I Found a Husband When I Picked up the Male Lead

 

“Okay, then.”

Lizelle walked with Chaser back to the entrance of the market, heading toward the carriage she had arrived in.

Chaser slightly bowed his head in parting and walked toward his parked carriage as well.  The destination of the two was the same, but it seemed natural that they would ride in their own carriages.

Unlike when she had exited the carriage, Lizelle now returned with her hands full of goods. She had been delayed while shopping, so she had to hurry home.

“Let’s depart.”

The carriage began to move at her signal, however, even though it had been moving smoothly, it suddenly came to a halt. Just when she thought she would be able to rest peacefully for a moment…

“What’s the problem?”

Lizelle called out to the coachman.

“It appears there may be a problem with the Duke’s carriage.”

“The Duke’s carriage?”

Due to the unexpected response, Wilhazelle finally pulled back the curtain to take a look.

“It appears so.”

Outside the window, the Duke was standing next to the carriage conversing with the driver. He was stroking his hair with a serious expression on his face, as if dissatisfied with the situation.

The wheel on his carriage appeared to have broken.

“Lady Lizelle, how about returning to the mansion with the Duke?”

At the coachman’s question, a reluctant expression appeared on Wilhazelle’s face. However, since both the carriage and driver were the Duke’s, she couldn’t pretend not to notice.

“Ugh…”

Lizelle sighed heavily and stood.

“Duke, are you on your way home?”

When Wilhazelle opened the door and shouted, Chaser’s brow twitched suddenly.

“If you are going to the mansion, we can go together.”

“That’s alright, you can go first.”

Chaser said, turning away from Wilhazelle. Wilhazelle’s brow also then twitched when she saw him dismiss her, but she continued to smile as if nothing had happened.

“Just get in.”

Thinking the one who could smile even in tough times was the strongest, she continued to contain her dissatisfaction.

“Duke, the wheel is completely broken. It will probably take half a day to replace.”

The coachman bowed his head slightly as he spoke. Chaser became concerned when he heard the delay would be longer than expected. He had a prior engagement with the council of elders regarding the mine development issues. If he was late, they would make a fuss.

“Come on.

‘If we had left when I first asked, we would have been there already.’

Every second they spent just standing there was a waste, the reason he was hesitating though was because of the woman standing there smiling with her arms crossed.

“Okay, we’ll go ahead.”

“Yes, sir. I well fix the carriage and return later.”

Chaser had no choice but to reluctantly leave with Wilhazelle. If he didn’t, it would be troublesome. He’d never hear the end of it. It’s better to just go back with her than wait for his carriage.

“You should have just agreed from the beginning.”

Wilhazelle grumbled as Chaser sat across from her. Why delay if he was just going to agree in the end. They had wasted time for no reason. She was worried that Raphel might have already woken up while she was away and was desperately searching for her.

“Let’s go.”

Chaser completely ignored Lizelle’s words and commanded the driver to leave again. The carriage started moving smoothly as the two inside just stared out the windows on either side.

Chaser sat with his legs crossed, looking out the window on the left and Wilhazelle sat with her hands clasped, looking out the right. They both hoped to arrive at the mansion quickly since it was unpleasant for both of them.

“…”

“…”

The silence inside the carriage was suffocating, even though the carriage was so comfortable. The only thing you could hear was the wheels rolling and every once in a while, you could feel the carriage shake when going over a large stone.

Every time that happened, the two people inside the carriage would feel their legs brush up against each other. Although the carriage was wide, Chaser had long legs, causing the unintentional contact.

They both refused to move to the side though or admit they were uncomfortable. The reason for this was simple. They refused to lose.

They wanted to see who would move first, basically testing each other. Wilhazelle didn’t want to be pushed to the side, so she exerted force into the leg that touched Chaser.

‘I also though this the first time we met, but he’s tough.’

Then, Chaser also put pressure on his crossed legs. The force was so strong, it caused Lizelle’s knee to be forced to the side helplessly.

‘This bastard.’

Lizelle glared at Chaser, who had on a calm expression with his arms crossed, as if nothing had happened.

