I Ended Up Snatching a Marriage With the Male Lead! - Chapter 38

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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 hasty marriage with the male lead.
Episode 38

“Then whose clothes are these?”
“Oh.”
Emilia let out a short exclamation upon seeing the jacket.
“My employer’s, sir.”
She’d answered casually enough, but then something made her pause.
Now that she thought of it, the jacket was strikingly similar to what he’d been wearing the first time they met.
The memory of how close his face had been moments ago flashed through her mind, and she turned her head sharply away.
Lucas noticed her sudden shift in demeanor and studied her face.
“What’s with that reaction?”
“What, what do you mean?”
“You’re not… something special with your employer, are you?”
“…No, I’m not.”
Emilia shook her head and denied it quickly.
This was the second time she’d heard that question today.
Lucas now regarded her with a suspicious gaze.
“Sure, sure. If you say so.”
His eyes drifted to her profile.
“Either way, I envy your employer.”
“Why would you suddenly say that?”
Emilia blinked and looked back at him.
“Having you work for him must be fun?”
“No, just…”
Lucas gave a brief denial, then merely shrugged without elaborating further.
Even spending this short time with her was interesting; imagine how many more sides of her he’d see if they were together longer.
With that thought, he reached out toward her hair, bound in a single tie and looking even more lustrous than before.
But Emilia batted his hand away with a stern expression.
“Why do you keep touching other people’s hair?”
“What? I thought you were treating me like someone you weren’t entirely opposed to?”
“I never said anything like that.”
He withdrew his hand without concern and continued speaking.
“But you work in an aristocratic household, so you must see infidelity often enough. Still, you’re reacting awfully sharply to it.”
Lucas asked lightly.
“Do you have some bad memory? Maybe your fiancé was unfaithful?”
……
Emilia fell silent at his question.
‘How does he keep hitting the mark like this?’
Lucas’s eyes widened at her reaction, which was clearly different from before.
“What? Really?”
“…Yes.”
Emilia replied in a slightly sullen tone.
She lowered her gaze to the ground and began fidgeting with her feet, shuffling them alternately.
“Why are you so surprised? I look so plain that you thought I’d never even have a fiancé?”
“No.”
Lucas denied it outright.
Small and fair-skinned, with gentle eyes that suited her delicate features perfectly, and lips that were endearingly proportioned.
Her appearance was quite cute, and her personality was attractive enough to make anyone fall for her quickly when spending time together.
‘Yes, that’s right—otherwise I wouldn’t have spotted her like this, wouldn’t have rushed toward her so eagerly…’
He caught himself going too far and hesitated for a moment.
Carefully maintaining composure, he spoke playfully instead.
“That man clearly had no eye for beauty.”
Emilia stopped shuffling her feet.
“If it were me, I’d have been crying and begging to marry her immediately.”
At his blunt remark, Emilia’s eyes widened.
Soon a bright laugh burst from her.
“That’s the funniest thing you’ve said all day.”
“I wasn’t trying to be funny.”
Emilia dismissed his quieter reply without much concern.
“So where does this man live? What’s he like?”
“Why? Are you planning to scold him in my place?”
“There’s nothing I couldn’t do.”
“Why would you do that?”
At her counter-question, Lucas replied easily.
“Just feels like I want to.”
Emilia let out a soft laugh at that.
“You shouldn’t. It’s not your concern, and even if you wanted to scold him, he’s too far away for that anyway…”
As Emilia trailed off, she paused for a moment.
‘Now that I think about it…’
I came up to the Capital ahead of him as if I were fleeing, but Cedric must have come to the Capital by now for his duties at the Imperial Palace.
‘Though I suppose there’s no reason we’d actually meet.’
Just then, Lucas’s voice came from beside her.
“Don’t tell me you came to the Capital because of that?”
As Lucas immediately guessed her situation, Emilia blinked.
“How did you know that?”
“Well, you said you’d only recently come up from the Capital, didn’t you?”
Lucas shrugged.
“And then you said he’s far away. The answer becomes pretty obvious.”
Emilia felt as if she were being stripped of her secrets one after another today.
She’d only meant to mention being a tutor.
Somehow the conversation had spiraled to this point.
At least there was one consolation: her heart remained calm even when Cedric’s name came up.
‘When I think about it, it hasn’t even been that long.’
True, she hadn’t spent every night crying over it, but she’d thought there might still be moments when memories of that time would hurt.
Yet the Capital had been so hectic and eventful that she hadn’t had time to worry about heartbreak.
“Hey! That’s Lucas!”
Just then, a child who’d spotted Lucas cried out.
“Really?”
The other children with him noticed him too and their eyes lit up with joy.
“Ah.”
Lucas scratched his head awkwardly.
“I don’t have time to play today.”
Muttering to himself, he stood up and looked down at Emilia.
“See you next time?”
At his words, Emilia gave a rueful laugh.
“Where will we meet next time?”
“Who knows? But I have a feeling we’ll run into each other somewhere fun again.”
With a shrug, Lucas ruffled the hair of each child who’d gathered around him, then disappeared.

* * *

By the time the sun was setting.
Evan waved goodbye to his friends and came running back to where Emilia was waiting.
Emilia wiped Evan’s hands with a handkerchief dampened in water and asked.
“Did you say goodbye to your friends properly?”
“Yeah, yeah!”
But Evan’s eyes were half-closed as he held out his hands.
“Evan, are you tired?”
Emilia asked with a small smile.
“Mm-hm.”
“Let’s head home as soon as the Duke arrives.”
Soon enough, Kaiden came walking toward them from a distance.
Emilia asked the man as he approached her.
“Did you finish handling the compensation matter?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
Emilia narrowed her eyes and looked up at him.
‘Why is he thanking me?’
He was the one who couldn’t control his strength.
Suppressing a small internal complaint, she resumed cleaning Evan’s hands.
Then Kaiden, who’d been gazing thoughtfully at the bench, spoke.
“Who was sitting next to you?”
“Oh, just an acquaintance I ran into for a moment.”
Emilia answered without much concern.
“Who—”
“There, all clean. Shall we head back to the Estate?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Evan rubbed his eyes with his clean hands and sneezed.
“Achoo!”
Emilia started in alarm at the sight.
“Evan, are you cold?”
She realized she’d forgotten to bring a coat for him.
Just then, Evan quickly shook his head.
“No! I’m fine!”
“Hmm. I should have thought about the cool weather for Evan. Come on, let’s hurry home—hold my hand.”
“Okay!”
At that moment, Kaiden lifted Evan into his arms.
“So high!”
Evan blinked his eyes and exclaimed with delight, then seemed pleased by the warmth radiating from the man’s body.
“It’s so warm!”
“Really? I’m rather envious.”
As Emilia played along with Evan, she felt a gaze from above.
She lifted her head.
The man then offered his free arm, opening the space invitingly.
“Do you need it?”
His voice held what seemed like suppressed amusement.
“Oh, no.”
Emilia’s eyes widened, and she quickly stepped backward, waving her hand in refusal.
“I just meant it as a figure of speech…”
Though honestly, with one arm holding Evan, there was still plenty of room left, perfectly suited for her to fit in.
“I see.”
He smiled softly and picked up the coat he’d left on the bench.

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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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