Chapter 18
Every week, one chapter of Frederica’s Man was serialized in the newspaper, and it wrapped up neatly after sixteen episodes.
Why sixteen, you ask? There were many reasons, but the biggest one was simple — to keep anticipation and rumors at their peak. Too long, and people grow weary.
The story begins with Frederica, the heroine, engaged to the Empire’s powerful prince, though she secretly loves a commoner. But soon, it’s revealed that the prince himself has another woman. It was a scandalous, drama-like plot, almost too dramatic to be believable.
Of course, I might have dramatized it a bit — but they say reality is stranger than fiction, and in this case, it truly was. Because Prince Verdi did have another woman.
“Isn’t it just shocking? Both of them had lovers!”
At my muttered comment, Chodoreun, who was reading the paper, replied offhandedly,
“For nobles of this world, that’s fairly common…”
But then he suddenly trailed off. His expression darkened, as though some unwelcome thought had drifted in.
There were times when I couldn’t read what was going on behind his eyes — like now.
He frowned slightly, lost in thought, before saying quietly,
“I suppose that doesn’t just apply to nobles in this world.”
“What do you mean?”
“My parents in Korea were the same.”
His calm reply left me speechless.
He was right. Director Cha Do-hyuk’s parents were a typical case of a chaebol-arranged marriage — well-known to the public. Even I, an ordinary person, had known about it because of how much exposure that family had.
Chodoreun lowered his gaze back to the newspaper, as if it were nothing.
He was a man who deserved sympathy, but only on an emotional level. In reality, he was so competent and composed that he needed no protection from anyone. That part of him — so unchanged from when he was PD Cha Do-hyuk — felt strangely reassuring.
As I kept staring at him, he suddenly lifted his eyes to mine.
“How does your story end?”
The very newspaper he was holding contained my serialized novel.
Embarrassed, I shrank my shoulders but gathered myself and answered,
“It ends when all their corruption — from media manipulation to every misdeed — gets exposed by a noble lady’s report. A completely closed, tragic ending.”
And just like that fictional ending, an interview with “a certain young lady of noble birth” — me — was to be published after the finale.
“Looks like everything’s going just the way you planned.”
Chodoreun smiled faintly, the kind of confident smile that said he’d never been worried in the first place.
He was right.
A week before the final chapter went up, journalist Elinor’s confession interview was released. She revealed that she had written defamatory articles about Lady Rubiche under orders from Lady Serinne.
Though the Serinne Marquisate tried to suppress the articles, the few leaked copies spread quickly from hand to hand, and the rumors raced through society.
After that, Elinor vanished, and the Serinne family filed a lawsuit against the Alpine Times. Since Editor-in-Chief Herard was from the bourgeois class, their claim of noble defamation held legal weight — and so Herard was put on trial for libel.
I was lying on a picnic mat in Rubiche Manor’s garden, glancing at Chodoreun sitting beside me. Leaning against the trunk of a great tree, the silver-haired man read the newspaper with his usual stoic expression.
“Just as you predicted, everything’s unfolding perfectly, PD-nim.”
Now all we had to do was bring forward the evidence Chodoreun had gathered — the witness statements, the bribes — and tie it all to Prince Verdi himself.
It was almost too perfect. How could our situations line up this neatly?
Chodoreun glanced at me over his paper and smirked.
“Because someone set the stage for us.”
With that, he folded the newspaper, looking relaxed — like a well-fed predator basking in the sun. Somehow, it made me trust him even more.
Even if I hadn’t laid the groundwork, he could’ve handled it all on his own. After all, he’d already fired Elinor for publishing that defamatory article about me. If I so much as asked, he would’ve quietly handled everything himself.
But he didn’t — because he respected me. Because he knew I wanted to do it my way.
“Tomorrow’s the release of the final chapter, isn’t it? That interview you did yesterday — it’ll be printed too?”
I nodded. The timing was perfect: Elinor’s confession spreading like wildfire, Herard’s trial underway — the interview had to drop right then.
“Think people will like it?”
I thought I’d said it casually, but perhaps it didn’t sound that way. He looked at me for a long moment, then reached out and gently patted my head.
“They’ll love it. Don’t worry about a thing. Whatever happens — you don’t need to be afraid.”
His words were like an incantation, filling me with quiet courage.
And just as he said — the reaction was overwhelming.
『Shocking Truth! The Mysterious Writer “Caden” Revealed to Be Lady Rubiche?! All About Lady Serinne, Told by Lady Rubiche Herself…!』
Despite that sensational title, the article was filled with nothing but my flattering remarks about Lady Serinne.
And at the end, I expressed sympathy.
“People often ask me if the heroine of my story was based on Lady Serinne — I’ll refrain from answering.”
