Home/I ended up having a surprise marriage with the male lead/ch 55

Chapter 55

"How dare that brat!"

The Empress stormed into her palace, furiously yanking off her necklace.

Clatter!

The necklace broke, sending pearls scattering across the floor.

She snapped at her advisor, who stood nearby with his head bowed.

"Find out immediately how this happened!"

"Y-yes!"

She paced the room, biting her nails in agitation.

Soon, the advisor hurried in and handed her a document.

"Give it here!"

The Empress snatched the document from his hand.

"Ha!"

After scanning its contents, she let out a hollow laugh.

The Duke really had gotten married.

She looked up sharply and checked the name of his partner.

A commoner with no surname.

That made it all the more certain.

He'd gone and contracted this absurd marriage just to keep that bastard brat out of her hands.

The Empress turned to the next document.

Upon confirming the name of the child designated as the official heir, she trembled with rage.

She gritted her teeth and asked her advisor coldly.

"How do I get this bastard into my hands?"

"Th-that is..."

"Speak up!"

At the Empress's urging, the advisor finally squeezed his eyes shut and said.

"Th-there is no way at present. Under the current circumstances, His Majesty is unconscious, so..."

"Ha!"

The Empress shouted at the advisor's explanation.

"Are you saying the Emperor being in that state is my fault?!"

"N-no, that's not what I meant..."

The advisor hurriedly bowed his head in apology.

Even that did little to quell her anger, and she bit her lip hard.

After a long moment, she took a deep breath and commanded her advisor.

"First, find out everything about this commoner woman."

"Y-yes, Your Majesty!"

The advisor answered urgently.

---

Leaving the council chamber, Kayden walked quickly toward the palace exit.

Since she'd asked him to take care of it last night, he felt obliged to report the outcome to her promptly.

"My wife is waiting at home"...

Thinking of Emilia, who would be at the residence, he quickened his pace.

"Ugh, really! Your Grace! Wait for me!"

Soon, Herald's voice came from behind, panting as he chased after him.

As they rode toward the residence in the carriage—

Looking out the window, contemplating the carriage's sluggish speed, Kayden's gaze fell on the square.

And on the fountain at its center.

The image of his wife, nodding drowsily in the warm sunlight, flickered in his mind.

From there, his thoughts naturally drifted to last night.

Come to think of it, while tending to her wound, one thing had bothered him.

The hem of her dress, stained with blood.

"I think I just got a little paper cut when I was hurriedly looking through the legal code earlier."

At the time, Emilia had shrugged as if it were nothing.

But when he thought about it, she'd already ruined several dresses because of him.

The bandages wrapped around him on the train had clearly been her petticoat.

"Turn the carriage around."

"Huh?"

He gave the order to the coachman without hesitation.

Soon, the carriage bearing the crest of House Valen arrived at a rather unusual destination.

---

On the terrace of a café in the new town.

Just like any other day, noble ladies had gathered in groups to enjoy their afternoon tea.

One of them looked at a blonde woman who seemed distracted and asked.

"Lady Ilake, what's wrong?"

Rosia Ilake, who had been lost in thought with a stiff expression, lifted her head.

"Hm? What did you say?"

"No, it's just that you've been so quiet—I wondered if something was the matter."

"...Thank you for your concern, but it's nothing."

Rosia offered a practiced, insincere smile and took a sip of her coffee.

"Is that so? I thought you might be worried about reaching marriageable age."

This voice belonged to a different lady—one Rosia considered particularly insufferable: Lady Grimore.

"Shouldn't you find a match soon, my lady? If you're amenable, I could introduce you to some suitable young men."

That woman...

Rosia instinctively shot a glare at her annoyingly smug face.

What nonsense.

She'd probably introduce her to some low-ranking noble completely beneath her standards.

But she couldn't exactly refute it, which only made her angrier.

The House of Ilake was in crisis.

All because of Reina, who had suddenly disappeared one day.

Where on earth did that bastard go?!

Rosia bit the inside of her lip nervously.

When she was around ten, her father had brought home a girl her age, claiming she was his blood.

Her mother said she was the daughter of a maid who had seduced her father while she was pregnant with Rosia.

The household was thrown into chaos for a while, but her mother eventually accepted the bastard into the family.

The calculation was that if they raised her and sold her off to a wealthy noble, it would be a great boon to the house.

Rosia had been furious too, but she endured it, since the girl was meant to be a bargaining chip for her own dowry.

True to her mother's nature—a woman said to have seduced her father—the girl was quite pretty.

And as she grew older, her beauty only became more striking.

It annoyed Rosia to no end whenever men glanced her way.

But Rosia forced herself not to feel jealous.

After all, jealousy stemmed from envy—and that bastard could never be the object of her envy.

Besides, she was slated to be sold off to a wealthy man soon anyway.

But just as the time came for her to repay what the family had invested, Reina vanished.

They'd sent knights to search, but the House of Ilake was shunned both within and outside high society, so they'd found no trace of her.

As a result, the household atmosphere grew worse by the day.

Her dowry was at stake, and so was her father's business investment funding.

I need to find her soon.

Rosia ground her teeth.

Just then, the lady who had spoken first, noticing Rosia's worsening expression, changed the subject.

"Oh, right! Didn't you say you were hosting a party soon, Lady Grimore?"

"That's right."

Lady Grimore shrugged and continued.

As they chatted about the party, one lady's eyes went wide.

"Oh..."

It was because of a strikingly handsome man stepping out of a carriage.

"...Isn't that the Duke of Valen?"

At the mention of the Duke of Valen, the ladies' heads all turned at once.

The Duke of Valen was a rare sight in high society.

Despite being of marriageable age, he seldom appeared at social events.

So many of the newly debuted ladies didn't even know his face.

"That man is the Duke of Valen?"

The ladies watched him intently.

Desirable...

Rosia also eyed him with a covetous gaze.

"But why is His Grace standing in front of a dress shop?"

At the lady's question, the gazes shifted.

She was right.

The Duke was standing on the street lined with dress shops, engaged in a serious conversation with a man who appeared to be his aide.

He was examining each shop as if appraising them.

At that sight, someone offered a plausible guess.

"Perhaps he plans to demolish this street and build a new one?"

Back   Next