I Became the Female Lead Ruined by Others - Chapter 11

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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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Episode 11

He asked as casually as someone inquiring after someone’s health.
His neatly folded eyes and the graceful curve of his lips seemed utterly at odds with the current atmosphere.
His pale golden hair, where moonlight seemed to dissolve into it, and those eyes that gleamed with transparency were so strikingly clear and deep that they felt almost unreal.

‘Who is this person?’

A face I’d never seen before — not in the game, nor in my life as Young Lady.
The moment I instinctively tensed my shoulders, the man smiled softly.

“You’re awfully guarded with me.”

Before I could even register the cryptic words, the smile vanished from the man’s face.

“What the hell is this?”

The Intruder had violently twisted free, desperate to escape his grip.
But the man responded as if he’d anticipated every move, snapping the Intruder’s arm without hesitation and subduing him in a single motion.

“Ugh!”

In the same instant, the man wrapped his other arm around the Intruder’s throat and choked him.
The Intruder’s muffled cry seemed to escape him, yet the man continued in a low voice, addressing me.

“Do you know him?”

Though his expression had gone blank, devoid of any readable emotion, something playful still lingered in his tone.

“…No.”

I shook my head as if entranced.

“That’s what I thought.”

With that, the man smiled again and tightened his arm around the Intruder’s neck.

“Choke—!”

Clang.
As the Intruder’s struggles grew more violent, the Dagger he’d been holding clattered to the floor.
Yet the man didn’t spare it a glance.
Instead, his gaze fixed on me, he spoke as though continuing an everyday conversation.

“You should really tighten your security. It seems there are quite a few people who’d like to see Young Lady dead.”

He spoke matter-of-factly, as if relaying something he’d heard elsewhere.

“I hear the others are taking turns sending mercenaries each night. Seems like they’re not putting in much effort, though.”

Then he began to laugh as if genuinely delighted.

‘…Was he close with that possessed person?’

He came through the window just as the other one did, yet somehow this man seems entirely different from the Intruder.
A composed demeanor, an unruffled tone, and remarks that suggested he knew far more than he ought.
Most of all, the fact that he was subduing the very man who had threatened me spoke volumes.

“Ugh……!”

In that instant, the Intruder’s thrashing body convulsed sharply before going limp.
Only then did the man slowly release the pressure from his arm.
He seized the fallen Intruder by the scruff of the neck and laid him out on the floor like a sack of grain.
Thud.
A rough touch, yet gentle and practiced—the kind one might use to settle someone to sleep.

‘Just who is this man? How does he subdue an assassin who clearly has years of experience so effortlessly?’

He raised himself up and studied my bewildered face for a long moment.

“Even so, this is the first time we’ve met face to face.”

……First time?
So he’d never seen my face before, but there was some connection between us—was that what he meant?

‘Could he be one of those people being blackmailed by the possessed one?’

But beyond that, I couldn’t begin to guess his identity.
Not even someone with a similar air came to mind.

‘With a face like that, I’d remember him even if I’d only passed him in the street. But I’ve never seen him—neither in the game nor since the transmigration!’

He tilted his head slightly to the left, as if waiting for my response.
Unable to muster anything else, I finally parted my lips.

“……In any case, since this is our first meeting, proper introductions ought to come first.”

Though I trailed off vaguely, the man seemed untroubled.
In fact, he let out a small laugh.

“Ah, yes. Introductions. We should do this properly.”

He walked toward me with an easy stride, treading carelessly over the fallen Intruder’s back.
Then he bowed slightly, bringing his eyes level with mine.

“I’ve truly wanted to meet you, Young Lady.”
“…….”
“I do hope you’ll honor the promise you made.”

A promise?
I flinched at the words and leaned back, but the man’s expression remained one of interest.

“If you think you can treat me like thi…….”

But his words were cut short.

“Eeeek!!”

A sharp cry tore from my throat as something seized my ankle.
The Intruder’s hand—the one who lay fallen—had gripped my right ankle.

“You damn……bastards……!”

He’d been so quiet, played dead so convincingly, that I’d forgotten he was even there.
But the man, who glanced down at the floor unmoved by my scream, was still smiling.

