I Found a Husband When I Picked up the Male Lead

* * *

 

A few days later.

 

“Sir, the search party is returning.”

As soon as he received Rohan’s report, Chaser jumped up. The team members who had been sent to investigate the road connecting Berni and the capital were returning from their mission. They left the mansion a month ago, and he was anxious to hear if they found out anything about his brother’s death. As he walked forward in the blazing sunlight, he happened to spot the search party heading to the mansion to report and quickened his pace.

“Duke.”

The search party’s leader who saw Chaser approached him.

“What are you doing here?”

“What did you find?”

Chaser skipped the greeting and asked, getting straight to the point.

“Sorry. There was nothing.”

Knight Commander Shane bowed his head. The search party members who returned empty-handed, unable to find even the slightest evidence, bowed down to Chaser. No one could open their mouth, feeling guilty.

They searched the incident site and its surroundings for several days, but found nothing. There were things that made it obvious it wasn’t a simple accident, however, there were no clues found that could be used as physical evidence.

It was clear that it had been meticulously planned for a long time, to the point where it had escaped the Halos family’s investigative power and intelligence network.

“Good job.”

Chaser didn’t say much to the knights. Even if he scolded them, it would only lower their morale, but he still couldn’t help but feel bitter.

“We will expand the scope a little and investigate further. Should we send the troops out right away?”

“No. Allow them to rest and regain their energy.”

He ordered Shane to grant leave for the search party and reorganize.

‘There is a saying that the more urgent something is, the more patient you must be.’

 

It seemed like it would take a long time to solve this case. If he didn’t give up and kept looking, he might be able to find out something eventually.

He would never back down.

He planned to catch the person who harmed his brother and kill him slowly, in such a painful way that death would have been better. Chaser clenched his fists to the point where his veins were visible  and received a leash from a member who arrived later.

“Warden.”

When he saw Chaser, Warden waggled his tail as if he was waiting.

“Did you have a good trip?”

“Woof! Woof!”

Warden expressed his joy by rubbing his furry face against Chaser’s leg. He felt so excited that he even laid down panting and showing his belly.

“Warden, you’ve worked hard.”

Chaser patted Warden with a friendly smile. It was a flawless smile that was rarely ever given to another person. Warden was a bloodhound that he had raised with his brother for six years. He had an excellent sense of smell, which helped with the searches, so he’d just returned from a trip out with the knights. Chaser stroked Warden until he was satisfied and burst out laughing at the sight of Warden begging him to keep patting him.

“Tell the chef to prepare a special meal for Warden.”

“Yes. All right.”

A while later he straightened his bent knees and left to retrieve the reward for Warden for his hard work.

“Warden. Wait.”

Chaser walked to the mansion, leaving Warden under a cool, shady tree. It was okay to bring Warden into the mansion with him, but he was worried that Raphel might be surprised by Warden’s size, so he took some caution. As soon as he entered the mansion, Chaser headed to the dining room and stopped when he saw Lizelle and Raphel sitting at the table. It had been a long time since anyone had sat in the usually empty dining room. Normally no one resided in this mansion except himself.

“That’s right, you’re doing great. Now you can eat carrots well!”

His expression, about to darken due to memories of the past, returned to its original state when Wilhazelle’s voice penetrated his ears. She was smiling happily and stroking Raphel’s head. He didn’t want to disturb them. It felt like he was interfering with their happy family time.

Chaser turned to leave again.

If Rappel had shown the slightest sign of discomfort, he would have separated the two, but the child had a smile brighter than the sunlight on his face. It appeared to be a smile born of trust and faith in the other person, no matter who saw it.

“Duke.”

However, he could not go out or come in, and had no choice but to stop walking in a dazed state because Wilhazelle called out to him unexpectedly.

“Would you like to eat with us?”

Wilhazelle spotted Chaser standing in front of the dining room door and asked politely. She felt stuffy in their room, so she deliberately came down to the dining room to have a meal with Raphel.

“No.”

At that time, the chef spotted Chaser and ran out in a huff.

“Duke, the raw chicken you ordered is ready. Shall I bring it out?”

“…”

“…”

In an instant, silence fell over the dining room. Wilhazelle looked at Chaser with her mouth wide open.

‘Wow, raw chicken. His taste is unique…’

She grasped the fork she almost dropped and quickly stood up.

“Umm… I think we’re done here.”

It seemed like he didn’t want others to know about his food preferences, so she decided to leave. She could only eat two bites because she had to take care of Raphel first, but she could fill her stomach with snacks later. Chaser, who had no way of knowing she was misunderstanding the situation, looked at the plate on the table.

Her plate was filled with food that was barely touched. When he entered the dining room, she was feeding Raphel his food. So, did she not eat properly because she was taking care of the child? Chaser was worried because he felt like he was chasing Wilhazelle out.

“No, please finish eating.”

Chaser stopped her. He didn’t want to be a surly, unscrupulous landlord.

“No. I’ve had enough.”

However, Wilhazelle refused again and helped Raphel down from the chair.

“Let’s play tag!”

Raphel giggled as if he had been waiting and ran out of the room.

“Raphel! Don’t run, you’ll fall!”

Lizelle hurriedly said goodbye to Chaser and chased after Raphel. As he stared blankly at the retreating back, he heard the chef speak.

“Duke? Would you like the special meal?”

“Sure.”

When the chef went to get the raw chicken, Chaser remained alone in the dining room. Only then did a quiet and familiar scene unfold before his eyes. He was used to eating alone, so he usually ate his meals in his office. There were only a handful of times that he ate at the dining room. It was the same even when his brother was alive.

When he ate here, he sometimes would run into his father, and every time that happened, he was verbally abused and attacked for no reason. Therefore, he was accustomed to eating in his own space from a young age. For him, eating was something he did alone. The sight of someone eating in this mansion like just now was quite an alien scene to him.

A dining room that was always empty.

The silence of being alone.

This was his world…

“Umm… By the way, Duke.”

A voice broke the silence once again. Chaser slowly turned and looked over at the person responsible. He didn’t know when Wilhazelle came back, but she was holding on to the door and sticking her face into the room.

“What’s wrong?”

Chaser asked calmly, erasing his surprise. Wilhazelle’s green eyes took in his profile completely.

“I don’t think raw meat is very good. You could get food poisoning.”

“What do you mean?”

Chaser asked back at her, shocked again by her sudden words, but Wilhazelle was looking at him as if she was genuinely worried.

“You have to live a long life. You have Raphel to take care of now.”

“No, what is that…”

“So, if possible, eat it cooked.”

Lizelle seemed to have finished what she wanted to say, with a relieved look on her face, she turned around without hesitation and left his sight. Chaser stared at her back, confused by what just happened.

“Hahahahaha.”

Then he realized something and burst out laughing. He’d wondered what she meant, but she seemed to think he was the one eating raw chicken, a special meal meant for Warden. It was absurd. It was funny and cute that she was worried about him.

“Duke?”

The chef, who brought out a bowl full of raw chicken, looked puzzled when he saw Chaser smiling widely. It was a sincere laugh that he had never seen before.

In Chaser’s calm world, a small pebble was causing a huge wave.