I Was Marked as the Grand Duke Male Lead’s Stepmother - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 1

From: Mariselle Manua Nanny Application To: His Grace Duke Morgan Ergana Yohaim

“Please make sure to deliver this properly to His Grace Duke Morgan Ergana Yohaim!”

A butler with a slender frame and white hair gracefully settled on his head received the document envelope that Mariselle held out.

Though Mariselle didn’t speak, she left another reminder with her eyes.

Porel found Mariselle’s gaze a bit burdensome. But sensing some inexplicable earnestness, a kind smile formed on his face.

“I will make sure to deliver it properly.”

Porel tucked the document envelope under his arm and bowed politely.

And watching Mariselle’s retreating figure, he thought it was unusual.

In all his 60 years serving the Duke’s Household, this was the first time a noble young lady had personally brought a letter.

And behind Mariselle’s direct visit to the Duke’s Household lay a calculated attempt to increase her chances of being accepted as a nanny.

Whether it was a good impression or an unusual one, what mattered was making herself memorable in some way.

That’s how desperately Mariselle needed the nanny position at the Duke’s Household.

Moreover, now was the perfect timing.

This was the point in the novel “The Duke’s Obsession Restaurant” when the male lead Morgan adopts his orphaned nephew Fleur and seeks a nanny.

To survive in this absurd reality of being possessed into a novel that thirty-five-year-old Haetak Lee had enjoyed reading before his death.

* * *

“Miss, I still can’t get used to this.”

“There’s no rush. You can adapt slowly. I came back from the dead, didn’t I? Isn’t it better that I’ve changed?”

Emma was deeply worried about Mariselle, who spoke of her own affairs as calmly as if discussing someone else’s business.

What on earth had happened during her fever?

There had been a moment, brief but real, when she stopped breathing.

Just thinking about that moment made Emma shudder as her heart seemed to drop.

“Emma. It’s an opportunity given by heaven. I must live a different life than before.”

After submitting her nanny application, Mariselle headed out to browse the market, partly to lift her spirits.

Mariselle walked lost in thought.

Mariselle. The baronet’s daughter of the Helman Empire where Haetak Lee began his second life. Just turned twenty.

Mariselle was merely an extra character. Even her family was extra-level.

The novel was a typical romance fantasy.

The unbreakable, persistent love between a duke and a saint. The male lead’s devotion to the female lead—it was an obsession restaurant that he had found entertaining.

He hadn’t cared about families that got wiped out by the duke’s hand for being involved in Fleur’s kidnapping incident.

They were just devices to show Marquis Zelkova’s wickedness, nothing problematic.

But now that he was possessed as Mariselle, the snake-like Zelkova was a bigger threat than Morgan.

It was Zelkova who would frame the Manua baronet family and have them massacred by the duke.

Though Zelkova was destined to be eliminated by the male and female leads anyway, until escaping the trap of false accusations, she needed to be under Morgan’s protection to stay safe.

If she could endure just one to two years as a nanny in the Duke’s Household, the Manua Family could survive.

For Mariselle, the nanny position at the Duke’s Household was essential for survival.

‘Please, Morgan must call me for an interview…’

The die was cast, and whoever granted him a second life—be it a god or whatever—surely they would provide at least one benefit.

As Mariselle entered the bustling market street, she organized her thoughts and began exploring the market in earnest.

The fragrant scent of fruit caught her senses on the wind.

“Emma! Let’s buy some apples to eat.”

“Pardon? You want to eat apples on the street?”

Emma stopped walking with a serious expression.

“Yes. What’s wrong with that?”

Mariselle took Emma’s hand and led her toward the fruit shop.

Just then.

Kyaaaaaaah!

A sharp scream came from not far away.

Both stopped walking and turned toward where the scream came from.

Swoooosh!

A series of sharp cracking sounds could be heard one after another.

There stood a carriage, and a coachman with a menacing face was wielding a whip against two children.

“No—!”

Marisselle cried out urgently.

The coachman momentarily stopped his actions and quickly looked around.

“Tch!”

Whiiish—

The whip irritably tore through the air and shot up high.

It was an instant. Marisselle had no time to think or speak.

She quickly took off her shoe and threw it with all her might toward the target—whoosh!

Thud!

Ahhh!

Marisselle’s shoe struck the whip-wielding coachman’s wrist precisely and dropped with a thunk.

The coachman’s face instantly turned red and blue with rage.

“Ahhh!! Which bastard dares!”

The coachman, filled with fury, glared fiercely at the crowd.

They were busy avoiding his gaze, fearing they might suffer harm from the ill-tempered coachman.

The coachman irritably snatched up the shoe that had struck his hand and fallen, holding it high and shaking it mercilessly.

“Who’s the bastard that threw this shoe!”

Though it was a shoe that only nobles would wear, he was so blinded by rage that he couldn’t think straight.

“Me! I’m the bastard who threw that shoe!”

Not to be outdone, Marisselle boldly walked forward and growled fiercely.

Despite missing one shoe, there was no sign of lost balance in her walking.

Rather, her steps carried the spirit of a model’s runway walk.

The crowd stirred at Marisselle’s appearance.

