I Became the Female Lead Ruined by Others - Chapter 19

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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 19

The Crown Prince? Baron?
I’d assumed whatever leverage they’d managed to dig up would be simple corruption or some sordid personal scandal.

‘So it wasn’t that the Marquis was special—it was that his weakness was special. Something approaching treason, perhaps.’

In truth, the Marquis was currently the leading suspect in orchestrating the assassination.
But pressing him now carried too much risk.

‘I know nothing about that weakness.’

Beyond that, there was something Father—no, Duke Bardentia—had once told me about him.

―In all my years, I’ve never encountered anyone as cunning as that old fox.

If I showed even the slightest opening, he wouldn’t hesitate to exploit it.

‘Besides, I need the investigation results.’

Given the possibility that the assassin in the basement was genuinely mad, I needed to extract information from this angle as well.

“Very well. Just this once, I’ll make an exception.”

I spoke as though reluctant, playing magnanimous, and the Marquis’s eyes widened.

“But don’t mistake this for forgiveness. I’m waiting for results that prove your usefulness.”
“Yes, of course! I swear I shall not disappoint you!”

The Marquis, visibly relieved, poured forth flattery that I let wash over me.

‘Where could it be hidden?’

That Possessor had meticulously kept ledgers to pressure the nobles. There was no chance he’d failed to secure evidence of whatever leverage he held over the Marquis—leverage potent enough to bring him to his knees.

‘That man must be carrying enormous secrets of his own.’

Yet something about him was different.
He hadn’t feared me, hadn’t been intimidated by me, and had treated me with easy familiarity. That ease had made me careless, and…….

“I understand the Young Lady visited as well, but as you know, yesterday was the first day of the funeral service for Lady Bardentia.”

Just as my thoughts were branching in new directions, the Marquis’s words yanked my attention back sharply.

“We had the knights assembled this morning for an investigation when word came from the Empress, requiring me to depart for that location. I arrived late and must apologize, but as a member of the Imperial family, my nephew couldn’t very well be left unattended at such an event.”

Baron. So he was there yesterday as well.

“In any case, I’ve never witnessed such a chaotic funeral service. I’m told the entire affair will span a full week.”
“A full week?”

In the five years I’d been here, I’d attended perhaps twenty funeral services or so.

‘Being a domestic game, the standard funeral period here was three days, wasn’t it?’

No matter what, a week was the honor reserved for a state funeral.

“His Highness the Crown Prince decreed it thus. Surely you’re aware that he’s always been exceptionally fond of the Lady?”

True enough, we were close friends, but this struck me as odd.
Is this world really like that? When the Crown Prince says, “Let’s hold my friend’s funeral for a week!” does everyone just nod and comply?

‘It’s strange for Baron to decide something like that when he’s not even family.’

The questions piled on without end, but the real problem was what came next from the Marquis.

“The Young Lady’s words came back to me. Now that I reflect on it, every step His Highness has taken, which I once thought nothing of, was the step of a man in love.”
“……?”
“I was reminded once again of how keen the Young Lady’s eye truly is.”

Caught off guard, I reached for the tea cup instead of forming any response.
I needed to hide the stupidity written across my face.

‘What kind of nonsense is this?’

I had never once entertained such a thought.
Baron was exceptionally generous toward me, yes—but that was because I took pains to please him, wasn’t it?
Above all, he was the Main Capture Target that the company tacitly promoted, and he existed for the sake of the female protagonist.

―Sometimes it seems to me that you know my heart completely.
―That can’t be.
―And yet… I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

A day from the past surfaced in my mind. A sky high and blue, a garden blooming with flowers of every color, and the dessert I loved most.
All of it was vivid, but the expression on Baron’s face as he looked at me—I couldn’t recall it.

“How remarkable it is that you possess the ability to discern such currents, Young Lady.”

As if.
No—there’s no way. If even that Possessor knew, I couldn’t have been the only one ignorant. I couldn’t have been the only one not to see what Baron was truly like…….

“……Young Lady, are you quite all right?”
“My throat is simply dry.”

Only after pulling my lips from the tea cup did the Marquis study my expression.

