The Gloomy Sub Male Lead Is My Boss - Chapter 1

How could a man consumed by the desire for power spare a glance for a subordinate woman who offered him no advantage?

‘I know my place.’

She had lost her parents to monsters as a child. Wars flared along the borders, and to survive she had worked menial jobs for the army.

Then, at fifteen, the day she was dragged away by soldiers simply for being female, she met the master of her life.

Thanks to Prince Cassiel she had kept both her body and her life. More than that—without him, her small existence would have ended wandering the streets. He took her in, educated her, and set her to assist in his work.

‘The reason I can wear clean clothes and never worry about hunger is all because of His Highness’s protection.’

Adne once again swallowed the throbbing ache that came with realizing she had dared to reach for someone beyond her grasp.

She tried to erase her feelings, but when she felt a sudden gaze and lifted her head, their eyes met.

“…Is there something you wish to say?”

“Have you nothing to tell me?”

“……”

Adne glanced sidelong at Sir Deon. But he only scratched his cheek in confusion, unable to guess their superior’s sudden intention.

What could I possibly have to say?

She racked her brain, but a guilty person has no words.

He couldn’t have found out, could he?

Last night, after following him into the room where he was resting, she had lit the sleeping incense she’d prepared and put him to sleep.

Prince Cassiel was whispered about as a monster, said to have a beastlike willpower and a body beyond human limits. Because of that, a dose of sleeping incense deadly to ordinary people had to be given hundreds of times stronger to affect him.

‘Still, the incense should have worked.’

Otherwise, he never would have stayed still when she kissed him.

There was no way he had discovered it.

Even Prince Cassiel, said to be less than human, had certainly succumbed to the sleeping incense.

“What is it you wish me to say, Your Highness?”

“At the party you left me asleep and slipped away, didn’t you? Should a prince of the empire have to endure the scorn of nobles after foolishly wandering about looking for his secretary?”

There were, of course, no nobles who would ever dare to scorn the second in line to the throne.

Adne bowed her head and quickly apologized.

“…I am sorry. Something came up suddenly last night…”

Deon broke in, incredulous.

“You really left His Highness alone? After clinging to him like a favorite doll all this time? Don’t tell me… you were having a secret tryst?!”

“What? Ah… y-yes. I was talking with a gentleman and… I made a mistake. I am truly sorry.”

Even as she kept apologizing, Cassiel’s face grew steadily harder. Sensing her superior’s darkening mood, Adne felt the atmosphere sink around them.

“You were with a man?”

“Yes…”

Rather than let the truth—that she had drugged him and stolen a kiss—be discovered, Adne chose a lie instead.

“Did you sleep with him?”

“Uh… Your Highness… that seems a bit improper.”

Deon quickly rebuked the prince for his rudeness. Years of surviving battles together allowed him that much boldness.

“Sir Deon, why are you still here? Do you not intend to report for duty?”

“Ahem, I was just on my way.”

Cassiel gave him a cold, dismissive look, but Deon only shrugged with an easy grin.

“In any case, our secretary should experience love too. Don’t scold her so much.”

“Sir Deon.”

“I’m going, I’m going. Off to the Knights’ headquarters.”

At his master’s far sharper order, Deon finally rose and left in haste.

Only after he departed did Adne shake her head nervously.

“There was nothing as Your Highness imagines… I only failed to fulfill my duties properly as a secretary. I am deeply sorry.”

Prince Cassiel gazed down at her in silence, then tapped the armrest of the sofa with his fingertips. The low, steady sound felt like the blade of a guillotine, sending a shiver through her.

“Adne, how old are you this year?”

“…Twenty.”

In the Arkelo Empire, adulthood began at eighteen. She had been an adult for two years. There was nothing improper about meeting a man, spending the night, even a secret tryst.

But she had been on duty that night. Serving the empire’s prince.

‘I was too distracted by what I’d done…’

She had believed she worked tirelessly to repay all the grace he had shown her, yet last night she had abandoned her post and returned alone. The shame bit deep; she bit her lip and endured his displeasure.

“…So I’m not the only one you’ve done such things with?”

His quiet words, spoken while idly tracing the carved pattern on the armrest, chilled her.

“What?”

“Right. It’s about time you started mating.”

“…Pardon?”

“But Adne, I will be the one to choose your mate. So don’t go running around with men as if you’re in heat.”

“…Heat… mating… W-wait, my lord! Surely you don’t mean me?”

So startled, she even blurted out the old household form of address.

“Yes.”

Cassiel nodded calmly, and Adne’s eyes went wide. Noticing, the prince’s perfectly sculpted brow furrowed slightly.

“Even animals go into heat. As a human you might come into it sooner. Since I am your master, I will find you a partner. So behave yourself. Understood?”

“No, that’s not it at all! Heat, mating season—none of that! I was only having a conversation, nothing more.”

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I, as your master, should have prepared sooner. I realized too late that you were in heat.”

“…?”

Adne felt tears prick her eyes in mortification. How had their conversation come to this—how had it turned to her supposed heat and mating?

But Cassiel, as if relieved, gave a strikingly beautiful smile.

“So do as I say. You’ll promise, won’t you? You’re a good girl.”

“…Yes.”

She silently vowed she would never keep such a promise, but the moment she saw that bright, dazzling smile, she thought, what harm could one small promise do?

More than anything, seeing her beloved character in such a good mood made her happy too.

