Chapter 9 – The Male Lead Is the Villain (8)
“I’m really sorry for deceiving you. I didn’t want to do it either.”
So stop becoming a future criminal and try talking like a normal person. You’re not some idiot who can only move his eyebrows. You were born with a perfectly good voice. Use it.
“Ha…”
Shane let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
“I mean it. I’m sorry. So tell me how I can make it up to you.”
“……”
“Compensation… probably wouldn’t mean much, but if you want it, I’ll earn it somehow and pay you back…”
Honestly, she didn’t have that much money.
She had saved quite a bit over five years of hiding, but it wouldn’t be enough to satisfy a duke like Blancard.
Even inheriting the entire Bertrand estate wouldn’t cover that.
“Anyway, I’ll do whatever I can. So you should think realistically too—”
“Realistically. I like that.”
Shane pushed his hair back with one large hand and smiled.
His mood seemed slightly lighter, and Edelene felt relieved.
“You’re right, Edelene.”
She smiled brightly. Finally, they were communicating.
“Realistically, I can’t lock you up for the rest of your life. Not after involving Genevieve. I won’t be able to silence her forever.”
“……”
“No matter how much she wants to protect her husband’s life, she might still want to save the woman she once admired. It may have already reached His Highness’s ears.”
So… they weren’t communicating after all?
‘He really did threaten Genevieve with her husband’s life…’
When he said “Genevieve,” there wasn’t a single trace of emotion in his voice.
The heroine’s husband—he was real.
And the one talking about him was the male lead.
The heroine had a husband.
And it wasn’t the male lead.
Shane clicked his tongue.
“So I thought about it, Edelene. Like you said. Realistically.”
“W-what…”
“How I should keep you by my side.”
“……”
“What I should do with someone who faked her death and ran away for five years.”
“……”
“If I let you go now, you’ll just run again.”
She couldn’t deny it.
If not for her mother’s obituary, she would never have returned to Delmez.
She felt guilt for what she had abandoned, but no longing.
Shane watched her silence and continued.
“First, I’ll return you to your rightful place.”
“My place?”
“As my fiancée. Edelene Bertrand.”
“Did you forget that I’m officially dead?”
“I know that better than anyone. But if we say the saintess brought you back, there won’t be a problem.”
“……”
“You weren’t dead. You were critically wounded and in a coma. The saintess revived you after years of prayer. What do you think? Touching story, isn’t it?”
“That would put Genevieve in danger!”
Immortality and resurrection were humanity’s greatest desires.
If word spread that the saintess could revive someone who was practically dead, rulers across the continent would never leave her alone.
Edelene turned pale.
Shane looked completely calm.
“Well, she might be in danger.”
He shrugged.
“If you tell me to protect her, I’ll try.”
“Is that something the saintess’s guardian should say?!”
He smiled lightly.
Genevieve’s safety clearly didn’t matter to him.
“My fiancée will marry me this time.”
“Shane, you—!”
“If you try to run, I’ll kill Genevieve first.”
“……”
“After that, the House of Bertrand will fall. Don’t mistake this for a joke.”
“……”
“It won’t just be an obituary next time. I’ll have you standing in front of a burned-down mansion.”
Edelene searched his faint smile for even a hint of bluff or exaggeration.
There was none.
He meant it.
‘He’s actually insane.’
This wasn’t just bad.
This was catastrophic.
Shane burst into laughter when he saw her pale face.
He felt both pleased that she finally understood he was serious—and pathetic for feeling pleased at all.
This woman always made him feel pathetic.
Always.
He had only ever chased her back.
She had never once looked back at him.
In the end, Shane took the untouched meal away.
She looked ready to spit it out even if he forced it in, so he decided to let her be for now.
Her stiff glare made it clear she would bite if necessary.
‘She really would.’
It was Edelene.
She absolutely would.
He smiled faintly.
Even as a child, her stubbornness had been unmatched.
After she first brought up breaking off the engagement, she never let him close again.
Even when her eyes wavered at his tears, she never changed her stance.
“Later, when more time passes, you’ll understand why I’m doing this.”
“Tell me now. Did I do something wrong? Make a mistake? I’ll fix it. Just tell me.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Then why? Why are you abandoning me?”
“I’m not abandoning you.”
“Edelene, please.”
“You’ll understand someday. Even if I don’t tell you.”
She never explained anything.
She left without giving him even a small chance.
Cruel.
Decisive.
“Your Grace.”
Shane stopped walking.
Genevieve stood in front of him with her hands clasped tightly.
Whenever she stood before him, her skin prickled with fear.
“Lady Edelene…”
“Stay out of it.”
“But—”
“I won’t kill her.”
“She hasn’t eaten at all…”
“That’s why I called you. I knew she wouldn’t eat of her own will.”
“You know you can’t keep her locked up forever. Your Grace, please…”
“Genevieve.”
She flinched.
She wanted to run.
She understood the warning in his low voice.
From the moment they first met, Shane Blancard had been frightening.
He had rescued her from her abusive stepfather and placed her in the position of saintess.
But Genevieve had always found him more terrifying than those who beat her.
Especially after five years ago.
After he lost the person he loved in front of his eyes.
She swallowed.
But she couldn’t back down.
Shane had saved her.
But it was Edelene who had cared for her.
When she had first arrived at the palace, terrified and lost, it was Edelene who bathed her, dried her hair, held her hand, and stayed by her side until she fell asleep.
She couldn’t betray her.
“Lady Edelene said she had no choice but to hide. Please listen to her properly.”
Shane shrugged.
Genevieve realized he would not listen further.
She stepped back, though she kept looking over her shoulder.
Even that small act of resistance was rare for her.
It showed how much she cared about Edelene.
‘She really collects followers.’
Edelene stole people’s hearts so easily.
Not just Genevieve.
Lucian.
Even that young servant she took when she disappeared.
They were all nearly obsessed with her.
And yet Edelene never once considered what she meant to others.
She always kept herself one step back.
Now that he thought about it, she had lived that way because she had planned to leave from the beginning.
‘A reason?’
Maybe there was one.
But in the end, all he learned was this:
His fiancée had grown to hate him so much that she couldn’t endure being by his side.
Enough to fake her death and run.
‘I won’t forgive you.’
If you were going to leave like that,
then you shouldn’t have told me to be happy.