“This isn’t really the right moment for a serious conversation.”

With that, he shifted his body gently.
And then came a sound utterly at odds with such a delicate motion—something terrible and wet.
Crack.

“Aaaagh!”

It was the first time since entering this room that the Intruder let out such a piercing shriek.
The man stood expressionless, his boot planted firmly on the Intruder’s forearm.
There was no hesitation in the gesture, no emotion whatsoever.

“I was trying to have a conversation, and you kept interrupting.”

Crack. Another sickening crunch.
I held my breath, stifling a gasp at the sound repeated once more.

‘This one isn’t normal either, is he…?’

The man brushed back the hair that had fallen across his face, tucking it behind his ear with a sharp tilt of his head. Glossy strands swayed against his shoulders, catching the light.
Those blue eyes turned toward me once more.

“Are you hurt?”

He’d only grabbed my ankle. I shook my head numbly.

‘Isn’t this dangerous too? He’s definitely insane.’

My already chaotic mind felt ready to burst.

“Unfortunately, I should leave for now.”

At his words, my eyes widened. He mirrored my expression, his own eyes rounding as he gestured toward the door with a tilt of his chin.
Only then did I notice the commotion echoing from beyond the Corridor in the distance.

“I’ll come back when it’s light.”

The man sighed, turned from me, and walked toward the open window.
Not without stepping on the Intruder’s back one final time as he passed over the figure writhing on the floor.
He had appeared without warning, and now he vanished without a backward glance.
Whoosh.

“Young Lady!”

The door burst open at that very moment, and the alarmed Butler came rushing in with the servants.
The Candlestick in my grip, the Dagger sprawled across the floor, the Intruder groaning as he collapsed, and me standing there in bewildered shock.
Their eyes swept across the scene in turn.

“An intruder!”
“Young Lady, are you—are you all right?!”
“Strengthen the Mansion’s security at once and drag this wretch to the Basement!”

The Bedroom erupted into chaos.
Amid the commotion, I kept my gaze fixed on the still-open window.
The man who had vanished beyond the curtain, stirred by the night breeze.
I wondered if that strange, nameless figure—whose identity I didn’t know—might appear again from the shadows.

* * *

I hadn’t slept a wink all night. Which made perfect sense.

‘How could I possibly sleep after realizing I’d become a female protagonist someone else had ruined?’

What surprised me most was the Butler’s composure—the way he’d calmly sorted through the chaos.

“I do apologize, Master. The report of a suspicious object—likely a bomb—discovered in the Garden required my immediate attention, and I fear I’ve caused you considerable worry. Going forward, I shall concentrate the surveillance personnel stationed in the Garden’s concealment shrubbery toward the Bedroom balcony.”

I’d thought he was merely bumbling, but he seemed rather competent after all.
What shocked me even more was learning that the Garden’s deterioration had a deliberate reason behind it.

‘But who on earth sent that Intruder last night?’

Surely one of the nobles I’d been blackmailing.

‘According to that strange man’s account,
he’s been providing private soldiers in rotation
to each of them. What’s that supposed to mean?’

Probably a consequence of coercion as well.
These nobles, each holding leverage over the others, were undoubtedly watching over my safety in a state of mutual suspicion.
If I were kidnapped by someone and their secrets came to light, the fallout would be infinitely worse than the regular payments they were making now just to maintain their silence.

‘But then again, none of this would’ve happened if I hadn’t blackmailed them in the first place, would it?’

Unanswerable questions kept piling up until my head felt like it might split.

‘And who is that strange man, anyway?’

Our first face-to-face meeting. The promised object. He’d said he’d come during daylight.
I had no clue where to find answers to the words he’d left behind.

‘I’d almost rather be transmigrated into a stone right now…….’

So I spent the entire morning lying under my blanket, staring at the ceiling.
I knew I should do something, but I couldn’t think straight. This exhausting puzzle was nothing like my previous transmigration.
By noon, desperate for any distraction, I rang the servant’s bell and forced myself to sit up.

“Come in.”

But the moment the door opened and I turned my head, I gasped.

“Young Lady, I seem to have been captured.”

Because the man who’d vanished through the window last night was being dragged in, bound hand and foot.

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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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