And… she was curious.

What kind of person would he choose as the mate he deemed fit for her?

Of course she still liked him. But once she accepted that this was the world inside a book and that he would never choose her, her heart strangely felt lighter.

Right—there was that saying.
Don’t even look at a tree you can’t climb.

‘Maybe I’m quicker at letting go than I thought.’

All the better. A fast goodbye was good for both of them, especially for someone who had already chosen to betray him.

‘But… I told Sir Deon I had a lover. What am I going to do about that?’

She clenched her head in silent frustration as she poured tea for the prince, who seemed to be in a pleasant mood. His low, rich voice slid softly into her ears.

“Come to think of it, the young lady’s birthday banquet is tomorrow. Have you prepared a gift?”

“Yes. Secretary Dian has prepared a jewel called the Blue Tear from a distant land.”

“Good. That should be something the Pasent family can’t refuse.”

Not only could they not refuse it—they would probably feel humbled the moment they received it.

The Blue Tear that Secretary Dian had procured was said to be a precious stone formed from the tears of a foreign fairy a million years ago. One such gem was worth enough to buy an entire castle. More than that, it was a one-of-a-kind treasure that no amount of money could easily obtain.

‘Speaking of which… what gift did Prince Rachel bring in the original story…?’

It wasn’t anything that extravagant, was it?

The heroine received presents from both men at the banquet. Both gifts were jewels, but the one that captured her heart was an emerald the color of her own eyes.

‘They won’t end up together anyway…’

Adne gave a small, decisive nod.

Seeing this, Cassiel, who was drinking tea like the very model of a refined noble, lifted one eyebrow slightly.

“May I step out for a while?”

While Secretary Dian handled the Second Prince’s overall affairs, including the Armenes Knights, Adne’s duties as secretary were to gather and manage information from parties and banquets.

So visiting a jeweler for the banquet was well within her work.

She expected him to agree, but his expression shifted oddly.

“Why? Tell me who you’re going to meet.”

“I’m not meeting anyone. I just need to stop by a jeweler.”

“And why a jeweler?”

“…To prepare one more birthday gift for the young lady.”

“Secretary Dian has already prepared a gift. Why are you preparing another? That makes no sense.”

No sense indeed! Adne forced a bright smile and added an explanation.

“I paid a high price to an information broker and learned that the young lady likes emeralds that match her eye color. Of course, I only obtained this after the secretary bought his gift. If I go to the jeweler now, I can still get one.”

“Information broker? Who is that?”

“…An agent from the information guild…”

“A man?”

The information guild wasn’t without women, but most brokers were men.

Of course, she hadn’t learned this from any broker—she knew it because she had read the original story. But she couldn’t exactly say that, so she gave a reluctant nod.

Bang!

A sharp crack split the air as the teacup hit the table.

Startled, Adne quickly checked the cup. Thankfully it was intact.

“Captain! What if you’d cut your hand?”

“I’ve had my limbs torn apart in war. And you worry about something like this? Do you think I’m made of glass?”

“Because I worry about you.”

“Don’t dodge the question. What did you and that man talk about? Why? Was he the one you were meeting in secret?”

“No! I’ve never even seen the broker face to face!”

“If that’s a lie…”

At his deadly mutter, Adne put on a look of innocence. Suspicion burned in those golden eyes, as if burying all their brilliance.

“It’s true! Remember what I promised. Unless it’s a partner Your Highness finds for me, I won’t mate or even go into heat. So you don’t have to worry.”

“…Fine. I’ll trust my secretary.”

“Then… may I go?”

I need to get to the jeweler quickly.

There may be others trying to buy it.

I have to act before someone else does.

In her haste, she threw on her coat and was about to head out when the prince, who had been sitting on the sofa, rose to his feet.

As captain of the Armenes Knights, it was odd for him to be sitting around her office so early in the morning.

She waited for her superior to leave first, but then, out of nowhere, he suggested accompanying her.

“I’ll go with you.”

“What? Oh, no, that’s not necessary. I can go alone.”

She waved her hands in a rush, but the prince ignored her words and strode out the door.

* * *

The moment they arrived at the jeweler’s, Adne spotted it at once—a heart-shaped necklace of emerald green, the same color as the young lady’s eyes, cut with exquisite precision.

She hurried to grab it, but another hand suddenly covered hers.

“Well now. My apologies, but I intended to buy that first.”

“……”

She hadn’t realized it by voice alone, but when she saw the man, Adne couldn’t hide her surprise.

He looked like an ordinary young man. His dull brown hair was rough and shaggy, long enough to cover his eyes. Freckles spotted his cheeks, and his sun-darkened skin suggested long hours outdoors.

To run into him here, like this.

Normally, she never would have known.

‘First Prince Rachel…!’

He had taken a magic potion to change his hair color and hidden his face with an illusion, appearing like an unremarkable youth. She remembered passages describing how he often slipped out in this guise.

‘If I hadn’t remembered the book, even I would have been fooled.’

As a subordinate of the man standing opposite to Rachel, Adne was tasked with keeping constant watch on the First Prince. Yet even she hadn’t known of this secret outing.

She glanced quickly behind her.

She meant to check on Cassiel, who stood there motionless.

“As I thought. You came here to meet this man, didn’t you? Holding hands so tenderly!”

Far from realizing the truth, he was spouting nonsense.