The interviewer had then pressed on:
“Lady Serinne has publicly criticized you in multiple interviews. Was this your revenge?”
I smiled, unshaken.
“Not at all. She may resent and envy me, but I don’t hate her. I’ve already forgiven everything she’s said about me. So please, refrain from harsh criticism against her.”
Even Chodoreun, who’d accompanied me that day, had been stunned by how artfully fake my kindness came across in print.
Because I declined to comment, everyone automatically assumed the novel’s heroine was Lady Serinne.
“You’re supposed to have stage fright, and yet you act and speak like a pro.”
“When people are backed into a corner, they find strength they never knew they had.”
He couldn’t argue with that.
In any case, after that interview, Elinor left the Alpine Empire entirely, and my reputation completely flipped.
『Crown Prince Reynold Volunteers Weekly with Lady Rubiche — Free Meals and Medical Aid for the Poor!』
Not that we ever did medical volunteer work ourselves — neither of us had medical knowledge. We just funded a medical team, but word spread as though we were personally treating the sick.
『Lady Serinne’s Jealous Slander Against Kind-Hearted Lady Rubiche — The Truth Revealed!』
『Lady Serinne’s Political Plot to Pressure the Neutral Rubiche Family?! Prince Verdi’s Power Games Shake the Empire!』
In short: Lady Serinne, allied with Prince Verdi, had politically pressured the neutral Rubiche family to join his faction.
The result? Outrage. Not only among Crown Prince Reynold’s supporters but also among neutral nobles.
What began with Lady Serinne’s careless interview had spiraled into a full-blown political storm. I wondered if she realized just how badly she’d doomed herself.
When I arrived at the Imperial Academy, everyone greeted me warmly. Some young ladies even approached me with newspapers in hand, asking for autographs as fans of my serialized novel.
Lady Serinne, meanwhile, didn’t show up for an entire week before exams — then appeared only on exam day, took the test, and vanished.
No one enjoyed that downfall more than Armand.
“Oh, did you hear? Editor Herard of the Alpine Times was put on trial.”
We were chatting as we looked over our exam results.
“Ah, I lost five points in math… Sorry, what did you say, Lady Obidos?”
I tore my gaze from my score sheet to look at her. She’d flipped hers upside down, clearly unhappy with her own results.
“Lady Serinne’s father, the Marquis, and Count Janice have filed charges against Editor Herard for noble defamation and media manipulation. But turns out there’s evidence that Lady Serinne and Count Janice were the ones who ordered the fake articles. They’re the ones facing trial now!”
Armand’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
“At this rate, Lady Serinne’s finished. I doubt we’ll see her in society again.”
Her words made me recall what she’d told me long ago —
“Lady Serinne has quite the influence in high society. Rumor has it she’ll soon be engaged to Prince Verdi himself. Once she becomes Crown Princess, it’ll be difficult for you to survive in social circles.”
Now, the situation was entirely reversed.
The Empress sent me a letter — she wished to see me at the palace.
Her letter was overflowing with gracious words, so I replied with one filled with equally pleasant courtesies.
Now that I thought about it, there’d been no word from Lady Rodvalt yet. What was Argan doing?
Ignoring Maria’s fussing as she flitted around my room since morning, I sat down at my desk to write. One letter was for the Alpine Times, and another for Argan.
“My mother seems to like you quite a lot,” Chodoreun remarked, looking up from his seat on the sofa where he’d been reading.
Dipping my quill into the inkwell, I began to write carefully, keeping my handwriting neat and refined.
“I heard Her Majesty dreamed of traveling the world since she was young. She’s always had a fascination with foreign lands. I simply shared a few stories about the Kingdom of Naiden.”
He closed his book, curiosity flickering in his eyes.
“There are plenty of noble ladies who’ve been to Naiden. But your stories managed to capture her interest?”
I glanced at the book in his hand — Public Finance, Policy, and Taxation. How dull.
I kept writing as I answered,
“I happen to know someone Her Majesty once knew. That intrigued her. As I expected it would.”
I thought of Erinda, the sorceress who’d rescued me when I first arrived in this world. She’d brought me food and clothes back then, when I had nothing.
“Her Majesty is an alumna of Alpine University. She offered to write me a recommendation letter.”
“A recommendation?”
Chodoreun set his book down and rose, stepping closer.
“Yes. The entrance exams are coming up, and a letter from the Empress would be an enormous advantage.”
Come to think of it, I’d heard that Lady Serinne was plotting to humiliate me at the graduation ceremony.
And right now, with my identity as “Writer Caden” revealed, I was already under too much attention.
If she planned to add to that chaos… then yes — it was clear.
Someone out there must have discovered that I have a terminal case of public attention.
