At night, the crimson moon rising from the sea shone upon people harboring their own different thoughts.
Inside Alfred's villa, in a guest room on the third floor, Fors was being unusually diligent. She sat at the desk, letting out silly "hehe" chuckles as she wrote furiously.
She felt as though inspiration was pouring from her mind like a spring, her pen moving as if aided by the gods. Beautiful prose and moving stories had already formed into an extremely clear concept in her mind.
As a writer, drawing material from the people and things around her was a perfectly common way of writing.
It was just that she had always spent most of her time with Xio in the past. With Xio's height and personality, she was more suited to being a supporting female character and wasn't really fit to carry a bestselling book as its heroine.
Miss Audrey, on the other hand, was a natural-born heroine. She didn't need any special halo, nor did she need to do anything. As long as she stood there, she would naturally become the center of everyone's attention.
Similarly, a young and handsome earl like Mr. Hastur was also very suitable to serve as the male protagonist of a novel.
Yes, the new novel she was currently writing revolved around a love story, filled with twists and hardships while also sprinkled with sugary sweetness.
And Mr. Hastur and Miss Audrey were the models for the male and female protagonists of her story.
She had already thought up the general plot: the male and female protagonists were childhood sweethearts who had played together since they were young and gradually developed feelings for each other.
But after the male protagonist grew up, his family suddenly fell into ruin. His parents died, and the family fortune was completely lost. Feeling that his impoverished self was unworthy of the noble, elegant heroine who came from a wealthy family, he could only deeply conceal his surging, ocean-like love for her.
Moreover, standing between the male and female protagonists was a stern, old, fashioned, and unapproachable earl, the heroine's father. He was determined to marry his most precious daughter into the royal family, so he firmly opposed any relationship between the two protagonists.
In order to overcome these many obstacles, the male protagonist decided to leave the heroine's side and venture out into the world to build his career, so that one day he might become worthy of the woman he loved.
As for exactly how he struggled and built his career, that wasn't the important part. Fors chose to gloss over it and directly skip ahead three years.
After thinking about it some more, she decided that when the male protagonist left his beloved, he should make a three-year promise with her. That would move the readers and arouse their curiosity.
Three years later, the male protagonist returned before the heroine covered in glory. Yet before the heroine could even rejoice, she saw another beautiful and delicate girl, as exquisite as a doll, standing beside him. The two were extremely close, looking almost like a loving couple.
As for this supporting female character, Fors naturally used Miss Sharron as her model. Regarding the emotional entanglements between her and the male protagonist, Fors planned to unravel them one by one later in the story.
There were many ways she could handle it. For example, she could have the male protagonist fall into the sea and lose his memories, then mistake the supporting female character for the heroine and fall in love with her.
Or she could write a melodramatic plot where the male protagonist was once saved by the supporting female character and, because he owed her a debt of gratitude, couldn't bring himself to reject her feelings and thus kept her by his side.
The more Fors wrote, the more her imagination expanded, and the faster her pen moved. So deeply focused was she that she completely failed to notice that Miss Audrey, the model for her heroine, had already entered her room and was standing right in front of her, admiring the story she was writing.
At times, Audrey's cheeks flushed slightly. At other times, her brows gently furrowed. Sometimes she looked on curiously, while at other moments she desperately wanted to slap Fors on the head to see if she could knock some sense into this salted-fish writer who seemed to be approaching a state of obsession.
"Phew..."
Having finished writing a major plot segment, Fors put down her pen and leaned back slightly. Closing her eyes, she planned to rest them for a while before continuing to write the rest of the story while her inspiration was still fresh.
After a while, she suddenly sensed that something wasn't right and hurriedly opened her eyes to look ahead.
There stood Miss Audrey, completely silent, right in front of her. In her hands was the manuscript Fors had just finished writing, which she was slowly flipping through.
"Ah!" Fors was so startled that she nearly toppled backward onto the floor. She hurriedly stood up and looked nervously and uneasily at Audrey, speaking in a stiff and awkward tone.
"Miss Audrey, y-you... Why did you come here tonight?"
Audrey merely glanced at her indifferently without saying anything and continued flipping through the manuscript she had just finished.
"...Miss Audrey, listen to my defense, no, listen to my explanation. I didn't deliberately write it this way." Fors' face flushed red as she desperately explained, "You know, we writers sometimes have a habit of using the people and things around us as references before carrying out a second round of artistic processing. I definitely wasn't deliberately trying to smear anyone or distort the facts..."
The more Fors explained, the less confidence she had.
As long as someone wasn't blind, they could tell exactly what reality this story had been artistically adapted from.
"I, I'll burn the manuscript later."
Fors weakly added another sentence, but Audrey still showed no reaction. She silently continued flipping through the manuscript until she reached the final page.
