Failed to Train the Beast Male Lead

“Ah.”

Carol’s body trembled slightly each time the Duke’s long fingers moved. The warmth from his body seemed to transfer to her skin through the fabric.

The Duke suddenly lifted Carol into his arms. Reflexively, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Let’s go inside.”

How could he be so calm? It felt like her heart would burst.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. But when she opened them, she saw a small carriage in the distance approaching the lake over the Duke’s shoulder.

The carriage, which had appeared as a mere dot, quickly approached the lake.

“…Um, but…”

The problem was that it had come very close to the lake but showed no signs of slowing down.

“Hmm?”

Before Carol could finish, the Duke seemed to hear the sound too and turned around. He frowned as he saw the carriage.

As it came closer, they could see the carriage better.

A man was driving the carriage, and a woman behind him was leaning out, shouting something at him.

“Isn’t the carriage going too fast?”

“The horses seem agitated.”

“…What should we do?”

“We’ll have to hope the driver knows how to handle the horses well.”

Being on the opposite side of the lake, they couldn’t go to help, and even if they were nearby, the Duke had no intention of getting involved in others’ affairs.

“Will they be alright?”

Carol fidgeted anxiously. The romantic atmosphere between them had long since dissipated.

The Duke clicked his tongue regretfully and looked at the lake, as if assessing the situation.

“The slope isn’t too steep, so they won’t die.”

Neither the horses nor the people in the carriage.

The Duke observed the two figures in the carriage through narrowed eyes. Though Carol didn’t seem to notice, they were people the Duke knew well.

The horse neighed loudly and increased its speed.

“Whoa!”

The man holding the reins desperately tried to stop the carriage, but the goddess of fortune was not on his side.

Snap!

The reins he was holding broke, and simultaneously, the carriage shook violently.

Neigh!

The horse turned its body and veered to the side, while the carriage, with no time to react, fell into the lake.

Splash!

After watching the carriage fall with a loud noise, Carol looked up at the Duke.

Her thoughts were clear to him.

“You think we should help them.”

“We’re the only ones around here right now.”

By now, the sky had darkened considerably. It would soon be completely night.

“Very well.”

At the Duke’s words, Carol began walking with quick steps. The Duke followed behind her, pressing his temples.

“It’s better to help them quickly and send them on their way.”

The Duke muttered quietly enough that Carol couldn’t hear as he took steps forward.

The sooner they helped, the sooner they could return to their time alone.

****

Viscount Louis Walden had been experiencing a very embarrassing situation recently.

“…Trash.”

He roughly messed up his hair and bit his lower lip.

He had caused an accident. A major one at that. But that wasn’t the problem.

The first problem was that he knew it was a major accident, but he couldn’t remember the details of that day because he was drunk.

“Excuse me, if it’s alright, could we talk?”

“I’m busy.”

“If it’s okay, tomorrow…”

“Tomorrow is the day for the business report presentation. Did you forget?”

“That’s not it. I just wanted to find a time that works. Then how about in the evening…?”

Margaret tapped the hem of her dress with her elegant fingers.

“I suppose we’ll have to see when we get there.”

The second problem was that Margaret Chesworth, who clearly remembered the truth of that day, was avoiding him.

He let out a deep sigh as he watched Margaret’s retreating figure, explicitly rejecting him and walking away.

It was already the thirteenth rejection.

Louis returned to his office, roughly threw off his coat, and sat in his chair.

“What mistake did you make, you crazy bastard!”

That day, he had been too drunk, and deeply depressed thinking he had been completely rejected.

As someone who had liked Carol for a long time, Louis even felt a strange guilt about spending the night with another woman.

‘I’m not in a position to consult anyone.’

Most people he knew in the capital also knew Margaret. He couldn’t consult people around him to prevent any potential mishaps.

If it had been a woman he didn’t know, he could have at least consulted someone with peace of mind.

‘Of all people, it had to be…!’

People who didn’t know Margaret well belittled her, questioning what tasks she could handle, but she always solidified her position with her abilities.

