I Became the Female Lead Ruined by Others - Chapter 29

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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 29

I didn’t shy from that uncomfortable stare, gripping the balcony railing instead.
As I moved, the man’s head tilted slightly.
Hair kissed by the glow of sunset tumbled across his shoulders, but what caught my eye first was the blue gaze clouded with suspicion.

“Isn’t it excessive—preparing like this in a quiet manor on an early afternoon? Surely the Crown Prince wouldn’t travel alone, and it’s not the middle of the night either.”

He asked as though genuinely curious, his tone almost gentle.
But those eyes.
He couldn’t hide the relentless hunger to dig through my mind.

“As the lady of this house, I’m simply ensuring I’m fully prepared to receive a guest of the Crown Prince’s standing.”
“Is that so?”

It wasn’t a casual acknowledgment.
It was a retort that sounded like he’d seen through my lie.
I cleared my throat quietly and laid out an excuse I’d prepared beforehand.

“Having you wait on the balcony is precisely because I can’t expose you to the public eye.”
“That, at least, makes sense.”
“And there’s no harm in being thorough in my preparations.”
“Except it sounds like you’re anticipating a danger serious enough to require such measures.”

The remark was sharper than necessary, but I answered with a casual shrug.
Right now, I couldn’t afford to get tangled up in this man’s mind games.
So I had no choice but to draw out my most effective weapon.

“You’re not wrong. There may well be a danger I need to prepare for thoroughly.”

Perhaps expecting me to protest, the man’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Imagine if even a small disturbance were to occur in this manor tomorrow. Then not only would the Crown Prince be involved, but the royal household itself might take offense. If things go wrong and I’m caught out, not only would our pact dissolve—I wouldn’t even be able to plan what comes next.”

The moment the word pact left my mouth, his lips went rigid.

‘Let him suspect all he likes.’

The servants pooling their efforts to clear away luxuries, laying old carpets in the lobby and reception room, confining him to the balcony—all of it would seem suspicious to him.
But now that I’d taken the pact hostage, his suspicions were toothless.

‘Think what you will. Tomorrow I have to prepare against Baron Karzen threatening me.’

And my gamble paid off.
The man who’d been standing in the garden, studying me beneath the strange hush that had settled there, let out a small sound.
His arms folded, he hung his head.

“Ha ha…….”

His shoulders, curved inward, began to tremble subtly.
After shaking with laughter for a long moment, he snapped his head up suddenly.
His expression was one of resolve I’d never seen before—not in front of the servants, not when we were alone.

“You really are something, aren’t you.”

Was it because of the blazing sunset light?
It was like a smile brimming with joy, stained crimson.

“You speak so coldly, like some sort of blackmailer. It hurts to listen to.”
“But you don’t have the face of someone who’s been hurt.”
“That remark just now hurt me too.”

The man tilted his head again and whimpered out his words, but I offered no response.

“In any case, I’m counting on you. For our pact, if nothing else.”

I merely gave him a quiet warning: that what he was meant to protect was not the Crown Prince, but the pact itself—and the one person alone who could fulfill it.

* * *

“Make way, all of you!”

The Crown Prince’s progress—Baron Karzen’s arrival—was spectacle enough in itself.
Though the Mersh Marquis Manor lay in a quiet corner on the outskirts of the Capital, word had spread and crowds had gathered in great numbers.

“Why would His Highness come all this way?”
“That’s what I’m wondering. Could he have some special connection to the Mersh young lady?”
“Surely not…….”
“Well, I heard the Bardencia princess was close to both of them, so they probably just know each other through her.”
“But still, for him to pay a personal visit like this—isn’t that strange?”

The murmuring that had rippled through the crowd ceased the moment Baron Karzen descended from the ornate carriage.
Accompanied by knights, he waved lightly toward the assembled people, and his crimson eyes grew distant and cold.
Dominic, the Crown Prince’s aide, visibly stiffened and moved to Baron’s side, whispering urgently.

“The carriage cannot proceed any further, Your Highness. The access road is in no condition to be traversed…….”
“Never mind that—what strikes me more, Dominic, is the sheer number of people here. You were the only one who knew I was coming today.”

