The Male Lead Is Targeting Me, Not My Younger Sister - Chapter 15

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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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The Male Lead Is Aiming for Me, Not My Sister — Episode 015
The air had turned crisp and cold.
The Banquet Hall remained lively, yet I felt every gaze in the room shift toward us.
All of them fixated on this man before me.
It was because of Ludwig.
When I hiccupped without meaning to, Ludwig smiled softly.
“It’s been a while, Lydia.”
The man who’d shared breakfast with me just this morning spoke with that familiar tone.
‘He’s putting on a show. Absolutely.’
Sure enough, his eyes weren’t smiling at all.
‘Damn it. I should’ve lied.’
I’d mentioned this morning that I’d stay home all day — I’d thought if I hid away, we wouldn’t cross paths. Shows what I know.
Lydia squeezed her eyes shut.
“Your Highness…… the Duke?”
Meanwhile, the lunatic beside me hadn’t grasped the situation at all and was simply gawking in confusion.
“A matter of business? What do you mean by——”
Only then did Ludwig turn his gaze toward the man.
He regarded the hand the man had placed on Lydia, his eyes turning glacial.
“Precisely as I said.”
With that, he slowly extracted the hand.
“I’m asking you to step aside.”
A graceful smile. Dignified words.
There was neither rudeness nor mockery in them, yet everyone could feel it.
The vast difference in standing between Ludwig and this man.
In an instant, overwhelmed, the man drew a sharp breath.
He looked stiff and flustered.
Yet pride compelled him to open his mouth again.
“No, that won’t do. No matter how exalted Your Highness may be, this lady had a prior engagement with me. So it shouldn’t be I who withdraws, but rather——”
“It seems you’ve misunderstood something.”
Ludwig spoke with unflappable calm.
“I wasn’t asking.”
The man’s mouth snapped shut, his face flushed with bewilderment.
Ludwig smiled leisurely at the now-pallid man.
Ludwig gave the man’s shoulder a light, dismissive tap.
“If you understand, then off you go. Do better next time.”
People began whispering openly, shooting pointed glances our way.
“Ugh!”
The man’s face flushed crimson with humiliation.
“I, I shall take my leave then. Excuse me.”
He mumbled an awkward bow and vanished in haste.
And so, once the incident had settled,
‘…… Oof.’
Only Lydia, left standing there, shuddered involuntarily.
Not that I hadn’t wanted to strike the man down myself!
And honestly, part of me found it satisfying!
“I could have sworn you said earlier that you’d be home all day, Lydia.”
……Facing a sealed future (specifically: destruction), I couldn’t decide if I should welcome this or dread it.
“Yes, I did say that, didn’t I.”
Lydia averted her gaze slightly.
Even without looking, I felt the weight of his attention pressing down on me.
‘This is chaos.’
People were still stealing glances at us.
Ludwig was a household name throughout the Empire — practically everyone knew of him.
Meanwhile, Lydia had done almost nothing in society; hardly anyone knew her.
We were the perfect combination to draw unwanted attention!
‘Stop drawing aggro!’
In the end, Lydia had no choice but to resign herself to speaking up.
“Could we…… talk for a moment?”
* * *
And so Lydia stepped out onto the Terrace with Ludwig.
‘Let’s get this over with.’
It was an important evening, so she needed to stay inside the Banquet Hall as much as possible.
Beyond the railing, the world outside had darkened without her noticing. Lydia chose her words with deliberate care.
‘……But what am I supposed to say?’
It was Ludwig who spoke first.
“The second son of House of Hasel is notorious in society for his poor character.”
“Pardon?”
“That man from earlier.”
Lydia nodded readily enough.
“Ah, yes…… he certainly seemed that way.”
After all, no sane person would behave like that.
“I wasn’t having any serious conversation with him. I figured if I just played along mildly, he’d give up and leave on his own. I only put up with it because causing a scene and drawing attention would be problematic.”
“Why would it be problematic?”
“Well, obviously because I came here in secret…… oh.”
His gaze was sharp.
“……I suppose it was simply my considerate nature that didn’t wish to trouble His Highness the Grand Duke. Really…… I marvel at how thoughtful I can be.”
She rushed to change the subject, and Ludwig smiled faintly.
“Fascinating.”
It was clearly a smirk.
“I do hope you appreciate my sincerity…….”
