Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 2

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 2
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I sat in the carriage with its glass window and blinked vacantly at the world passing by.
‘Is that really all there was to it? This easy?’
It was nothing like the carriage that had brought me to the Empire.
The North Kingdom’s royal carriage had been a glittering cage. Garish on the outside, suffocating in its ornament within—I’d felt like a doll trapped in its wrapper.
‘A doll or a concubine. No difference, really.’
But this carriage, bearing the seal of Goneta Dukedom, was different. Without a shred of ostentation, it looked more like a merchant’s wagon—though sturdy enough to weather anything.
And more than that…….
The lock was on the inside, not the outside.
I could open and close it whenever I wished.
‘Even a wretched life like mine can turn this way sometimes……!’
By design, the male lead is built to survive, no matter how desolate the world becomes.
And Shelkan was the type who guarded his word as scrupulously as a miser guards his coin.
‘So this time, I’ve truly secured my safety!’
A strange surge of emotion caught me, and I hurriedly wiped my eyes.
“Wait! You there, concubine lady!”
Erihi, whose eyes had caught mine through the window, came bounding over at once.
I hadn’t closed the window shutters yet.
I was afraid that closing it without permission might offend Shelkan.
I was being careful with every breath I took.
He arrived breathless and planted himself squarely at the open window, then began to scold.
“If you’re thinking of using beauty’s wiles on the Duke, don’t even try it!”
“……?”
“Good grief! There are so many women in society who weep like waterfalls in front of His Grace, yet here you are doing the same on a battlefield! That sort of thing doesn’t work on our Duke one bit! So stop your tears right now……—gah!”
“Get lost.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Shelkan, who had kicked Erihi away, turned his gaze toward me in the carriage. His expression was puzzled.
“Why are you crying? Frightened by being taken to the Dukedom like some captive?”
Shelkan wore heavy silver armor throughout, and the scabbard at his hip still bore vivid traces of blood.
I quickly composed myself and spoke.
“That’s not it at all. Thank you for showing me such kindness, Duke Shelkan.”
The words tumbled out smoothly enough, but Shelkan countered with unexpected directness.
“Not frightened? Why not?”
‘Why not?’
“Well……. There’s no war there, is there?”
“Ah, so that’s the reason. Then why are you crying?”
“Because your grace has kept his word, and I’m simply overwhelmed with gratitude…….”
“Enough to weep?”
“…….”
My answers were beginning to ring hollow.
But more than that.
The Shelkan from the original work had been taciturn, yet this version asked me so many questions. Why?
The faint spark of curiosity glimmering in those cold eyes from birth unsettled me even more.
Shelkan moved his jaw slightly.
“Lorelthiana?”
For a moment I doubted my ears, and stammered out the question.
“You know my name?”
“I wouldn’t have said it otherwise.”
“How could you…….”
“Naive.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Is there any commander who wouldn’t know that the North Kingdom’s king sent the First Princess to the Pasa Empire instead of the Holy Maiden’s daughter?”
“…….”
That word—abandoned—lodged itself in my chest like a nail.
‘Damn. I feel so utterly useless.’
It wasn’t that my pride had been wounded, or anything like that. I had never believed I was hurt by being sent in Ayu’s stead.
‘I wasn’t wounded—I was wronged.’
So this feeling was…….
Shame.
Anyone would feel ashamed if a complete stranger knew so much about their pathetic family circumstances.
It’s like wearing socks with holes in them and then having to remove your shoes in front of strangers.
Just as I was about to open my mouth.
“Your Highness! Duke, Your Highness!”
Erihi, who had been knocked away and sent rolling by Shelkan, came scrambling back, gasping for breath.
“A reply just arrived from the Commander-in-Chief’s office! They’re refusing to permit the concubine’s removal!”
“Refusing?”
Shelkan turned around.
“On what grounds?”
“Well, that is… I didn’t know either, but from the message that just came in…….”
Thud.
“While all other concubines may be permitted to leave, this one cannot be taken as you please, Duke of Goneta. After all, this woman is the half-sister of the Saint’s daughter, is she not?”
A deep male voice cut sharply through Erihi’s words and inserted itself into the conversation.
A tall, imposing figure. A man bearing the insignia of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces pinned to his chest.
He too carried a sword, though unlike Shelkan’s, his scabbard bore not a drop of blood—pristine and clean.
“Duke Baetan.”
At Shelkan’s words, my ears perked up.
‘Duke Baetan?’
No, is it because he stands beside the male lead?
To meet Duke Baetan here, like this?
The very man who corrupted Ayu in the original work?
Shelkan asked coldly.
“What does it matter who her sister is?”
The two of them looked decidedly ill-disposed toward each other.
People used to say that lions and tigers cannot dwell on the same mountain—and there was truth to that.
‘But I, having read the entire original, know better.’
The original’s heroine, Ayu, had several male secondary leads.
Whereas the male lead Shelkan appeared late in her story, the first man she became entangled with was none other than Duke Baetan.
Duke Baetan was Ayu’s first love, blessed with both striking looks and an excellent station.
But what good was any of that?
When he was fated to be merely the male secondary lead, never chosen by the heroine.
