I Ended Up Snatching a Marriage With the Male Lead! - Chapter 5

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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 flash marriage with the male lead.
Chapter 5

“Hand over every penny you’ve spent on me up to now.”
“Ha!”
Cedric let out a hollow laugh as if he couldn’t believe his ears.
“You’re really that materialistic?”
His gaze turned contemptuous.
“Materialistic?”
Emilia was momentarily left speechless by the absurdity of his words.
“Yes. I’m materialistic. So give me my money back.”
Emilia extended her hand with unwavering resolve.
“Since you clearly never thought of me as your betrothed, I should at least be compensated for the labor I’ve done in this household.”
Of course, she hadn’t originally sought any compensation.
But now that things had come to this, she felt she deserved to recoup something.
“What—what are you talking about!”
Faced with her unyielding stance, Cedric sputtered indignantly.
Yet Emilia had no intention of continuing this conversation with him.
“Move aside if you won’t pay up yourself.”
She pushed a trunk through the doorway and stepped inside.
“Hey!”
Cedric, who’d been leaning against the frame, stumbled and fell as the trunk struck him.
Reina stood just inside, her expression startled.
Emilia glanced at her briefly, then walked past without slowing.
She threw open the doors of an elegant cabinet and laid the trunk on the floor.
Crash.
Emilia carelessly swept the contents of the cabinet into the trunk.
A few pieces tumbled to the floor in the process.
Just then, Cedric rushed in with furious strides and shouted.
“Stop!”
“I’m busy—don’t talk to me.”
“What do you think you’re doing!”
Cedric grabbed Emilia’s arm roughly and yanked her to her feet.
Crash!
Something fell simultaneously, and glass shattered.
“What’s the problem? You won’t give it to me, so I’m taking it myself. Seems fair.”
Emilia wrenched her arm free from his grip.
As she glanced back at the cabinet, her chest tightened.
In truth, his household possessed several items of genuine value.
Even as the family’s fortunes crumbled, they’d refused to sell them, treasuring them instead.
So it was easier for her to simply spend her own money without hesitation.
“This is insane! You’re nothing but a thief!”
Crack!
Unable to contain his rage, Cedric brought his hand down hard across Emilia’s cheek.
“Ugh!”
Her head snapped sideways and she sank to the floor.
Hearing the commotion, Mrs. Romances emerged from her room.
“What on earth is all this!”
She gasped at the sight of the ruined interior and hurried toward the cabinet.
“No, what a waste!”
She stared at the shattered decorative items, helpless and distressed.
“Reina.”
“Y-yes?”
At Emilia’s call, Reina, who’d been watching in stunned silence, startled.
“Will you really be all right with this?”
Emilia held her gaze steadily.
“With a man who lashes out violently whenever he’s angry, and a mother-in-law who doesn’t care if her son hits a woman?”
“I… that is….”
“You’ll regret it.”
At those words, Reina’s eyes wavered with anxiety.
But Emilia’s attention had already moved on.
She forced herself to stand, wincing as her cheek throbbed.
‘He really did hit me hard.’
Though she’d said as much, she genuinely hadn’t expected Cedric to raise a hand against her.
They’d had quarrels before, but he’d never struck her.
‘I’ve learned so many new things about him these past few days.’
Emilia felt a bitter taste settle in her mouth.
Then Mrs. Romances whirled around sharply.
Crunch.
The fragments of the decorative items crunched beneath her heel.
“Emilia, you! What did you just say!”
She’d apparently taken offense at the insult directed at herself and her son.
But Emilia paid her no mind.
Instead, she closed and locked the full trunk.
Click.
“Aren’t you listening to me!”
“I am listening.”
Emilia turned to face her calmly.
“But since you seem to have heard me clearly, I don’t see why I need to repeat myself.”
“What—what did you—!”
As Mrs. Romances stepped toward Emilia with a sneer, she suddenly lost her footing on a fragment and skidded.
“Oh my!”
“Mother!”
“Madam, are you all right?”
Cedric and Reina rushed to steady her as she fell.
Emilia watched the scene without emotion, then opened her mouth toward Reina.
“Caring for this household while you’re pregnant will be quite difficult.”
‘…And thank you. Thank you for keeping me from becoming family with people like these.’
“What—what did you—?”
Mrs. Romances, still reeling, couldn’t seem to gather her senses.
In that moment, Emilia left the house without a backward glance.
The wheeled trunk clattered as it crossed the threshold.
“You there! What exactly do you think you’re doing!”
Mrs. Romances threw whatever came to hand, shrieking.
But none of the objects reached Emilia’s feet.

* * *

After Emilia had gone.
“Well! I never!”
Mrs. Romances spun around, exasperated. The sight of her ruined home only stoked her fury further.
“Cedric! Did you see the nerve of that girl! How could she be so utterly shameless!”
“Exactly. Full of herself to the bitter end.”
“To think I actually considered taking her as my daughter-in-law—I must have been mad.”
In truth, it was Mrs. Romances who had first attached Emilia to Cedric’s side.
Once Cedric reached marriageable age, she’d grown increasingly anxious.
No noblewoman would consent to marry into a family whose fortunes had collapsed.
So she’d selected the most beautiful and clever girl in the Village, Emilia, and pushed her toward Cedric.
Of course, she’d never truly been satisfied with the arrangement.
How could she be?
For all her beauty and wit, Emilia was merely a common girl without parents.
‘I don’t know why I did it.’
If she’d known Cedric would bring home such a perfect daughter-in-law on his own, she wouldn’t have been in such a rush to betroth him.
‘At least it’s fortunate she left of her own accord.’
Though it infuriated her that the girl had upended her entire house and life before going.
Mrs. Romances cast a subtle glance toward Reina.
As expected of a young woman from the Count’s House, she carried herself with grace. Her mere presence seemed to radiate nobility.
She was fundamentally different from someone like Emilia.
‘She’s a perfect match for my son.’
Mrs. Romances smoothed away her harsh expression and spoke gently.
“I can’t tell you how fortunate it is that someone like you has come to our Cedric. We nearly ended up saddled with such a wicked creature.”
“Y-yes….”
“And how thoughtful of you to arrive in such a condition.”
Yet Mrs. Romances failed to notice the change in Reina’s expression since a moment ago.

“You’ll regret it.”

Reina’s hands, clutching her dress, trembled slightly.
The retreating figure of the woman who’d left looking so relieved swam before her eyes.
And those words—delivered with such certainty they seemed less like a curse than a prophecy.

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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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