I Ended Up Snatching a Marriage With the Male Lead! - Chapter 48

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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 gone and rushed into marriage with the male lead.
Episode 48

“Emilia?”
Ivan looked up at her, his eyes glistening with tears.
“Wait, Ivan. Just a moment.”
Emilia bolted from the room at once.
She made straight for the library and hurried to the bookshelf where past volumes of the Legal Code were kept.
There, she located the most recently published edition.
Emilia pulled the hefty tome free with considerable force.
Kneeling on the floor, she began flipping through it rapidly.
‘It should be around this page.’
As the pages rustled, her eyes moved swiftly across them.
Then her fingers stilled.
“Ow.”
Emilia frowned down at her index finger.
Paper had cut it, and blood was beginning to seep out.
She rubbed the wound hastily on her dress and turned the pages again.
Flip, flip.
“Marriage law…”
Fresh blood was already pooling onto the paper, but she had no time to worry about it.
A moment later, Emilia’s eyes widened.
“Found it!”
It was exactly the clause she’d been half-remembering.
Clutching the Legal Code to her chest, Emilia hurried toward Kaiden’s study.

* * *

Knock, knock, knock.
Emilia rapped on the study door and waited for an answer.
“Who is it?”
The steward’s voice came back shortly.
“It’s Emilia. I need to speak with the Duke urgently.”
“Come in.”
This time, it was Kaiden.
At his permission, Emilia immediately opened the door and stepped inside.
Kaiden, who had been standing before a desk spread with maps, turned to face her.
It seemed he’d been discussing where to hide Ivan.
“What is the matter?”
His voice was sharper than usual.
Emilia approached him quickly.
“Duke, may I speak with you for a moment?”
“Speak?”
“Yes. There’s a way to keep Ivan from being taken by the Empress right now.”
At her words, Kaiden raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“And what way is that?”
But the instant Emilia’s eyes met his, she faltered.
She realized what she was about to say would sound utterly absurd.
“Well, that is… you see…”
Yet thinking of Ivan crying in the other room, she pushed the words out.
“Would you be willing to marry?”
“What are you sudden—”
Disbelief flashed across his face, as she’d expected.
“Did you just say marry?”
Kaiden repeated back what he’d heard, his voice dripping with incredulity.
Emilia squeezed her eyes shut, then nodded.
“Yes.”
Having anticipated some resistance, she pressed on quickly.
“And make Ivan your Formal Heir at the same time.”
“Formal Heir? Surely you don’t mean…”
Kaiden furrowed his brow and trailed off, as if something had clicked into place.
When it became clear he’d grasped her intent, Emilia nodded.
The Empress wanted Ivan recognized as the imperial prince for one reason: to become his legal guardian and control his fate as she pleased.
‘So the only way to prevent Ivan from being taken is to…’
create a situation that takes priority over that.
For instance, by placing Ivan in the position of Formal Heir to the Valen Duchy.
If Ivan became the Formal Heir to the Valen family, the Empress couldn’t do as she wished with him.
Not even if it were revealed that Ivan was the Emperor’s illegitimate child.
Title succession required imperial approval, yes—but a Formal Heir could be designated directly by the family itself.
And there were systematic legal provisions precisely to prevent confusion arising from matters of succession.
“Of course, you cannot make Ivan your Formal Heir immediately.”
There was one condition that had to be met to legally designate an heir.
Namely, a Formal Heir could only be created in a state of completeness.
And in the empire, the Unmarried state was considered incomplete.
Yes—Kaiden was currently Unmarried.
“So if you simply marry… you can protect Ivan safely.”
But no answer came from Kaiden.
Of course not—no matter how important it was to protect Ivan, one couldn’t decide something as significant as marriage on the spot.
So Emilia quickly set the Legal Code she’d brought on the desk.
She opened it to the page she’d just checked.
“Look at this clause here.”
She pointed her finger at a single sentence written in small letters.
A sentence written in gray, smaller font than the surrounding text.
It was a clause from the marriage law concerning marriage annulment.
In noble society, marriage had long been regarded as a form of transaction.
Yet cases often arose where things didn’t proceed according to parents’ wishes.
For example, when a child defied their parents and secretly registered a marriage to someone far beneath the family’s standards.
To prevent this, the nobility had collectively created the Marriage Postponement Clause.
When someone not formally registered in a noble house married in, there was a six-month grace period.
During this time, marriages could indeed be rendered void.
“Of course, finding a suitable partner might be difficult now, but if you were to strike a deal with an illegitimate noble maiden…”
Emilia watched his expression anxiously.
But Kaiden simply stared silently at the text she’d indicated.
‘No matter how I look at it, was that too much to ask?’
She’d thought this clause might at least ease his decision somewhat.
Actually, the reason this clause had come to mind was because of Reina.
In the original story, Kaiden had entered into a contract betrothal with her—so she’d wondered if marriage itself could be used as a tool.
But perhaps because this was actual marriage, not mere betrothal…
she could sense his hesitation.
Then, keeping his gaze lowered, Kaiden spoke.
“So… you’re asking me to enter into a sham marriage? With another woman?”
“Yes, exactly!”
Emilia’s expression brightened slightly as she nodded eagerly.
From the way he’d said “sham marriage,” it was clear he’d understood her intentions perfectly.
This gave Emilia a fragile glimmer of hope.
But then, unexpectedly, Kaiden asked a strange question.
“Does it have to be an illegitimate noble maiden?”
“Pardon?”
Emilia looked up at him in confusion.
At the same moment, their eyes met—and his gaze was dark, deep.
Emilia blinked, momentarily flustered, then looked away as she spoke.
“Well, if you’re thinking of annulling the marriage eventually, an illegitimate status makes it easier… but of course, if there’s someone you actually care for, you could just marry them instead, I suppose…”
Emilia found herself rambling somewhat without meaning to, but she managed to give him an answer to his question.
Then Kaiden’s low voice sounded.
“If not, then…”
The moment Emilia lifted her head and their eyes met again.
“Will you become my bride?”
“…Pardon?”

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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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