"Miss Audrey... Miss Audrey..." Fors' voice was very soft, as though she was afraid of disturbing Audrey while she read, yet also afraid Audrey wouldn't hear her.
Audrey still ignored Fors. After finishing the final page, she placed the manuscript back on the desk and slightly furrowed her brows as if pondering something.
Fors didn't dare disturb her and could only timidly and guiltily sneak glances at Audrey.
"It's not good to write it this way."
"I know. I admit my mistake. I'll burn the manuscript I wrote later."
Seeing that Audrey was finally willing to speak, Fors hurriedly admitted her mistake. After all, she was the one in the wrong here, and she'd even been caught red, handed by the person involved.
"If the male and female protagonists truly love each other that much, how could they so easily give up because of other people's opposition?"
"Miss Audrey, I really know I was wrong... Huh?"
Fors instinctively apologized and admitted her mistake, but after hearing the rest of Audrey's words, she suddenly felt that something wasn't quite right.
There wasn't even the slightest trace of anger in Miss Audrey's voice. Instead, she sounded like an ordinary reader commenting on the contents of a novel she had just read.
"The heroine isn't portrayed very well either. She has no opinions of her own and severely lacks courage. All she has is a beautiful appearance."
"Huh?"
"There are also too few scenes between the male and female protagonists. It's difficult to tell whether they truly love each other."
"..." Fors' little mouth had already fallen slightly open as she stared blankly at Miss Audrey.
Could it be that Miss Audrey hadn't realized the novel she had written tonight was based on her and Mr. Hastur?
That couldn't be possible, right? In Fors' impression, Miss Audrey wasn't only noble and elegant, she was also very intelligent. Aside from being somewhat innocent and naive, Fors felt that Miss Audrey was already perfect in practically every other aspect.
"And the reason that earl is obstructing the relationship between the male and female protagonists is entirely because he loves and wants to protect his daughter, not because he wants to use his daughter as a tool for a political marriage."
"Um, Miss Audrey, actually, the models for this novel's story..." Fors felt she ought to give Miss Audrey a slight reminder, but before she could finish speaking, Audrey interrupted her.
"The main story of the novel is acceptable. It's just that many of the details need further polishing. Only then will the readers enjoy it more."
"Oh." Fors tactfully closed her mouth and silently listened as Miss Audrey analyzed the characters and plot of the novel.
When Audrey was nearly finished, Fors weakly said, "Miss Audrey, however you think it should be revised, that's how I'll change it."
"And that supporting female character. Can't she and the male protagonist simply be friends? Why must such a pure relationship be made so complicated?"
"Mhm, mhm. I'll revise it later." Fors nodded repeatedly.
Although she didn't understand why Miss Audrey was saying all this, Fors had already decided that she would treat this novel as an apology gift for Miss Audrey.
But she still couldn't understand it. Had Miss Audrey really failed to notice that this novel was based on her and Mr. Hastur?
Aside from the names being different, practically everything else matched up.
Or had Miss Audrey actually realized it, but was deliberately pretending not to in order to spare Fors from embarrassment?
Miss Audrey is so kind!
At this possibility, little stars nearly appeared in Fors' eyes.
Audrey ignored Fors' gaze and slightly furrowed her brows as she pointed out every part of the novel that she thought had problems.
Fors committed every single one to memory. She absolutely wouldn't disappoint Miss Audrey!
After Audrey finished speaking and left the room, Fors stared at the closed door and only belatedly thought of a question.
Why had Miss Audrey come to her room tonight in the first place?
After thinking for a while, Fors sat back down at the desk and wrote down every point Audrey had mentioned for revision on a fresh sheet of blank paper.
"Does Miss Audrey like this kind of story? She's really so innocent."
Fors stared at the contents on the paper and once again sank into thought.
If she revised it according to Miss Audrey's suggestions, then this novel could be renamed Sole Love or Devoted Affection.
In the novel, the male and female protagonists would be mutually in love. After going through an adventure that could hardly even be considered full of twists and turns, they would ultimately receive the blessings of their families and friends and happily end up together.
No matter what kind of supporting female character appeared, the male protagonist would always choose the heroine without hesitation, firmly stand on her side, become her strongest support, and shower her with extreme affection.
From Fors' professional perspective as a writer, this was a sweet romance.
Very sweet, very warm, and very pure, without too many impurities. There would hardly even be any villains in it.
The male and female protagonists would always firmly choose each other, both moving toward one another.
Come to think of it, if she seriously considered it, the pairing was actually rather enjoyable to ship.
"It really suits Miss Audrey's personality."
The corners of Fors' lips curved slightly upward, and she began revising her previous novel throughout the night.