“The sudden departure of the Lady must weigh heavily on you as well.”

The pathetically servile air that had been so grating before had shed a layer somewhere.

“The two of you shared the finest friendship in all the Empire, did you not? Of course, the Lady must have been captivated by your competence, just as I am.”

The flattery poured out without a flicker across his face—smooth as ever.

“She even played the role of purse strings without hesitation, always watching your back. It’s truly a pity she’s gone.”

The Marquis continued, layering a different air across his features than before, speaking slowly.
Very slowly.

“Haven’t you always said the Lady was a ‘good pawn’? Yet for such a dependable pillar to crumble away so uselessly—I fear it may throw a wrench into your grand ambitions.”

From that single remark, I could easily infer that the Possessor had used the Lady to lever pressure on the Marquis.
And that face of his, reminding me so pointedly that my backing had vanished—

‘He’s testing me, that’s all.’

It was no different from asking if you were managing all right now that your reliable backing had disappeared.
Though at the moment he was bowing obsequiously, it seemed he harbored no genuine intention of breaking away from me.

“Concern?”

I curled my lips and laughed, eyes narrowing to slits.

“That’s a gross overestimation. Do you think I built this entire scheme on the back of a single Lady?”

It was a repurposed line from the original game — one of Bianca’s sneering remarks, the sort she’d hurl at Roselina with contempt. I’d seen this dialogue so many times across every playthrough that it had become tiresome.
Thrown out without any real grasp of the situation, the words were a masterwork of eighty percent bluster and twenty percent genuine irritation.

‘Still, I can’t just let it slide.’

If anything, my ignorance made it more crucial not to permit even the slightest opening — not if I wanted to avoid being devoured by this ancient fox who never stopped prowling.

“……Yes?”
“What do you mean yes? I’m asking if you’ve already run out of cards to play.”
“Ah, no, Young Lady. I misspoke. I only worried that such demanding matters might tire you, and spoke out of turn.”

He stood there gaping like a man who’d taken a blow, before hurrying to excuse himself.

‘Let him think I’m only backing off because there’s nothing to gain right now.’

I needed to uncover Brilliant Marquis’s weakness faster.
Even while groveling, he was probing — I needed a stronger way to bind him.

‘Where is the evidence? The first floor is where the servants spend more time than I do. The second floor had many rooms, but……’

Perhaps there was a space where he spent time alone, away from the butler’s notice.
As frustration washed over me and I exhaled a sigh, my gaze drifted past the Marquis’s crown — and that was when I saw it.
Behind him, through the open crack of a tall window, warm spring air drifted in.
The Silk Curtain hanging there rippled gently in that breeze.

“Wait, that……”

Beyond it, I could make out a man peering into the Reception Room.
Platinum-blonde hair gleaming in the sunlight, blue eyes — the contrast they created was almost blinding.
The moment our gazes met, the man smiled with easy warmth and gave a slight nod.

‘What is he doing there?!’

Shock twisted my face, and the Marquis across from me flinched visibly.

“Is something wrong, Young Lady?”

As his head began to turn slowly in the direction of my gaze, I felt it in my bones.

‘I cannot face both of them at once right now.’

No information on either of them, which made both suspicious, and both were deeply entangled with that Possessor.

“Marquis!!”

So I simply shouted, drawing his attention forcefully back to me.
The startled Marquis trembled as though he’d bitten his own tongue, though he straightened his posture obediently.
I stared wide-eyed, desperately ignoring the overwhelming presence I felt beyond the window.

“I think that will be enough for today.”
“Ah, yes. I fully understand your deeper intentions, Young Lady.”
“If you understand, then leave. Now. Go.”

My mind commanded the sharp charisma of Bianca from the game, but my flustered lips refused to obey.

“Then I shall take my leave. Rest well, Young Lady.”

But the Marquis seemed accustomed to such treatment, executing a graceful bow and moving toward the door with practiced ease.
Click.
Even after the door closed, I pressed my chest and drew breath for a long while, trying to calm myself.
Just as my racing heart finally began to settle, a low chuckle drifted into the room.

“Well, the women of Cargen certainly have spirit, don’t they?”

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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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