The Fate of the Perennial Sub Male Lead is in My Hands

Vileon cradled Marienne’s body as she slumped forward. For a moment, Marienne didn’t realise what had happened, only that she was breathing heavily.

Only then did she gasp in surprise and pull away from Vileon.

“Ugh, sorry, uh, huh?”

This time she lost her balance and fell backward. Vileon wrapped an arm around Marienne’s back and asked.

“Don’t you know you’ve been limping on your left leg since earlier?”

“What? My left leg… me?”

So she didn’t know. Vileon let out a small sigh.

“I’ll walk you to the carriage.”

Marienne opened her mouth. Of course she’s going to say it’s okay, she just needs to walk carefully. That she didn’t need Lord Byers to help her.

But he won’t listen, not this time.

Vileon slipped his hand under Marienne’s knee and pulled his aide to him. Marienne squirmed.

“If you stay still, it won’t hurt.”

The words instantly calmed Marienne. Vileon sighed again.

‘You didn’t even realise you were hurt, and now you want to make it easier on me.’

I don’t know how I feel about this. I feel a little angry. Angry, but also upset, bitter, and sorry.

Anyway, I was a silent mess.

“Lord Byers, I’m wearing borrowed clothes, and I’ll have to pay the owner.”

“Chloise went to take care of it.”

“The dress I’m wearing…”

“Chloise will also collect that for you.”

She’s trying to get him to put her down somehow, but it’s no use. Vileon trudged down the stairs on his long legs.

“How did you know about the second basement floor?”

“…”

“You heard something and went down, didn’t you?”

The opera house had two basements and four floors. In addition to foyers, recreation rooms, meeting rooms, a restaurant, and a bar, there are many other indoor spaces. There are plenty of places to hide tiny earrings above ground.

Marienne borrowed some clothes to move around in, and then headed straight for the dark basement that no one else would have thought of. She dug there for over two hours.

There were only two things he thought of.

One is that Marienne Didi was the one who hid the earring. She hid them in an off-the-beaten-path location, kills the right amount of time, and then shows up to say, ‘I found them.’

The other is that she got a tip from the culprit and headed there. And Vileon could bet his life that his aide wasn’t the culprit.

“Aide Didi.”

Vileon called out in a low voice. Marienne lowered her eyes slightly.

“The Princess’ movements tonight were simple. It doesn’t make sense for it to be coming from the second floor unless the earrings has feet. Who is it?”

“…Who could it be?”

Marienne asked in a small voice.

“And what does it matter now, the earrings were found by Lord Byers, and Her Highness has decided not to escalate the matter.”

The search ended when the earrings were found. A search, not an investigation. Still, today’s incident is being treated as a lost earring, not a stolen earring.

The guests who were stranded were on their way out of the Opera House in groups of two and three according to the guidance of the staff.

Vileon looked down at Marienne in his arms.

“I ran into the Duke of Blackwood earlier. When I asked him if it was a stunt, he told me to find it in the darkest, scariest, dirtiest part of the building.”

It was Cain Blackwood again, and it’s easy to see how Marienne would have bravely descended into the basement after getting a clue from him.

“Why didn’t you tell me. Do you think I’m not good enough?”

Marienne jumped, startled.

“Not like that!”

“Careful.”

Vileon cautioned. Marienne instinctively flinched in fear of falling, but it was an unnecessary worry.

Even if Marienne went on a rampage while being held, Vileon was confident he wouldn’t drop her.

“If I tell Lord Byers, the people who are searching will follow him and then… even if we find the earring, we will go against Her Highness’ heart.”

He understood what Marienne meant. The earrings had originally been given to her as a betrothal gift to the Duke of Blackwood.

And now the Duke, her fiancé, had hidden them, causing such a fuss?

That’s the kind of story that gets people talking. At that point, it doesn’t matter if the Duke is sincere.

Even if it started out as a silly prank, by the time it reached the emperor’s ears, it would have been blown out of proportion by the feuding and disloyalty of the Fourth Princess.

This would be the perfect time for the crown prince, who was already fed up with the arrogant duke, to make his move.

Marienne had seen this far. He wrinkled his nose.

“Might as well just let me suffer.”

“I don’t like the conclusion.”

Vileon confessed bluntly.

“Chloise told me you went into the basement wearing a gas mask, and I heard you were crushed under a heavy load.”

“Hmm, so much for that.”

“Marienne.”

Vileon stopped walking. Marienne, cradled in his arms, looked up at him, ready to be scolded.

‘Does she think I’m going to yell at her in this situation?’

Vileon snapped.

‘I don’t think I’m going to punish you, I mean, how.’

I felt a little resentful. I hadn’t been a bad superior to Marienne in the past. I had been stern with her a few times. But the situation called for it.

I’ve only been firm when she’s been overly apologetic, to Vileon himself, for example.

“Thank you for standing up for me. But I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Hmm.”

Marienne looked like she didn’t know what to say in response. The tips of her ears seemed to redden slightly, and she decided that evasion was the way to go.

“Speaking of gas masks, Lord Byers, why don’t you get the theatre owner here to make some ventilation in the basement? It would be great if they could also remove old cobwebs and such.”

