The Seirart Empire is the home to a monstrous Grand Duke.

It was not certain how these rumors of him were shaped and pervaded. However, some declared that it was because of his deviant appearance while others had remarked on his vicious salacity.

Nevertheless, the horror had been inflicted to everyone. In fact, those who had neither seen him before nor understood him thoroughly, were already terrified of him.

The monster who was also known as the “Wolf of the Imperial Family”, had done nothing for the nation. Apparently, the rumor that those who were close to him were even killed without any hesitation was more than enough to impose fear upon the public.

Even though people were horrified, they still made him into an interesting gossip. As the stories revolving around the nobility were always hidden from the peering eyes of the commoners, the rumors then grew increasingly vicious as days went by.

On the other hand, it was decided that the monstrous Grand Duke would be introduced to his fiancée during springtime.

The two families had never seen each other before as there were only correspondences and greetings transpired between the heads of the families. Nevertheless, the engagement uniting the two ménages had already been determined by The Understanding Mountain that was in accordance to the oratory.

There were complaints surrounding the Count’s formalities, of course, especially in terms of responding to the engagement as it can be seen to be filled with power relations. However, these were ultimately forgotten. This was due to the rumors encircling the monstrous Grand Duke that were far more interesting than a single person’s miniscule protest.

“Vivian!”

The sentiment was also accurate to the Countess of Britton, who was the one betrothed to that very monstrous Grand Duke.

Vivian was with her friend happily when she got startled upon hearing her name being called. There it was, the chief of the city who was looking for her.

“I just want to ask, are you going to do it in January?”

“Yes? But, I’ve done it already.”

Vivian was not only baffled, she also hadn’t the slightest idea that her face would be stretched as well.

“Even if she said that you haven’t done it at all?”

“I have…”

As Vivian yelled, she suddenly felt embarrassed and slowly closed her lips. I think I know who did it. Nevertheless, she also knew that she could never win.

“Go and kneel to the lady, now.”

Vivian stopped herself to say something and gave a slight nod. There was only one person who could have done something as firmly as that.

When she had arrived before the lady’s presence, Vivian sighed softly. The life she led had been full with obstructions, so she knew that she would never be able to avoid this.

“Do come in, Miss Vivian.”

As the door parted, she could see the face of the young countess, a face that conveyed discomfort. Vivian fell to her knees as soon as their eyes were locked on each other.

“I apologize for my mistake.”

Vivian had realized that this was not a trivial problem as indicated by the lady’s tone of voice. At that moment, she could not do much. Even if she hadn’t done anything wrong, she still had to just prostrate herself.

“We are very sorry. I beg your pardon. This is all my fault.”

“This is so half-hearted. Are you just repeating the same thing that someone asked you to?”

“I am very sorry.”

She fixed her vivacious gaze on Vivian, who was still on the ground. Then, she slowly arose from her seat and began to approach the trembling Vivian.

“Look up.”

At the moment she uttered those words, people began to move vigorously.

Vivian had panicked as she writhed uncontrollably but it only lasted for a mere second. Her transfixed grasp on Vivian had made her yielded.

Just when she had gotten closer, Vivian’s complexion turned blue. As she grew up under strong parenting, she then turned out to be a character who could never be considerate over other people.

Vivian’s complexion had changed to purple this time as she recalled the corporal punishment that was usually inflicted by this infamous young lady. At this very moment, she hopelessly wanted her feet to miraculously become her hands.

“Hey, you.”

Yet Vivian couldn’t listen to any slashes of whip across her cheeks. Instead, the Young Countess had only lifted Vivian’s chin before turning her face to and fro.

“Don’t you want to enjoy a bloody good movie?”

Vivian was amazed at how bewildered she was by the Lady’s words. Everything that the Lady had said seemed to be some sort of a test against Vivian herself.

“You, act as Alexia Britton in my stead.”

Vivian’s own surprise seemed to leave herself speechless. Even as Vivian dared to sneak a glance over the Young Lady’s face, she didn’t look away at all.

“You look quite similar to myself and also to my physique.”

Nevertheless, she was frowning at Vivian rather than looking at her.

“The face is disparate though. I’m just glad that the person is temporarily blind.”

By the time she finished, she went back to her seat while relaxing both of her tensed hands. On the other hand, Vivian was still in a state of confusion.

Acting? Was that all you had to say?

“If I may ask, what do you mean by looking at me like that?”

“Instead of me, you are going to meet the monstrous Grand Duke—as a Britton.”

Vivian’s face was tinged with bitterness as the Young Countess had casually ignored her. If it was one of the Brittons, then it was just until a little while ago that she had been one of the people who were working for them.

Recently, the monstrous Grand Duke had to suffer from a grave illness that had been identified to be an aftermath from enjoying too much human flesh. The rumors revolved around him were still terrorizing the masses yet, they also passed by as “word of mouth”.

Vivian was also one the masses.

She thought that she was in an insouciant situation where she had nothing to do with it. Therefore, the task hit Vivian like a thunderbolt as she was just laughing and even enjoying herself before with the rumors announcing the monster’s killing spree.

“If, if it’s about the monst—Grand Duke, isn’t it My Lady that was supposed to be in his fiancée’s place? How could I…”

“It’s fine. He never had the time to face his fiancée anyway.”

Alexia uttered as if there was no problem at all.

“When I heard about the betrothal, I thought that I was going to have a terrible fever and then, it hit me. Look at this, my horrible face. Aren’t I pitiful? So, you are to go there in my stead.”

