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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: The Worn-Out Male Lead Picked the Wrong Opponent
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Masera stood in front of Cynthia, loading his pistol.
"Follow Dalia and get out of here."
Dalia was slipping out of the banquet hall with Eugene clutched in her arms.
But Cynthia couldn't follow her.
The echoes of gunfire filling the banquet hall faded, along with the clamor, only for tinnitus to start ringing in her head.
"Ah..."
Her sense of reality blurred, and her consciousness grew distant.
It was the onset of war trauma from her previous life.
She, too, had been a victim of war.
"Cynthia!"
Edford tried to catch Cynthia as she staggered and nearly fell, but he was immediately shoved aside, landing flat on his butt.
"Out of the way."
It was a chilling voice that seemed to freeze the very air.
Masera's eyes gleamed with murderous intent.
Feeling the overwhelming pressure, Edford retreated with a face pale with fear.
Masera, supporting Cynthia, felt her hand clutching at his clothes and looked down.
She gazed up at him with a dazed expression. In her panic, Cynthia was seeing her brother from her previous life in him.
Her trembling lips barely moved.
"Oppa, don't go."
Was she calling for Karos? Masera's brow furrowed deeply.
Whether she had an impure relationship with her blood brother or not, it was none of his concern. She wasn't someone he'd spend his life with anyway.
"I'm the same. I fell for you at first sight."
He knew it was a lie she didn't mean.
But the irritation gnawed at him like a shard of glass embedded deep inside.
Then her next words left him puzzled.
"The air raid warning hasn't been lifted."
The war had ended long ago, so what air raid warning out of nowhere?
Her glazed eyes seemed to be looking at another world.
"Don't leave me alone, please."
With a voice full of despair, her hands—like those wandering a nightmare—desperately wrapped around Masera's neck.
He didn't shake off her grip.
"Who are you saying that to?"
No answer came.
As her strength slipped away and she fainted, he felt an indescribable, strange emotion watching her.
That was when it happened.
"Cindy!"
Karos rushed over and grabbed the limp Cynthia. His eyes met Masera's, who held her protectively.
Karos frowned at those oddly colored eyes that irked him.
"Brigadier General, leave Cindy to me and handle the situation quickly."
The two men's gazes clashed sharply.
Karos tried to pull Cynthia toward him, but her body didn't budge.
"You truly care for your siblings, Sir Karos. As the eldest son should."
It was a calm voice laced with edge.
Masera lifted Cynthia into his arms and arrogantly tilted his chin up.
"I'll take care of my wife, so you look after your other sibling."
In the direction he nodded, Edford sat pathetically on the floor.
Karos ground his teeth and turned around.
'Playing the husband when he was just a tool for a transaction out of necessity.'
Of course, Karos had only used Cynthia as a means to an end himself.
Yet for some reason, his gut burned with jealousy.
The moment the gun had fired at Cynthia, his heart had sunk.
'It's like worrying about loaned goods getting damaged.'
Rationalizing it to himself, Karos kicked Edford's butt.
"Stop acting pathetic and get up!"
Meanwhile, Helen watched the scene with an expressionless face.
Her fiancé, the Lecanosa Duke, approached her belatedly.
"Are you alright?"
Helen slowly turned to look at him.
Even amid the chaos, this was in front of high society. No matter how much of a political marriage it was, shouldn't he show at least as much sincerity as the Vicente Brigadier General?
She also didn't like how he'd been staring intently at Cynthia earlier.
"I'm fine. And you, Your Grace?"
She offered words she didn't mean, her gaze turning to the captured Liberty Society remnants.
'Barbarian trash.'
Receiving the duke's escort, Helen sneered at the soldiers.
'At least they'll make an example and handle it, so lowborn commoners won't crash my wedding and cause a scene.'
The Liberty Society members had gotten in here thanks to the Queensguard Count.
She planned to use Masera's hand to eliminate the Liberty Society, as they'd threaten her in the capital's social circles going forward.
'And perhaps... the Vicente Brigadier General thought the same.'
Though he probably hadn't anticipated them sneaking in pistols past the search.
"Gasp."
Was it because of the horrific ordeal? After fainting, I dreamed of my previous life and woke up covered in cold sweat.
"Were you that shocked?"
Raising my head at the low voice, I saw Masera holding me.
"The war... it's over, right?"
The horrors from my past life lingered like afterimages, so I asked even though I knew.
He nodded at my trembling voice.
"Yes, it's been a year since the armistice. Did you have a war dream?"
This world had also recently ended a great war. I shook off the nightmare's residue clinging to my chest.
"H-how long was I out? The engagement ceremony..."
"Ten minutes."
I thought days had passed, but only ten minutes?
I looked around. It was a guest room near the banquet hall.
Kindly evacuating me like a princess. Was he a tsundere type?
Feeling a bit touched, I asked.
"Were you worried about me?"
The moment I asked, my body was flung onto the bed with a thud.
Masera had tossed me onto the bed.
"Yes."
He loosened his tie and answered with a lazy gaze.
Pick one—kind or rude!
"For about three seconds."
Then he pulled something from his pocket and continued softly.
"Until I realized you're quite the skilled liar."
In his hand was the small hand mirror I'd used for the trick.
Had he seen through it? Did he think my fainting was fake too?
His eyes grew colder, making my shoulders tense with anxiety.
"Whatever past you have or whoever else is in your life, I don't care."
Past? Had he figured out my true identity? Did I say something delirious while out?
Seeing his terrifying expression, I shrank back a little.
"Why bring that up all of a sudden..."
"You can use me like you did today. It's mutual, after all."
Did he think today's incident was a self-staged drama by the Queensguard family? Aiming to wipe out the threatening Liberty Society?
Given that this happened in a heavily secured official residence... yeah, it seemed the count had orchestrated it.
My servants must have cooperated.
Relieved he hadn't uncovered my real secret, I sighed—then the bed shook.
He loomed over me as I lay there, looking down.
"But if you keep deceiving me with lies that will inevitably be exposed anyway."
Masera's eyes darkened like the evening glow as he drew closer.
Instead of saying what he'd do then, he pressed the cold gun barrel to my forehead and smiled gently, his eyes curving.
"So, never let me catch you."
I stared back at him, my face drained of color.
I could fool the whole world, but if I couldn't fool this man, it was pointless.
Yet why did his expression show betrayal rather than anger?
As long as the fake wasn't exposed, I could live.
But that also meant I could be killed by the truth when it eventually surfaced.
'This con will end someday.'
The only thing that could stand against harsh truth was genuine human connection.
'Then I'll become that man's genuine feeling.'
My gloved hand touched his cheek.
I forced a smile, recalling how he'd shielded me with his body when I nearly got shot earlier.
He disliked me, but maybe he was starting to like me 10% now.
"So, will you keep saving me from now on? Like earlier."
Since he'd gone through with the unnecessary engagement ceremony, he must plan to preemptively eliminate threats to me.
In the end, you'll fall for me.
Just you wait, future footstool.
"I won't forget what happened today..."
The gun pointed at me must have rattled me, turning my thanks into a vow of revenge.
And with that, I fainted again.
