I Ended Up Snatching a Marriage With the Male Lead! - Chapter 14

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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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She’d eloped with the male lead on a whim.
Chapter 14

* * *

Kaiden’s face crumpled the moment he stepped down from the carriage.
He’d been uneasy from the moment she mentioned a tent, but he hadn’t expected it to be this wretched.
There wasn’t a single thing properly arranged.
It looked like it would collapse if the wind blew even slightly harder.
Kaiden approached Emilia, who had drifted to his side, and asked quietly.
“You’ve truly been living in a place like this? For how many days, exactly?”
“Mm. About four days, perhaps?”
Another wrinkle appeared between Kaiden’s brows.
“Where is the tent you’ve been staying in?”
“Over there.”
Emilia pointed to a tent in the corner.
Kaiden immediately set off in that direction.
With his long strides cutting through the tents without hesitation, every eye suddenly turned toward him.
“My, who is that person?”
“Some noble, I’d wager?”
It was exactly as she’d foreseen.
A man like him would draw attention wherever he went—no one could help but notice.
Emilia covered her face with her hand at the whispers and hurried after him.
“Why would you say that? Am I embarrassing you?”
But Kaiden, rather, questioned her behavior.
“Well… most people tend to dislike drawing attention, don’t they?”
Emilia whispered softly before letting out a sigh.
‘You wouldn’t know, having lived your whole life under scrutiny.’
It was truly the right choice to have asked the carriage stop a little distance away.
“Never mind. Let’s just get inside.”

* * *

“Iban, would you care for some of these?”
A maid approached Iban and presented a plate.
It was filled with colorful, charming little cookies.
Worried that Iban might not understand, the maid brought her hand to her mouth and mimed eating.
But Iban simply shook her head politely, as if declining.
She then padded upstairs to her room with a somewhat downcast expression.
Iban had come to stay at the mansion of Duke Valen not long ago.
It was good that she no longer trembled with anxiety as she once did.
But safety of body did not mean peace of mind.
Duke Valen was a man difficult to approach, and everyone else here felt equally foreign to her.
Iban closed the door and stepped into her room.
She was sketching letters on paper when she paused at a sound from outside.
‘What was that?’
Iban tilted her head, concentrating.
Whinny!
At the sound of horses neighing, Iban rose onto her tiptoes and peered out the window.
She could see the Duke’s carriage entering the grounds.
It was nothing out of the ordinary, and Iban was about to lower herself back down.
Then, at that very moment, a familiar woman emerged from the carriage.
Iban’s eyes went wide.
“Emilia!”

* * *

The carriage carrying Emilia was headed for the most expensive district in the New District of the Capital.
The atmosphere was entirely different from the neighborhood where she had been staying.
Soon enough, the carriage passed through the Duke’s Mansion gates.
At the sight of a residence rivaling a castle in scale, her jaw dropped involuntarily.
The sprawling gardens meant the carriage continued rolling long after passing the main gate.
When she stepped out moments later, she gazed up at the towering mansion with barely concealed astonishment.
‘Regardless, this situation feels awfully rushed. Is that really all right?’
But there was no time to dwell on it.
“Come inside, then.”
“Yes? Y-yes…”
At Kaiden’s gentle urging, she had no choice but to cross the threshold.
Just then, she heard the sound of hurried footsteps from above.
‘What’s that?’
When she looked up, a child came rushing down the stairs.
“Iban?”
When Iban’s eyes met hers, they sparkled with delight.
‘It really is Emilia!’
She’d rushed down half-convinced she was mistaken, but it was truly her.
Iban ran forward and threw her arms around Emilia.
“Emilia!”
“Have you been well?”
“Yes, yes!”
Iban nodded vigorously as she answered.
‘How adorable.’
In an instant, all the exhaustion and heaviness that had weighed on her seemed to lift.
But Emilia soon gently set Iban down.
Unlike Emilia herself, who was grimy from days of camping, Iban was perfectly clean.
Iban looked confused for a moment, then looked up at her and opened her mouth.
“Emilia! How did you get here? What have you been doing? Why have you come to this place?”
She tumbled the words out eagerly, brimming with questions.
‘Oh!’
Iban quickly realized she’d been hasty.
Hadn’t Emilia told her before to speak slowly and clearly?
Just as she was about to correct herself, Emilia smiled and spoke.
“I came here by… carriage, and in the meantime, I worked for a while at a shop.”
Emilia pointed to the carriage with her hand, worried her pronunciation might be imprecise.
At that, Iban’s eyes widened.
“Emilia, you speak so well!”
Her Hifrian had become far more fluent than before.
“Really?”
Emilia felt a warm satisfaction at Iban’s reaction.
She smiled at Iban, who was waiting to hear more, and spoke.
“Actually, I came to be your teacher.”
“My teacher?”
“Yes. So, you see, I’ll be staying by your side. And I’ll teach you the Imperial Language.”
At Emilia’s words, Iban’s eyes grew wide.
The child’s head whipped around to look at Kaiden, who stood behind her.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Kaiden nodded flatly.
“So I look forward to working with you from now on, Iban.”
“Yes, yes!”
Iban answered excitedly.
Kaiden let out a low, silent laugh at the sight.
“Meeting her once and showing no wariness whatsoever.”
At Kaiden’s low murmur, Herald lowered his gaze to his superior’s hands.
The sight of his superior holding a delicate bag was quite striking.
“…You can say that again.”
Herald agreed somewhat reluctantly.
The fact that he’d been able to recognize Emilia at all was entirely thanks to Kaiden.
‘Repetitive Learning Through Question and Answer.’
Simply put, his superior had periodically reminded him of information about her.
When Kaiden came to his senses that day, he seemed stunned.
And he’d peppered Herald with questions, seemingly unable to comprehend something.
As a result, Herald had been put through the wringer.
He’d had to explain a situation that lasted barely half an hour over the course of several hours.
Herald shook his head at the memory of those times.

“…She really left?”
“Yes, sir. Truly without a backward glance.”
“And she refused the reward of her own accord?”
“Unless you think I threatened her somehow?”
“Your expression seemed suspicious.”
“Begging your pardon, sir, but you’re the one who looked suspicious—stabbed in the face and all.”

As Herald recalled those trying days, a question arose.
Why, if he could remember her face so well, had he asked in the first place?

“You said you couldn’t remember her face?”
“…That’s right.”
“Well, brown hair and green eyes, somewhat puppy-like features—”
“Not green. More of a pale green, wasn’t it?”
“…? Oh, yes, well, perhaps it was something like that.”

Cross-checking wasn’t even necessary.
The man had even jumped out of the carriage when he glimpsed someone the size of a pea in the distance.
Herald now felt his careful answers had been a waste of time.

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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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