As she was talking, she suddenly gave a frown.

“By the way, you are so filthy. Don’t you know that you smell? Have someone washed her all up.”

Vivian’s eyes flickered at the Young Lady’s surprising words. It was not before long when she got surrounded by the maids. As she tried to resist, they had her restrained before dragging her to the bath.

Vivian could not bring herself to scream as she had entered a large bathroom that was only used by the Lady rather than having her bath with the small barrels that the maids were used to. She had only realized that she was in a torturous state when an unfamiliar touch was cleaning her skin as she was soaking herself in the water.

Still and all, her body was soon lathered in an aromatic perfume and her hair was also done lustrously with scented oil, which was usually used on the Young Countess’ body.

In less than an hour, Vivian had been scrubbed clean from head to toe.

She was sitting upright in front of Alexia when she was still deemed to be unsatisfactory. Nevertheless, she was already cleansed from her original appearance.

“But, you’re still quite unpleasant.”

Alexia remarked as she brought out a hat from her closet.

“Especially those freckles of yours.”

At that moment, she placed a large brimmed hat on top of Vivian’s small head. As the attached lace had made it quite difficult to distinguish her face, a satisfying smile spread across Alexia’s face.

“This is good enough.”

Vivian carefully opened her mouth as she listened to Alexia’s humming and wondered if the Young Lady was feeling delighted.

“…My Lady.”

“No, not ‘My Lady’.”

Vivian sank horribly as she was reprimanded.

“You are Alexia from now onwards. The Young Countess, Alexia Britton.”

There was no tint of embarrassment across her face. Alexia then looked at the anxious Vivian as she asked.

“Your answer?”

“I… understand.”

“Ah, this is annoying! I don’t!”

She seized Vivian by the hand as she could no longer tolerate with her mannerisms.

Vivian was astounded by the sudden act but still, she nervously turned herself to face the Lady.

“Come now. Do you think you’ll pass to act and move like an aristocratic lady right now?”

***

How long has it been since then?

While holding a whip in her hand, Alexia sternly asked Vivian.

“Who are you?”

“The prestigious Young Countess of Britton, Alexia Britton.”

A prompt and definite answer. Vivian no longer avoided Alexia’s sharp gaze. As she was dressed equally gorgeous as Alexia, she had also acquired the skill to breathe and move precisely like the Alexia Britton.

“Now, pick that up.”

After listening to what Alexia had said, Vivian then strictly pointed to the jewel with her toes to the employees nearby without really looking at it.

“You there, pick that up for me!”

“That’s it, good enough!”

As soon as she heard Alexia’s approval, Vivian’s straightened posture collapsed immediately. She sighed softly as she had been in a perpetual state of worrying.

Unlike the anxious Vivian, Alexia casually took a capsule from a box. It looked like some sort of a tablet that was then handed to Vivian.

“Eat this.”

“My Lady, this is…”

Vivian slowly took it from Alexia’s hand and swallowed it, unaware of its call as she expected that she wouldn’t die just from swallowing the pill. However, the sensation she felt as it went down her throat was terribly different from what she had imagined.

“Co, cough!”

Straight from her mouth, down to the base to her throat, there was pain in every corner. Vivian was tormented by the agony.

On the other hand, Alexia was just in her seat, unconcerned with the struggling Vivian. There was no change in her expression even while locking eyes with Vivian, who was on the floor, excruciating in pain that can be felt all over her throat.

Vivian was coughing when Alexia barely heard her say something.

“This is…”

Vivian quickly closed her mouth to her surprise. The voice that she uttered was unerringly identical to that of Alexia’s.

“That was expensive.”

Satisfied, Alexia pointed at Vivian with the tip of her whip.

“Understand? It’ll only work for 24 hours. After that, the effect will gradually decrease.”

Vivian kept her lips closed tightly as she heard those words. When the time had come to enact the plan, she started to tremble with worry.

“Do you understand?”

“Yes… I do.”

As opposed to Vivian’s hesitated answer, Alexia cheerfully arose from her seat.

“A~ah, I wonder what I should do now,” said Alexia.

Unlike the agitated Vivian, Alexia was acting rather nonchalant. Moreover, she was even organizing her own attire to pick and pack from her closet if she couldn’t find anything else to wear.

“I might be caught if I were to stay home, so I’ll be going with you. Vivian, prepare some simpler clothing for me.”

“I understand, My Lady.”

“And I’ll leave you with your friend. So, go with her.”

Vivian sighed quietly as she lowered her hat. Alexia had whipped and trained her intensely nevertheless, deep inside, she was still essentially Vivian. She had her hat flattened so well that Alexia did not notice of her indecisiveness, which was utterly unacceptable.

As Alexia was an independent Young Lady, her parents did not even drop her off and left everything to her decision. Thanks to this, Alexia was comfortable enough to share the carriage with Vivian.

Then, a beautiful carriage for Vivian, together with a smaller carriage for Alexia arrived and each of them began to depart to their destination.

When she noticed that no one was monitoring her any longer, Vivian exhaled breathlessly.

“Fuhaa~” she exclaimed. She was actually barely breathing, just like a newborn baby. She then grasped the hands of her friend in front of her as she was quivering with uneasiness.

“Amanda, can I do it well? What if I got caught and eaten?”

“Ugh. It’s creepy when you call me out in that voice.”

Amanda was wearing an ominous look when she saw Vivian’s miserable expression. She then quickly changed her tone and expression as well.