Lydia mumbled the words, then nonchalantly looked away as if she hadn’t noticed.
The mild spring night breeze brushed against her cheek.
Light and noise spilled from the Banquet Hall just beside them, yet this darkened Terrace felt isolated, serene.
‘……What is all this nonsense?’
A sudden wave of disbelief crashed over her, and Lydia let out a long sigh.
Ludwig.
A man who’d been behaving strangely of late.
Why was she standing here like this with him?
She couldn’t fathom why he showed interest in her.
‘Let me think this through seriously. Did I do something wrong enough to steal attention away from Silvia?’
How had this Male Lead’s Flag ended up pointed in her direction?
But no matter how she racked her brain, nothing made sense.
If that were the case, as unfortunate as it was…… it seemed time to conclude that Ludwig simply wasn’t in his right mind.
‘I must have crossed some line without realizing it while doing something suspicious. From now on, I’ll have to be more careful not to get caught when I’m breaking the rules.’
Lydia resolved to avoid the Male Leads even more thoroughly going forward.
“You continue to wear that ring.”
At that moment, Ludwig’s voice pulled Lydia from her thoughts.
“Pardon? What did you say?”
“Is it an Engagement Ring?”
Lydia reflexively glanced down at her left hand.
She wore rings on every finger, making her hand look ornate.
From left to right, they were respectively for protection, healing, buffing, and again for protection—or so she claimed while using it to attack.
‘I have no idea which one he’s talking about…….’
She’d brought along every Artifact that might prove useful because she didn’t want to die.
After a moment’s hesitation, Lydia gave a vague answer.
“No, that couldn’t be. These are all new—I only put them on today. What you saw last time was probably a different ring.”
This was going to be troublesome.
If she kept wearing various Artifacts and he kept mistaking them for an Engagement Ring, it would become a nuisance.
She decided to elaborate.
“I’ll never have an engagement. Not in this lifetime.”
At that, Ludwig raised an eyebrow.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not going to get married.”
That much was sincere.
“I have so much to do. Not just a lot, but an enormous amount. I mapped out my life roadmap for the next thirty years, and there’s simply no room in it for my marriage. So I’ve decided against it.”
It was a rather radical philosophy for a K-romance world, and this was the first time she’d voiced it aloud.
‘But this person should understand.’
After all, Ludwig was the Male Lead—the kind of madman who wouldn’t blink even if someone died right before his eyes.
If he was already mad, he might as well listen to one more mad declaration.
“So from now on, whenever I wear a ring, just think of it as decoration. I won’t be taking a lover or getting married, so there’s no one I’d be sharing rings with or…….”
Eh?
Lydia’s instincts flared with warning.
‘What is this? I have the strangest feeling that if I look up right now, something bad is going to happen.’
Could it be that what she’d just said had offended him?
“……But now that I think about it, marriage might also be… I mean, it could be good?”
Of course, the atmosphere only grew worse.
‘Perhaps this world’s people find such ideas far too radical?’
In the suffocating silence, Lydia wrestled with her thoughts.
Though it’s not really my fault, is it?
That was when it happened.
“Oh my, isn’t that Ricardo von Werner?”
A voice from inside the Banquet Hall drifted through the door and across the Terrace.
“That’s right. House of Werner’s third son.”
“My, he’s truly handsome today as well.”
“But who is that woman beside him?”
It seemed Ricardo had brought a new companion.
‘Well, of course. As if he’d ever be without a woman.’
Lydia smirked inwardly.
But what came next made it impossible for her to smile any longer.
“Those mysterious silver locks—I’ve never seen such a thing. An unfamiliar face, yet…… could she be the daughter of some noble house?”
……What?
“Silver hair?!”
Lydia wrenched open the door and cried out.
The women standing near the doorway jumped at Lydia’s sudden appearance and spun around.
But Lydia had no attention to spare for them.
‘It can’t be. Please don’t let it be. It shouldn’t be. It can’t be.’
Lydia’s gaze swept urgently across the room.
As far as she knew, there was only one person in this Empire with “mysterious silver hair.”
The very center of this cursed world—the Female Lead.
Lydia’s younger sister.
Silvia Prestin.
And the moment Lydia confirmed the face of the woman standing beside Ricardo.
‘That bastard Ricardo!’
Lydia’s silent roar echoed through her mind.

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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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