I Ended Up Snatching a Marriage With the Male Lead! - Chapter 30

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

I ended up in a shotgun marriage with the male lead.
Chapter 30

Ordinarily, one could extract roughly 10 mr of energy from 1 gram of Mana Stone.
Yet Count Arden’s technique reportedly yielded 16 mr of energy per gram of Mana Stone.
Which meant that leveraging this technology would allow for an extraordinary efficiency in energy extraction compared to existing methods.
Of course, verification would be necessary, but if this held true, then Count Ardel’s confidence was justified—the world was about to see a genuinely remarkable technique.
One worth beating oneself over the ground for, had the business proposal been rejected.
Yet Herald could not bring himself to voice approval on the spot.
He had already drawn up the first batch of business proposals and sent all results back to the selected houses.
It was then that Emilia opened her mouth, looking toward Herald.
“Is there perhaps a reserve fund separate from the budget you’ve already secured?”
The budget required naturally varied depending on the nature of the business venture.
So surely there would be not only the existing budget, but also an additional reserve fund available for use.
“Y-yes, there is.”
Herald answered at once, her conjecture proving correct.
“Then wouldn’t it be perfectly fine to exclude those already approved and conduct an additional review of only the rejected proposals, including this business plan?”
It would certainly be tedious, perhaps, but since there had been an error in the document review, it seemed the arrangement wouldn’t violate fairness too severely.
And at Emilia’s words, Herald nodded as if entranced.
He asked her to wait just a moment, then hurried from the reception room.
As Herald’s footsteps faded beyond the door, Count Ardel’s voice reached her from beside her.
“Thank you for stepping up.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Thanks to you, my grandson has been given a chance.”
“Ah…”
At those words, Emilia chose her reply carefully before speaking.
“Well, I’d be even happier if you got along better with Herald.”
Count Ardel had not exactly spoken kindly to Herald, after all.
Though ultimately the problem had surfaced during the review process, allowing Count Ardel into the reception room had been a gesture of goodwill on Herald’s part.
There was no reason to entertain inquiries from every rejected applicant and meet with them to explain the decision.
“Ahem, I see. I’ll make sure to apologize properly.”
At that, Emilia broke into a soft smile.

* * *

Herald returned bearing good news for Count Ardel.
He would confirm with Count Arden’s technique whether the unit listed in the proposal was indeed wr, and if so, include his business plan in the first round of document screening.
Moreover, as Emilia had suggested, he would conduct a secondary review of rejected proposals from other houses to check for any possible errors.
“Is it truly so?”
At those words, Count Ardel’s face lit up like a child’s.
He glanced once at Emilia beside him, then, though somewhat embarrassed, apologized first to Herald.
Herald, in turn, brushed it aside awkwardly, saying he was sorry for the trouble caused by his own oversight.
“I’ve caused quite enough disturbance today. I’ll take my leave now.”
And so, with Emilia and Herald seeing him off, Count Ardel departed.
“Miss Emilia, thank you so much for today.”
Herald bowed with sincere gratitude.
“Not at all—it was nothing, really.”
As Emilia waved her hand dismissively, a sudden thought seemed to occur to her, and she spoke.
“Oh, but there’s something I’d like to discuss regarding the official notice about the business proposals, if that’s all right?”
“Of course!”
Herald nodded readily, when a throat-clearing sound suddenly came from nearby.
“Sir?”
Robert had appeared at some point beside them.
“Are you not hungry?”
“I beg your pardon?”
At the unexpected question, Emilia blinked.
“No, I’ve only just eaten…”
“Then perhaps I should prepare some refreshments? Is there a particular dessert you’d care for?”
Robert immediately posed his next question, waiting for her response.
Bewildered though she was, Emilia found herself compelled by his steady gaze to answer.
“Well, then… would it be possible to have those Macarons that came out as a snack for Ivan before?”
They didn’t leave sticky residue on one’s hands and could be eaten in a single bite, making them ideal for conversation.
“Very well. I’ll have them prepared in twelve flavors.”
“What? No, that’s really too—”
Emilia tried to demur at his excessive order, waving her hand to stop him, but Robert had already vanished into the kitchen.
‘What was that?’
She tilted her head quizzically at his peculiar manner.
“Miss Emilia?”
“Oh, yes. Let’s go.”
But upon hearing Herald’s call, she followed him toward his office.

* * *

“Ahem, ahem.”
Robert, making his way to the kitchen, felt oddly sheepish about having done something outside his usual behavior.
As he stepped into the kitchen, the head cook looked up in surprise.
“Sir? What brings you here?”
“Is there a dessert called ‘markalong’ or something?”
“Ah, did you perhaps mean ‘Macaron’?”
“Yes, that’s the one. Could you make some?”
“It seems Master Ivan is in need of a snack, I take it?”
But Robert shook his head firmly.
“No.”
“I see?”
The head cook seemed rather confused at his response.
In this household, he could think of no one else but Ivan for whom the butler would personally deliver a dessert.
“Has an important guest perhaps arrived?”
“…Something like that.”
“Understood. Then I suppose I’ll need to put in some effort.”
“Wait a moment.”
Robert stopped the head cook, who had begun rolling up his sleeves.
“Prepare them in twelve flavors.”
“…Pardon? That many?”
To create so many different flavors of a single dessert would be as much work—or more—as making an entirely different type of pastry altogether.
Moreover, he had never made Macarons in twelve flavors before.
“Will that be difficult?”
“Ah, no sir.”
The head cook flinched at the butler’s stern gaze and answered at once.
‘An extraordinarily important guest, it seems.’
For though the butler was ordinarily meticulous, he never issued unreasonable commands.
So, setting aside his reservations, the head cook approached the task with quiet resolve.
Meanwhile, Robert stood motionless, recalling the scene he’d witnessed in the reception room.
The woman who had come as a tutor had taught the child so well that she shattered the prejudice that a commoner would be lacking in some way.
Moreover, she had shown no untoward interest in her employer and had conducted herself with propriety throughout the household.
So Robert had grown increasingly favorable in his impression of her.
But today, the manner in which she had calmly addressed the agitated visitor and mediated between them was…
It was almost as if she were the mistress of the house whom he had long been waiting for….
“Ahem!”
The moment such an absurd thought crossed his mind, Robert’s expression stiffened.
‘What am I thinking?’
He quickly pushed away the inappropriate notion.
And there he stood before the kitchen, waiting for that Macaron—or whatever it was—to finish baking.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————