The Author And Her Protagonist

Cheryl’s strange behavior went unnoticed by the young man. He gently led Cheryl to the side of the road.

“Miss, please let me know if you’re hurt.” He noticed Cheryl’s bright red knees. “Or we can go to the hospital for a checkup if you prefer.”

Cheryl didn’t pay attention to what the young man said because she hadn’t recovered from the shock of the man’s face and voice.

She opened her trembling lips, “Harold…?”

Cheryl’s voice was low, but it startled the young man in front of her.

“Sorry, did we ever meet before? How did you find out what my name was?” Harold, the young man, inquired, tilting his head.

The young man in front of her acknowledged indirectly that his name was Harold. Cheryl’s heart was racing.

Cheryl’s heart was filled with confusion as a result of Harold’s appearance. The young man was so similar to the one in the novel world that it was difficult to tell whether the one in the novel world was the real one or the one in front of her.

“Was this a coincidence?” Cheryl pondered.

Harold assumed this girl in front of him was just saying a name because he didn’t get an answer. He took his wallet from his suit pocket, pulled out a few sheets, and thrust them into Cheryl’s hands.

“Miss, I don’t think the accident hurt you too much right now. This is for the cost of treating the wound on your leg. Please accept.”

Cheryl looked at the bill in a daze, unsure whether to accept it or not.

Cheryl’s hesitation was cut short by a voice.

“What were you doing there for so long, Harold? She can stand up, so she’s not seriously injured, right?”

Cheryl had already been taken aback by Harold’s voice. Cheryl’s heart was broken by the combination of her various feelings and this one deep voice. Her body continued to shake, and her heart palpitations became more severe.

When Cheryl turned around, she saw a strong figure in a black suit leaning against the car door. The man’s hands were folded in front of his chest, and a pair of cold black eyes stared at Cheryl from his handsome face.

Cheryl’s lips parted as she tried to say his name. But her tongue was paralyzed; she couldn’t utter a name that was deeply embedded in the depths of her heart, even though she desperately wanted to.

Cheryl’s frozen reaction, with a facial expression that alternates between happy and sad, appears different to the other two men.

Harold interpreted Cheryl’s reaction as that of a young girl taken aback by his boss’ good looks. While the charismatic man there slightly frowned, it was unclear what he was thinking.

The man cast a quick glance at the money in Harold’s hand, which was still floating in midair. He smiled sarcastically for a brief moment.

“So this young lady won’t accept that small sum of money? Do you wish for more?”

Cheryl felt slapped in the face by the man’s sarcastic tone. She jolted awake from her daydream. For a split second, the woman dared to look into the man’s ink-black eyes.

“I… I don’t….”

Cheryl hasn’t even finished her sentence when the man pulls out a piece of a bank check and hands it to her.

The atmosphere became awkward almost immediately.

How could it not be, with two men in front and behind holding out money to a young girl. What would people think?

Cheryl, like before, refused the check tucked between the man’s two fingers. She only glanced at the hand before returning her gaze to the man’s handsome face.

The man frowned once more, clearly frustrated.

Harold, sensing his boss’s irritation, rushed forward, took the check from his boss’s grip, and handed it to Cheryl instead.

He didn’t just wait for Cheryl to accept this time, but stuffed the check into the young girl’s delicate hands.

While Harold was checking, the man in the black suit walked back into the car without saying anything else. His movements are undeniably elegant and refined.

“Miss, the money in this check is not insignificant; it will more than suffice to treat a scratch. The boss gave it to you; please accept it and don’t waste any more of our time.”

Harold’s words were still polite, and his tone was gentle, but his actions were no longer patient.

Harold rushed into the car after stuffing the check into Cheryl’s hand. The black car soon moved and began driving down the street, drifting away and disappearing among the other cars.

Cheryl, who had been abandoned by the side of the road, stared in disbelief. She held a check in her right hand, which was a little wrinkled from being forcibly gripped.

The young woman’s clear eyes had yet to leave the direction of the black car.

“Is that really Edgar?”

–

While the man was sitting in the moving car, his heart felt uneasy, and he looked back to see the girl who was frozen on the side of the road.

The further away their car was from the girl, the more uneasy the man felt.

Harold, behind the wheel, sensed his boss’s strange mood and couldn’t help but inquire.

“What’s the matter, Boss?”

The man in the black suit averted his gaze, maintaining a straight, expressionless face.

“Nothing.”

–

Cheryl spent the rest of the time in a daze.

Even when she walked to the pharmacy, then to the food stall, and finally back home, which was the most pleasant, she couldn’t shake her bad mood.

