Chapter 9

Daniel, who had occasionally sent news through communication orbs after Masked Ball’s release, visited the mansion after a long time.

“…It sold much better than expected.”

She first reported that over 10,000 copies had sold so far, along with the sales report I’d been so worried about.

From the moment I first saw Daniel, I’d guessed from her bright complexion and confident shoulders, but it far exceeded expectations.

The initially poor performance had doubled around the one-week mark, and hadn’t decreased since then.

“Today was completely sold out! Especially the Smart version—bookbinders are rushing to make more because there are no books… and if you look here, sales keep increasing.”

For some reason, I felt more bewildered than happy.

‘I did work hard though.’

I was lucky in many ways to achieve good results from the start.

“What about Deluxe?”

“It doesn’t seem all sold yet, but order inquiries keep coming. As you instructed, I didn’t send to just one place but delivered to various locations!”

Daniel recited the list of trading partners in an excited voice.

Though Sapphire was no different from a startup publisher, distribution went well and there were surprisingly many places it entered, and the bank-stamped account statement already had enough to cover acquisition costs and more.

Until now, through communication orbs I’d only heard roughly that things were going well—I deliberately didn’t ask for details.

Only then could I feel relieved, albeit a beat late.

“You worked hard. Now as time passes, it’ll settle and become stable. Hire more employees too… I’ll leave all operations to you like now.”

The initially withdrawn appearance had completely disappeared, and Daniel beat her chest.

“Just trust me!”

Seeing that made me burst into laughter, but immediately she asked in a more careful voice than before.

“Since inquiries keep coming in, could I know approximately when Volume 2 might come out?”

It had already been two months since I’d completed and shown Masked Ball Volume 1.

Since I’d divided one book’s content into three parts, my novels weren’t as thick as books sold in the market.

‘Writers here usually publish books every six months.’

While writing something new, Masked Ball Volume 2 was still stuck in the early parts.

“It’s far from completion. Volume 1 just started selling, so it’ll be some time… before Volume 2 comes out.”

Though it was obvious, Daniel couldn’t hide her disappointment and let out a short sigh.

Then belatedly she rubbed her nose with an embarrassed expression.

“If more people read Volume 1 and wait, the reaction will be better when Volume 2 comes out later.”

Hearing my calmly added words, she nodded.

“But I have something prepared.”

“…What? Don’t tell me Volume 2 is actually already completed?”

I thought she’d given up, but apparently not.

Watching Daniel who wouldn’t let go of hope until the end, I said firmly:

“Volume 2 really doesn’t exist, so give up. I wrote something else in the meantime, so take a look.”

Due to her face showing emotions so transparently.

I could feel her looking at me with eyes mixed with slight betrayal, but I didn’t care and started speaking.

“It’s a draft with many more shortcomings, but read it with Greg and leave impressions. I’ll refer to them when revising.”

Daniel took the envelope containing the manuscript and hugged it to her chest as if nothing had happened.

The profit Masked Ball Volume 1 brought wasn’t bad for a first attempt.

‘More money is always better.’

Thanks to gaining confidence, I felt certain this work would also somehow do well.

---

“It’s been a while, Miss Katarina.”

“…I heard news from Daniel. You’ve been well?”

The very next day after taking the new manuscript.

Greg expressed his intention to visit the mansion for the first time, so I met him directly in the reception room.

“Yes, I’ve been well thanks to you.”

His hollow-looking eyes seemed like he hadn’t been well at all, but his eyes seemed to flash just now.

Since most communication was with Daniel, I had little contact with him, but internal familiarity had built up.

Fortunately, rather than awkwardness, a reasonably comfortable silence settled.

“Did you read all of yesterday’s manuscript?”

As I wrote, the volume increased, so the content was longer than Masked Ball Volume 1.

“I didn’t have enough time, so I only read it about 3 times.”

Did he do nothing but read books?

Before I could ask first, he opened his mouth.

“If I may dare give my opinion, this is certainly an unprecedented work that will surpass Masked Ball. I don’t know if my humble opinion will be helpful, but…”

Words with familiar nuances continued, and this was my first time seeing Greg’s passionate appearance.

Unlike Masked Ball’s manuscript which was complete, this had many shortcomings.

I began addressing the parts I most wanted to hear from him as a reader.

“There must have been parts that were hard to understand. Is there anything you’d like supplemented with explanation?”

