I Ended Up Snatching a Marriage With the Male Lead! - Chapter 35

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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 eloping with the male lead.
Episode 35

“Have a good time out there.”
Emilia waved her hand at Ivan in a loose, friendly gesture.
Ivan trotted toward the children who were already running about and playing ball.
She watched as he gripped his clothes and said something to them.
‘Is he asking if he can join?’
Emilia watched the children with a flutter of nervous anticipation.
One of the children looked Ivan up and down, then sought approval from the others before breaking into a bright smile and nodding.
Thanks to that, Ivan was able to slip into the group without any trouble.
“Thank goodness.”
Emilia exhaled with relief at the sight.
It felt strangely like watching an infant take its first steps.
But then a somewhat indifferent voice came from beside her.
“Looks like they noticed his clothes are of fine quality.”
……
It was true—Ivan’s clothing was clearly well-made and distinctive at a glance.
Some of the children seemed conscious of that fact too.
But did he really need to spoil the moment like this?
“You’re too much of a distraction. Just focus on your work.”
Emilia rebuked Kaiden with a sidelong glance.

* * *

Time passed, though she couldn’t say exactly how much.
“Emilia!”
Ivan came bounding over with his face flushed from exertion, the other children at his heels.
The children who had been playing with him came along as well.
As was typical of children his age, he’d grown close to them in that short span of time.
“Hello, you all.”
Emilia met the children’s eyes and offered them a warm smile.
“Hello!”
One child answered with the same vigor he’d put into kicking the ball.
“Ah, hello there.”
……Hello.
Some of the other children blushed with a touch of shyness, stealing glances at her.
Finding their behavior endearing, Emilia rummaged through her bag.
She drew out her secret weapon for winning children’s hearts and asked,
“Would you all like to share this with Ivan?”
It was food the mansion’s cook—possessed of extraordinary culinary skill—had packed for them.
The moment she opened the lunch box to show them what was inside, gasps erupted.
“Wow!”
“I want some too!”
Their mouths watering just from looking at it, the children eagerly gathered close.
“This is amazing!”
“Delicious!”
With their hearts fully opened by the food, the children began introducing themselves as though giving a presentation to their kindergarten teacher.
They came from various walks of life—from children of minor nobility to commoners.
“Ha ha! There was this time Andrew dropped the ball in the mud, and he made such a fuss trying to pick it up without dirtying his clothes.”
“Hey!”
“Yeah, yeah. And when Philip came to pick it up for him, he just kept backing away like that.”
Of course, they hadn’t been close from the beginning; meeting frequently in this place had made them friends naturally.
‘Maybe it’s something about this space.’
She entertained the thought for a moment.
In any case, watching them get along so well was a pleasant sight.
As the children continued their idle chatter among themselves, Emilia packed away the now-empty lunch box.
But then two of them, who had been whispering something to each other, turned their attention toward her.
“Sister!”
“Yes?”
“Is that man your husband?”
The children’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“What?”
Their fingers were pointing at Kaiden.
What an enormous thing to say!
A flustered Emilia quickly waved her hands in denial.
“Of course not!”
“See, I told you it’s not. I knew it wouldn’t be.”
Having received her answer, the child puffed up with self-satisfaction.
But just then, a quiet voice came from above.
“Why do you think it’s not?”
……What?
The child blinked in confusion.
Until now, that nobleman had been absorbed in his papers, seemingly indifferent to their chatter.
Yet somehow, he was now looking down at the child and asking.
‘Hm?’
There was something about his expression that reminded her of the sharp look a teacher gives when you’ve said something wrong.
Meanwhile,
“Emilia!”
Ivan leaped to his feet and whispered something to Emilia.
“Will you?”
She promptly reached out her arm toward Kaiden.
As she did, her arm brushed against his body, and her long hair cascaded down across his thigh.
“What are you—”
Kaiden, who had been in something like a staring contest with the child, frowned.
And the child who, mere seconds ago, had been under his piercing gaze, witnessed it—
the nobleman’s gaze wandering, uncertain where to land.
In that moment, the beautiful sister retrieved the paper envelope that had been lying to the nobleman’s left.
“This one?”
“Yes!”
Ivan nodded in confirmation.
Then the pretty sister whispered something in the nobleman’s ear.
The nobleman nodded silently, but for some reason, his fists were clenched tightly.
But the child couldn’t observe them any longer.
“Huh?”
A toy was suddenly thrust into his field of vision.
“Take this!”
“Uh, o-okay.”
The child accepted the toy with a bewildered expression.
Ivan pulled toys one by one from the envelope with a bright smile and distributed them to everyone.
“Whoa! These are really expensive!”
At the exclamation from beside him, the child lowered his head to examine his toy.
……!
The child’s eyes widened.
It was a mystery novel he’d been reading for fun lately.
“Can I really have this?”
The child asked urgently, and Ivan replied,
“Yes!”
“Ivan had so much fun playing with you all today that he wanted to give you gifts.”
Emilia conveyed Ivan’s feelings to the children on his behalf.
“Really?!”
“Thank you!”
“Hehe, yes!”
As the children chattered excitedly, Emilia quietly asked Ivan,
“But what about you? Is that all right?”
“Yes! It’s fine!”
Ivan held up the one item remaining in his hand—the Fountain Pen.
“I have this!”
It was the first thing Ivan had chosen at the toy shop.
Emilia smiled at the sight and gently stroked Ivan’s hair.
That’s when it happened.
“I wish I had that.”
One of the children murmured enviously.
Their Home Tutor was always nagging them to study and was strict.
I wish I had a kind and pretty Home Tutor like that.
Then, struck by a good idea, the child spoke in a playful tone.
“Sister! If you ever lose this job, come work for our family! My mother can pay you a lot!”
“Oh, come to our house too! Our family’s better!”
As the children suddenly began competing, vying to speak over one another, Ivan’s expression hardened.
“No, no way!”
Ivan cried out urgently.
“Emilia is my tutor!”
Though it had been half in jest, Ivan reacted so intensely that the children awkwardly laughed and tried to brush off what they’d just said.
“Oh, of course it was a joke.”
“Right. Mine too!”
But Ivan’s mood didn’t improve even at their words; his face remained sullen as he fidgeted with his fingers.
The suddenly awkward atmosphere made the children watch Ivan’s reaction closely.
They’d given him expensive toys, and it seemed wrong to have hurt his feelings with a thoughtless joke.
“Come on, let’s go back and keep playing.”
“Yeah, let’s. Ivan, come on quickly.”
The children invited Ivan to join them, but he replied with a pout,
“I’ll come in a bit……”
“O-okay.”
“We’ll be waiting, so hurry and come!”
And with that, the children peeled away like a receding tide.
Watching them go, Ivan clung to Emilia and muttered,
“Emilia is my tutor.”
Emilia found the pouting child adorable and smiled, leaning close to whisper,
“That’s right. I’m yours. Your friends don’t know that.”
“Mm-hm.”
“And I like Ivan most of all.”
……Really?”
Ivan’s mood softened slightly as he played with his fingers.
“Of course. I missed you so much and thought about you so often that I came to be your Home Tutor, remember?”
At those words, Ivan’s lips gradually broke into a smile.
“So don’t worry about what your friends said just now and go back to playing with them.”
“Okay!”
Ivan hugged her once, then ran off to the other children with a light step.
Emilia watched him go and finally burst into laughter.
But just then, a voice tinged with the same discontent as Ivan’s came from beside her.
“Why are you Ivan’s tutor?”

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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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