He grunted, as if that would bring up the whole curse thing, this way.

At the mention of a curse, they brushed off the idea. It’s just something that came up.

“Understood.”

“That would be fortunate. The building is already quite old…”

“On our way back, we’ll stop by the hospital. If there are any abnormal findings other than a sprained ankle, I won’t let the Duke of Blackwood off the hook.”

“…”

“Wait and see.”

◇ ◆ ◇

Vileon paced the corridor, then looked at his watch. Two-thirty in the morning. Too late to go to his subordinate’s room.

He needed an excuse, something like fetching items necessary for the treatment.

He called out to the maid as she headed for the guest room.

“I’ll do it, you go downstairs and rest.”

The maid handed over the tray. Vileon waited for her to descend the stairs, then cautiously knocked on Marienne’s door.

When he was told to come in, he opened the door and stuck his head in halfway. As expected, Marienne was lying in bed in her full nightgown.

“Aide Didi, it’s me, may I come in?”

“… Lord Byers?”

“Don’t move, and watch your ankles.”

Marienne froze in an ambiguous state, neither sitting up nor lying down. Vileon set the tray down on the table, deliberately far from the bed.

As he unscrewed the stopper on the poultice pouch and poured in the hot water, he heard Marienne’s voice behind him.

“Are you up yet?”

“I always sleep late.”

“…You shouldn’t.”

He could feel Marienne stirring. She was trying to wrap the thin blanket around herself as a shawl. Vileon moved as slowly as he could.

If the maid had come as she was supposed to, Marienne wouldn’t have had to bother covering herself.

A poultice with a superior. Vileon thought to himself that it would have been rather uncomfortable.

‘But I was so nervous, I couldn’t let it go without seeing for myself…’

He couldn’t resist.

On their way back from the opera house, they stopped by the hospital. It was already past midnight. Vileon woke up the doctor, who had just gone to bed, and made him examine her.

The doctor prescribed Marienne some ointment for the abrasions and a small dose of painkillers. Both doctor and patient had a look on their faces that said, ‘This is not necessary.’

As Chloe, who was waiting in the carriage, saw the envelope in her brother’s hand, she murmured, “So you finally opened the letter.”

Only Vileon looked serious from start to finish.

Marienne asked.

“You took the cold medicine as soon as you got home, didn’t you?”

“I did as my aide told me.”

Vileon screwed the stopper on his canteen. Thinking that was enough, he turned around and saw Marienne still in her nightgown.

Vileon was a little embarrassed. She wasn’t going to put on a blanket?

“Please give me the water pouch.”

Marienne extended her hand. Vileon, with a bewildered expression, handed her the water pouch. The warm water pouch slipped beneath Marienne’s waist.

“Ah, it’s a lifesaver….”

Marienne let out a languid sigh. As prescribed by the doctor, Marienne was applying a cold compress to her sprained left ankle on a cushion.

If she continued to carry heavy loads, the doctor added a warm compress for her lower back.

‘Oh, I forgot to put a cushion on her back.’

He realised why Marienne had been fidgeting earlier. She wasn’t trying to cover herself, she was trying to make herself comfortable.

“I know it’s late, but I’m worried about you.”

“My sweet, concerned Lord Byers.”

Marienne purred, the tension draining from her body in the warmth.

“I’m fine, the doctor says I’m fine, and by tomorrow I’ll probably be running around.”

“Are you kidding? Rest without moving for three days.”

“Who told you.”

Marienne puffed out her cheeks.

“Actually, it was Lord Byers who was supposed to see the doctor earlier. You should have been prescribed something stronger than the cold medicine in the manor.”

“I’m not sick.”

“Why?”

Marienne, who had asked the question, answered.

“Because you took the medicine. But you were coughing at the show, and your throat kept closing up…”

“I just remembered that.”

Vileon said.

“The lemon tea the aide gave me before the show. It had a bitter aftertaste for some reason, but when I went to the kitchen earlier, the maid served me the exact same combination.”

“Ah.”

Marienne made a gesture of biting the tip of her tongue.

“I’ve been caught.”

“You’re not even going to pretend not to now?”

“Why would I?”

The rabbit-like aide laughed a little smugly.

“So you’re going to scold me?”

I guess when people are too cute, it makes your stomach turn.

Vileon hid his expression by pretending to rub his forehead. The muscles at the corners of his mouth suddenly felt out of control.

“Are you feverish?”

Marienne narrowed her eyes.

“Even with the medicine?”

“Oh, no. I don’t have a fever.”

“Are you sure you don’t have a fever? You’re not lying to me, are you?”

I’m lying, but in a different way. I can’t admit that I forgot what I was going to say in the moment because you were too cute.

Vileon smiled, locking eyes with Marienne.

“I’m fine. I won’t work until dawn today and will go to bed right away. Aide Didi secretly gave me cold medicine and took care of me, so I should lie down and not get sick.”

“Good thinking!”

Marienne smiled broadly. Then the rabbit-like aide’s face seemed to burst into bloom around the edges.

Vileon quickly averted his gaze. Maybe Marienne was right. Perhaps he was really enduring with the power of the medicine, even though he was truly in pain.

A hallucination?