Eventually, the Female Lead Ran Away (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
“Did you just come out of Deborah’s room?”
Shelley spoke, still keeping her head bowed.
“Yes, my lord.”
“What is she doing right now?”
“She is sleeping.”
“Now? At this hour?”
Zen frowned before Shelley could even answer, raising his voice.
“Why? Is she unwell?”
“No, my lord. She said she stayed up all night and is simply tired.”
“…….”
Covering his mouth with a large hand, Zen fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
“When she wakes, check on her condition. If she’s well, tell her to come see me… No, just ask her to come see me yourself. But if she’s unwell, don’t bother delivering my message—come find me yourself.”
“Understood.”
With a deep sigh, Zen turned and walked back the way he had come. His footsteps were quiet and slow—entirely different from earlier.
Only after Zen had completely disappeared did Shelley quietly release a silent breath of relief.
‘Judging by my lord’s attitude, that young lady is no ordinary maid.’
Shelley wasn’t cunning, but she was pragmatic. Besides, it was already obvious that Deborah ranked above her among the maids.
Thus, there was no harm in keeping a humble demeanor and choosing her words carefully.
“I also hope for your kind guidance.”
Shelley bowed deeply—not like a new maid, but like someone addressing the head maid.
Deborah concealed her awkwardness and thought to herself.
‘She’s drawing a line between us. That line isn’t necessarily bad, but I’d prefer to get along comfortably with everyone.’
They wouldn’t even be together for more than a day or two—if the other treated her like a superior so stiffly, it would become unbearable.
Deborah felt she really needed to discuss this matter with Zen.
Fortunately, Zen had come looking for her first, so she wouldn’t have to endure remarks like, “Is this really why you asked to see me—just to talk about this?”
‘Though I probably won’t escape his nagging. Of all times to visit, it had to be during my nap… Ugh…’
[This is the timeline separator]Deborah was already visiting Zen’s study for the second time that day. Knock knock. She tapped lightly on the door, and Zen’s voice came from inside.
“Who is it?”
“Deborah. I heard you were looking for—”
“Come in.”
Zen answered before she could finish her sentence.
‘How urgent must this be?’
Frowning slightly, Deborah shook her head. What kind of scolding would prick at her conscience this time? And why had he summoned her again?
With uneasy anticipation, Deborah entered the study.
Just a few hours ago, papers had been strewn across the floor, but now everything was spotless. There was no trace of the usual paper dust or tobacco smell—only a cool, refreshing fragrance filled the air.
Yet the stack of documents on the desk had grown far higher than before. Earlier, it had already resembled a massive mountain range, but now…
‘Goodness. When will he ever finish all this?’
Deborah, unaware she’d begun worrying about Zen’s workload, quickly snapped out of it under the sharp, piercing gaze fixed upon her. Who exactly was worrying about whom?
“Good afternoon, Mr. Baker.”
“Yes. Truly a wonderful afternoon.”
Hearing the sarcasm in his tone, Deborah steeled herself inwardly. Here it comes—the scolding! Better keep her expression carefully neutral.
“So, you stayed up all night? For what reason? Was your bed uncomfortable?”
“No.”
“Then why…? Could you be unwell?”
Zen narrowed his eyes sharply, like the tip of a finely honed blade.
“No. I simply stayed up organizing the documents I handed you this morning. My health is perfectly fine.”
One of Zen’s eyebrows twitched.
“You stayed up all night… just for that?”
“Yes.”
“Ha. I was already going to call you in about that very matter, but now that I hear this, it’s even more baffling.”
Zen opened a drawer and pulled out the documents Deborah had given him earlier that morning.
“By any chance… do you have some connection to the Blaise earldom?”
Deborah offered a hesitant smile and blinked slowly.
‘Hmm. What on earth is he talking about all of a sudden?’
She spoke cautiously.
“I don’t understand why you’d ask such a thing out of the blue.”
“Really? I assumed you’d ask for more money since your duties changed, or perhaps some personal time—something like that.”
Zen flipped the two-page document with a flick of his fingers.
“Instead, you wrote: ‘Let me attend Dia Blaise’s governess interview. Do not engage in any wrongdoing. Be as kind as possible to her. And—what else? Allow me to voice my opinions regarding Dia Blaise?’”
Zen spat out the words in a smooth yet biting tone, his stunningly beautiful face twisted into something sinister.
“Did you perhaps dream of becoming a governess?”
The document, barely held between Zen’s fingers, drifted slowly onto the desk.
“But here’s the problem—she’s a grown woman.”
“I know that. But Lady Saint told me she arrived from her family home without a lady’s maid or personal attendant, so she must be feeling very lonely and overwhelmed.”
