The Male Lead Is Targeting Me, Not My Younger Sister - Chapter 45

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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 45
Ludwig smiled faintly.
“Curious. Just this evening you promised to stay quietly in your room, and yet here you are wandering the corridor in the dead of night.”
‘Caught.’
By now, one glance at his eyes told her everything.
Lydia’s eyes darted about as she spoke.
“Well… strictly speaking, we’re still on the same floor, so I haven’t technically left my quarters.”
“And you know that argument doesn’t hold water.”
Yes…….
In the end, Lydia found herself carried back to her room in Ludwig’s arms.
“If you’re going to drag me back anyway, couldn’t you at least do it normally?”
“What if you tried to escape?”
Would I be mad enough to race a Transcendent in the middle of the night? In a Transcendent’s house, no less.
“You shouldn’t have run in the first place.”
That… was a fair point.
Guilty as charged, Lydia pressed her lips shut.
And so Lydia was recaptured thirty minutes after her attempted escape.
Ludwig lowered her onto the bed with care, then seated himself on its edge.
“Let me see your legs.”
“I’ve never injured my legs.”
“That’s not what the physician said.”
Damn.
Reluctantly, Lydia lifted her skirts just slightly.
‘That blasted doctor. He swore he’d keep it quiet!’
Truth be told, she’d twisted her ankle slightly during the tea party incident.
But she’d never mentioned it to anyone.
Modern medicine in this region would heal it quickly enough anyway, and she’d harbored a very practical fear that if word got out she’d injured her ankle, she’d be confined to bed even longer.
“As you can see, it’s already healed. That’s why I asked him not to mention it. I’m really quite fine…… Wait, did the physician not mention that I asked him to keep quiet about it?”
But Ludwig simply examined her ankle without answering.
His large hand, with its prominent knuckles, gently grasped her slender ankle.
His fingers traced slowly over the bone.
For some reason, she found herself unable to speak.
“…… You’re always hiding things from me, aren’t you?”
His voice came lower than usual, and Lydia flinched.
“Every time I let you out of my sight, you come back injured.”
His words held the sting of reproach, but underneath lay concern more than rebuke.
That was strange, somehow.
Seized by an inexplicable feeling, Lydia spoke hesitantly, her voice small.
“I wasn’t trying to hide it, exactly…….”
“No? Were you planning to tell me eventually, even without my asking?”
That wasn’t likely, if she was honest…….
Her lips, which could never lie, pressed shut tight.
Ludwig exhaled softly before speaking.
“Now that I think of it, Castel said something similar.”
“What?”
“That she had nothing to hide.”
Lydia sat up abruptly.
“Is the interrogation over already?”
“Not entirely, no.”
Ludwig’s voice remained composed.
“But one thing stood out as peculiar.”
“What was that?”
“She seemed to fear you, actually. As if she’d known of you for a long time.”
“…… Me?”
That was decidedly odd.
If anything, Lydia had been the victim and Castel the perpetrator.
Why would the perpetrator fear the victim?
Especially when they’d only just met that day…….
“But I really don’t know anything about her.”
“Then it may be one-sided paranoia on her part. Or perhaps…….”
Ludwig lifted his head, meeting Lydia’s gaze.
“There may be something you don’t know, Lydia.”
Something I don’t know?
‘What could that possibly be?’
Lydia had lost her parents at ten and been forced to handle everything alone ever since.
If there was something Lydia didn’t know…….
It could only be from the days when her parents were still alive.
An uneasy premonition crept over her.
“……Thank you for telling me. I’ll have to look into it once I return home.”
Whenever that might be.
Lydia swallowed the last words silently.
An awkward silence settled over them once more.
‘…….’
In that stillness, Lydia watched Ludwig, whose hand still rested gently on her ankle.
His expression was grave, not a trace of humor.
Yet unlike his manner at the Military Academy, there was no malice or hostility in him now. That face wasn’t sharp so much as…….
‘……which one is real.’
A few years ago.