Dominic’s shoulders went rigid as he met those dark, sunken eyes.

“I sent an advance guard twice to scout the area, Your Highness. The news likely leaked during that process. I apologize profusely.”
“An advance guard? Did I order you to do such a thing?”
“Well, when I saw you had the carriage brought—that one—I thought the situation must be delicate, and I feared……I overstepped, and I am deeply sorry, Your Highness.”

The carriage Baron had ridden in today was entirely unlike the ones he usually traveled in.
It bore no outward signs of its true nature, but inside, metal plates were reinforced to deflect external attack—a conveyance reserved for wartime and emergencies. Its weight was substantial enough that three additional horses were needed to draw it, making it woefully inefficient. Yet it was precisely this armored carriage that had revealed everything to a careful observer.

“My aide is most, most capable indeed.”

Baron’s sneering gaze turned toward the shabby old mansion before them.
Paint peeling from the outer walls, a garden overgrown from neglect, and standing before the wide-open iron gate—a single middle-aged man.
Baron approached without hesitation, flanked by his knights, and came to stand before him.

“I am honored to behold the bright sun of the great Karzen. I am Ted Muffler, steward of the Mersh Marquis Manor. How truly fortunate we are that you would grace us with your esteemed presence…….”
“Where is the master of this house? Why are you standing alone?”

Baron cut off Ted’s words sharply.
The knights rolled their eyes at the icy tone, yet Ted’s voice betrayed not the slightest tremor.
Instead, he bowed with even greater deference.

“Forgive me, Your Highness. Since learning of the princess’s passing, the young lady—the mistress—has fallen into profound despair and has scarcely eaten or drunk, clinging to life by the barest thread. She was unable to come to greet you. I humbly beg your mercy and understanding.”

His face was expressionless, but Baron felt a quiet laugh rise within him.
To dare invoke Bianca’s death—how shameless this woman was.

“Show me inside.”
“Yes, Your Highness. I shall show you to the Reception Room.”

Baron Karzen and Dominic, along with two other knights, followed Ted as he turned with measured precision.
Three knights stood waiting before the iron gate, and five more had taken positions at the entrance.
The moment they crossed the threshold, Baron Karzen came to an abrupt halt.

“……Hah.”

A hollow laugh escaped his lips, sharp with disbelief.
Despite the hour, the interior of the manor lay in near-total darkness—so complete that without the scattered candles burning throughout, one could not even make out the pattern of the old carpet beneath their feet.
As the knights moved to shield him from the gloom, Ted spoke.

“It is the way the young lady expresses her mourning.”

Baron Karzen let out a contemptuous laugh and waved a dismissive hand.
Only after the knights stepped back did Ted move forward again.
As Baron Karzen crossed through that darkness, a single thought ran through his mind.

‘So she still has the capacity to fall further into madness.’

He had visited this manor twice before.
Once, roughly a month after Bianca had appeared with Roselina Mersh in tow, and again a year prior.
Compared to that earlier visit—when dust hung in the air and neglect was written into every corner—the scene now before him drew another bitter laugh.

‘Is she attempting to purchase even the thinnest veneer of sympathy, or merely deceiving me once more?’

Either way, he had made his decision long ago: Roselina Mersh would die by his hand.
Upon reaching the Reception Room, Baron Karzen tilted his chin toward the knights.
The gesture meant they were to wait here.

“But Your Highness…….”
“But?”

Dominic had begun to voice his concern about the manor’s sinister appearance, but the sharp inflection in the Baron’s question silenced him at once.
Turning back, Baron Karzen gestured toward Ted instead.

“The Crown Prince will be receiving you.”

And the door opened.
The interior of the Reception Room bore no resemblance to the darkness he had just traversed.
It was not bright, precisely, but light did enter—a marked contrast to the lobby behind him. The curtains drawn across the large window facing the Balcony had been pulled to one side.
Baron Karzen stepped forward at an unhurried pace.
And in the center of the Reception Room, the figure standing with her back to the door turned.

“I greet the Empire’s little sun.”

It was Roselina Mersh.
Whether from illness or some other cause, her face was paler than when he had last seen her, yet Baron Karzen remained unmoved.
He had lost the woman he loved because of this one.

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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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