The Male Lead Is Targeting Me, Not My Younger Sister - Chapter 44

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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 Sister — Episode 44
Deep in the night.
‘For some reason, I can’t fall asleep tonight.’
Lydia lay buried under her blankets in the thick darkness, only her eyes blinking.
‘I always fall asleep quickly in this bed.’
It sounded as though she were talking about someone else’s bed, and she would be right.
This bed where Lydia lay was not hers.
That’s right. This place was Ludwig’s Mansion.
The Grand Duke’s Estate, no less!
To briefly summarize what had transpired in the interim:
After the dreadful tea party, naturally, the world had turned upside down.
First, the “something that had been the Castel Young Lady” was transported by the military. It seemed they would continue with a thorough investigation on their end.
Lydia underwent a cursory investigation as a witness. Since there was now no need to hide her identity, she introduced to the world a Self-Defense Item she had personally developed—absolutely not a weapon!—and, while she was at it, reached out to Dietrich to share the details of the incident and get his help as well.
‘A Transcendent backer does have its perks.’
However, since Lydia’s physical condition was not particularly good, the detailed investigation was postponed for later.
Upon being told she could return home, Lydia deliberated before heading not to her residence but to the Grand Duke’s Estate, bringing Sylvia with her.
Her reasons were manifold.
First, the Grand Duke’s House physician was exceptionally skilled.
Second, since the other party knew to some extent what had happened, he seemed likely to handle the aftermath without needing further explanation.
And lastly.
‘My instincts feel off about this.’
Lydia did not believe this incident to be mere coincidence.
Witnessing an ordinary human undergo Creature Transformation—this was already the third time.
Most people never experience such an event even once, so to encounter it three times in succession and not sense something amiss would be grounds for disqualification as a reincarnator.
‘The investigation results haven’t come in yet, but thinking back on what the Castel Young Lady said then, it does seem like there’s someone pulling strings behind the scenes.’
If that shadowy mastermind was targeting Lydia or Sylvia, it would be serious—and right now, Lydia’s body was not whole.
In such circumstances, quietly returning home seemed far less prudent than entering a safe haven.
In the end, there was only one choice.
“I shall be imposing on you.”
At her shameless words, Ludwig folded his arms and spoke.
“Looking at you now, I’d say you treat my home as though it were a hospital.”
Had she been found out?
Even so, Ludwig was not ungracious about it and offered her a room. Having been so indebted to him, it was almost to the point where it could be called her room now.
‘…Wait. This really does feel like my own room, doesn’t it?’
At some point—she couldn’t say when—every element of the room had been meticulously tailored to her tastes.
‘Could he have investigated my background…? He really is a cunning one. Not missing even these small details. I must be careful!’
Or perhaps…
‘…’
In any case, after that, Lydia obediently underwent treatment from Ludwig’s physician.
With Ludwig’s consideration, Lydia was able to recover in the finest environment and with peace of mind. Sylvia too was reassured within these walls, so she had no complaints.
‘How tiresome.’
Except for one thing.
‘Why won’t they let me go outside?’
Being seen by the best physician had been fine.
Being confined to bed for a whole week under the doctor’s strict orders was not fine, though.
It was unavoidable since she was a patient, but even so—wasn’t forbidding her even a simple walk a bit harsh?!
‘There’s no help for it. I’ll have to slip out for just a moment.’
After a week of sitting still, she was going mad with restlessness. The hallway should be fine.
Lydia tiptoed quietly toward the door.
The door swung open.
As she breathed the outside air for the first time in a week, tears of joy welled up freely.
‘Finally, outside!’
Even if it was only the hallway, the simple fact of walking on her own two legs was deeply moving.
Throughout the past week, whenever she so much as tried to stand, the servants would rush over and lay her back in bed.
‘I only stumbled a little, and they acted as though I were about to collapse any second.’
Lydia grumbled silently to herself, then walked leisurely down the hallway.
A dark night. Beyond the windows, the moon was the only source of light.
