I Ended Up Snatching a Marriage With the Male Lead! - Chapter 3

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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 somehow ended up in a shotgun marriage with the male lead.
Chapter 3

Emilia was utterly flabbergasted.
Yet beneath the shock lay something even greater—sheer disbelief.
Judging by Raina’s circumstances, she must be going through an emotionally difficult time.
No doubt she’d panicked at the prospect of being sold off to some trash of a nobleman.
‘But still—how could she covet a man who already has a concubine?’
No matter how desperate the situation.
Emilia felt a dull throb building behind her eyes.
When the male lead found out later, he’d be absolutely scandalized.
“Raina, surely there must be better options available to you.”
But that was all the advice she could offer.
Even if she told her that in the future she’d enter a contract engagement with the male lead and end in a lifetime union, she’d never believe it.
“No! You just don’t understand my situation!”
Raina’s head snapped up as she cried out.
“I really need Cedric……. I truly can’t live without him!”
She gazed at Emilia—who seemed oblivious to her plight—with something like reproach.
“And Cedric said he was sick of you and wanted to break up! So if you two stay together, you’ll only cause each other pain!”
Emilia’s expression froze.
Up until now, she could dismiss Raina’s words as desperate ravings.
But what she’d just heard……
“……Did Cedric really say that himself?”
Raina bit her lip and nodded slowly.
As though reluctant to have admitted even this much.
The image of Cedric at the restaurant flickered through Emilia’s mind.
For a moment, it was as though she’d been struck across the head—everything went blank.
“So please, give Cedric to me.”
“……Just leave. I don’t want to hear any more of this.”
There was no reason to keep listening to her.
And she needed to confirm something. Whether Raina was spouting nonsense or speaking the truth.
‘If Raina is telling the truth……’
If her confidence in making such demands came from Cedric himself……
If the ease with which he treated Raina wasn’t simply him being happy to see an old friend after so long……
“Aren’t you going?”
Emilia turned her head, breaking from her thoughts.
But Raina remained unmoved.
As though she wouldn’t budge until she heard Emilia say, ‘I’ll break up with Cedric.’
“Fine. I’ll leave instead.”
Emilia rose from her seat and grasped the door handle.
She’d been meaning to see Cedric anyway.
But Raina’s cry stopped her from stepping outside.
“A-actually, I’m pregnant with Cedric’s child!”

* * *

Her arm fell limp at her side with a dull thud.
“……Say that again.”
“S-sob, I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing and repeat what you said.”
“Hic—uh……”
“Who exactly is crying here!”
Finally, Emilia snapped, her voice cutting through the room.
She had more reason to weep than some woman claiming to carry her fiancé’s child.
Then the door burst open.
“What’s going on? Why all the shouting?”
She turned to see Cedric standing in the doorway.
His eyes widened as he spotted Raina crying pitifully in the room.
“Raina……? What are you doing here……?”
He rushed over to her immediately.
“What’s wrong? Did Emilia do something to you?!”
Cedric knelt beside Raina, anxious and agitated.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder with such tenderness—as though she were his beloved.
Watching him, Emilia’s eyes went cold.
“Cedric.”
“What.”
He answered curtly, too busy wiping away Raina’s tears.
“That woman says she’s carrying your child. Is it true?”
“……What?”
Cedric’s head turned at an awkward angle.
“Raina is…… carrying my child?”
His expression was blank, as though the news had caught him completely off guard.
From his reaction, it was clear he hadn’t known about the pregnancy.
Yet seeing that look, Emilia felt something like a mirthless laugh bubbling up in her chest.
‘Not even protesting that it’s impossible—’
Which meant they’d certainly been intimate.
And the spark of something like joy she caught in his eyes—
“……You really are mad.”
Emilia’s hands clenched into fists.
“You’re not even an animal. How can you call yourself human?”
Now she understood why he hadn’t reached out once.
She’d been the last thing on his mind. He’d been too busy with Raina.
‘And all the while……’
She’d spent those days worrying over whether something had happened to him—and felt like a fool for it.
Then Cedric suddenly got to his feet.
His face had gone bright red, as though he felt insulted.
“Stop it! What can I do if you don’t feel like a woman to me? Why can’t you be charming like Raina? Why are you always trying to teach me, always lecturing me!”
“……You’re saying that to me?”
Emilia’s reply came a beat too late, as though she couldn’t quite process his words.
“Yes! Do you know how miserable you made me every time?!”
Cedric’s voice trembled with resentment as words tumbled out like a broken dam.
“And Raina said she loves even someone like me—that she’d give me the Countship!”
Finally, he straightened his chin defiantly.
“But what could you ever do but hold me back!”
Emilia stared at him in silence.
From the Illake Count House’s perspective, Raina was nothing but a shameful bastard.
A countship was utterly absurd.
Moreover, no sensible count would welcome Cedric if they meant to sell Raina off at a premium price.
Even a moment’s thought would reveal the inconsistency.
Unless one was blind with infatuation for Raina.
But what good would it do to say so now?
To him, she was nothing but a woman who lectured him about things beyond her station.
“So that’s all you ever thought of me.”
Emilia’s head lowered slowly.
They’d spent four years together.
She hadn’t immediately doubted Cedric upon hearing Raina’s words because of all that shared time.
‘I should slap him right now. Grab him by the collar and shake him.’
Yet she found no will to do it. The strength drained from her clenched fists.
Rather than anger, she felt hollowed out.
Being in this space with the two of them was simply suffocating.
‘Can’t breathe.’
As she turned away wordlessly, Cedric reached out, his voice rough.
“Hey! Wait! I’m not done! So we should break up…….”
Slap.
Emilia knocked his hand away firmly.
“I’ll give you your breakup. Just don’t……touch me with those filthy hands.”
“W-what?”
Cedric flinched at the ice in her voice.
Then Emilia bolted from the house.
Shhhhhh—
A downpour had begun, blocking her path, but she pushed through it without hesitation.

* * *

Creak. Thud.
Emilia collapsed onto her bed, still in her wet clothes.
‘Wretched. Despicable.’
Her body felt heavy as soaked cotton, whether from the rain or exhaustion.
She draped a cool arm across her eyes.
If only he’d asked for forgiveness the moment he returned home……
If only he’d spoken with even a hint of remorse……
Or at least hadn’t left her alone looking foolish at that restaurant.
If he’d done any of those things, she wouldn’t feel like this.
‘How ridiculous I must have been.’
What devastated her most was that she’d never warranted even the smallest shred of respect from him.
That alone was unbearable.
Emilia pushed down the surge of feeling, squeezing her eyes shut to keep the fever from returning.
‘Don’t think about anything right now.’
Trembling and curled inward, Emilia drifted into sleep.

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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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