Instead of the Heroine, I Married the Male Lead

‘I didn’t expect to clash with Philome so soon… but it’s okay. Philome wants my happiness.’

“I’m fine.”

Why does Philome say she’s fine? Her fiance is taking off his outerwear to give it to another woman. Does Philome not like Kaien that much? If so, is it okay for them to get closer?

“What do you mean you’re fine? You’re shivering, Philome.”

…Philome?

Nadia’s eyes widened.

Kaien was draping his jacket over Philome’s shoulders. Philome seemed to refuse at first, but as Kaien continued, she reluctantly grasped the jacket.

Nadia blinked blankly.

‘…Oh. I guess that makes sense.’

It’s only natural that he can’t do anything for her in front of his fiance.

But why does it bother her so much?

As her heart grew cold, her body began to tremble.

Kaien looked at Nadia and narrowed his eyes.

“Wearing such clothes in this weather, it must be cold, tsk.”

Though it was almost a mutter, he didn’t lower his voice, making it clearly audible.

It wasn’t a tone of concern but rather one of disdain toward a pitiable person.

Nadia blushed with embarrassment.

Then, glancing between them, she realized that they were dressed for going out.

“Um, where are you two going?”

Kaien frowned.

“Do I need to tell the guest where we’re going?”

“Ah, no! That’s not it.”

Nadia was startled and waved her hands.

“What I mean is…”

Nadia looked back and forth between Kaien and Philome. Kaien only looked at Nadia when speaking, but his gaze remained fixed on Philome.

It became clear instantly. Kaien was watching Philome’s reactions.

‘Ah.’

It’s because of Philome again.

When Philome was next to Emon, he couldn’t show affection toward Nadia. Because Philome was his fiance.

And Kaien was the same. Because Philome was Kaien’s fiance.

I’m just a third party.

Nadia bit her lip hard.

“…I’m sorry. I must have been a nuisance.”

She said that and immediately turned away.

In doing so, she nearly collided with the maid who was right behind her, causing Nadia to stumble and fall to the ground.

“Eek!”

“Lady Nadia, are you alright?”

“I, I’m fine.”

She didn’t want to show weakness.

After all, Kaien, with Philome by his side, wouldn’t come to her.

She got up, wiped away her tears, and hurried back into the mansion.

 

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

 

Silence fell.

“….what did we just do?”

Kaien genuinely pondered.

At this point, he wondered if he had been under a memory manipulation spell and forgotten the fact that he had spoken harshly to Nadia.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense that Nadia would cry and leave after just a few words.

“I don’t understand.”

When he first saw her, he thought she was crazy.

He had spotted someone in thin, white clothing in this weather. That crazy person was Nadia. Then she had presented him with a bouquet made from flowers she had cut without permission.

He had said nothing about it.

Honestly, he didn’t want to accept it, but he had no choice because Philome jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.

“Lady, are you sure that plan is going to work? Huh? I don’t want to do it.”

Kaien shivered at the thought of the plan Philome mentioned yesterday.

It was because of Nadia’s blatant gaze.

Kaien clung to Philome like a child begging for candy and spoke.

“Duke.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re already too late.”

Philome, who had been looking at Nadia’s retreating figure, smirked and turned to Kaien.

“The plan has already succeeded.”

“…No way.”

“It’s true.”

“Nadia Alice has already started to like me? Already? What, what did I do?”

Kaien stammered, bewildered.

Philome shrugged.

“Well, maybe she fell for you at first sight like fate.”

“The world is coming to an end. Is it really okay for such a crazy person to be walking around freely?”

Kaien, flabbergasted, spoke his mind without thinking.

Philome’s plan was simple.

To make Nadia believe that Kaien loved her.

Upon hearing the plan, Kaien strongly expressed his reluctance to treat Nadia with affection. The best he could do was act in a way that could be interpreted as affectionate.

Although Kaien was horrified by his role, Philome knew something that he didn’t.

She was aware that Nadia had fallen for Kaien at first sight and was already out of touch with reality. After seeing Nadia’s behavior today, she was convinced.

“Nadia will be completely immersed in her own little world.”

Just as she had been with Emon recently.

“It looks like we have one less thing to worry about. You don’t have to do anything.”

“Really?”

Kaien asked, his expression brightening.

“Were you that unhappy about it?”

“Not exactly.”

He averted his gaze slightly.

“It’s just that her gaze gave me the creeps.”

Philome asked with a hint of confusion.

“Even so, didn’t you think Nadia was pretty? With her blonde hair and blue eyes, she’s the epitome of classic beauty.”

Besides, although her limbs were slender, she is quite voluminous.

Today, Nadia was beautiful enough that even Philome had to admit it. Her flowing dress and the way her golden hair fluttered in the wind were captivating.

“…Wasn’t her hair brown?”

“…How could blonde hair look brown?”

Philome asked incredulously.

But Kaien was serious. In fact, he had never really looked at Nadia properly before and didn’t particularly remember her.

Even though he had just seen her, her face was still blurry in his memory.

Since her hair color was similar to Philome’s, he only remembered her hair color.

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve always been looking at you.”

“…You speak well.”

Philome turned around sharply.

Kaien caught the jacket that was slipping off from behind and pulled it up again.

Thanks to that, Philome could calm her flushed face.

Kaien stepped ahead and stood by the carriage, extending his hand towards Philome with a playful smile.

“Shall we go then?”

Philome chuckled and took his hand.

“Yes.”

 

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

“I reviewed the scroll you showed me this morning.”

I said as soon as we boarded the carriage.

This morning, Kaien had mentioned he had something to deliver. What Sebastian brought later was a scroll.

A scroll capable of holding the power of a spirit.

Usually, scrolls available in the market are optimized for storing magic. So when Harnen put the power of a spirit into them, about one in ten would always be defective.

Since scrolls are made with magic, they are different from ordinary paper. So, despite being somewhat inconvenient, we had been using them. But now, Kaien had brought a scroll capable of holding the power of a spirit.

“How is it?”

“To be honest, since I’m not the one infusing the spirit’s power, I can’t feel anything, but it’s quite…”

I trailed off, thinking of the scroll.

“…elegant.”

Usually, magic scrolls are dark-colored with a rough paper texture.

However, what I received through Sebastian was a pure white scroll adorned with vintage golden patterns at the edges.

At first glance, it looked more like expensive stationery than a scroll.

Kaien grinned at my comment.

“So my intention worked.”

“What do you mean? Did you make it like this on purpose?”

“Yes.”

Kaien took out a new scroll, identical to the one I received this morning, from his jacket, along with the original scroll that was usually distributed.

The difference between them was stark.

“I don’t like ugly things. I don’t want to use something so unattractive.”

Kaien flicked the old scroll as if it were trash.

“Others will probably feel the same way. If they’re going to use a scroll, they’d want something pretty and clean.”

I nodded, glancing back and forth between the two scrolls.

The new scroll, being clean and beautiful, certainly drew more attention compared to the dark and rough old scroll.

“Making scrolls originally isn’t difficult. The Mage Tower has a monopoly on it, but a long time ago, the Archmage owed me a favor. I’m planning to use that to distribute scrolls, of course, exclusively through ‘Menen.’”

“Then won’t other magic scroll shops offer a higher price?”

“If they offer an amount equivalent to the entire fortune of the Wintbell family, I would gladly distribute it to them as well.”

“Looks like Menen will probably hold the exclusive rights for life.”