It was not ideal conditions for a walk, but she planned only to wander the hallway anyway. Besides, if she caused a fuss, being dragged back to bed was certain, so she simply decided to be content.
‘Ah, I feel alive again.’
Lydia walked with a light, careful step.
‘There’s something odd about all this.’
Despite her body feeling comfortable and at ease, a nagging sense of dissonance kept creeping in.
Which meant…… everything about this mansion?
‘Isn’t it a bit too kind?’
Of course, the well-trained servants of the Grand Duke’s House would never treat a guest poorly.
But that only meant Lydia had been received not as an unwelcome visitor, but as someone of importance——
‘——Why me?’
Now that she thought about it, the whole thing felt unsettling.
Until now, circumstances had unfolded so urgently, and whenever she came here, Lydia’s physical condition had never been quite right, so she hadn’t dwelt on it deeply.
But now that she was forced to rest so thoroughly that restlessness gnawed at her bones, her thoughts finally turned to this question.
‘It doesn’t quite add up to blame it all on Sylvia.’
Strictly speaking, Lydia was the one who owed Ludwig most of the debts. Especially this time——hadn’t only Lydia come away uninjured?
‘Well, he might be more lenient because I’m the heroine’s older sister, but……’
……there were limits to how much she could convince herself with such logic.
“Ugh.”
Lydia stopped in her tracks, her face growing serious as she wrestled with the thought.
‘I have a feeling I shouldn’t dig too deep into this.’
She’d unconsciously avoided it before——that ominous premonition she couldn’t articulate——but now she’d reached her limit.
‘Ludwig. What exactly are you?’
He’d lavished favor upon her beyond measure, and yet asked nothing in return.
He’d mentioned once that he’d collect a “debt” later……but since then, he’d shown no real inclination to demand repayment.
‘It’s not as though I’d have any ability to repay it anyway.’
If it were merely a matter of money, she wouldn’t have come here in the first place.
‘What could he possibly be thinking?’
The Ludwig in her memory was always smiling faintly.
And with that smiling face——
‘Make up your mind.’
No…… it was better not to dwell on that thought.
‘Ludwig never said anything like that, so why does it feel familiar?’
In any case, there was no denying that he was deeply suspicious in many ways.
And besides——hadn’t Ludwig originally disliked her?
‘……Now that I think about it, when did his attitude change?’
At least until the last time she saw him at the Military Academy, he’d looked upon her with contempt.
He didn’t offer her the courteous smile he gave to everyone else——just a cold, dismissive gaze, as if she were nothing but garbage on the street.
“There’s nothing more pathetic than someone who doesn’t know their place.”
……Ugh!
‘How could I have forgotten that?’
The blow hit as if she’d been slapped across the face.
The past she’d been about to romanticize crashed back down into grim reality.
‘That’s why I couldn’t stand him.’
Truth be told, she didn’t mind such words much anymore.
Now that she was grown, she understood clearly how far Ludwig’s epithets——’Transcendent,’ ‘Grand Duke,’ ‘Imperial Blood’——belonged to an entirely different world.
‘A fallen noble speaking to the Grand Duke was certainly ignorant of her place.’
So now, when she dealt with Ludwig, she made an effort to respect proper boundaries.
Though it was fair to say that the words had wounded the sensitive heart of the adolescent Lydia at the time……
‘Ah, no, whatever. It doesn’t matter anymore anyway.’
Lydia waved a hand dismissively, shaking off the pointless thoughts.
When you really thought about it, Ludwig’s attitude back then had actually been more consistent with his character in the original work. If anything, his current kindness was what seemed suspicious.
“……So yes, it’s strange, but I can’t figure out why.”
“Is that so? What exactly strikes you as strange?”
“Hm?”
At the sudden sound of a voice, Lydia turned her head thoughtlessly.
And——
“Isn’t it strange that Miss Lydia would leave her bedroom at this hour?”
The moment Lydia saw Ludwig’s face, she felt a silent scream tear through her insides.

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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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