I’ve Become a S*ave Bride - Chapter 49

As Lenette left the banquet hall, the warriors, including Nazan, immediately followed behind her.

“Are you really going to follow me all the way there?”

Seeing the sharpness in Lenette’s eyes, they hesitated.

“I’m sorry. Just to the front—”

“Are you saying you’ll be able to hear everything from up front?”

“But it could be dangerous—”

“How many guards are there in this palace? Surely, an assassin wouldn’t come here.”

“……”

The warriors, looking troubled, exchanged glances and eventually had no choice but to step back.

“……Understood.”

Having watched from a distance, they knew well that Lenette was in a foul mood.

“I’ll be back soon, so don’t follow me.”

“Okay.”

As Lenette disappeared, Hosanta spoke up.

“Just as Lady Leneta said, this candy palace is renowned for its strict security, right? They’ve even caught assassins before. So, it should be fine.”

“……Well, just in case, let’s not go in and wait here.”

Nazan’s words made the warriors nod in agreement and take their positions.

* * *

Having shaken off the warriors, Lenette headed straight for the restroom.

Honestly, she didn’t really want to go to the restroom, but since she had used it as an excuse, she intended to at least stop by for form’s sake.

Tap.

“Haah.”

Arriving at the restroom in a hurried walk, Lenette closed the door and leaned against it, letting out a sigh.

The restroom was so spacious and luxurious that one could believe it was a room. She had thought the abandoned palace had excellent facilities, but this place was on another level.

“Why is that guy acting like this when he has so much money?”

Earlier at the banquet, Lenette had felt Rahim’s fingertips brush against her several times, which she had thought was an accident but now realized was intentional contact.

“I feel disgusted.”

Lenette grumbled as she washed the areas where Rahim’s hands had touched her.

As she awkwardly washed herself, irritation began to rise again.

“Here I am, dealing with this, while the so-called groom is flirting with another woman.”

And it was his own brother’s fiancée.

“With him leaving me like this, why did he say such things earlier? What? We share the same room?”

In reality, Rahim’s and Kazen’s actions were quite different, and it was a bit ambiguous to label what Kazen and Sabia were doing as ‘flirting.’

Nevertheless, Lenette lumped Kazen in with her criticism.

“Someone who says such things is, huh? Touching his brother’s fiancée’s arm? And why is he showing off the sea again?”

As she spat out her words in rapid succession, she trailed off at the end and bit her lip.

“Just messing with my feelings for no reason…”

There were many more things she wanted to say.

But she swallowed them down.

She didn’t want to admit it.

If someone were to ask what she didn’t want to admit, she wouldn’t have an answer… but still, she didn’t want to admit it.

With her lips drooping, Lenette splashed the water from her palm onto her cheeks to regain her composure.

“Enough. This is actually for the best.”

After all, she was going to run away, right? There was no need to worry about promises about the sea or anything else.

Muttering to herself repeatedly, she placed her hand on the doorknob.

As soon as she opened the door and stepped out, Lenette wiped the irritated expression off her face completely. She had returned to being the original ‘Lenette Claremont.’

However, while her expression had changed, her mood was still not good.

She was simply forcing herself to act more because she disliked how her feelings were becoming her attitude lately.

‘I’ll have to go back and say I’m not feeling well and just leave.’

With that resolution in mind, she started to walk away.

“Lady Leneta.”

An unfamiliar voice called out to her.

“Kazen is looking for you.”

“Kazen?”

“Yes. He said there is something he wants to discuss without any outside interference, so he asked me to bring you quietly.”

At the servant’s report, Lenette’s lips almost curved into a smile without her realizing it.

‘He must feel a bit guilty.’

Even if he had no feelings, he was still officially her fiancé, and it seemed he might feel a bit bad for flirting with another woman on the way to their wedding.

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. He asked to meet only with you, without informing the others.”

The corners of her mouth, which she had tried to suppress, began to rise slightly.

“Okay. Where should I go?”

“Just follow me.”

Turning her body, Lenette followed the servant as she rolled her eyes slightly.

‘Well, to be fair, Sabia and Kazen didn’t have that close of contact either.’

It was true that Kazen had held Sabia’s arms.

However, the way it looked was more like he was supporting a woman who was about to fall rather than an ‘embrace.’