“And that’s why you went so far? For someone you’ve never even met?”
Zen’s voice dripped with mockery.
Deborah couldn’t blame him for his reaction.
‘Until recently, I refused to even serve as a lady’s maid—I suppose it’s strange to see me so passionate now.’
But she couldn’t back down here. Deborah decided to invoke Lady Saint’s name once more.
“Lady Saint insisted I make this request.”
“Ha. So she cares that deeply about Lady Dia Blaise?”
Zen tapped his chin.
‘Well… honestly, Lady Saint didn’t phrase it exactly like that, but she did ask me to support her, so it’s not entirely untrue.’
Deborah gave a faint, sweet smile and replied,
“Yes. Lady Saint is a very kind person.”
As she spoke, Deborah made a silent vow: from now on, she would act without conscience—if it meant securing Dia’s happiness and everyone else’s, she would shamelessly do whatever it took.
“…Fine. I’ll allow it.”
Zen clenched his fist tightly, the tendons in his hand standing out as if ready to burst.
“But I must ask—what exactly do you mean by ‘do not engage in any wrongdoing’?”
Deborah’s pupils flickered slightly.
Truthfully, she had agonized over including that line. It was undeniably blunt.
But it was also critically important.
Though another woman bearing his child wasn’t the sole reason Dia left him in the future Deborah knew, it was certainly the decisive trigger.
So she’d mustered her courage and slipped it in subtly—only for him to single it out like this.
‘If I don’t explain this well, I’ll come across as a reckless slanderer turning an innocent person into a scoundrel.’
Deborah spoke as she’d rehearsed in the early hours of that morning, hoping the conversation would pass smoothly.
“I’m a principled person—I simply can’t work for a household that lacks virtue.”
“Ha. So you’re openly telling me not to cheat? What do you take me for?”
Zen’s face darkened like an enraged leopard.
True—though in Deborah’s known future, a woman would dramatically appear claiming to carry Zen’s child, that event hadn’t happened yet. So of course Zen would be offended.
‘What am I to do? I can hardly tell him he’ll do something like that in the future.’
Swallowing her tension, Deborah explained slowly.
“It’s not that I doubt your morality, Mr. Baker. It’s merely like… well, even knowing you have the means to pay me five hundred crowns a month, I still worry whether I’ll actually receive my wages—until I’ve signed the employment contract, that is.”
“Ah. So you’re saying you’re not officially employed yet. Hence all that nonsense about leaving.”
Zen crossed his arms with a bitter smile. True to the male lead, even this simple gesture made the fabric around his biceps strain as if about to tear.
“That wasn’t my intention at all.”
‘Not at all…’
Zen stared quietly at Deborah before him.
She stood with her hands folded neatly, wearing a serene smile as calm as autumn wind—radiating such poise she seemed the true master of this place.
Zen didn’t dislike that. Not because of the mention of “Dia,” but despite it.
‘This is truly absurd.’
In truth, his reunion with Deborah was entirely thanks to Dia. Had he not been hiring a maid for her, they likely would never have met again in this lifetime.
Yet he found it irritating—even unpleasant—whenever her name passed Deborah’s lips, while she herself remained utterly unruffled.
‘Anyway, she says she dislikes immorality.’
He didn’t know if Deborah was genuinely virtuous, but he’d known from the start she detested such things.
Thus, he understood that as long as Dia remained by his side, Deborah wouldn’t spare him a glance—no matter how beautifully or devotedly he offered her his love, she’d only look at him with contempt.
‘So not now.’
Zen couldn’t dismiss Dia just yet. Not until he secured Lady Saint’s approval.
If the ever-vindictive Lady Saint learned he’d discarded Dia because of Deborah, there was no telling what she might do.
No matter how fond she was of Deborah, he couldn’t risk endangering her.
‘Debbie must not face even the slightest danger.’
Therefore, Zen needed to quickly deliver results that would satisfy Lady Saint—and ultimately complete his revenge.
Only then could he keep this woman before him.
The woman who still felt like a mirage—the one whose mere presence made him clench his fists to stop himself from reaching out without thinking.
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
Most Commented This Week
Who Spent the Night with the Tower Master (Completed Main Story)
I Decline the Ex-Boyfriend of the Regretful Male Lead (Completed Main Story)
Long Live the Emperor, Minus Me (Completed Main Story)
After Linking the Villainess and Male Lead (5 Chapters Left to Complete)
Captured into the Bedroom of the Enemy Emperor (1 Chapters Left to Complete)
I Became a Supporting Character in a Martial Arts Novel (Completed Main Story)