I Became the Female Lead Ruined by Others - Chapter 38

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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 38

“I let him go. It was the evening Young Lady collapsed, and everyone’s attention was fixed on her room, so it went more smoothly than expected.”
“……What did you just say?”
“Why, Young Lady?”
“What did you just say?”
“I said I let him go.”

I scrunched my face in disbelief at what I’d heard, and the man watching my reaction with seeming interest let out a soft laugh.
Then he scrunched his face to mirror mine.

“Ah, should I have killed him instead?”

At his voice, suddenly dropping an octave, I flinched and hunched my shoulders.

“Are you insane?”
“Well, I was going to harm Young Lady, but I exercised too much restraint. I’ll go settle it right now.”

The man turned toward the door, his smile erased, his face cold and severe.
A gasp of alarm spilled from between my parted lips.
Without thinking, my urgent hand shot out to stop him—and instead grabbed his forearm.

“No, are you out of your mind!”
“Why?”

He could easily have wrenched free, but instead he let himself be drawn back toward me without resistance.

“I’m not saying he deserved to die!”
“Then?”
“You just released someone who tried to kill me without my permission!”
“If I didn’t release him, killing him was the only option, wasn’t it? He’ll have no choice but to live in silence his whole life to avoid paying the price for his failure. Even if it does come to light, he’ll be dealt with.”

Saying this, the man leaned toward me. As the distance between us closed, I released the hand I’d been keeping on his forearm.
Yet the man simply smiled and made no move to step back, as if savoring the closeness.

“And ‘letting him go’ doesn’t mean I gave him freedom.”
“……What do you mean?”
“I deceived him by saying I’d send him somewhere warm for a whole year, but his real destination is my Homeland. There are real friends of mine there, and they’ll give him a warm welcome.”

Homeland?

‘I don’t even know his name—how would I know anything like that!’

A scream nearly tore from my throat, but I bought myself time by arranging my disheveled appearance, affecting composure.

‘If he lied about sending him somewhere warm for a whole year, it’d be the complete opposite—a place where winter definitely exists.’

But without concrete information, I couldn’t just agree blindly.

“Ah, your Homeland. Yes, well… fine. You sent him there. An excellent choice, really. Though lying about sending him somewhere warm is rather vicious.”

So I offered a flat, lifeless reply, mumbling the words.
The problem was that he seemed to find this topic agreeable, because the man began elaborating.

“Ah, he might not freeze to death right upon arrival, though. But if a blizzard were to sweep him up, that would be quite troublesome, wouldn’t it?”
“…….”
“I should have sent at least three warm blankets. You know how brutal that bitter cold is, don’t you?”

Perhaps buoyed by the rare chance to speak, the man’s voice lifted a notch higher.

‘I haven’t the faintest idea, honestly.’

But I couldn’t afford to cut the conversation short, so I deftly steered it elsewhere.

“You seem to miss it.”
“Hmm?”
“That’s just the impression I get.”
“Well, perhaps… It’s true—I’ve never been away this long before.”
“Then why not go home for a bit now? It’s not as though the conditions are right to plan anything new at the moment anyway.”
“Home?”

At my words, the man’s eyes blinked slowly—once, twice, three times.
After I’d counted that far, I looked away from the gaze fixed at the tips of his long, fluttering lashes.

“That’s a lonely thing to say, isn’t it?”

But the gaze I’d only just lowered drifted back of its own accord at the sound of laughter threading through his voice.

“You’ve become my home. Why would I go anywhere else?”

I was flabbergasted—almost laughed despite myself. Under other circumstances, I’d have turned away without a glance at that simpering face.
But not today. Not this time.

“You find that amusing? I wish I could laugh as easily as you do.”

I straightened myself once more and let my gaze fall.

“My situation is dire. I’ve lost someone precious, and I haven’t time to form new plans. And yet the very person who promised to protect me was orchestrating things behind my back without my knowledge.”