The attitude Ludwig had shown then was genuine.
He had disliked Lydia openly, and for him, that was rare—he never concealed his feelings.
But now.
It made no sense whatsoever, yet somehow…….
It was then that Ludwig, lost in thought, finally spoke.
“Perhaps I should just break your ankle so you’ll stay put and behave.”
“Ah—that’s a bit much.”
“…….”
Ludwig fell silent for a moment, simply watching her.
“……I’m not being serious, so don’t worry.”
Was she imagining the sigh that seemed to escape him?
‘Like he’s exasperated…….’
Lydia warily tucked her leg beneath the blanket.
“There you go again, erecting walls.”
“I wouldn’t dare. Still, could you give me some space? I need a proper distance.”
“A ‘safe’ distance?”
Oops.
“Your Highness has always been safe in his dealings with me, but it’s natural for people to maintain appropriate distance regardless.”
Ludwig regarded her with clear displeasure.
“That’s not agreeable either.”
She didn’t bother asking whether he objected to being considered safe or to her insistence on personal space.
Lydia shifted her gaze away and spoke.
“Well…… it’s just that I find it strange. A person of your standing showing interest in someone as lowborn as me.”
“I never concerned myself with such things.”
“You were concerned. Surely.”
“There’s nothing more pathetic than someone who doesn’t understand their place.”
……Why did that phrase suddenly come to mind?
“In truth, everything up to now has been strange. I didn’t know my place and was far too impertinent. I’ll be more careful going forward.”
Perhaps to escape the uncomfortable atmosphere, nonsense kept spilling from her lips.
She must have grown mentally and physically weakened from being confined to the bedroom for so long.
“An Archduke and a Baroness. Put them together and it’s odd, isn’t it? They don’t match.”
“Do you understand what you’re saying right now?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. But I’ll say it anyway. I’m against it. The combination is wrong. Normally the lower-status person ends up suffering…… ah. I’m not blaming you for that. It’s not your fault you were born fortunate. But from a common person’s perspective, it’s simply difficult. Please understand.”
Ludwig’s eyes narrowed to slits.
At that piercing gaze, Lydia flinched.
‘Did I say too much?’
Just as Lydia was about to raise a white flag, unable to bear it any longer.
“I’m sorry. I don’t think I’m in my right mind. I apologize—ack!”
Suddenly, Ludwig stepped closer and placed a hand on her forehead.
“You’re running a fever.”
“……What?”
“That’s why I told you not to wander about.”
Lydia, still unable to comprehend the situation, blinked her eyes.
“Did you take your medicine this evening?”
“No? I was asleep and didn’t… Oh! I’ll take it! Please!”
Ludwig personally administered the medicine to Lydia and even brought her water.
Then he tucked her into the blanket and rolled it around her snugly.
“The medicine will take effect soon, so sleep now.”
Lydia, suddenly deprived of all freedom of movement, wore a sullen expression.
“I wasn’t planning to sleep yet.”
“Then don’t sneak out, or at least don’t get caught.”
Lydia grumbled for a moment, then quickly gave up.
‘But…’
She glanced at Ludwig, who had settled in brazenly right beside her.
“…Aren’t you leaving?”
“I’ll leave once I see you’ve fallen completely asleep.”
What is this?
‘It’s definitely strange.’
But sleep was gradually creeping up on her, perhaps from the medicine’s effect.
Lydia’s eyes grew heavier.
Ugh, really. I shouldn’t be sleeping yet.
“I’ll let you out as soon as you’re better, so just bear with it a little longer.”
A soft voice reached Lydia’s ears as she nodded off.
‘That’s exactly why it’s strange that you’re taking such care of me in the first place.’
It was utterly absurd, yet his actions were so natural that she found herself doubting her own judgment.
But then again.
A powerless commoner simply accepts what comes.
‘This expensive bed is rather nice, I admit…’
Feeling the gentle touch of his hand brushing the hair from her cheek, Lydia surrendered completely to sleep.

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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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