She set the bank check down on the table. Cheryl was too lazy to count the exact digits of the numbers written on the paper. The sum of money written is clearly substantial.

She was allegedly overjoyed to receive money for free and unexpectedly. The issue, however, is with the person who gives the money. Cheryl was clearly still reeling from her encounter with the man.

“His brows, his eyes, his nose, his lips, the shape of his face, his voice, his height, and his wavy hair all look exactly the same as Edgar’s from the novel world.” Cheryl buried her face between her wrapped-in-bandages knees.

She closed her eyes, trying to block out the man’s overlapping image of the Marquess of Northland, Edgar Baldwin. However, the more she tried to forget him, the clearer it became. Edgar’s image of the novel’s world began to fade, and he was replaced by a man dressed smugly in a black suit.

Cheryl’s emotions are becoming increasingly erratic.

“Oh my God… Please help me…”

–

Cheryl went out this noon and published a new story. Her story is inspired by her experiences in the novel world. Everything is finished, including a description of Edgar Baldwin.

Cheryl didn’t have time to create a proper cover because she was rushing to publish her novel. As a result, she asked an acquaintance who ran a commish service to describe the novel’s characters as the cover.

Cheryl, who returned with a lot of mixed emotions in her heart, had no recollection of the novel or the cover.

Only later that afternoon, when an acquaintance texted Cheryl to say the cover was finished, did she recall the novel’s existence.

Cheryl clicked on the sent file, and a character illustration of Edgar Baldwin appeared, which looked exactly like Edgar Baldwin.

Cheryl thought it was fine at first, and was even impressed by the illustration. However, as soon as she remembered the arrogant man she met this afternoon, she decided she didn’t want to see the cover again.

“Won’t it just look like that guy if I publish this cover?” Cheryl bit her nails.

Her fingers used to work smoothly, click here and click here, and the cover was published.

“What?!” The young woman shrieked, terrified.Exclusive © content by N(ô)ve/l/Drama.Org.

She hurriedly pressed the cover change button. Unfortunately, the cover she sent was approved. The editor is the only person who can change the cover.

“Why was it approved so quickly? Miss Miller is on leave today, correct? I won’t be able to change her for a few days! How about this? What if someone recognized the illustration on the cover as that arrogant guy?”

Cheryl panicked uncontrollably. She stood up and spun around the room. She even cursed the innocent check paper on the table.

“Tell me, Lord of Checks, if your owner sees the illustration, will he sue me for copyright?”

Because it was just a pile of paper, the lord of the check did not respond.

Cheryl, on the other hand, was becoming increasingly grumpy due to her fear.

“Wait a second. Even though the illustration resembles him, it isn’t based on his face, correct? As a result, there should be no copyright infringement! Then it appeared that he didn’t read online novels in his spare time either. So the odds of him seeing the illustration that looks like his face are almost nil, right? Yes, it certainly should be! So, why am I afraid of meaningless things? That’s ridiculous, haha.”

Her intelligent brain was able to calm itself. Cheryl was overjoyed.

The young woman then bathed in happiness, even singing in the shower.

–

Tonight is the scheduled live broadcast. Cheryl is obligated to watch as someone who enters her work in the contest. She also wanted to know what kind of surprise was in store for the contest winner this time.

Cheryl sat down with a cup of hot milk and a plate of snacks to watch the live broadcast that had begun.

First, the host explains how to enter the contest, the contest rules, and so on. Not only that, but they also offer professional writing materials.

The long-awaited segment finally arrived after about 40 minutes of waiting.

The host began by welcoming the guests on this live broadcast.

“We have a special guest tonight. Can you make a guess? No? Don’t be sad; I couldn’t figure out who it was either. I was astounded when the guest star’s name was finally revealed!” The hosts extended a warm welcome.

“Regardless, you’ll never guess who it is.” The host chuckled. “So there’s no need to linger; I’ll bring it up now. Eugene Antonio La Bertie, a well-known director, is our guest tonight.”

The host clapped his hands, and some of the staff around him did as well.

Soon after, a man in a gray suit appeared on the screen. The man smiled warmly. He smiled at the camera after greeting the host.

“Hello, my name is Eugene Antonio La Bertie and I’d like to introduce myself. You can call me Eugene. It’s a pleasure to be here with you all!”

The man on screen smiled warmly and spoke in a friendly tone, just like the novel’s crown prince character.

Cheryl’s eyelids began to droop as she looked at the computer screen’s reflection, especially when she saw how bright Eugene’s smile was on the screen.

“So … they have lives in this world as well ….” Cheryl mumbled something about sadness. She reached out and touched the screen, right in Eugene’s face. “I am delighted to see you in good health, His Highness the Crown Prince.”