I Ended Up Snatching a Marriage With the Male Lead! - Chapter 78

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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.
Chapter 78

‘What’s wrong with him?’
Oh—surely not—
She quickly handed him the paper she’d received from Alex.
“Here you are. You wanted to confirm the contents quickly, didn’t you?”
As she did, she surmised why Kaiden had come home early today.
‘He seemed awfully curious about something.’
More than that, Kaiden appeared to be going out of his way to earn Alex’s favor.
Perhaps he was worried Alex wouldn’t tell him about the Wound Healing Remedy.
Or perhaps he wanted to build good relations in case questions came up later.
Emilia signaled to Kaiden with a look suggesting he take the paper.
“…….”
At that, Kaiden accepted the paper she offered.
Having finished what she came to do, Emilia was about to enter the Mansion—
“Emilia.”
Kaiden called to her in a low voice.
“Yes?”
“……No, it’s nothing.”
“Ah, all right.”
At Kaiden’s bland reply, Emilia tilted her head quizzically and entered the Mansion ahead of him.

* * *

‘Hmm?’
Early that morning, Count Ernst spotted the Duke ahead of him as he arrived at the Imperial Palace.
He called out to Kaiden with a warm expression.
“Your Grace!”
Hearing the voice from behind, Kaiden stopped in his tracks and turned around.
“Good morning.”
Count Ernst greeted him affably.
But the moment Kaiden confirmed who had spoken, his brow furrowed slightly.
Still, he dipped his head lightly in acknowledgment.
‘Count Ernst.’
He was among the more prominent nobility in the Capital.
Above all, his vast wealth gave him considerable influence in political circles.
But more than that—
Count Ernst was known for being somewhat of a devoted husband.
The couple’s bond was so strong that even Kaiden had heard rumors of Count Ernst and his wife.
Of course, he’d had little reason to care about another family’s affairs and had nearly forgotten.
But for some reason, today the moment he saw the Count, those rumors came to mind.
‘And…….’
As Count Ernst approached him, Kaiden opened his mouth.
“How is your son faring?”
“……?”
Caught off guard by the sudden inquiry about his son, Count Ernst merely blinked.
The Duke had never initiated such personal small talk before.
Despite the fact that they saw each other often coming and going from the Imperial Palace.
But Ernst quickly dismissed his confusion, his expression settling into understanding.
‘Ah, of course.’
A man was always changed by marriage.
Once married, one’s perspective on the world around you shifted entirely.
And it seemed this young Duke was no exception to that truth.
The surprise he’d felt at that assembly.
That always-proper Duke suddenly announcing marriage.
And to a commoner, no less.
While other nobles whispered that the Duke had committed an indiscretion, to Ernst—a sentimental sort—it seemed terribly romantic.
Watching House Valen’s Duke, who appeared utterly smitten, Ernst smiled warmly.
“Ha, well, that boy still hasn’t shown his face at home.”
Though his smile had cracked a little at that admission.
‘Really now, that Lucas…….’
The Duke was already married, yet his own son didn’t even have a betrothed. It worried him.
But then he shook his head.
What good would it do to worry over that worthless boy?
Instead, he decided to continue the conversation with the Duke.
“Though tell me, is something troubling you? You look rather grave.”
The Duke of House Valen rarely let emotion show on his face.
Yet today, for some reason, he couldn’t hide his displeasure.
At that, Count Ernst laughed lightly and ventured a jest.
“Ha! Your expression is quite as though you’d just learned of your wife’s former lover!”
“…….”
A silence fell.
And Kaiden’s face went stony, the smile vanishing from Ernst’s.
‘Surely he didn’t……?’

* * *

“I’m home.”
Lucas announced himself coolly as he stepped into the Count’s Estate.
‘How strange.’
Yet his own home felt unfamiliar.
It wasn’t simply that he’d been away from the Estate for some time.
Lucas blinked at the sight of the servants bustling about in unusual activity.
“Lucas……?”
Just then, a well-dressed middle-aged woman standing vacant in the lobby noticed him.
Lucas approached her with an easy grin.
“Mother, how have you been?”
But Countess Ernst looked at her son with some displeasure.
“What brings you here?”
At his mother’s rather huffy tone, Lucas leaned in close and draped an arm around her shoulders.
“Come now, why so terse?”
“If you were me, wouldn’t you be?”
“How heartless.”
Lucas pouted as if offended.
But Countess Ernst, who knew her son far too well, coolly removed his arm.
Then she asked that troublesome boy directly.
“So why are you really here?”
She had good reason for her coldness.
Ever since Lucas became the Princess’s guard, he’d stopped coming home entirely—as if the Imperial Palace were his true residence.
She worried she might forget what his face looked like.
No matter how busy his work as the Princess’s guard was, surely he could spare more than just his absence.
Lucas sighed, then spoke.
“I somehow managed to get leave. The Princess insisted I spend at least one night at home.”
Worry crossed Countess Ernst’s face.
“Has something happened?”
“I couldn’t say.”
Unable to tell his mother the reason for the forced leave, Lucas shrugged.
“But it made me think I should be kinder to Father.”
“Suddenly?”
From a son who’d always been his father’s headache, this remark struck Countess Ernst as suspicious.
“There’s something I want. It’s just been difficult to obtain.”
Lucas continued thoughtfully.
“So I’m preparing various things—including a Noble Title and whatnot.”
“……What? What did you just say?”
Countess Ernst thought for a moment she’d misheard.
‘A Noble Title?’
Lucas had always preferred his freedom, treating the position of household head as beneath him.
Then Lucas dismissed the subject with a shake of his head and spoke again in his smoothest voice.
“Anyway, it’s been so long since your son came home—don’t be so cold to me, Mother.”
“You should learn to speak properly first.”
At his son’s wheedling words, Countess Ernst finally surrendered with something like resignation.
Meanwhile, Lucas caught the aroma of food wafting from the dining room and gestured toward it.
“But how did you know I was coming and prepare such a feast?”
Countess Ernst let out a scoff.
“Your father’s having a guest. We prepared the spread for them.”
“A guest of Father’s?”
Lucas looked puzzled as he asked, just as—
The entrance opened and Count Ernst appeared.
The Count came in smiling, but when he spotted Lucas, his eyes widened.
“Is that you? You wretch?!”
And behind his father, who gestured at him in astonishment, there appeared a man with black hair.
“…….”
“…….”
Their gazes met in the air between them.

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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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