I Ended Up Snatching a Marriage With the Male Lead! - Chapter 43

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

The male lead and I had rushed into marriage.
Episode 43

“I’ve never met anyone directly before either.”
“……What?”
“I usually send others in my place.”
“Ah.”
True enough—a man as busy as he was had no reason to personally attend every contract signing.
Once that sank in, curiosity stirred naturally.
“Then why are you meeting this one in person?”
Kaiden’s gaze lingered on that innocent face for a moment.
“……This time, there’s a substantial sum at stake.”
“Ah, then it makes sense you’d be concerned about it.”
Emilia nodded as if she understood.
In such cases, it was surely better to verify things oneself rather than leave it to subordinates.
Then Kaiden asked abruptly.
“Does it trouble you that I’m going along?”
“What?”
“You kept asking so many questions.”
“No, I was just curious and asking.”
Emilia continued.
“Actually, I prefer going with you?”
At that, Kaiden hesitated for a moment.
“You just said you prefer it?”
“Yes? Yes.”
“Me?”
“No, I meant going with you.”
To Emilia, it was a perfectly natural remark.
Unlike drafting documents, this matter required coordination and negotiation.
It was perhaps a mercenary thought, but appearing alongside Kaiden as a Duke might earn her more favorable terms in dealing with the guild.
Yet for some reason, watching his reaction, she felt as though she’d said something odd.
Emilia’s gaze dropped, when a displeased voice came from across the table.
“You’re making it impossible for me to find my footing.”
At the cryptic remark, Emilia lifted her head.
But Kaiden simply turned away without elaborating further.

* * *

The office of the Parizinan Merchant Guild’s master.
Bang!
A woman slammed her fist hard against the desk.
“You’ve blocked our dealings again this time!”
“There you go again, spouting accusations without proof.”
The Parizinan Guild master glanced at the woman fuming before him, then made a show of picking at his ear.
Fire blazed in Kaliana’s eyes as she watched.
“You shameless charlatans! I know perfectly well what schemes you’ve been cooking up!”
“Heh, losing out and throwing a tantrum like this—what sort of spectacle is this?”
Morris, the Guild master, shook his head side to side.
“I thought you’d finally come to hand over the Territory.”
“Hand over the Territory to you? Not when I know what you’d do to our people!”
Morris, seeing he couldn’t endure any more, summoned the guards.
Burly men promptly entered.
Morris gestured for them to drag the woman out at once.
“Hey, let go!”
Kaliana thrashed as the men seized both her arms.
But then a merchant guild employee rushed in urgently.
“What is it.”
The employee flinched at Morris’s clearly irritated expression.
“Speak quickly, don’t just stand there.”
Urged on, the employee hurried close and whispered into Morris’s ear about Kaiden’s arrival.
“What? The Duke himself?”
His eyes widened as he heaved his substantial frame from the chair.
He glanced dismissively at the woman still shouting and struggling in the doorway, then let out a scoff.
“Get that wretch out of here at once.”
“What? Wretch?! That’s what you call your own kind!”
Kaliana glared and pointed an accusing finger at Morris.
But Morris merely shook his head and swept unhurriedly out of the office.

Tsk, tsk.
The Parizinan Guild master clicked his tongue as he quickened his pace.
Some green slip of a girl, barely dry behind the ears, had come all the way here making an absolute spectacle of herself.
‘She should just hand over the Territory already.’
He clicked his tongue, thinking of the persistent woman.
Morris, the Parizinan Guild master, was the third son of a count.
The title would naturally go to his eldest brother, and the family’s remaining business ventures belonged entirely to his second brother.
Nothing was left for the youngest.
The relative deprivation he’d felt since childhood had made him all the more wretched.
But fortunately for him, he possessed one particularly exceptional talent.
It was the instinct for reading situations—cultivated naturally in the gaps between his brothers to secure even a scrap for himself.
And Morris had seized upon that instinct and flattery as the bedrock on which to build his merchant guild.
As he finally reached the reception room, he cleared his throat and adjusted his appearance.
The employee standing by the door moved to open it, but Morris held up a hand to stop him.
“Never mind. I’ll go in myself.”

* * *

Knock, knock.
Morris knocked, then turned the handle and stepped inside.
“Oh my, Duke Kaiden. Forgive me for keeping you waiting.”
He bowed obsequiously.
His expression, wearing that ingratiating smile, was utterly different from moments before when facing Kaliana.
Yet his true nature remained unchanged.
‘Well, he’s just another pretty-boy aristocrat at heart, after all.’
Though he’d conducted steady business with the Vallen Ducal House over time, meeting the Duke in person was a first.
‘Hmm.’
The Duke possessed the delicate features of a courtesan’s brother.
At first glance, he seemed easy to handle.
‘A man who inherited his parents’ titles and wealth without lifting a finger.’
He couldn’t compare to someone like himself, who’d built the guild from nothing.
Though it irked him to see those born into privilege acting so stiffly, most of them were ignorant enough that he could actually use them to his advantage.
“I never dreamed Your Grace would visit in person! I would have prepared a much more distinguished reception had I known you were coming.”
He pressed his lips together as if genuinely regretful.
By “distinguished reception,” Morris meant one graced by women and wine.
Young gentlemen of good breeding typically lost their heads once they tasted such pleasures.
But in that moment, a woman entered his field of vision.
A woman with chestnut hair seated beside the Duke.
‘What’s this.’
Morris looked her up and down.
Her face was decent enough, but her clothes were utterly unbecoming for a Duke’s companion.
She wore no dress to speak of and not a single piece of jewelry.
He’d made his assessment of her in an instant.
‘Must be some mistress he keeps on the side.’
The calculation crystallized in his mind.
And not even one he particularly treasured, it seemed.
The way he brought her along spoke volumes.
Still, bringing a woman to a business meeting was unusual.
Though men of that stripe did exist.
The type who wanted to show off their wealth and influence to impress a woman.
‘I read this sort perfectly every time.’
If that was the case, the business investment proposal he intended to make was already as good as secured.
All he needed was to praise it lavishly and butter him up.

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