I Ended Up Snatching a Marriage With the Male Lead! - Chapter 91

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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.
91

Could it be that comment had been foreshadowing this situation all along?
Lucas’s gaze turned toward Kaiden.
The Duke, who stood with his arms crossed, met his eyes in that same moment.

A moment later.
Aaron, watching the now-silent Lucas, let out a low chuckle and issued an order to the Imperial Palace knights.
“Take that knight into custody for now.”
Still, he was the escort of my sister, so it was only right that he play his part in the wedding procession.
For a sister who obeyed him well and hadn’t uttered a single word against her own knight, he could do at least that much.
Aaron looked down at the nobles, who were doing nothing but rolling their eyes in the tense atmosphere, and spoke with casual indifference.
“Well then, let’s resume the Hunting Tournament.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Emilia watched the scene from a distance with an anxious heart.
Fortunately, Lucas didn’t push further and was led away by the knights without resistance.
Emilia looked up at Kaiden and spoke.
“Thank you for giving Lucas a heads-up.”
The thing that had worried her most in all of this was Lucas.
In the original story, it had been written that the Imperial Princess’s escort knight had resisted and been killed.
So when victory was announced for the Princess Selena, she had been deeply concerned about Lucas’s reaction.
Then Emilia turned her attention to Prince Aaron.
He seemed rather satisfied with Lucas’s defiant behavior.
As if he found the appearance of indignation quite amusing.
If she had told Lucas the plan in advance, there was no doubt that vicious prince would have suspected something.
Puu-uuu—
At that moment, the sound of a trumpet signaling the second half echoed out.
Emilia spoke to Kaiden with a slight tension.
“Good luck.”
“Yes, I’ll be back soon.”
Kaiden nodded as if to say not to worry.

* * *

The spirit among the participants had risen considerably, perhaps because of the prize the Prince had offered for victory.
Some even complained that they should have made more of an effort during the first half.
Marquis Monsteра sat atop his horse, listening to this chatter.
His lips twitched with satisfaction.
‘Talk all you want. The victory is mine.’
The night before, he had hunted and hidden prey throughout the grounds, keeping them barely alive.
And in several key locations, Imperial Palace knights were even pretending to patrol and keeping watch.
‘Just a little longer, Princess Selena.’
In the Marquis’s mind, he was already imagining the wedding ceremony with Selena after claiming victory.
But his inner glee was short-lived when he spotted the expressionless Duke Valen.
The Marquis sneered, recalling the first-half standings.
‘He’s less impressive than I thought.’
The Marquis pulled his reins taut and moved toward him.
Kaiden glanced at him briefly.
“Duke Valen. Are you perhaps nervous? The prey you’ve brought seems rather underwhelming.”
Despite the obvious provocation, Kaiden responded calmly.
“Yes, so I’m thinking I’ll do better in the second half.”
The Marquis swallowed a laugh.
It wouldn’t matter if Kaiden caught every remaining beast in the Hunting Grounds.
All the high-scoring animals were already within his grasp.
The Marquis shrugged, speaking in a tone of contempt.
“Well, surely the future Duchess won’t mind the small game, will she?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Oh, I merely thought that being of common birth, you might satisfy her with something more humble! Ha ha!”
Meanwhile, his own bride-to-be was a Princess.
So he had to bring worthy prey to offer her.
Of course, the Crown Prince had prepared it all!
Having laughed to himself, the Marquis failed to catch the expression on Kaiden’s face and returned to his post.

* * *

The Marquis rode along at a leisurely pace, as if he were out for a pleasant excursion, admiring the scenery.
The weather was fine as well—surely even the heavens were blessing his future.
‘Now let me go collect my prey.’
He reached into his coat and pulled out a map.
“Let’s see. Oh my, there are quite a few.”
The Marquis murmured to himself as he checked the locations marked on the map.
He’d hidden the prey in various places because gathering them all in one spot was too risky.
He smiled with satisfaction and tucked the map back into his coat.
‘Let me start with the location of the highest-scoring prey.’
So the Marquis slowly rode toward that spot.
But soon he was forced to look around in confusion.
‘Huh?’
No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t see the Imperial Palace knight who should have been patrolling nearby.
Sensing something amiss, he dismounted and entered the cave where the prey should have been.
And when Monsteра checked inside, he held his breath.
“What in the—!”
Even if he’d scrubbed his eyes clean, he couldn’t find the prey.
Instead, only a small stone marker—used to contain the prey—remained embedded in the ground.
The Marquis’s face went pale.
‘Who in the world discovered this place!’
He scrambled out of the cave.
But then he steadied himself.
Fortunately, he’d hidden prey in multiple locations.
‘Right, it’s fine!’
Someone must have stumbled upon this one by accident.
The Marquis hastily climbed back onto his horse.
Though this had been where he’d left the highest-scoring prey—
‘I can just gather all the prey from the other locations!’
So he reassured himself, but cold sweat still trickled down his spine.
Clop, clop, clop!
The Marquis gripped the reins tightly, unlike before, and headed toward the valley beyond.

* * *

Inside the tent, Selena was thinking of Lucas’s angry face.
‘I have no face to show Lucas.’
When he drew his sword without hesitation, her heart had sunk.
He was willing to risk his very life, charging at Aaron for her sake.
She was aware that her heart had throbbed painfully with that knowledge, yet felt a guilty joy—and Lucas would surely rebuke her for it.
‘He must be so disappointed…….’
He had to be deeply disappointed in her for arranging all this without a word.
Perhaps he would never want to see her face again.
At that thought, the tears she’d been holding back threatened to spill.
But in front of Aaron, she was determined not to shed a single tear.
She didn’t want to give that repulsive brother any more satisfaction.
Just as Selena was finally erasing the image of her escort knight and regaining her composure, she heard Aaron’s voice from beside her.
“You might as well give up on any foolish hopes.”
“Hopes……?”
Selena lifted her head and looked at Aaron.
“Yes. The hope that someone else might win instead.”
Aaron flashed a cruel smile.
And as if he hoped to deepen her despair further, he continued with evident glee.
Even if someone hunted down every beast in the Hunting Grounds, there was no possible way for anyone else to win.
Selena simply listened. She already knew all of it.
This was a game Aaron had rigged, and there was no way to change the outcome.
She waited for Aaron’s pointless words to finish before opening her mouth.
“Just keep your promise. Don’t lay a hand on Lucas later, no matter what.”
“Sure, fine. If you were to throw yourself away by marrying the Marquis and ended up taking your own life, it would become a headache for me.”
Then Aaron shook his head with an expression of incomprehension.
“It seems owning something precious is quite a burden. That knight had an expression similar to the one you wore when Lorellia was taken away.”
At those words, Selena froze. Then she met Aaron’s eyes directly and continued with composure.
“Yes. You wouldn’t understand. All you do is thoughtlessly accept whatever Mother gives you every day.”
“What?”
“You’ll probably go on being bored like this forever, never knowing the joy of having someone precious to you.”
Aaron let out a hollow laugh.
“So now you’re becoming quite brazen, are you? Still, once you marry the Marquis, you might want to reconsider talking back like that. He has some rather unsavory habits, I’ve heard.”
At that moment, sounds of people murmuring drifted in from outside.
Aaron’s lips curved upward.
“Let’s go out together, shall we? It seems your future husband has caught some prey for you. Shouldn’t you greet him?”
Aaron forcibly pulled the resistant Selena to her feet and led her outside the tent.
But his smile vanished in an instant.
Because what he saw upon stepping out was—
“……!”
Duke Valen standing at ease before a mountain of prey.

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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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