“Wow. Who is that young lady? She looks like a noble…?”

“Well, I don’t know either. But she’s quite pretty.”

Whoosh— Just then, the wind blew and Marisselle’s fine platinum hair fluttered beautifully.

To their eyes, Marisselle appeared like a savior who could instantly defeat the villain.

Before long, curious eyes began gathering one by one.

The coachman instinctively stepped back at Marisselle’s spirit.

“Uh, uh…”

Marisselle’s attire was clearly that of a Noble House lady.

The coachman regretted it. He should have realized from looking at the shoe… But it was too late.

A single word from her could endanger not only his job as a coachman but even his life.

Realizing his situation, the coachman trembled with fear.

“The bastard who threw the shoe is here and reporting. What are you going to do?”

Her voice was quiet and her eyes seemed to smile, but the pupils within were utterly fierce.

“Uh, uh. I…”

The coachman stuttered as if broken, his limbs creaking and moving independently.

It was inconceivable that a Noble House lady would take off her shoe and throw it for the sake of commoners.

Was she really a noble? Perhaps a wealthy commoner?

Moreover, if this woman was the owner of the shoe, she should be limping since she was missing one shoe.

Was she really the one who threw the shoe? A woman who seemed noble yet not noble. The coachman was confused.

“I’m asking what you’re going to do!”

At that moment, the coachman who had been racking his brain instinctively buried his head to the ground and prostrated himself flat.

“Ah, th, I, I. Miss, I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

The coachman repeatedly bowed his head, begging for forgiveness.

Marisselle crossed her arms and looked down at him, asking for his affiliation and name.

“I work as a coachman at Aesir Duchy, and my name is H-Hans.”

“I see, Hans!”

Hans kept his head pressed to the ground, waiting for the next words.

“….”

“What are you doing?”

“Pardon?”

Hans lifted his head.

Marisselle slightly lifted her skirt, extended her right foot, and gestured with her chin.

Only then understanding her meaning, he hurriedly grabbed the shoe and put it on Marisselle’s foot.

Emma, who had been watching from the side, was inwardly shocked.

The young lady was so naturally gentle and kind that she had never once spoken harshly to a subordinate.

“By the way, the owner of this carriage seems to have much greater magnanimity than those who serve under them. To remain so quietly inside the carriage like this. Guide me to your master.”

Marisselle put on an air of leisure.

This leisure came from confirming that they were of the same baronet level.

She had acted first without time to think it through, but she had been secretly worried about the aftermath.

If it had been a noble higher than a baronet, it would have been a bit more troublesome to resolve.

‘My meddling nature is the problem!’

Marisselle scolded herself.

‘But how could I pretend not to see when a child was being whipped right before my eyes!’

That wouldn’t be right!

The coachman hurriedly stood up and bowed before Marisselle.

“The carriage is empty. I was on my way back from escorting Miss Kieran…”

‘Kieran? Who’s that?’

No matter how much Marisselle searched her memory, nothing came up.

‘This Marisselle girl should socialize more actively. What’s the point of being a homebody with such outstanding beauty! At the very least, she should have memorized a noble directory.’

Even looking at the tulip flower pattern carved on the carriage, she couldn’t identify which family it belonged to.

Marisselle resolved to memorize the noble directory thoroughly when she got home.

‘You should know where you’re lying before you stretch out your legs. What if it had been a great noble!’

In any case, Marisselle decided to think that heaven had helped her for doing a good deed.

“A blessing in disguise. At least your master didn’t have to witness such an unseemly sight.”

At that, the coachman immediately prostrated himself flat on the ground again without hesitation, bowing his head.

“Ah! Get up!”

“Yes? Yes…”

At Marisselle’s sharp command, he quickly stood up and assumed an upright posture.

“No matter how much the children did wrong, whipping them isn’t right. Don’t you think?”

“Yes, yes. That’s right. I was wrong. I will never do such a thing again.”

“Good. That’s how it should be. And since your whipping has already received the apology for the children’s mistakes, you should also apologize to the children and quietly get out of here quickly.”

“Yes? Yes. Thank you, Miss.”

The coachman, who had been expecting the worst, kept nodding repeatedly at Marisselle’s lenient treatment.

Then he apologized to the children he had whipped, bowed to Marisselle once more, and quickly made his exit.

“Look, that wicked fellow is tucking his tail and running away!”

“It makes my heart feel refreshed, indeed!”

“Well, I feel the same way, but this is the first time I’ve seen a noble help commoners like this.”

“Is that so? Come to think of it, it’s my first time seeing it too.”

“Anyway, the problem is that those who work for Noble Houses act all high and mighty as if they’re nobles themselves.”

“Who says otherwise. Ah. Just now he could have stopped easily, but instead he drove the horse even faster.”

“Tsk. Wicked fellows. If it weren’t for that noble lady just now, those children would have been beaten to a pulp. Those boys were still lucky today, indeed.”

“That’s right. You see all kinds of things in life. It’s something to witness in a long life. Since the matter seems resolved, let’s be on our way.”

With the villain gone and only the two boys left behind, the gathered people each left a comment and dispersed on their own paths.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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