The Male Lead Is Targeting Me, Not My Younger Sister - Chapter 3

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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 Targets Me, Not My Younger Sister — Episode 3
A tall, well-built frame and handsome features.
Even standing among a crowd, he commanded attention with a presence that seemed to pull all eyes toward him at once.
He possessed an overwhelmingly authoritative aura, exactly as befitted the male lead.
His emotionless expression radiated the ease of an absolute being. His face, which at first glance seemed almost arrogant, was beautiful to a degree that felt otherworldly, and before she knew it, Lydia found herself staring at him, transfixed.
It was only when her gaze dropped to Ludwig’s feet that she snapped back to herself.
A corpse.
A bloodied human body lay sprawled beneath him, motionless.
The moment she registered how strangely formed it was, every hair on her body stood on end.
‘Right…… this is the kind of world this is.’
Lydia felt another throb of pain in her temples and exhaled slowly.
This was precisely why she had no choice but to pursue her research into purification agents with such desperation.
‘This goddamned blighted world setting.’
The Lady in the Cage actually had surprisingly solid worldbuilding.
The Kalestho Empire, which served as the original work’s backdrop, appeared peaceful on the surface, but in reality, it was facing a grave crisis.
It was because of the Creatures’ relentless invasion of human civilization.
Creatures.
These otherworldly beings, which resembled humans in appearance, had been attacking without pause in their desire to conquer the world where humans dwelt.
This damned original work, despite being a typical Korean romance novel world complete with high society and villainess archetypes, was unnecessarily grim.
The Creatures’ invasions primarily occurred through Rifts.
Only Awakeners could confront the Creatures that crossed over through the dimensional Rifts.
And the original work’s male leads were Transcendents — Awakeners who boasted overwhelming martial prowess among their kind.
‘……If only it weren’t for this blighted world setting, I’d gladly leave the male leads to die.’
Unfortunately, only they could prevent the empire’s destruction.
But no matter how much the world’s survival or ruin hung in the balance, she couldn’t in good conscience simply throw her sister at the male leads and ask her to sacrifice herself.
So the plan was to develop a purification agent and let the male leads fight and save the world all on their own!
……That was the scope of Lydia’s grand ambition.
‘This is the path for everyone’s sake. I can’t just sit idle and die like this.’
The corpse sprawled beneath Ludwig was taller than the average human height, with limbs disturbingly elongated, and most tellingly, its features were as peculiar as an alien’s. It was unmistakably a Creature.
Then Lydia felt a piercing gaze and snapped out of her reverie.
She lifted her head.
Somewhere along the way, Ludwig had turned his attention to her.
‘……What?’
Quiet, deep blue eyes, a cold face devoid of all expression.
Lydia flinched without meaning to.
‘Is he looking at me?’
That couldn’t be right.
Even if he was the male lead and could draw attention just by standing there, Lydia had deliberately suppressed her presence before visiting the Information Guild.
Besides, there was no reason for him to look her way.
Lydia tried to suppress the uneasy feeling and glanced around.
‘I need to get out of here, fast.’
It wasn’t simply because her counterpart was the original work’s male lead.
It was a revulsion toward the man himself — Ludwig Cloudwitz.
‘He’s far too dangerous.’
Among all the insane male leads in the original work, Ludwig was the one who boldly commanded center stage.
In other words, among all those lunatics, he stood out as supremely mad.
And beyond that, he…….
“It would be better if Miss Lydia made an effort not to be noticed.”
……didn’t particularly like her.
To be honest, Lydia had attended the Military Academy together with the four male leads from the original work.
She hadn’t wanted to get entangled with them, but it was unavoidable if she wanted to survive in this world.
Over time, she’d built up a reasonable rapport with one of them, and she barely crossed paths with two others.
As for the last one, he had made his dislike of her abundantly clear.
And that final one was Ludwig.
“You’re irritating.”
When she recalled those chilling words he’d spoken one day when they happened to attend the same class, chills ran down her spine.
Lydia began to edge away, watching for her chance to slip free.
Ludwig Cloudwitz — the current emperor’s much younger brother and the empire’s only Grand Duke.
Elegant and dignified, blessed with beautiful features and overwhelming Ability. He possessed everything — wealth, status, talent, and looks — and carried himself with courtesy toward others.
Yet for some reason, he had always reacted coldly toward her.
‘Is this… an instinctive rejection of the original villainess?’
If so, Lydia had every right to feel wronged.
I haven’t done anything!
Just then, a voice reached her ears.
