I Ended Up Snatching a Marriage With the Male Lead! - Chapter 83

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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 rushed marriage with the male lead.
Episode 83

* * *

Kaiden was not one to enjoy alcohol.
Or rather, he had spent his life keeping as far from it as possible.
Alcohol clouded judgment and made a man slave to instinct—nothing more.
So unless absolutely necessary, he never touched it to his lips.
Yet somehow, here he was.
Kaiden’s gaze fell on Emilia, sleeping soundly in his arms with soft, even breaths.
Had he truly lost all reason?
He had no memory whatsoever of returning to the Mansion.
Running a hand roughly through his hair with complicated feelings, he noticed something odd.
This was definitely his bedroom.
Which meant—had he dragged Emilia from somewhere in the house to his room?
He wanted to think himself incapable of such madness, but past incidents suggested otherwise.
He couldn’t honestly deny it, and that realization sat uncomfortably.
Then it happened.
“Mm……”
A soft whimper made him freeze, and his eyes drifted downward.
Soon after, Emilia’s eyelashes trembled slightly, then her jade-green eyes opened.
Meeting his gaze, Emilia blinked slowly, as if lost in thought.
Her face flushed crimson in an instant, and she bolted upright.
Just as Kaiden was about to offer an apology, Emilia beat him to it, speaking hastily.
“I, I mean…….”
She stammered as though making an excuse, fumbling over her words.
“I was just worried, so I came in!”
Kaiden went quiet for a moment, then slowly sat up, raising an eyebrow.
“You entered my room… of your own volition?”
Emilia startled at that, rushing to explain.
“No! Well, I mean—yes, but…….”
Her stammering only deepened, and even her ears had flushed scarlet.
“B-but you, the Duke……!”
She’d been about to recount his actions one by one, but clamped her mouth shut instead.
It was far too embarrassing to spell out each of his deeds in detail.
Then Kaiden’s grave voice fell.
“I’m truly sorry, but without my memory, I can’t understand the situation unless you explain it to me.”
She opened and closed her mouth several times before finally dropping her head.
“That’s… it’s fine, really…….”
She had no desire to dredge up what was already past.
“Nothing happened.”
“Emilia?”
Kaiden called her name, unable to fathom her behavior.
Emilia slipped out of bed and bit her lip, glaring at him.
“S-still!”
Even if what was done was done, a warning was necessary to prevent any future incidents.
“Don’t come home having drunk again. At least not while we’re in this Married Life together!”
Kaiden’s eyes widened slightly at her words.
He wondered if he could truly let this pass, but somehow a quiet laugh escaped him.
Smoothing his lips with a finger, he answered.
“I shall refrain.”

* * *

“Lord Lucas.”
“Yes?”
Selena frowned down at Lucas.
He lay sprawled across the sofa, groaning softly.
She’d given him leave specifically out of concern, yet somehow he’d returned in worse condition.
And reeking of alcohol, to boot.
Selena’s eyes narrowed with suspicion as she asked.
“You really did go to your family’s estate, right?”
“Yes, yes, I dutifully went home on your orders, Your Highness.”
“Then why do you look so terrible?”
“Well, you see……”
Lucas continued, his tone shifting.
“I just… didn’t win anything?”
“Didn’t win anything? Did you gamble on the way back or something?”
At that, Lucas let out a hollow, defeated laugh.
“If clinging to a sliver of hope counts as gambling, then perhaps.”
Watching him speak in riddles, Selena found herself momentarily at a loss for words.
Then, in a slightly deflated tone, she said.
“If this is the result, there was no point in giving you leave at all.”
At that, Lucas, who’d been silent for several seconds, suddenly bolted upright.
“That’s enough. Our princess has taken such care of me—I must pull myself together now.”
He spoke with practiced cheerfulness, as though he’d never been dejected at all.
Selena gave him a look that was almost fond.
Lucas straightened on the sofa and adjusted his clothing with care.
Then he asked her casually.
“And how have you been in my absence, Your Highness?”
Selena’s expression visibly stiffened at the question.
‘Ah.’
She tried to recover quickly, but Lucas, who’d been watching her intently, had already caught that flicker.
He narrowed his eyes and asked.
“What is it? Did you have a nightmare?”
“No, it’s nothing like that.”
Selena denied it hastily.
“Hmm? It doesn’t seem like nothing.”
But Selena simply turned away from Lucas abruptly, offering no reply.
A suspicious voice came from behind her.
“Are you sure it’s nothing?”
“Yes. It’s nothing.”
Selena moved toward her desk.
She ran her hand across its worn, polished surface, then clenched her fist.
And in a voice she forced to sound unbothered, she told her knight.
“Lord Lucas, remember that terrible tea you made when you first became my knight?”
Lucas paused, thinking, then asked for confirmation.
“The one you said never to make again because it was so bad?”
“Yes, that one. Could you make it again?”
“What? Are you going to criticize it again?”
Lucas made a face of genuine distaste.
But Selena, at least for today, would not relent.
“Today I won’t say a word. I’ll drink it all.”
“Truly?”
Lucas asked with skepticism, and Selena nodded quietly.
“Yes. I just… suddenly wanted to drink it.”

* * *

At that same moment.
As Ernst stepped out of the Conference Room, he let out an embarrassed cough and called to House Valen.
“W-well, Duke, did you sleep well last night?”
The Count sometimes forgot that his limit was merely one glass of Wine.
And it had been on the very day he’d invited House Valen to his Mansion that he’d caused such an incident.
So this morning, his wife had given him a proper scolding.
How could he display such shameful behavior before the Duke himself?
But there was someone who’d committed an even greater offense than the Count himself.

“And that Lucas fellow, honestly!”

Though she’d specifically instructed him to attend to the Duke properly, his wife lamented that he’d apparently thought it meant to drown the man in alcohol—he’d guzzled Wine endlessly.
Even the Count had been speechless at the enormous pile of Wine Bottles the servants had cleared away.
He’d naturally expected the Duke’s expression to be no less grim than his own—
“I slept quite well.”
But contrary to expectation, the Duke appeared remarkably composed.
“Ah, ahem. That’s a relief, though I was worried that perhaps my son was untoward in any way yesterday.”
The Count conveniently omitted his own transgressions from the question.

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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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