When Elena saw the picture album, she immediately had the idea of adding illustrations. After finishing the first two chapters, she increasingly felt the urge to include some drawings. She believed that her small story could easily outshine *Randiana, The Exciting Story*, and if it lost out due to the lack of illustrations, she would be deeply dissatisfied. Since she had already invested so much effort, she certainly wanted her work to be as popular as possible.
However, adding illustrations would inevitably distract readers' attention because images are more direct than words. Furthermore, Elena was more inclined to make a comic, one with a coherent storyline, rather than a few scattered illustrations.
If it were a comic, it would surely attract more readers, and no one would care about the text anymore. The chapters she had painstakingly written would be wasted, wouldn't they?
"Maybe I should keep them separate," Elena thought, "just like a horror story paired with a haunted house."
The cost of illustrations was much higher than that of words. If colored, the cost would increase even more. If it weren't a widely praised work, the publisher might have reservations. Although Elena was confident in the comic style from Pickle Country, she couldn't be sure it would be a hit—what if it didn't work out?
The best-case scenario would be that the written version of *Spring Dream* received positive reviews, followed by the release of a comic version, achieving a synergistic effect of 1+1>2. If possible, she even wanted to add paper dolls, imagining them dressed in alluring, sensual outfits, which would certainly boost sales.
Wait, she had originally only wanted to write a casual erotic story to test if the goddess Daidit truly represented love as desire, to please her and secretly achieve her goal. How did it spiral into this?
Elena quickly snapped back to her writing and focused once again on the text, continuing the unfinished scene.
Apart from the high-ranking nobleman, the protagonist's dream also involved the husband's friend, a righteous and well-mannered lawyer. In the dream, his *John Thomas* was exceptional, providing the lady with unparalleled pleasure. She even longed for her dream lover after waking up. What she didn't notice was that in the waking world, the husband's upright friend had secretly set his sights on her.
Elena then let her imagination run wild, involving the gentle and shy neighbor next door, her cheerful and lively brother, and even her proud and aloof brother-in-law. Of course, their identities might be hard to accept, but after all, it was just a dream—why not?
In the dream, all of them met the lady, offering her different sensory pleasures. When she went through the routine with her husband, she couldn't help but compare it to the exciting experiences in the dream. The outcome was obvious.
But as the lady had received proper education for a noblewoman, even though she might have known she was dreaming, she still couldn't completely let go of her inner modesty. She hesitated and rejected her dream lovers, though they would take action to make her surrender and beg.
As for the other male protagonists who shared the same dream with the lady, how would they view her? Would they take action in reality? That was a suspense Elena left hanging. She planned to test the readers' reactions. If they couldn't accept the actions in the dream, she would pull back and make it more subtle. But if the readers responded positively, she could boldly push the story further.
This kind of passionate writing didn't require complicated plots. After setting the outline, Elena wrote at a fast pace. Each lover's story was about 20,000 words, and within two weeks, she had finished the first two lovers' stories. During this time, Vera and Grace occasionally visited her writing studio. Fortunately, Elena was quick-witted, and with their good manners, they didn't dare to look at her manuscripts without permission, so she managed to keep it all under wraps.
Not only did she have to write these unspeakable little stories, but she also had to write *Helen* for *Ladies Monthly*, create paper dolls, and review their submissions. Time was tight, and the workload was heavy. She wished she could split herself in two.
*Helen* followed a formula, so Elena had read countless stories about fake and real rich girls, making it quite easy for her to write. After two issues of delays, Helen's fake wealthy parents finally returned from their vacation. However, this was not good news for Helen. Her biological parents begged her to return home as a distant relative and not take the fake daughter's place. Helen, of course, could not believe it, feeling heartbroken and disappointed, but after seeing her long-lost parents, she eventually chose to forgive them.
Of course, the female lead had to be a soft pushover, otherwise, how would the readers get angry and continue reading?
The fake wealthy girl exuded the fragrance of a "green tea bitch," fearing that Helen would take everything from her and was determined to drive her away. On the surface, she treated Helen kindly, acting all considerate and gentle, but behind her back, she insulted her, refused to feed her, and allowed servants to bully her. In short, she made sure Helen couldn't stay.
Elena ended this issue with a classic framing plot: the fake daughter fell down the stairs and falsely accused Helen of pushing her. Her biological parents and brother immediately turned against Helen and blamed her. Helen, faced with this situation, couldn't defend herself.
