Instead of the Heroine, I Married the Male Lead

Kaien suddenly appeared behind me.

 

“Hmm? Why?”

“I thought it would be even funnier to see him waiting with hope that he might see you.”

“…Duke, are you a genius?”

“I’ve heard that a lot since I was young.”

 

I felt like giving Kaien a thumbs-up.

 

‘As expected of the regretful male lead. It doesn’t really matter, but he is indeed the regretful male lead!’

 

He had tormented readers like that when it was serialized, and he was exceptionally good at tormenting others as well.

As I looked at him with sparkling eyes, Kaien reached out his hand to me.

 

“Milady, would you like to have breakfast with me?”

“Yes, I’d like that.”

 

I quickly placed my hand on Kaien’s arm when I noticed Emon trying to come inside.

As we climbed the stairs to the dining room, Sebastian approached Emon with a greeting.

 

“Please wait in the reception room…”

 

I caught a glimpse of Emon’s expression, which seemed triumphant, and I couldn’t help but scoff.

That day, I leisurely had breakfast with Kaien and strolled around the garden using a path that avoided the reception room.

Since Kaien had no outings scheduled for the day, I spent lunch and dinner with him for the first time.

After dinner, we even had tea time.

As we sipped tea and looked at the sunset through the window, someone was leaving the mansion with angry footsteps.

 

“I see he’s finally leaving.”

 

Kaien came closer and stared at Emon’s back as he exited the mansion.

 

“Given that you have observed him for an extended period, how long do you anticipate that individual will remain present?”

“I’m not sure what he wants to tell me, so it’s hard to gauge.”

 

I narrowed my eyes in thought.

 

“Maybe he’ll get angry by tomorrow?”

“What? Even a goldfish has more patience than that.”

 

I chuckled as I replied.

 

“Because he’s worse than a goldfish.”

“Then shall we make a bet? I say he’ll last until the fourth day.”

“That long?”

“Milady, are you taking the side of another man in front of your fiance?”

 

His playful remarks made me smile.

 

“That’s not it. I just think you’re overestimating Emon.”

“Let’s make a bet. Okay?”

“Well, there should be conditions. We have to grant the winner a wish. Oh, of course, you probably don’t need that. However, requests pertaining to money or business matters are not acceptable.”

 

Kaien chuckled and nodded.

 

“Agreed.”

 

I was confident.

The guy who would get angry if I was even five minutes late? He would never hold out for three days.

 

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

 

“This is unbelievable.”

 

I despaired as I looked out the window.

Though his footsteps were filled with irritation, Emon was clearly holding back his anger as he turned to leave. Remarkably, he was doing so without getting angry at all.

 

“I thought even the duchy’s influence wouldn’t be enough to make him wait this long!”

 

As I screamed in shock, Kaien wore a victorious smile.

 

“Why are you so disappointed? After all, you’ve already lost since yesterday.”

“But still!”

 

Emon had been waiting for me in the reception room all day, and today marked the third day he was leaving.

As Kaien said, the chance of me winning had already dropped to 0%, but I expected him to blow up today.

The very small-looking Emon was irrationally taking his anger out on his servant.

He should have directed that anger towards the duchy instead.

 

“What on earth could he possibly have to say that he’s holding back his temper?”

 

Now I was starting to genuinely worry.

Kaien casually patted my shoulder.

 

“What should we do, Milady? I should start thinking about what wish to make.”

“… We still don’t know. How can we know if he’ll hold in his temper tomorrow?”

 

At my words, Kaien shrugged.

 

“I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”

 

His nonchalance made me even more anxious. I was really worried that Emon might actually lose his temper tomorrow.

And once again, that anxiety proved accurate.

 

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

 

“PHILOMEEE!!”

 

Hearing my name echo through the mansion, I let out a deep sigh.

It wasn’t just that I didn’t want to hear Emon’s voice; it was also because I had lost the bet with Kaien.

His voice was so desperate that it reached me even from two floors up.

Since I had opened the window while having lunch and tea with Kaien, I could hear him even better.

 

“I have something important to say!!”

 

I was quite curious about what it could be.