“I don’t really understand what exactly demons are.”

As I’d instructed, Chloe stood beside me and wrote down everything he said.

‘I should increase descriptions along with explanations, and if possible, add a demon illustration.’

Hearing Greg’s words, I easily thought of solutions and continued questioning.

“What was the most impressive scene and character?”

“Kyle giving up on the Imperial Knight Order and… Isaac who appeared near the end. I didn’t know such a knight order existed at the empire’s southernmost point.”

Looking at his serious expression, I shook my head.

“This is entirely fiction, so such a knight order doesn’t exist at the empire’s southernmost point.”

“…Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Thanks to you I got good ideas, so please answer comfortably like now.”

Both Masked Ball and this were obviously novels, so I thought they’d be treated as fictional stories, but it seemed necessary to add a warning notice on the front page.

“Who’s the most unmemorable character?”

“Rocky.”

A razor-sharp answer without a moment’s hesitation.

After briefly pondering, he hesitantly added a reason.

“…Honestly, I still don’t understand why he’s the commander.”

Greg spoke indirectly, but precisely speaking, he doubted whether Rocky was qualified for that.

Since Rocky wasn’t a character meant to be active in the early Volume 1 anyway.

Recalling his future episodes, I nodded.

Just how thoroughly did he read it in one day?

Thanks to his smoothly expressing impressions even to questions I threw out thoughtlessly, Greg’s opinions were plenty helpful.

“Thanks, with a bit more revision it should be much better than now.”

I unconsciously used informal speech first.

While conversation with Daniel had become frequent and I’d started speaking comfortably at some point, Greg wasn’t the same.

“Th-that! You can speak comfortably to me too.”

Until he asked with a shy expression to drop formalities.

“…Alright.”

“I’m truly honored to be helpful. Oh, and before I go, may I ask one curious thing?”

When the meeting was about to end.

“Go ahead.”

“What’s this novel’s title?”

I naturally knew it was a question about the work, but I didn’t expect him to ask something so basic.

No, precisely speaking, it was mostly my fault for not even giving the most basic title and just sending the manuscript.

Inspired by the blue sky I saw while watching Callard’s training, I’d chosen the title.

“Knights of the Sky.”

“I somehow thought so. It’s cool.”

The book title did appear in the middle while reading the manuscript.

“Could I also know approximately when it’ll be made into a book?”

“I don’t know how long revision will take, but I can complete it within at least 2 weeks.”

After that, probably like before, I’d extract illustrations, calculate estimates, and exchange samples.

Since I’d been through the process once, it wouldn’t be difficult.

“I’ll be looking forward to it. Please call me anytime you need me!”

Daniel seemed to react better to Masked Ball, while Greg seemed to prefer Knights of the Sky.

Probably following their tastes.

That night, I stayed up all night making Kyle suffer again while feeling a different kind of enjoyment than before.

---

“So who is Karma anyway?”

“Looking at the name, probably a commoner? The writing style too—the sentences are simple.”

Newspaper reporter David shook his head hearing his junior’s words.

“What looks easy is usually hard. To write at this high level, they’re definitely nobility.”

Even contacting the publisher or searching anywhere in the book, no author introduction was listed.

Normally, a noble who published a book in the empire would boast about it everywhere as basic behavior.

Having devoured Masked Ball in about an hour, he re-read the book twice more.

As a reporter most sensitive to trends, he needed to evaluate and judge the value of this suddenly appeared novel, this book with rumors circulating.

‘Writing the audacious phrase that love isn’t important in marriage, yet having a protagonist who pursues pure love.’

Though it might not be at the stage of calling it love yet, the ‘masked ball’ event in the story was extremely interesting.

Covering half the face and dancing?

Nonsensical.

But rather, that point made it more understandable why Rose could meet such men. How could a low noble who bought a title meet high nobles?

The protagonist Rose never even knew until the end that the man Edwin was a duke family heir.

“First, Karma is definitely female.”

So convinced, David read the book once more to extract a provocative headline.

He could hear tongue-clicking from beside him, but since opening books blocked surrounding sounds anyway, it didn’t matter.

After much deliberation, the title he selected for the newspaper page was this:

「What Kind of Woman Made the Duke Family Heir Fall at First Sight?」

Snake Newspaper’s main customer base was none other than nobility.

David, who was dragged to the president’s office on the day the newspaper was released, emerged from the world in tatters.