I Ended Up Snatching a Marriage With the Male Lead! - Chapter 53

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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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She had rushed into a flash marriage with the male lead.
Chapter 53

She was worrying over the most useless things.
‘There’s no way he could fancy another woman.’
Not when he clung to her so relentlessly with his gaze that she couldn’t look elsewhere for even a moment.
Entertaining such an absurd possibility was beyond ridiculous.
Yet the fact that he had agreed to such a nonsensical proposal at all was because she wore an expression he had never seen from her before.
And Kaiden knew that expression well.
Through his own mother, who always looked so lonely.
‘Marriage, is it…….’
Kaiden’s expression hardened as he looked down at the contract.
His retainers often hinted at marriage, but he would let such remarks pass without answering.
The reason was simple.
He had never seen nor learned what it meant to be someone’s husband.
For that reason, he had never even imagined his own married life.
Not once.
Kaiden touched his lips absently, troubled.
He wasn’t certain he could manage the role of husband without difficulty.

* * *

The next day, people gathered in the Grand Council Chamber one by one.
“What urgent matter could this be?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
The nobles, summoned abruptly by imperial dispatch, made no effort to hide their irritation.
They chattered as if curious, but most were indifferent.
Even if foreign invaders crossed the border, as long as their own businesses and domains remained unharmed, it mattered little to them.
Among them was Ernst, the Count.
The count had abandoned a intimate date with his wife to attend today’s conference.
‘Good grief.’
It was at that moment the count’s nose twitched with displeasure.
The conference chamber door opened, and a tall man entered.
All eyes in the room turned toward him instinctively.
Ernst too turned his head to regard the man.
‘House Valen’s leader, then.’
The young head of House Valen, which represented the North.
He possessed a certain power to draw people’s attention.
His striking appearance played no small part in this.
When he first appeared in society, so many young noblewomen had languished for him.
‘An altogether desirable man, it must be said.’
Ernst himself was particularly fond of the duke’s grave demeanor, so unlike young men these days.
With him, there would be none of the recklessness those young fools tended to indulge in.
‘By contrast, my own son…….’
Comparing him to his own son of similar age left Ernst’s temples throbbing.
The boy had abandoned the family entirely and become the princess’s knight instead.
Whose son was he, anyway? It made no sense.
As Ernst released a sigh of exasperation, he greeted Kaiden, who had approached.
“Your Grace, welcome.”
“It’s been a long time, Count Ernst.”
With that, Kaiden took the seat beside the count.
The count saw his opportunity.
Since he had no daughter, he intended to present his niece instead.
Just as the count was about to clear his throat and arrange an introduction, he paused.
“……?”
Something unfamiliar gleamed on the duke’s finger.
‘What is that?’
The count narrowed his eyes to examine it more closely.
It was none other than a Ring.
‘How unexpected.’
He had never seen House Valen’s duke wear jewelry before.
But that wasn’t all—
‘The position of the ring, it seems…….’
The count was about to ask about the Ring on Kaiden’s ring finger when—
“Her Majesty the Empress enters!”
A chamberlain’s sonorous voice rang out beyond the chamber doors.
At the same moment, the door exclusive to imperial blood opened, and the Empress revealed herself.
She wore a dress studded densely with jewels.
Several nobles frowned at her overly elaborate attire, unsuited to a council meeting.
But all quickly concealed their displeasure and lowered their heads in respect.
The Empress, seated at the head of the chamber, smiled and surveyed the nobles.
She loved this moment most—when she stood as the Emperor’s regent.
The elderly nobles who had once lectured her haughtily when she was merely a young noblewoman now bowed their heads to her—this moment thrilled her.
How much more satisfying it would be when her son became Emperor.
Her smile deepened.
“Then shall we begin the conference?”

* * *

“Your Majesty the Empress.”
As the ordinary conference dragged on, a noble ventured to speak cautiously.
“Yes?”
The Empress gave him her attention with unhurried grace.
“I merely wondered if there might be another reason you convened this Grand Council today.”
Given the extraordinary effort to summon the nobles, only trivial matters had been addressed.
“Of course. Surely I would not have called you all here without good reason, busy as you are.”
She affirmed this with a smile.
“What I wished to discuss today concerns House Valen’s duke as well.”
The Empress spoke thus while regarding Kaiden, who sat at her right hand.
The nobles’ eyes all turned toward Kaiden.
Kaiden’s brow lifted slightly.
“What do you mean, Your Majesty?”
Yet the Empress only maintained her placid smile.
Then slowly her crimson lips parted.
“What do I mean? I speak of that child in your care, Duke.”
At once, the duke’s expression froze.
Seeing this, the Empress wanted to laugh outright.
The duke resembled so closely the man she had unrequited feelings for.
He was usually composed and expressionless, which made him all the more like the previous duke—and now he looked so disconcerted that she found it utterly satisfying.
Perhaps she would see an even better reaction to her next words.
Then the duke of House Valen spoke, his voice sharp.
“I fail to understand how a matter of my house should be the subject of this council.”
“Ha.”
At his words, the Empress could not suppress the laughter she’d been holding back.
He must know perfectly well who she was referring to, yet there he was, clenching his teeth and feigning ignorance—it was absurd.
“A matter of your house, you say? Surely you wound me, Duke.”
The nobles in the chamber listened in hushed confusion to the exchange between the two.
“You are my cousin by marriage, are you not? We are family, in essence.”
Having savored her amusement, the Empress was now ready to expose her husband’s shame.
Abruptly, the duke’s lips curved upward, and his gaze met hers directly.
‘……What?’
For a moment, the Empress felt a chill of unease.
But her plan could not have reached the duke’s ears.
Even if it had, it mattered not. After all, the child could hardly be spirited away regardless.
Yet what emerged from the duke’s lips left the Empress frozen solid.
“Since you speak of it so, I cannot refuse. You are correct. I was married recently.”
“……W-what?”
Kaiden appended an explanation to his words.
“And so I have acquired a wife.”
In a tone somewhat matter-of-fact, he dropped the bombshell.
“But, what did Your Grace just say you had done?”
“Married?”
The nobles observing their exchange began to murmur among themselves.
Meanwhile, the Empress’s face twisted visibly as she barely managed to speak.
“……What, exactly, are you saying now, Duke?”
Yet Kaiden turned the question back, as if bewildered.
“Did you not bring this matter up upon hearing news of my marriage?”
The Empress clenched her teeth, caught off guard.
‘What scheme is this?’
She struggled to make sense of the duke’s preposterous words.
Then, slowly, Kaiden continued.
“Since Your Majesty seems so interested in the affairs of my house, I should add further—”
And he deliberately lifted the corners of his mouth in a smile.
“My wife holds a child very dear, and I have formally recognized him as my Heir.”

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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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