IESM 10

I Ended Up in a Shotgun Marriage with the Male Lead

Chapter 10

“C-Cough! Hey, you! Let’s get going, now!”

“Y-Yes. Understood.”

The moment the men met her eyes, they looked flustered and hurried past the door.

Emilia continued pretending to complain to her lover until the sound of their footsteps had completely disappeared. Only then did she stop acting.

She squeezed her eyes shut and thought to herself,

I want to die of embarrassment…

Still, she did her best to act as though nothing had happened and whispered,

“I-I think they’ve gone now.”

But no reply came from Kaiden.

What?

Just as Emilia was about to call him again with a puzzled expression, Kaiden’s body suddenly lurched toward her.

“Ah!”

Unable to withstand his weight, Emilia fell backward with him on top of her.

“E-Excuse me?”

Startled, she called out to him.

But Kaiden didn’t move an inch.

With great effort, Emilia managed to crawl out from beneath him.

He’s okay… right?

Since he wasn’t answering and lay there as still as a corpse, it seemed he had lost consciousness again.

Emilia wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and straightened her clothes.

Well… I guess it’s actually better that he fainted. How was I supposed to face him after that?

As she checked on Kaiden, some time passed.

Soon, she heard the screech of the train wheels.

It was the signal that the train would soon stop.

The train would remain at the station for about fifteen minutes.

I’d better hurry.

Emilia quietly got to her feet.

Although the immediate danger had passed, they still weren’t safe.

She first looked through the small window in the door and checked the corridor.

Only after confirming there wasn’t a single person nearby did she carefully open the door.

The aide had green hair, right?

Emilia turned her gaze toward the train window.

The platform scenery swept rapidly past.

Green hair… green hair…

Then she spotted a group gathered around a man with green hair, and her eyes widened.

That’s him!

The moment the train stopped, she jumped off and hurried toward the man.

Several sturdy men stood behind him.

They were probably Kaiden’s knights.

“Excuse me!”

“…Who are you?”

Emilia called out to the man, breathing heavily.

Meanwhile, Harold, Kaiden’s aide, looked at her with wary eyes.

Normally, he would have been delighted that such a cute young woman had shown interest in him and would have greeted her warmly—

Unfortunately, this was hardly the time for that.

Then, an unexpected sentence came from the woman’s mouth.

“You’re Aide Harold, aren’t you?”

“How do you know who I am?”

Though slightly surprised, he remained on guard.

In response, Emilia quickly held out Kaiden’s pocket watch.

“One of your companions has been injured and can’t move. I’ll take you to him!”

Her urgent words made Harold’s eyes fly open.

* * *

After confirming the pocket watch, Harold’s expression immediately changed.

First, he sent several knights to the location Emilia had described.

Then he ordered the remaining knights to ambush the men disguised as railway staff.

Fortunately, because Emilia had described their appearances in detail, they found them almost immediately.

Just before the train departed for the next station—

They managed, by the narrowest of margins, to rescue the unconscious Kaiden and Ivan, who was drenched in sweat inside the suitcase.

And so, now—

Emilia was standing outside the station with them.

“We are deeply indebted to your kindness. On His Grace’s behalf, allow me to express our gratitude.”

After thanking her repeatedly, Harold briefly explained the situation.

For example, the man she had helped was Duke Valen of the Empire.

And Ivan was a child from his branch family, whose life had been threatened by a malicious relative.

“How could something like that…”

Although she appreciated the explanation, Emilia honestly felt a little awkward.

She had to pretend to be shocked upon learning Kaiden’s identity.

Fortunately, Harold seemed to think her troubled expression was simply surprise at what he had told her.

“By the way, were those injuries sustained while saving His Grace?”

After observing her face, Harold asked cautiously.

“Huh?”

Caught off guard, Emilia blinked in confusion.

Injuries?

Wondering if Kaiden’s blood had gotten on her face, she touched it—only to feel her split lip.

Oh… He’s talking about the injury Cedric gave me.

I made good use of it earlier and completely forgot about it.

Emilia waved her hand as if it were nothing.

“I already had this.”

“You already had it?”

Harold’s expression became even more serious than before.

…Now that I think about it, that sounded a little strange.

Feeling she’d said the wrong thing, Emilia let out an awkward laugh and quickly added,

“No, anyway… This has nothing to do with what happened earlier, so you don’t need to worry about it.”

Just as she tried to change the subject, she felt someone tugging on the hem of her clothes.

“Hm?”

Ivan, who had been standing among the knights, had somehow walked over and was looking up at her.

“[Name! Name!]”

“Oh, you want to know my name?”

“Mhm!”

Ivan nodded eagerly.

Come to think of it, she had only asked for the child’s name without ever telling him hers.

There simply wasn’t time.

Lowering herself to his eye level, Emilia slowly spoke.

“I’m Emilia. My name is Emilia.”

“Emilia…”

Ivan softly repeated it, as though committing it to memory.

Then he suddenly lifted his head and threw his arms tightly around Emilia’s neck.

“[Thank you!] Emilia!”

Emilia’s eyes widened at the child’s sudden embrace.

A moment later, she hugged him back.

After a while, she gently let him go and brushed back the sweat-soaked hair from his forehead.

Normally, it should have felt sticky and unpleasant.

But instead, she was happy.

Because it was proof that this child had survived instead of meeting the fate he had in the original story.

“[No.] If anything, I’m the one who’s [thankful.]”

Ivan’s eyes grew wide after hearing her words.

“[You’re… thankful?]”

“Yes. I truly am.”

Emilia smiled softly and stood back up.

At that moment, Harold quickly spoke again.

He intended to renew the offer he had made earlier.

“Are you really planning to leave just like this? Why not accompany us to the capital? There won’t be any more danger. And of course, we’ll reward you generously.”

“No, thank you.”

Emilia shook her head and politely declined.

She hadn’t thanked Ivan out of politeness.

It was true that things had become difficult because the original story had changed—

But in return, that child now had a future.

Just thinking about that alone was enough to comfort her.

So she didn’t need any reward.

“Then take care, Ivan.”

After giving him one last warm farewell, Emilia left without a trace of hesitation.

Watching her walk away, Harold muttered to himself,

“No way… She heard who His Grace is and she’s still leaving?”

Even the most distinguished ladies in high society tried every possible way to become connected to his master.

They treated even the slightest brush of sleeves with him as something profoundly meaningful.

That woman had even saved his life, meaning she could have asked for almost any reward she wanted…

If it had been Harold, he would have spent days plotting how to empty Kaiden’s pockets.

Harold shrugged in amazement as he watched the woman walk away with such refreshing ease.