It was so infuriating! Elena almost felt sorry for Helen, but the reason these plots were so successful was that they worked every time. When Elena showed it to Vera and Grace for a trial read, the two noblewomen nearly burned her with their furious glares.
"This isn't fair!!!" Vera nearly screamed, "How dare she do this to Helen! That damned imposter! Why are you writing this? I don't get it, what's the point of making me so mad?!"
Even Grace looked at Elena with disapproval. "This is unreasonable! As nobility, how can they wrong someone like that? At least they should investigate first!"
"You have too unrealistic an idea of the nobility," Elena replied, "They can totally do something like that. However, I still find it hard to accept. After all, Helen is their biological daughter."
Elena smiled. "Well, imagine if the Duke of Berkeley were suddenly exposed as a fake nobleman and a real country gentleman showed up. He's awkward and clumsy, doesn't know the etiquette, would you easily accept him?"
Vera and Grace both furrowed their brows.
"That's not the same," Vera tried to find a loophole. "How could the Duke of Berkeley be fake?"
Grace gave a similar response. "I think the real country gentleman really couldn't compare to the Duke of Berkeley."
"So, based on the good reputation of the fake daughter," Elena said, "people around them also think like that."
The two noblewomen fell silent, looking at each other for a while.
"Speaking of the real gentleman," Vera decided to change the subject. "Did you see the latest issue of *Cassell Magazine*? They published a story about fake and real gentlemen, which is said to be very popular. This issue sold about 10,000 more copies than usual."
Elena didn't have time to read other magazines; she was too busy with her own work. But she was curious, so she asked, "How was it?"
Vera pulled out a copy of the magazine. "I was just going to show you. It's this one."
*Cassell Magazine* was a literary magazine, known for publishing all sorts of stories, from romantic tales to thrilling adventures. Vera, having money and some free time, had subscribed to several of these magazines to pass the time.
"This one," she said, flipping to the right page. "The last issue published a story called *Gold*. It was terribly boring. This issue suddenly switched to *Family Mystery*."
Elena read it eagerly.
The author of this story was Wells, and unlike *Helen*, which was fast-paced and filled with suspense, this story took its time to slowly develop a noble family. Elena could tell that the author was likely from a noble background, as the writing delicately depicted the regency style's elegance and romance. The story was steeped in family traditions, from manners and conversation to the household setup and the elements of vanity and arrogance in the family atmosphere. Elena had to admit that this was something she couldn't write. She simply lacked that kind of experience.
The story's pace was slow, starting with an annual family gathering. It spent a great deal of time describing the background and details of the event, introducing four family members: the nobleman who valued family honor, the elegant and gracious lady, the son who was considered the heir, and the charming and playful daughter, weaving a picture of noble life.
The story ended abruptly when the young man discovered an anonymous letter about his background.
Elena couldn't help but think that, judging by the title and writing style, this wasn't a story about fake and real gentlemen scheming against each other. Instead, it seemed to focus on the family's daily life, describing how they would handle an unexpected event. She could already imagine how this anonymous letter would affect them, creating various tensions even before the true fake nobleman appeared.
"A completely different style," Elena commented.
Vera nodded. "Indeed, it's nothing like your *Helen*, which makes people so mad. This one portrays the characters as very noble, elegant, and kind. I guess it's the type of nobility Grace fantasizes about. But, honestly, the nobility in your story is the real deal. Cold, ruthless, and only interested in benefits."
Grace felt wronged, but she couldn't argue, as her image of nobility was indeed tinted with a filter. "But Vera, you and Duke Berkeley are just like the nobles in the story, elegant and kind-hearted."
Vera was momentarily speechless, then cleared her throat and began looking around.
Grace quickly countered, smiling, "But I think *Helen* is much more engaging. After reading your *Helen*, when I look at *Family Mystery*, I feel like it's progressing too slowly. It even seems a little lacking in patience."
It was true—having been used to online literature, Elena herself had lost interest in traditional literature. Once a person's threshold for excitement was raised, it was hard to bring it back down.
The two women chatted a bit more before leaving Elena to her writing. Before leaving, Vera, with a hint of worry, stopped her, advising her to prepare her luggage, as they might need to go to the countryside to seek refuge soon.
"It's all those people from the tribunal's fault," Vera whispered. "They're watching Duke Berkeley, and they're also searching for others like us in the city. The duke's letter says that if things get really bad, we should go to the countryside. He has a castle in Suguo."
Elena's eyes widened. She hadn't expected that, after so long, the search wasn't only ongoing but had actually intensified to the point where they might have to go into hiding. But... she had never stayed at a castle before.