Chapter 8 – The Male Lead Is the Villain (7)
“Yes. I did get married.”
“Whew…”
Edelene let out a deep sigh of relief.
Right. Of course. At least that part hadn’t gone wrong.
‘So Shane Blancard really turned into a cheating bastard? And a criminal one at that? What kind of downgrade is this for a male lead, you trash?’
She needed to quickly make it clear that all of this was Shane’s doing and that she was just an innocent victim.
Listen, Genevieve. Your husband—
“But I didn’t marry Duke Blancard.”
“Huh?”
“My husband is a knight in the Crown Prince’s guard. He has no land or title.”
“…What? Then what about the newspaper?”
In the paper, Shane and Genevieve had stood side by side, smiling happily.
The article had described how their bond had deepened ever since he began supporting her when she was still a candidate for saintess.
Anyone reading it would assume it was announcing their marriage.
“They never explicitly said I became the Duchess of Blancard…”
“They didn’t say it outright, but that’s fraud!”
“Yes. It is.”
“So that lunatic faked my mother’s obituary and forged newspaper articles too?! Is that acceptable behavior for a duke?!”
“Normally, no…”
Genevieve nodded along smoothly.
As Edelene fumed, she suddenly sensed the weary aura of a junior employee from Genevieve.
The kind of look someone had when standing beside a temperamental boss.
That was not the aura the beloved heroine of a romance fantasy was supposed to have.
And Genevieve had clearly said she couldn’t help her.
‘You’re supposed to be kind. You’re supposed to save me…’
Red alarms blared in Edelene’s head.
“Normally it wouldn’t be acceptable, but… His Grace isn’t exactly normal.”
“That makes it worse! He’s supposed to be a role model for the entire nation!”
“He said it was fine as long as he was only deceiving one person.”
“……”
“To be honest, I didn’t expect that person to be you, Lady Edelene.”
“…You’re telling me he did all this just to deceive me?”
“Yes.”
He’s actually insane.
Edelene groaned and lowered her head.
Genevieve spoke again, her voice slightly colder.
“And personally, faking one’s own death seems far more malicious than forging a few newspaper articles.”
“There were truly complicated reasons…”
“Please explain those directly to His Grace, not to me.”
“Genevieve, you’ve changed…”
Edelene sounded like a clingy ex-girlfriend.
Genevieve paused, then gave a small, tired smile.
“I have. The past five years have been… very hard.”
“……”
“Come here. Just in case, let me examine you.”
“I’m not hurt.”
“You never take proper care of yourself. Let me check.”
“Was that sarcasm?”
“Oh, you noticed? Back then I couldn’t use healing magic properly, but now, as long as you’re not dead, I can restore you completely. Even if you throw yourself in front of a blade again, I can save you.”
“…I’m sorry…”
Saved and still scolded. What kind of life was this?
She had intentionally thrown herself in front of the attack, and she had still saved Genevieve. Being lectured felt slightly unfair.
“Lady Edelene.”
“Yes.”
“Never do something like that again.”
“Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t—”
“Don’t.”
“…O-okay.”
Soft, gentle, but firm.
Terrifying.
“And I don’t know what circumstances led to this, but… for now, it would be best if you behaved.”
“What happens if I don’t?”
“……”
Genevieve looked at her quietly.
Her eyes resembled either an enlightened sage… or an overworked office employee.
Like she was looking at a reckless younger brother.
“I don’t want to see you covered in blood again.”
So that meant—
“Someone is planning to make me covered in blood?”
It was even scarier because she said it with such a kind smile.
“I’m only advising you not to anger His Grace too much.”
“You’re talking about Shane, right? Not some underground crime boss?”
“If it were Lord Lucian, that would actually be better.”
“……”
“Though… no. They’re both about the same.”
“……”
What am I even hearing?
And Genevieve knows Lucian too?
“Can’t you just let me escape?”
“If I do, His Grace will kill my husband.”
“……”
“I’m sorry, Lady Edelene.”
“No. Don’t apologize. Your husband shouldn’t die.”
Where had everything gone wrong?
The heroine had married someone she had never even heard of.
And the male lead—
‘He’s being treated like the final villain of the universe.’
When Edelene left Delmez, everything had still been following the novel.
Shane and Genevieve had shared a special bond.
The crown prince seemed taken with her.
Everyone around Edelene had fallen for Genevieve.
Aside from Edelene removing herself early, nothing had deviated.
“At least you won’t be locked up here for long. I’ll try to find a way through His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Where are we?”
“One of His Grace’s safe houses. I can’t tell you more.”
“……”
“He won’t do anything too terrible to you.”
There was no certainty in her voice.
‘Kidnapping and imprisoning someone isn’t terrible?’
It already felt pretty terrible.
Under Edelene’s stare, Genevieve reluctantly added,
“Probably…”
Let’s not do this.
***
Edelene had broad tastes when it came to romance fantasy.
She liked light and cheerful stories. She liked serious, grand ones too.
But dark captivity stories?
Those were not her thing.
Life was already exhausting enough. Why suffer while reading too?
Of course, that didn’t stop her from reading them.
She would curse the author for making her miserable and then buy the special edition anyway.
Still, it wasn’t her favorite.
Happiness was the best.
‘And now my life is a dark captivity story?’
After all the effort she put into avoiding disaster, this was the genre she ended up in?
She wanted to apologize for ever mocking flowery romance stories.
Please return my genre.
“Edelene, open your mouth.”
“……”
You too. Go back to being the male lead, you villainous bastard.
Edelene glared at Shane.
After changing her into indoor clothes, Genevieve had left.
It was ridiculous to distinguish between indoor and outdoor clothes when she had been kidnapped, but she couldn’t bring herself to refuse Genevieve.
Genevieve had even offered to bathe her.
Refusing that meant she couldn’t refuse the clothes.
Then Shane entered, carrying a warm meal.
He had left with such a grave expression that she assumed something important had happened.
Apparently, he had just gone to get food.
“Ah.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“That’s impossible. You’ve gone a full day without eating.”
“I said I’m not hungry. I don’t want to eat anything here.”
“Do you want me to pry your mouth open and feed you?”
“Then just let me go! I won’t eat here!”
Shane said nothing.
Frustrated, she shouted,
“What, are you planning to raise me like livestock?!”
“…That wouldn’t be so bad.”
He looked at her with faint regret.
As if he were seriously considering it.
“It wouldn’t be bad to keep you locked up like this and make sure you can’t do anything without me.”
“When did you become such a pervert…?”
She shuddered.
“You’re not serious, right?”
“Who knows?”
Shane pulled out a chair and sat down.
He raised a spoonful of soup to her lips again.
He clearly had no intention of backing down until she ate.
She sighed inwardly.
‘He’s still handsome, though. Crazy bastard…’
Even with a darker aura, Shane Blancard was still beautiful.
He looked slightly thinner and sharper than before.
His gaze at her was icy.
But he was still Shane Blancard.
The boy who used to approach her like a puppy.
The one she tried not to love because he wasn’t hers.
The one who begged her to tell him what he did wrong so he could fix it.
The one she made cry.
The one she wished happiness for.
Even if he now felt like a stranger.
He was still Shane.
Her voice softened slightly.
“Shane.”
His eyebrow twitched.
Still acting like a male lead, even with his eyebrows.
She asked quietly,
“What do you want me to do?”
