring shame to him and the family. And then, who would want to marry me?”

Speaking freely, as if she had nothing left to hide, Eirin was looked at with a crooked gaze by Alexander.

“Haa.”

A sigh escaped through his teeth. 

What should I do with this girl?