Instead of the Heroine, I Married the Male Lead

“Young master, he has arrived.”

While scanning the basement and following his master’s orders, the subordinate spotted a familiar figure and urgently informed his master.

Ethan, who had been observing the game with indifference, immediately lifted his head.

“Where? Where is he?”

“He’s over there.”

Ethan rushed to the direction his subordinate pointed out.

“You!”

Ethan approached Ken, who had just entered the basement.

“Why did you come so late? How long have I been waiting?”

“Were you waiting for me, Young Master?”

“Yes! I had a lot of questions last time, but I quickly got drunk because I wasn’t feeling well. I may have been rude to you.”

Ethan had received money from Ken several times. He initially used the money freely because Ken was a member, but he soon became curious.

What was Ken’s true identity—that he could bring in such a large amount of money almost every day and give it to him?

‘He must be a big shot. No doubt about it.’

Ethan didn’t know that such a significant figure was a member of his business, but at least he realized it before losing the chance.

He had been diligently trying to confirm Ken’s name and face. The business he was involved in was unethical, and if it was discovered that he was involved, he would face a lot of criticism.

So, he tried to get Ken drunk in order to find his weakness. But instead, Ethan himself ended up drunk and passed out.

When Ken, who had come every day, didn’t show up for two days after that, Ethan began to worry he had missed his chance, suffering from insomnia.

‘I guess I’ll have to give up on finding his weakness.’

However, Ethan had another plan.

“How about we talk in a quiet place for a moment?”

“Sure.”

As Ken nodded readily, Ethan silently celebrated and led the way.

“Come on, quietly now. Be careful.”

As they passed through the crowd and went upstairs, a row of rooms lined the hallway. Ethan entered a room he had reserved in advance through the owner of the place.

“Make yourself comfortable.”

After Ken sat down, Ethan casually poured some alcohol into the glass in front of him.

“By the way, I can’t keep calling you ‘you’ forever. How about telling me your name? You seem to be around my age or even older, and using that title makes me a bit uncomfortable.”

“I believe I mentioned it last time.”

“What did you say?”

“I said it was fine.”

It appeared that he had asked for his name while drunk last time. Ethan couldn’t remember that, though.

“Still, I want to get a bit closer to you… and besides, you’ve given me quite a bit of money.”

Ethan pushed the glass of alcohol toward Ken.

“Giving money is no big deal. The Young Master’s business has been a great help to me.”

“Help…?”

Ethan suddenly realized something unusual.

As Ken reached for the glass, Ethan swiftly grabbed it.

“Whoa, there’s a bug in here!”

Ethan quickly disposed of the drink he had secretly spiked and pushed the glasses aside as far as he could.

“We don’t need alcohol for a conversation between men. Is that alright?”

“I don’t mind.”

“By the way, I’d like to know what kind of help I’ve been to you.”

Ethan swallowed hard.

“Can you tell me?”

 

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

 

With a light heart, Ethan got off the carriage.

He hadn’t had any alcohol or drugs, yet he felt so good he could almost fly at that moment.

Ethan hummed a light tune as he entered the mansion.

“Welcome back, Young Master.”

“Butler? Why are you still awake at this hour?”

It was 4 AM. A question about why he was sleeping so late would have been more appropriate than asking why he was awake so early.

The butler lowered his head slightly with a tired expression.

He had been feeling so overwhelmed these past few days that he wanted to escape from the household. The Kevan family was known for daily incidents and accidents.

However, things had worsened since the disappearance of the Kevan family’s young master, Emon.

No, it was actually quieter when Emon was missing. Everyone had been worrying about him and searching for him.

However, since Emon returned, the mansion had become noisier than ever.

Shortly after Emon came back, he began disappearing every morning, only to return in the evening. After this pattern repeated for two days, the butler inquired about where he was going through the coachmen.

The butler learned that Emon had gone to his former fiance’s current fiancé’s home, and he grabbed the back of his neck in frustration. It was none other than the Duke of Wintbell’s residence, which made it even worse.

