Episode 10: The Airheaded Young Lady and a Comrade in Revolution
If someone were to ask, “Which guild do you think is the most famous in the Kingdom of Yustia these days?”
“Wouldn’t it be the Publishing Guild?”
“In the past, maybe not, but these days it has to be the Publishing Guild.”
Nine out of ten people in the kingdom would choose the Publishing Guild like this.
Thanks to the papermaking revolution and the printing revolution that had occurred a few years ago, the supply and demand for publications such as books and newspapers had begun to increase explosively.
And with that, the recognition and influence of the Publishing Guild, which managed the publishing industry, had rapidly grown stronger.
Especially as newspapers began to settle into everyday life as a natural sight, and as the guild kept pace with the recent incident in which the royal family’s secrets were publicly revealed and shook the entire kingdom.
At least in terms of recognition, it had reached a point where it could proudly claim to stand above any other guild.
Therefore, Rex, the guildmaster of the Publishing Guild and the man who could be called its highest authority, had recently been unbelievably busy.
Countless requests came flying in to meet him, but he had so little time that he had to refuse most of them unless they were important.
But no matter how busy and successful Rex was.
“What? The author wishes to personally meet the fan who wrote this fan letter?”
“That is correct. The person who wrote this letter here.
Would it be possible to put me in touch with them?”
He could not refuse a meeting request from Author Wei, the very person who had made him and the Publishing Guild so popular.
And for good reason.
Though the guild had originally been doing well, the reason its sales and influence had exploded to this degree in such a short period of time was—
‘No matter what anyone says, it was thanks to Author Wei.’
The two hit works he had written.
Had it not been for [The Betrayed Hero Takes Revenge] and [I Became the Ice Duke’s Maid],
experts had analyzed that it would have taken the Publishing Guild at least several decades to achieve its current level of growth.
‘Just where did a genius author like this pop out from?’
Without the slightest exaggeration, Author Wei was a genius who would change the world.
No, in truth, he was already changing it.
Hadn’t all kinds of incidents, trends, and social changes that had unfolded over the past few months begun from his hand?
Good heavens! Nobles were allowing marriages with commoners.
And now they were even dressing up as commoners for fun!
Apparently, that was the trend and common sense now.
‘Then what exactly was all the common sense I’d known until now...?’
Rex trembled as he felt the fear of his own common sense crumbling apart.
Even a great noble like Duke Lucid would not be able to create this degree of change.
Now imagine treating coldly, or making an enemy of, the madman who had pulled that off as if it were nothing.
If writing that could toy with people’s hearts like that were ever directed at him?
‘Just thinking about it is horrifying...’
The tip of his pen might be more frightening than a knight’s sword met on the battlefield.
‘There are already rumors that the people who criticized the hero for marrying the Demon King, or opposed the heir of Marquis Huntingdon’s family marrying a commoner, disappeared without anyone noticing.’
What if Author Wei were to make the Publishing Guild appear as a villain in his next work?
Perhaps Rex himself and the Publishing Guild might even be attacked.
Well, even setting that aside, if one looked only at sales, the other side held the absolute initiative.
Thanks to the income earned this time, they had even built new guild branches nationwide and greatly increased the number of printing presses.
Therefore, Author Wei absolutely had to be welcomed as a precious guest.
Moreover.
“I never imagined that the famous bard Lady Aria would come with you.”
All the more so if Aria, who had been a superstar even before Author Wei’s emergence, was with him.
“I started working as the author’s secretary recently.”
“Someone of Lady Aria’s stature is working as a secretary?”
“I’m an ardent fan of the author, you see.
His very first fan, at that.”
“I... see.”
Hearing that a superstar on Aria’s level was being employed as merely a secretary made his fear of Author Wei grow even greater.
But it was not entirely incomprehensible.
Even in this Publishing Guild right now, if someone asked, “Do you want to quit immediately and become Author Wei’s secretary?” there would probably be enough people to fill ten carriages writing resignation letters on the spot.
In the first place, among the new employees hired recently, more than half had joined the Publishing Guild after reading Author Wei’s books, so that said it all.
In any case, for that reason.
“I am sure the person who sent the fan letter will be delighted if the author wishes to meet them personally!
I shall contact them immediately and ask for their wishes.”
Without doing anything foolish like refusing the simple demand of these bomb-like super VIPs,
Rex immediately went off to find and contact the fan who had sent the fan letter.
***
Knock, knock—
“Lady Melissa. A letter has arrived for you.”
“Is that so? Then leave it there on the desk.
There aren’t any other letters or news, are there?
If not, could you leave so I can read quietly?”
“Yes. Understood.”
Slide—
Click—
“...Is she gone? She must be gone, right?
Phew—really, acting in front of the maids isn’t easy either.”
Melissa, the young lady of Count Gideon’s family, heard the footsteps of the maid who had closed the door and left fade beyond the corridor.
Only then did she wipe away the haughty expression she had been acting out, sagging limply as she let out a sigh.
“Ugh... I just want to live comfortably as I really am.
Why do I have to act in a way that’s the complete opposite of my personality...?”
That was right.
The haughty and overbearing appearance she had shown the maid earlier had all been fake.
This limp, full-of-gaps state was Melissa’s true self.
She had merely been acting according to the rules of her family.
Apparently, as the young lady of the Gideon family, she must not show a sloppy side.
Because of that rule, Melissa had become skilled at switching between how she was when alone and how she was in front of others.
