I Found a Husband When I Picked up the Male Lead

* * *

 

A week and a few days had passed since the two of them arrived at the Duke’s residence.

Chaser, who ordered Rohan to monitor Wilhazelle’s movements every day, was receiving a report that day.

“I didn’t find anything particularly strange. They say that rather than forcing or using violence towards the child, she actually is very kind to him. There is even talk among the workers that she resembles a loving parent.”

Rohan said to Chaser, who was standing in front of him.

Chaser was looking out the window with an expressionless face. Where his gaze landed, he saw Lizelle and Raphel playing happily in the garden. What was strange was that the smiles never left their faces. They looked so happy, as if they were truly family.

“And from what I found out, the Lady refunded or resold all the luxury items she had purchased.”

Lohan added, confirming that Lizelle’s luxury items were pouring into second-hand stores. He didn’t know if it was because of a change of heart, but Rohan thought that Lizelle was a very different person than the rumors said.

“She really is different from the rumors.”

Rohan went to Chaser’s side and muttered to himself as he looked at Lizelle and Raphel outside the window.

“People don’t change that easily.”

Even with Rohan’s report, Chaser was still skeptical.

“Isn’t this a sign of maturing?”

“… … .”

“Or maybe the rumors are just blown out of proportion, because that’s what happens to rumors, the more they spread, the more exaggerated they become.”

Rohan’s words caught Chaser’s attention, but he was still just silently watching out the window. Lizelle and Raphel, who had been having fun in the garden, were holding hands and entering the mansion now. Her smile as she looked at Raphel was showing her emotions clearly. Certainly, the Lizelle that Chaser had seen so far was different from the rumors. It was rumored that she was extravagant, but he rarely saw her being extravagant beyond her means or being greedy for things she can’t afford.

When they first met, he suspected that she was mentally abusing the child, but after that day, there were no signs. On the contrary, as Rohan the butler said, she was taking very good care of the child. Even on the day they went out, he heard from the driver that she took the initiative to protect the child.

Chaser was a person who knew better than anyone else what rumors were like, because he was a person who experienced firsthand that a lie easily becomes the truth the more it is repeated. He was a victim of rumors.

“Keep watching.”

But it was bad to rush to conclusions. She may be acting like this at the moment, but he still couldn’t completely trust her.

“Yes. I will tell them to send the antidote as quickly as possible, once again.”

Rohan did not say any more, he understood the situation his master, who did not easily trust others, was in.

 

* * *

 

“Raphel, here I come!”

Wilhazelle shouted loudly. The two people who were now in the mansion, were playing hide and seek.

“Hehe!”

Raphel crouched down as low as he could, then stuck his head out and looked at Lizelle in the distance. She was walking in his direction, looking around the hallway as if searching intently for him.

“Hmph!”

Raphel leaned back against the wall and held his breath, covering his mouth with his small hands. His bright red eyes were sparkling, as if he was determined to never be caught.

“Raphel~ Where are you? Is he here?”

Raphel’s heart started pounding as the voice searching for him came closer and closer. Nervous, he poked his head out again to see her location.

“Where are you~?”

Wilhazelle saw a black head sticking out from behind the pillar, but pretended not to notice.

‘I didn’t see anything.’

As Lizelle got closer, Raphel, hiding behind a pillar, realized that if he stayed there, he would be discovered soon. It was dangerous here, so he had to move somewhere else.

Raphel put his hands on the ground as quietly as possible and crawled down the hallway on all fours, turning the corner.

As of today, this was already their fifth game of hide and seek, but Raphel had always been found by Lizelle so easily. Lizelle tried her best to ignore his movements as much as she could, but it was so obvious that she couldn’t pretend not to notice on those occasions.

Raphel desperately wanted to win today, so he crawled down the hallway with his short limbs and then, once out of sight he jumped up, running. When he looked back, it seemed that Lizelle had not caught up yet. Raphel smiled and ran down the hallway, feeling like he would win this time. He had to quickly find a place to hide.

“Umm…”

But there was nowhere good. The doors to all the rooms in the hallway were tightly closed, and even if he hid behind a pillar, Lizelle would quickly find him.

“That way.”

At that time, he found Rohan, the butler, opening a door and coming out. Raphel ran towards Rohan without hesitation.