‘Enough is enough.’

Now wanting to get caught up in a childish fight, Lizelle relaxed her legs and leaned back against her seat. Since she couldn’t have a friendly conversation with him anyway, she decided it would be better to take a small nap until they reached the mansion.

That thought became a reality in only a few short moments.

Thanks to her diligent work earlier, she quickly fell asleep. In the quiet carriage, Wilhazelle’s breathing could clearly be heard as she slept soundly. When Chaser, who had been staring out his window the whole time, turned his stiff neck to look out the other window, saw her his gaze paused on her face.

“…”

He saw her sitting there with her eyes closed. His gaze naturally rested on her. She was sleeping with a completely defenseless look on her face, relaxed. She turned twenty this year, but despite that, she had a childish face that didn’t match her age. Her face was so innocent that he couldn’t believe that she was so vane. She didn’t look like someone who would commit fraud for a reward, but you shouldn’t judge a person by their appearance.

Chaser once again pondered this truth. His father had a reputation for being kind to anyone. Even though he was always pleasant around others, he was an unscrupulous man who abused his children. Chaser quickly turned his head and looked away at the uncomfortable childhood memories. He didn’t want to recall those awful memories.

Thud!

“Ugh…”

His gaze had no choice but to turn back to Lizelle again. She had relaxed and her neck muscled lost their strength, causing her head to fall to the side and collide with the wall of the carriage. The impact was hard enough to make quite a loud noise, but she just frowned lightly and continued to sleep.

The carriage then hit a bump and Wilhazelle’s head rushed toward the wall again, but before the impact, Chaser reached out his hand and caught her head. She had banged her head so hard against the wall that even he was frowning just seeing it, he couldn’t just sit still and watch this time.

“Ummm…”

Even during all this, Wilhazelle only muttered lightly and buried her face into the palm of his hand. It seemed she had mistaken his hand as the wall. Chaser frowned at the tickling sensation and leaned her head securely against the wall, taking his hand away and sitting back down.

His efforts were in vain though as Wilhazelle banged her head against the wall again. The impact would have woken any normal person up, but she just continued to doze.

“Huh…”

Chaser let out a wry laugh.

Was she dull or clumsy?

It was more painful for him to watch than for her to hit her head. He crossed his legs and leaned against the backrest. He no longer supported her head, realizing it was no use. He though she would probably wake up in pain at some point. While watching her sleep, he shifted his gaze to the box placed next to her. Inside the box, wrapped securely, was the snow globe she had won from their little battle earlier.

Could it be a gift for the child?

“Nonsense.”

He immediately pushed that thought aside. It could have just been a show to make it look like she bought it for the child, but it was for herself instead. Those living in luxury were wasteful. Chaser wasn’t tired, nor did he want to sleep, but he closed his eyes anyways. Watching Wilhazelle sleep in front of him was quite annoying.

“Mom…”

How much time had passed? Chaser opened his closed eyes at the sound of a small voice breaking the silence.

“Mom…”

The same word left her lips again. Wilhazelle was quietly and mournfully calling for her mother. Her brow was furrowed as if it was a nightmare. Chaser stared in silence. Lizelle looked like she would shed tears at any moment.

She truly was a strange woman. Even though she was inflicting mental abuse on a child, she was now acting like the most loving mother in the world. She had her guard up around him and glared at him like a wildcat, but she sincerely smiled like a ray of sunshine when she thought she won.

And now, she was about to cry while calling for her mom.

She truly was an unpredictable woman.

“…Ugh, mom.”

When Lizelle once again sadly called for her mother, his hand moved. A long finger pressed against her brow, moving like a magnet being attracted.

Poke.

Her furrowed eyebrows eased. Her face suddenly softened. As if her nightmare was now over, her red lips only let soft breathing sounds escape.

Was she sad at the thought of not seeing her parents for a while?

As the carriage became quiet again, Chaser stared out the window in silence. There was no particular reason for his actions. It was probably just the desperate cry for her parents that was bothering him, he thought.