“Sister?”
Silvia?
Lydia’s head snapped around.
Far down the street, she caught sight of a shimmering silver head peeking through the crowd.
“This is strange. Why isn’t sister here either?”
“Miss, I think it would be best if you stayed home today. There’s a rift, and the atmosphere in the streets feels unsettled.”
“But sister is so late……”
What is she doing here!
The sight of Silvia and the maid Bes together made Lydia want to scream.
‘I told her to wait at home!’
Because of her innocent appearance, Silvia had a habit of getting into trouble, so Lydia often kept a tight rein on her outings.
It hadn’t been long since she’d forbidden Silvia from leaving the house after a particularly serious incident.
And yet here she was, wandering the streets anyway!
Worse still, the timing couldn’t have been worse.
If even a Transcendent like Ludwig Cloudwitz had been dispatched—not merely an ordinary Awakener—the Creatures emerging from this Rift were likely far more dangerous than usual.
‘This won’t do. I have to get her home quickly……’
Suddenly, a sharp scream pierced the air.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
Lydia had been about to call out to Silvia when her head snapped toward the sound.
“A Rift!”
‘What?’
She turned her gaze to where everyone was looking.
The sky was splitting open.
Crack.
An eerie fissure formed in the air itself.
Black shadows writhed within it, and then a massive hand thrust through, gripping the edges of the Rift.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
“Move! Run, everyone!”
The crowd scattered in panic, fleeing in all directions.
‘This can’t be happening.’
By nature, Rifts did not open in the vicinity of other Rifts.
‘A second Rift?’
Yet occasionally, a Rift could open again at the same location.
“Shrieeeee!”
When that happened, the probability of more ferocious Creatures emerging was dramatically higher.
At last, the Creature pulled itself fully from the Rift and let out a bone-chilling wail.
The street descended into chaos in an instant.
‘……It’ll be fine. Ludwig is still here!’
Lydia, despite her distaste for Ludwig Cloudwitz, had to acknowledge that his skill was unmatched.
‘So if I can just get Silvia to safety, that man can handle the rest……’
But then Lydia saw it.
The Creature’s crimson eyes, freshly emerged from the Rift, were fixed on the shimmer of silver hair in the distance.
‘Damn it!’
“Silvia!”
Lydia cried out urgently and rushed toward her sister.
“Sister……?”
Only then aware of Lydia’s presence, Silvia blinked her wide eyes and looked at her.
Lydia was not an Awakener.
If anything, she was closer in nature to her sister Silvia—classified as a Purifier.
Because of this, Lydia could not face a Creature with her strength alone.
‘This is not the time for reservations.’
……She truly had not wanted to use it.
Lydia blocked the Creature’s path to Silvia with her own body, then quickly slipped the Ring from her left hand.
She squeezed her eyes shut and poured her power into it.
‘Please, let it work……!’
The power of Purification was related to the Ability that Awakeners wielded.
While developing the Purification formula, Lydia made a critical discovery.
With the right device, she could ‘convert’ her Purification power into an Ability.
And when the Creature finally lunged at her with its razor-sharp claws raised to strike—
Lydia shoved it back with the hand gripping the Ring.
Bang!
“Shrieeeek!”
A deafening explosion erupted, and the Creature tumbled backward.
‘It worked!’
Watching the Creature wail in agony, Lydia realized her strike had landed.
But immediately after—
Her stomach convulsed, and something surged up her throat.
She clamped her hand over her mouth reflexively.
‘Damn it…….’
The violent pain brought bile, and bright red blood dripped through her fingers onto the ground.
“Sister……!”
“Don’t come near!”
The Creature wasn’t the only one hurt. The recoil of wielding a power not her own had torn Lydia’s insides.
“Go home now! Don’t stay here!”
The Creature shrieked again and began to move.
Lydia swallowed hard.
‘It wasn’t enough after all.’
She’d never possessed much Purification power to begin with.
Converting it on top of that meant that even if she burned through her life force, the output had inherent limits.
Though her strike had landed, it only seemed to send the Creature into a deeper frenzy.
‘I don’t have the strength to push any harder now.’
“Shrieeeek!”
The Creature lunged at her.
There was no time to dodge—its speed was overwhelming. Sensing what came next, Lydia clenched her eyes shut and braced her fists.
‘……At least I won’t die without a fight.’
That was the moment.
A whisper of sound.
A cool, sharp sound that rang out inches away—
And the Creature’s head, severed from its body, dropped to the ground with a dull thud.

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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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