“Hide me!”

“What? Raphelion, what’s going on?”

Rohan bent his knees to become eye level with Raphel. He couldn’t call him ‘Master’ just yet, so he was calling him by his name.

“Hide me!”

Raphel kept checking behind him and wrapped his arms around Rohan’s neck.

“Oh, you’re playing hide and seek.”

Rohan, who immediately realized what was going on, picked up Raphel in one arm.

“Where should we hide?”

“Quickly!”

Raphel, who was anxious that Lizelle might appear, urged Rohan by pulling on his shirt collar.

“Okay. Then we’ll move somewhere else first.”

Rohan began walking as Raphel wanted, and left the hallway. He used the stairs closest to the office, and went down to the first floor. Raphel looked around continuously as he was held in Rohan’s arms.

“Over there! Over there!”

A short finger pointed to a door.

“Shall I take you to the dining room?”

“Yes! Quick, quick! Go!”

Raphel, shouting excitedly, hurriedly covered his mouth for fear that Lizelle might hear his voice. Big, clear eyes looked carefully at Rohan. The sight was so cute that Rohan smiled happily and entered the dining room.

“Get down! Get down!”

As they entered the dining room, Raphel struggled in Rohan’s arms. His’s squirming made Rohan set him down on the floor, and he quickly scampered off into the dining room.

“Raphelion, if you run like that, you’ll fall!”

Rohan was worried, so he chased after him.

“Quick!”

Raphel ran through the dining room and into the kitchen.

“Huh? Raphelion, it’s dangerous here.”

The kitchen assistant, Moles, who was cleaning up after lunch, noticed Raphel and hurried over. Rohan also followed into the kitchen.

“Hehehehe!”

Raphel ran around the kitchen, laughing excitedly as they chased after him, like a game of tag.

“Raphelion!”

“If you run, you’ll fall!”

Raphel may or may not have known how much the adults were worried about him falling and getting hurt, but he still ran quickly to avoid being caught. The floor had just been cleaned, so the watery floor was now slippery.

“If you fall, it’ll hurt!”

Rohan tried to grab onto Raphel, but he was so quick that his small body easily slipped through.

“Ugh!”

“Ahh!”

Then, Moles fell with a loud crash on the slippery floor. Rohan, who was running behind, tripped over Moles and fell hard as well, hitting the kitchen counter.

“Ahh! Watch out!”

Moles saw what was about to happen and quickly shouted, but the bag of flour on the counter fell down from the impact, all over Rohan’s head.

“Cough!”

Every time Rohan, whose face was covered in flour, coughed, the powder scattered into the air. Before he knew it, flour had piled up like a mountain onto the floor.

“Wow! Snow!”

Raphel, running around cheerfully, noticed the flour covering Rohan and ran over to him.

A world as white as a snowball spread out in front of Raphel.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Lizelle was standing in front of the pillar where she had last seen Raphel’s head.

‘I should be able to find him now, right?’

A lot of time had passed since she began pretending to look around. Lizelle quickly stuck her head around the pillar, thinking she would find him.

“Is Raphel here… ! Huh?”

However, Raphel was nowhere to be seen. She never saw him walk away, she was shocked.

“Where did he go?”

Usually Raphel wasn’t very good at hiding, but today was different. Lizelle began looking for Raphel in earnest, now. She turned the corner, searched the pillars in the hallway, and opened each door to look inside. However, he must have found a good place to hide this time, not even a single strand of his hair was visible.

“Raphel, where are you?”

She would usually hear a giggling voice, but couldn’t even hear that, which meant he wasn’t around here. She opened the remaining door in the hallway.

“Raphel!”

When she opened the door, what she saw was a large desk and tall bookshelves. It may be a small library, but the shelves were filled with books. From what she could see, the space between the bookshelves was a perfect place for Raphel to hide. Lizelle’s instincts were activated. She has a feeling that Raphel might be hiding here. She quickly searched every nook and cranny.

“I know you’re here~.”

He was hidden so well, that there was no sign of him still. Lizelle looked carefully between the rows of bookshelves. Then, suddenly, her eyes fell on the books piled up on the bookshelf. There were many different types of books. From the history and culture of the empire to books on alchemy and magic. These were quite interesting topics.

“What is this?”