‘Just like Rahim was flirting with me, was she doing the same with Kazen?’

Lost in thought, her pace slowed a bit.

‘Even so, it’s strange.’

While it was odd that Rahim kept flirting with someone else, the most bizarre part was Kazen.

‘If it were the Kazen I’ve known until now, he would have stormed out of the room.’

Yet for some reason, he was only pushing away that woman named Sabia and didn’t leave the banquet hall.

Lenette found that irritating.

‘He usually tells me not to fall for him or something like that.’

He didn’t throw a single cold word at Sabia, whom he barely knew.

‘So annoying.’

Anger surged within her again.

‘Why is he acting so uncharacteristically?’

Just as her lips began to pout and her mood was about to sink again, she suddenly found herself bothered by the words she had muttered to herself.

‘…Wait a minute.’

Lenette furrowed her brow.

‘Not like Kazen?’

That phrase snapped her back to attention.

‘Right… it’s not like Kazen…!’

She wasn’t talking about his attitude toward women!

Lenette slowly lifted her gaze to observe the servant leading the way.

With his pure white attire and unfamiliar face, it was clear to anyone that he was a person from the ‘Candy Palace.’

‘Has Kazen called me through someone other than Nazan?’

Her steps faltered.

‘That’s not at all like Kazen.’

Even when they were in the abandoned palace, he had always communicated with her through Nazan.

But now… he was giving orders to someone who wasn’t even a Hosanta or a guard from the abandoned palace?

Her steps came to a complete halt.

‘……I shouldn’t follow him.’

The servant turned back and asked,

“Why is that?”

Lenette frowned slightly and forced a smile.

“I think I understand why Kazen wants to see me… but what should I do? I left that thing he asked for in my room before the banquet started.”

The servant looked at Lenette with a blank expression.

He silently gazed into her eyes for a moment, then nodded.

“Is that so? Then shall we stop by your room first?”

“I think that would be best.”

Lenette tried to act as naturally as possible.

“Understood. I will guide you.”

As expected, the servant led the way. He turned down a path different from the one they had been going on.

Just as they were about to enter the building where Lenette and Kazen’s rooms were located, a few more servants from the Candy Palace quietly followed behind her.

‘As expected…’

The person looking for her right now wasn’t Kazen. It was definitely Rahim.

‘Perverted bastard.’

She didn’t know his exact intentions, but based on his behavior at the banquet, she could guess it wasn’t for anything wholesome.

At this point, her resentment toward Kazen began to fade. She strongly felt that he too had fallen into a ‘trap.’

“I will wait outside.”

“Okay.”

They arrived in front of the room. Lenette hid her nervousness and opened the door to go inside.

Myaa.

As she entered, a black beast that had been sleeping on the bed stretched out lazily and jumped down to the floor.

“Were you sleeping, Kus?”

Myaa.

Kus rubbed his face against Lenette’s thigh, acting cute.

“Kus.”

As she sat down, she quietly called his name. Kus’s yellow eyes looked straight at her.

Matching her gaze with his, Lenette revealed her troubled expression and whispered,

“There are bad people outside.”

Did he understand those words, or did he read the discomfort on Lenette’s face?

Kus glanced at the door and then at the closed window, baring his teeth and growling.

“Can you protect me?”

Just then, Kus, who had been growling low just moments before, let out a ‘myaa’ sound and nudged his forehead against Lenette’s leg.

He stood beside her as if to guard her.

“Lady Leneta?”

A voice called from outside.

Lenette and Kus exchanged glances.

Looking into his shining yellow eyes, she worried that he might tear the servants apart, but she quickly dismissed that thought.

Kus was an impressively self-controlled beast. She chose to trust him.

“Then I’ll open the door.”

Lenette swung the door wide open. At that moment, Kus leaped forward and pounced on the men standing in front of the door.

“What? What is happening…!”

“Everyone, draw your swords!!”

The men, disguised as servants, pulled daggers from their cloaks.

‘Just as I thought!’

Seeing the servants take an offensive stance, Lenette immediately started to run.

“They’re escaping! Catch them!”

As someone reached for her, Kus charged at the man in an instant.

“Ugh!!”

The force of the charge was so strong that the man was sent flying with a headbutt.

In that moment of shock, Lenette quickly regained her senses and started running again.

‘I have to hurry and let them know, so Kus will be safe!’