And on the fourth day since Emon had done that, he didn’t return to the Marquis’s residence by evening.

The butler immediately sent people to thoroughly search the area around the Duke of Wintbell’s residence. He even checked nearby rivers for any floating corpses just in case.

However, they discovered Emon at a food waste disposal site in a slum close to the square.

He smelled terrible, but fortunately, Emon was unharmed.

However, the butler’s worries did not end there.

Next was Ethan.

Due to recent business difficulties and a significant drop in profits, the Marquis reduced the amount of money he gave to his family. This included everything from Ethan’s gambling funds to the money for the Marchioness’s medicine.

Ethan had been gambling all day, despite clearly having no savings. When asked where he got the money, he would angrily insist that he didn’t always lose.

And surprisingly, today the butler had even more to worry about.

“What’s going on?”

Sensing something unusual, Ethan frowned and inquired.

The butler hesitated, his lips twitching, and just as Ethan’s patience was about to run out, he finally spoke up.

“Today… the Marchioness met with Lady Philome.”

“Oh? Did she say that we don’t need to have a wedding ceremony and just do the paperwork? When will she give us the money?”

The plan to make Philome the Duke of Wintbell’s mistress and extract money from him had been set even before Emon’s return.

It had been in motion since the news of Philome’s engagement to the Duke circulated.

“…The Duke of Wintbell is said to be very angry.”

“Hah, he probably can’t believe his woman did something like that.”

The butler was frustrated by Ethan’s inability to understand the situation.

“That’s not it. He reportedly said something unusual to the Marchioness and took Lady Philome away.”

“What?”

“It seems we misunderstood the situation.”

“Didn’t she just charm him with that pretty face of hers?”

“I don’t think that’s the case.”

“Then how on earth did she get engaged to the Duke of Wintbell?”

“It seems there was a mistake. I suggested apologizing to the Duke tomorrow, but the Madam was very angry. It seems the young master needs to persuade her.”

“And Emon?”

“He’s still unconscious.”

“Anyway, what a useless guy.”

The butler seemed relieved to finally be speaking with someone who understood.

However, Ethan’s next words tightened the butler’s chest again.

“Anyway, there’s no need for an apology.”

“Pardon?”

“Butler. I’m going to start a new business with a huge investor.”

The butler recalled Ethan’s current business, which was drug trafficking.

It was the only business he had succeeded in, but it wasn’t huge yet.

“Please, young master.”

“Butler, please keep your worries in check. Is it because you’re getting old? Why are you so full of worries?”

Ethan sighed deeply and looked around.

Then he lowered his voice a bit.

“I’m only telling you this. The distribution is so low. The money doesn’t match the effort. Drugs are really great, but people’s perception of them isn’t good yet. Only low-ranking nobles or commoners use them. But what if high-ranking nobles start using them? Even if His Majesty attempts to stop it, drugs will become legal.”

“But… isn’t it rare for high-ranking nobles to use drugs?”

“Just make them start.”

“Excuse me…?”

Ethan grinned.

“Whether intentionally or not, once they get a taste for it, the outcome is the same. The process doesn’t matter.”

Ethan patted the butler’s stiff shoulder.

“So keep your mouth shut, okay? Go take care of Mother. I’ll be dealing with bigger matters now, so I won’t be able to focus on household affairs.”

 

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

 

“I’ve only been annoyed by foolish people until now, but I didn’t expect this to be helpful.”

Kaien sneered as he listened to Ken’s report.

Philome nodded in agreement.

“Indeed.”

Even she, who had planned this, was surprised.

“To be honest, I was skeptical when the young lady mentioned this plan. No matter how foolish they are, this idea is truly absurd.”

“It seems I overestimated them. We could even make it even more sloppy.”

The idea was to secretly get the surrounding nobles addicted to drugs.

This was a business proposal Ken made to Ethan under a false identity. Ken thought Ethan would refuse at least once, but Ethan accepted immediately.

“Anyway, this is good news for us.”