She was a reliable colleague he couldn’t afford to lose due to his stupid mistake.

For now, as Margaret said, the priority was to organize the report for tomorrow’s presentation before the Crown Prince.

Louis’s hand paused as he was checking the calendar to set another appointment.

“…Huh?”

Come to think of it, it was already Carol’s birthday. In the past, he would have been busy for days beforehand wondering what to give her as a gift.

He had completely forgotten. He also realized he had turned away Kevin and Dylan when they asked to have a meal together recently, and hadn’t asked them again.

“Sigh…”

His mind was entirely occupied with the thought that he needed to talk to Margaret.

Her expression was hard to read, so he couldn’t even guess how that night had started.

“…Are you alright?”

An aide who had come to deliver documents asked Louis, who was holding his head in distress.

Not realizing someone had entered, Louis quickly tidied his hair and asked with an embarrassed face.

“…When did you come in?”

“I definitely knocked several times before entering.”

To think he hadn’t even heard the knocking.

“…I see.”

This wasn’t like him. He had even momentarily forgotten about tomorrow’s presentation.

He needed to make a decision somehow.

“There are some changes to tomorrow’s presentation, I heard.”

The aide placed a stack of documents in front of Louis and explained.

“Is there anything I need to approve separately?”

“No, you just need to be aware of these parts for tomorrow.”

“I see.”

“Yes. Then I’ll take my leave.”

Despite seeing Louis’s unusual behavior, the aide maintained a composed demeanor as if nothing was amiss.

“Wait a moment.”

Louis stopped the aide who was about to leave.

“Yes? Is there something else?”

“Cough. Well, just one quick question.”

He couldn’t reveal the detailed circumstances to anyone. But thinking alone wasn’t yielding any answers.

“If you can’t find an answer no matter how hard you try, and the person who knows the answer is avoiding you, what should you do?”

Louis explained the situation very vaguely. The aide, seeming to realize that Louis had something he didn’t want to disclose, didn’t ask for more details. After pondering for a moment, the aide spoke.

“Then you have no choice but to confront the situation head-on.”

“But what if the other person is avoiding me?”

“Then create a situation where they can’t avoid you.”

“…A situation they can’t avoid?”

Louis repeated the aide’s words with a dumbfounded expression at the simple and clear advice.

“If the issue needs to be resolved, you might have to use somewhat forceful methods!”

“…”

“That’s the only way you’ll stop spacing out and get back to work.”

“…I never said it was about me.”

“Right. Well, I have remaining work to do, so I’ll be going now.”

The aide bowed slightly and left, as if no longer having the capacity to look after their superior.

“Sigh…”

Louis couldn’t make a hasty decision.

Although he had a lot of work to do, including the documents that just arrived, Louis moved to the sofa beside him, feeling frustrated. He leaned his head on the sofa’s backrest and covered his eyes with his arm.

‘But if I decide to confront the situation head-on on my own, wouldn’t that make the other person too uncomfortable…?’

Lost in these thoughts, he momentarily drifted off to sleep.

When he opened his eyes again, he was on a terrace. The terrace from that night when he had spent the night with Margaret Chesworth.

It was the moment he had wished countless times to return to, if he could turn back time.

But as if to show that regression was just a wish, his body wouldn’t move as he willed.

It felt too familiar to dismiss as just a dream. A sense of déjà vu, as if he had experienced this once before.

The moment he recognized this fact, he realized.

This is a dream.

As soon as he realized this, the world began to flicker. Voices and situations started to blur, making it unclear who was who.

[Even though I know I shouldn’t-!]

[Sometimes we do things even when we know we shouldn’t.]

[If things continue like this…!]

[Why shouldn’t we?]

Short scenes flashed through his mind in fragmented pieces.

“Gasp!”

His eyes flew open. The familiar ceiling came into view.

Louis half-raised his body.

Beads of cold sweat had formed on his forehead.

The thoughts he had before falling asleep had evaporated.

“…I guess I have to force it after all.”

Louis’s eyes shone with determination.