When I looked up again, I saw a man whose face had gone unusually blank.

“I have no choice but to reconsider our cooperative relationship.”

As I drove the point home with force, a faint tremor crossed his features.

“The reasons don’t matter. I can’t fathom—and I won’t—why you’d handle matters concerning my life so arbitrarily. Don’t make decisions and take action on your own whim anymore.”

Speaking so firmly had stirred my emotions, and my tone had grown somewhat sharp.
But the man didn’t avert his eyes; he simply waited in silence for me to finish.
After a brief pause, he nodded and opened his mouth.

“You’re right. I concede the point.”

His usual playful manner had vanished entirely, replaced by a gravity I hadn’t expected.

“If my actions have damaged the trust between us, regardless of my intentions, that’s entirely my fault. I apologize.”

His apology was straightforward and spare—not what I’d anticipated. I’d expected more wordplay.
Reading something in my expression, he continued with a softer tone.

“But it really was for your safety. You’ll trust me on that much, won’t you?”

There was a strange certainty wrapped in his gentle voice that made me relent and speak.

“I will.”

Slipping thorough lies through the gaps.

‘He’s not someone I can trust, after all.’

The one I can’t read isn’t the Assassin in the Basement—it’s this man.
Everything about him was suspect: the plausible excuses he elaborated at length, the speed with which he acquiesced.

‘He’s probably just pretending to understand because he’s so desperate about that Promise.’

His fixation on the ‘Promise’ bordered on madness.
Though he maintained an air of leisure in all things, the moment his objective left his lips, he displayed an agitation like nothing else.

‘So a man like that advises me to abandon searching for who’s behind the threat to my life?’

There had to be another reason he’d released the Assassin.
Perhaps it was connected to his purpose, or perhaps—if not—he was plotting something else without my knowledge.

‘This won’t do.’

It was a plan I’d shelved several times already, but now I had no choice.

‘I have to escape.’

This Possession wasn’t the kind where untangling the knot could ensure survival.
Rather, he was kindly showing me that what came after was the real trial.
Whether it was the Ledger that Possession had hidden or funds, I had to find them as quickly as possible and leave this place.

* * *

If I tried to recall the past two days, honestly, nothing remained.
It wasn’t that my fragile body was acting up again; it meant I’d found nothing distinctive enough to cram into a mind already overloaded.
I’d ransacked every room in the Manor repeatedly, but came up empty, just as I should have expected.

‘Use your head. Use your head.’

This morning I’d been in a corner of the Corridor, both index fingers pressed to my temples like I was waiting to receive alien transmissions.
Martha, seeing that spectacle, brought out no fewer than three cups of herbal tea, claiming it would aid mental and spiritual calm.
Even as I drank them one after another, my wildly careening mood swings wouldn’t settle.

“Aaaaargh!!”
“W-why, why are you like this, Master!”

Ted, standing beside me, flinched convulsively and let out a sharp cry.
I sprang from my seat like a coiled spring and shambled toward the window.

‘It’s not too late yet. Quick, possess a stone for me…….’

I pressed my domed forehead firmly against the polished glass pane.
From behind my back, Ted’s cautious voice emerged through a soft clearing of his throat.

“The Lobby and Reception Room have both been restored to their original state. Furthermore, as you instructed yesterday, I’ve composed a letter stating ‘Special Expedited Payment Period. Request prompt handling within two days,’ and sent it to all the families listed on the roster you provided.”
“Good work…….”

There were five nobles on that list.
All of them had substantial entries in the Ledger in the Study, and I thought they would know best just how vile that Possession had been.
What I needed right now was money.

‘I’ve never attempted an Escape before, so I don’t know the standard size of escape funds, but five families should be more than enough.’

Maybe I should follow that man’s advice and board a ship myself, disappearing far, far away…….
Squeak-squeak.
As I rubbed my forehead against the spotless window—not a single fingerprint marring its surface—a thought occurred to me.
Perhaps Ted might know something that could help.

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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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