 

“Reallyyy!!”

 

I heard someone trying to restrain Emon.

Then came the sound of Emon swearing. Furrowing my brows, I got up from my seat and went to the window.

I grabbed the handle to close the window.

 

“Duke, this is going to cause trouble for the servants. I’ll acknowledge that I lost the bet, so let’s just send him back and not let him in at all starting tomorrow.”

“It’s about Nadia and meee!!”

 

Just as I was about to close the window, I heard Emon’s words and paused.

I let out a deep sigh and closed the window.

 

“Duke, I’ll go talk to him.”

“What? Really?”

 

Kaien, who had been smiling leisurely, set down his teacup.

 

“Yes.”

 

I forced a smile, suppressing my anger.

 

“I was looking forward to hearing what nonsense he would say when we met again.”

 

I also wanted to see his reaction to finding out that the woman he dumped was now the future duchess.

 

“Ahh! Easy! Easy!”

 

Hearing Emon’s voice from beyond the door, I sighed again.

The servant, who had been waiting, hesitantly opened the door at Kaien’s gesture.

Emon, struggling with his wrists held by the knights, spotted me and smiled brightly.

 

“Philome!”

 

But Emon’s expression hardened when he looked behind me. It seemed he had just noticed Kaien.

 

“That’s enough.”

 

At Kaien’s words, the knights released Emon.

Emon, who had been in pain and struggling, coughed awkwardly, realizing how ridiculous he must have looked and walked towards me.

But Kaien naturally wrapped his arm around my shoulder and sat down on the sofa, passing by Emon.

Emon, standing awkwardly alone, cleared his throat again and sat down on the sofa.

 

“Leave.”

 

At Kaien’s command, the knights and servants exited.

 

“Ahem, ahem. You must have been busy. I’ve been coming to see you every day for the past four days.”

“Milady, would you like some tea?”

“Yes, please give me some as well.”

“Although you might have heard through the butler… I just wanted to tell you directly how much effort I’ve put into this. You know, Philome, my patience isn’t this long.”

“Milady, would you like sugar in your tea?”

“Just one, please.”

“Philome… are you listening?”

“Thank you, ah, yes.”

 

I accepted the teacup Kaien offered and nodded.

 

“Yes, I’m listening.”

“I’m listening too. Don’t worry.”

 

As Kaien added this, Emon continued to glance at him.

 

“Ah, yes…”

“So, what’s the reason that the impatient you have been coming every day for four days?”

“I want to explain.”

“…Explain?”

“Yes. About my relationship with Nadia.”

 

Finally, the story I had been waiting for had come up.

I tightened my grip on the teacup and spoke.

 

“…Go ahead, then.”

“You have to believe me, Philome. Do you understand?”

“Just say it.”

“The lady is asking you to say it.”

 

As Kaien interrupted again, Emon glanced at him with an uncomfortable expression.

 

“Um, Duke, I’m sorry, but you please leave us alone for a moment?”

“What?”

 

I was at a loss for words at Emon’s audacity.

Kaien also spoke as if he couldn’t believe it.

 

“I don’t know if you’ve forgotten since you’ve been hanging around here for four days, but this is my mansion. Are you telling me where to go?”

“That’s… this a personal matter between us. It’s our private life. Besides, we are engaged. Philome wouldn’t want you to hear this, either. Right, Philome?”

 

I let out a dry laugh at Emon’s attitude, as if it were obvious to pass the bucket to me.

 

“Why am I engaged to you? Our relationship ended when you abandoned me on the day of the engagement ceremony and left with Nadia. Because of that, we never even had a formal engagement ceremony.”

“Philome, I understand your feelings.”

 

Emon shook his head as if resigned to the situation.

 

“It can’t be helped. If the Duke is fine with it, you may stay.”

“Hmph.”

 

Kaien crossed his arms and looked at Emon with a disapproving expression.

Seemingly intimidated, Emon swallowed hard and slightly hunched his body.

 

“So… I didn’t abandon you, Philome.”

“…Running away with my friend on the day of the engagement isn’t abandoning me?”

“Yes.”

 

Emon nodded.