‘The male lead and male secondary cannot possibly get along.’
So they were destined to despise each other…….
Born to despise each other…… that sort of thing?
Of course, I could never say such things aloud. I could only think them, locked away in my own mind.
That was when it happened.
Duke Baetan’s gaze turned toward me, and a sharp, hostile glint flashed in his eyes.
‘Oh no.’
I immediately cast my eyes down. My vitality wasn’t strong enough to provoke a male secondary lead who so clearly bore me ill will.
I’m a sunfish. I die easily. In my past life, I didn’t even have long to live.
A shadow fell over me then. Shelkan’s back loomed before my eyes.
“Don’t stare.”
“Since you can’t have the Saint’s daughter, are you trying to claim her half-sister instead?”
“Why would that concern you?”
“What?”
“Because I’m not already bound in marriage like you are, Duke.”
“……What do you mean by that! Are you cursing me to dally with other women while keeping a legitimate wife at home?!”
‘Oh no.’
I was startled by Duke Baetan’s fury in a different way.
‘He just prophesied his own future!’
That was it.
The reason Duke Baetan, possessed of handsome features, abundant wealth, and the tremendous advantage of being Ayu’s first love, had nevertheless failed to become the male lead.
It was because Duke Baetan was already a married man!
Ayu, unaware of this fact, falls for Duke Baetan anyway. And his legitimate wife, a woman skilled in court intrigue, torments Ayu mercilessly.
That was the very point at which this novel truly descended into tragedy.
“Damn it, why am I even wasting breath on this nonsense! Don’t try to cloud the issue!”
Duke Baetan’s face flushed crimson as he shouted.
“That deposed concubine has not yet undergone the First Night Rite with the Emperor! Surely the Temple of Divine Officials sent an Imperial Decree to that effect? If the North Kingdom’s First Princess has not yet undergone the rite, she is to be sent to the Temple of Divine Officials first!”
I was suddenly seized by confusion.
An Imperial Decree from the Temple of Divine Officials saying that? Why?
Unlike Ayu, the daughter of a saint, I had no connection whatsoever to the Temple of Divine Officials.
So why had he brought up my First Night Rite, saying this and that about it?
Apart from my confusion, my heart had begun to pound. I worried what would happen if Shelkan decided to send me to the Temple of Divine Officials after all.
‘The priests don’t like me…….’
They resented my mother for refusing to relinquish her position as queen.
They believed that because of my mother, the saint had been denied the queen’s seat.
So the priests had always regarded me, her daughter, as an eyesore.
It was obvious I would not receive good treatment if I went to the Temple of Divine Officials.
“The Temple of Divine Officials?”
It was moments later that a cold voice cut through my anxiety like a blade.
“I made it clear. That I would take a portion of the war spoils. I’ve already notified them that I’m taking this woman.”
“You could send her to the Temple of Divine Officials first and divide the spoils later! Why, are you afraid she’ll die in the meantime?”
“It’s not about whether she dies.”
At his indifferent tone, I felt a small sting inside.
A little disappointed, I suppose.
I swallowed my sigh and scolded myself.
‘I’ve already fallen under his spell just because he appeared like a savior. Of course Shelkan doesn’t care whether I live or die. We only met today.’
Shelkan continued in his measured voice.
“I don’t surrender my war spoils. You know that well enough.”
“This is no ordinary war—we’re at war with the Pasa Empire itself! Follow the Imperial Decree! Send that deposed concubine to the Temple of Divine Officials at once! That is an order!”
“Ha…….”
Shelkan exhaled a long breath and turned to look at me.
“Lorelthiana. Do you want to go to the Temple of Divine Officials?”
Though taken aback, my answer came immediately.
“No.”
I cleared my throat and spoke more firmly.
“I’m going to the Goneta Dukedom.”
The words came out with a certain resolve, and Shelkan laughed—truly laughed—for the first time.
“Good.”
I couldn’t tell why he was laughing. He’d already turned away again.
‘But was there such a scene in the original? Though honestly, that original story only had Ayu in it.’
“Duke of Goneta! Am I invisible? I am your superior!”
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty.”
The aide, who had been nearly as inconspicuous as I was, ventured softly to speak.
“We signed the Imperial Decree before our deployment, you see. If we were simply to take this concubine lady with us, then by Continental Law, the Goneta Knights cannot participate in any war for the next three years……. You can see how difficult that would be for our domain, can’t you?”
“Ah, that’s right. Three years.”
Shelkan tilted his chin at an angle and murmured.
“That won’t do at all. The domain would go completely bankrupt.”
My heart felt as though it would leap out of my throat. Then Shelkan suddenly turned to look at me.
“The problem is that I haven’t lain with the emperor.”
…….
“Then if I had undergone the First Night Rite, sending me to the Dukedom would be permitted?”
“What?”
For a moment, I doubted my ears.
Surely he wasn’t suggesting we perform the First Night Rite right here, right now…….
Shelkan gazed at my widened eyes, then reached out his hand. His long, straight fingers lightly traced down my cheek.
At that moment, tension gripped my throat without my realizing it.
“I never thought I’d end up marrying a prisoner while still in the middle of a war.”
The words fell like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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