I Ended Up Snatching a Marriage With the Male Lead! - Chapter 17

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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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I’d ended up in a shotgun marriage with the male lead.
Chapter 17

Clop, clop.
As the horse began to move, Emilia tensed her legs and bit her lip.
“Feel free to hold my arm, you know.”
He spoke kindly enough, but his manner was entirely presumptuous.
Emilia had no choice but to grip his arm firmly.
Then the man spoke again.
“You could lean back more, I think?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Emilia refused in a cold voice.
“Why? You said you’d never ridden before. Aren’t you afraid of falling?”
“I’m more concerned about being careful around someone who wields public authority so carelessly.”
At her words, the man burst into laughter as if delighted.
“Me? That’s the first time I’ve heard that one.”
Even so, he urged the horse to move faster.

* * *

Emilia rode alongside the man into the forest.
Before long, she spotted the ground split by zigzagging cracks.
A bit deeper into the woods lay the Mana Sinkhole, where the disruption of Mana flow deep beneath the earth had torn the ground open.
“I think this was the place.”
“Is that so?”
The man pulled the reins and brought the horse to a stop.
The momentum jolted Emilia slightly against him.
“Hyah.”
He made an exaggerated sound and leapt down from the horse with a flourish.
Then he turned toward her with both arms spread wide.
“Here.”
Emilia frowned.
She felt a stubborn resistance to simply complying with the wishes of a man who had placed her on the horse without asking.
So she gripped the saddle with both hands and carefully lowered herself down.
The man withdrew his outstretched arms and stood with them crossed, watching her with an expression of amusement.
Emilia spoke curtly to him.
“Let’s get going.”
“Of course.”
The man shrugged once and tied the horse to a nearby tree.
Then he followed behind Emilia as she walked ahead.

* * *

Upon confirming the deep Mana Sinkhole, Emilia turned to the man behind her and spoke.
“This was it. The strange place I saw.”
Well, I’d only read about it in the original work.
Fundamentally, Mana flows through the deep earth of the empire.
And according to the original, the ore used to construct the Hunting Ground here had triggered a reaction with the Mana below, causing the sinkhole to form.
‘It caused some kind of reaction with the Mana inside the earth, then exploded,’ I recalled.
It had affected areas of the Capital where Mana was particularly concentrated.
My house had been located in just such a place.
‘Looking at it this way, I really was unlucky.’
As Emilia was thinking this, the man’s voice reached her.
“Hmm, it does seem rather suspicious. The Mana flow inside appears tangled as well.”
At his words, Emilia felt a spark of hope.
Unlike her, this man—a knight—seemed to sense something.
He circled the edge of the sinkhole, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
Emilia crouched nearby and peered down into it.
‘Quite deep.’
The depth to the bottom appeared to be roughly two meters.
The diameter was nearly as wide as a room.
Just then, the man glanced at her and spoke.
“But how did you happen to discover this place?”
“Excuse me?”
Caught off guard by the sudden question, Emilia asked in confusion.
She hadn’t anticipated such a question and hadn’t prepared an excuse.
“Oh, well, just exploring the Capital, I suppose.”
“Exploring the Capital?”
“I haven’t been here long.”
Emilia gave an awkward smile and slightly averted his gaze.
She then straightened her bent knees and stood up.
“In any case, I’d appreciate it if you’d investigate this. I’ve shown you the location, so I’ll be on my way—”
At that moment, the ground beneath her feet trembled slightly.
“Wh-what?”
As Emilia was rising to her feet, she suddenly lost her balance.
Her body lurched toward the inside of the Mana Sinkhole.
Emilia reflexively clenched her eyes shut.
Given the height, a fall from here would surely cause serious injury.
Screech!
But in that instant, the sound of rough stone scraping—
“Hup!”
She felt a powerful force squeezing around her body.
Though she had the sensation of falling downward, mercifully there was no impact of a crash.
Soon the force holding her released, and Emilia sank in a heap to the floor.
“Are you all right?”
At the voice from above, she lifted her gaze.
“Ah…”
The man who had been standing on the opposite side of the Mana Sinkhole a moment ago was now directly in front of her.
Emilia spoke in slight daze.
“Th-thank you. But how did you—”
How could he possibly react so quickly?
The man smiled and answered as if reading the curiosity in her expression.
“I heard a faint explosion sound from beneath the earth just now.”
“I see.”
Emilia nodded.
She took a moment to calm her racing heart, then looked up at the space above.
From down here, it looked even deeper than it had from above.
“…We can get back up, though, can’t we?”
“Of course.”
He shrugged as if it were no difficulty at all.
‘Thank goodness.’
Had she fallen here alone, she would have been injured and had a terrible time climbing out.
Just then, the man leaned casually against the wall and spoke.
“But without my help, you wouldn’t be able to get out easily, would you?”
He seemed to have arrived at the same conclusion.
Yet there was something odd about his tone.
Emilia looked up at him.
Unlike before, his eyes had shifted to something more dangerous. Gone was the playful, cheerful air.
The man soon pushed away from the wall.
He approached with a measured pace.
‘Surely not…’
Suddenly Kaiden’s words from earlier flashed through her mind.

“Kidnappings occur with disturbing frequency here.”

Emilia retreated hesitantly backward. Of course, the man’s approach was faster.
She clenched her hands against the ground.
The rough soil crumbled beneath her fingers.
If the man showed any sign of impropriety, she planned to throw the dirt in her grasp into his eyes.
‘Then,’
she could step on his back as he writhed in pain and escape this place without difficulty.
Emilia spoke to the man with guarded eyes.
“I have no family and no money. I’m completely broke.”
But as soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them.
Wasn’t that exactly why a person would be better to kidnap and sell?
Yet the man’s eyes suddenly widened.
“Hmm. What kind of introduction is that? Do you want to go on a blind date with me in this desolate place?”
He raised the corners of his mouth and continued.
“I’m Lucas, by the way.”
The man, having drawn close before her, bowed slightly.
“If you’re worried I’m about to do something strange, don’t be. Once I settle a small curiosity, I’ll escort you safely back up top.”
And then he suddenly switched to casual speech.
“What kind of…curiosity?”
“Well, it seems you know quite a lot about this ground collapse phenomenon. Not just guessing, either.”
Emilia’s expression became vulnerable.
“How do you know about this information? Care to explain?”
“That is…”
Unsure how to escape, Emilia trailed off.
At that, the man leaned his face closer and spoke.
“As a member of the Capital Guard, I have to address this suspicion. Could it be that you caused this ground collapse yourself and are now trying to report it as if you knew nothing?”

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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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