Not that being skilled at such a thing was particularly good or made her happy.
Still, recently there had been a time when she had benefited from this ability.
‘Thanks to that, I was able to tell that Mikael’s fiancée young lady was acting contrary to her true feelings.’
While reading the topical romance novel [I Became the Ice Duke’s Maid].
Unlike other readers, who had focused only on the protagonists, Melissa had been able to notice the strangeness of the fiancée young lady.
“She is definitely the same kind as me!”
In other words, she was surely hiding her true feelings and acting, just like Melissa herself.
It was only natural, in a way, that Melissa felt both the joy of having encountered a character with a personality similar to her own,
and a slight sense of superiority that she alone had noticed a fact others had failed to catch.
Unable to contain that excitement, she had sent the author a fan letter containing her speculation.
But she had done it merely for self-satisfaction, without expecting much.
“To think a reply really came!
And he, he wants to meet me in person?!”
It was already an overwhelming joy that an author she liked had replied to her fan letter.
And on top of that, he had written that he found her speculation interesting and even wanted to meet her in person.
Melissa’s happiness began to soar without end.
“Hehehe! Hehehehe!”
With her face melting into a silly grin, even stomping her feet in place as she hugged the reply to her fan letter tightly to her chest,
Melissa’s current appearance held such a severe gap from her usual image that anyone who did not know her true nature would have been shocked to see it.
It was truly an expression she could never show anyone!
But had her joy been a bit too excessive?
Knock, knock—!
“My lady! Has something happened?!
I heard a strange sound just now...”
“N-no, it’s nothing!
I just dropped a book for a moment and startled myself!
Don’t make a fuss and hurry along!”
She had nearly had her true self discovered by the maid who had returned after hearing the noise.
“Phew. Let’s not cause another commotion and just write the reply quietly.”
After barely sending the maid away, Melissa, drained of energy,
calmed down a little and obediently began writing another reply to the response she had received today.
—I am available at any time!
If you could choose a date convenient for you, Author...—
The contents of the reply were, of course, acceptance.
***
The meeting I had requested with the owner of the fan letter was arranged faster than I had expected.
Perhaps because the other party was also passionate enough to send a fan letter, they seemed quite proactive about the meeting.
And the identity of the fan I ended up meeting was—
“I-it is truly a pleash—pleasure to meet you! My name is Melissa Gideon!”
Surprisingly, she was a noble young lady around the same age as me.
And from the fairly influential household of Count Gideon, at that.
‘If I remember correctly, the current head of the family—in other words, Melissa’s father, Count Gideon—is the captain of the royal knights, right?’
Good heavens, even a young lady from such a family was my fan.
Once again, I felt the popularity I had recently gained as an author.
Though, strictly speaking, her status was higher than mine, perhaps because of her respect as a fan, Melissa’s greeting was quite polite.
So I answered just as politely, with a bit of lip service mixed in.
“Ahaha. This is my first time meeting a fan in person like this as well, so I’m very pleased.”
“R-really?”
“No. That is not true.”
“Yes?”
“Miss Aria?”
But for some reason, Aria, who had been standing beside me, cut in at this point.
“The first fan the author ever met was me.”
“Uh...”
“I was also the first person to read the author’s work.”
“Ah... ugh...”
“I was the first to share my impressions of his work with him, and I was also the first to make the author’s work known to the world.”
“Hieek...!”
Contrary to the impassive way she listed those things, there was a strange heat in Aria’s gaze.
Melissa began rapidly shrinking in on herself.
Like a frog that had met a snake, perhaps?
...I had deliberately pretended not to hear it earlier, but considering how she bit her tongue during her greeting, and how she was shrinking like that now,
it seemed this young lady named Melissa was somewhat clumsy and timid by nature.
‘I should probably rescue her about now.’
She was a fan who had gone out of her way to come meet me. It wasn’t as if we were conducting some pressure interview, and it felt wrong to just watch her shrink like that.
“Ahem. Lady Melissa? Could you tell me what led you to make this analysis?”
So I discreetly held out the fan letter Melissa had sent, the one analyzing Mikael’s fiancée young lady, and asked her a question.
Melissa seized that helping hand and hurriedly answered while avoiding Aria’s gaze.
“Ah, well. The truth is, I thought her personality was similar to mine.
And you can just call me Melissa...”
“...You’re saying Miss Melissa’s personality is similar to the fiancée young lady written here?”
“I-I mean the way I act in public!
From what I saw, the overbearing and sharp attitude she showed in the work seemed like she was acting while hiding her true feelings.
I also usually act so that I appear in a similar way, so I know well.”
When I gave her a look that showed I couldn’t believe it at all,
Melissa hurriedly revealed the secret of her personality and presented it as the basis for her speculation.
So this airheaded young lady was known outside as a haughty and overbearing noble lady?
...It was hard to believe, but if she herself said so, then it must be true.
In fact, that wasn’t what mattered.
Of course, I had no intention of nitpicking the truth of Melissa’s statement.
What mattered far more than that was—
“Correct! That’s amazing!
You’re the first person to guess this correctly, Miss Melissa.”
Melissa’s speculation had been true!
Having finally discovered the talent I had been looking for,
I wasted no time, afraid of letting this precious talent slip away, and got straight to the point.
“Miss Melissa. Would you like to do something nice with me?”
“...Yes? Yeeh?!”
There is something very fun and rewarding called a cultural revolution. Would you care to join me?