Eventually, the Female Lead Ran Away (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 3
Zen, who had said he’d be right back, could only return after thirty minutes.
Thirty minutes—an ambiguous stretch to call “right away,” yet understandable given the vastness of the estate. After all, it took at least five minutes just to walk from the interview room to the main entrance.
“I apologize. It took longer than I expected….”
Zen rushed into the room as though chased by something. His previously disheveled hair and attire were now neatly arranged, elegant and composed.
Deborah offered a faint smile.
“It’s quite all right.”
She hadn’t expected Zen to return her smile. But she assumed he’d at least explain why he’d asked her to wait.
Yet Zen merely stood still, gazing at Deborah like a stone statue—his expression serene, as if lost in a dream.
‘This is awkward.’
Maintaining her gentle smile, Deborah waited for him to speak. It wouldn’t be proper for her to press him.
Then, turning his head so abruptly he showed her his back, Zen said,
“Let’s continue our conversation elsewhere. Follow me.”
Deborah had no desire to move. She feared the discussion would only drag on longer. Yet she couldn’t very well suggest continuing amid the scattered shards of the broken cup.
“Very well.”
At Deborah’s reply, Zen drew a deep breath and opened the door. Stepping into the corridor, Deborah glanced at the empty waiting seats and thought,
‘Could he really have sent everyone away?’
Sending off so many people must have been a task in itself.
There must have been complaints, and explaining future arrangements would have been tiresome too. Suddenly, Deborah felt uneasy. What on earth could Zen want to discuss with her that he’d postponed the interview?
‘No matter how many times I replay our conversation, my answers were perfectly appropriate.’
She had spoken nothing offensive either to that arrogant male lead or to the interviewer.
The only thing she could surmise was that Zen might have some connection to Mr. and Mrs. Heather.
‘Zen reacted when I mentioned the Heathers. Could he know them personally?’
As far as Deborah knew, Mr. and Mrs. Heather hadn’t appeared in the story at all.
‘Then again, just because they weren’t mentioned doesn’t mean they don’t know each other.’
Reflecting on it, the narrative provided shockingly little about Zen. All that was revealed of his past was that he’d been abandoned by his father, lived as a vagrant, and later received aid from a noble that allowed him to start his business.
‘There really wasn’t much explanation. Even if Dia is the protagonist, Zen is still the male lead.’
Within that story, Zen seemed born solely to harbor hatred.
A flame that could burn down mountains yet flickered perilously at the slightest breath—such was Zen.
Beyond the printed page, that flickering flame was loathed intensely. Understandably so, given the magnitude of his sins.
At the time, Deborah hadn’t liked Zen either.
‘Probably not.’
So, when she learned that her new world was one where Zen and Dia were the protagonists, she’d been utterly shocked. To think she’d have to live in a world where such dreadful events unfolded.
‘I’d been reassured so far, believing I’d live a life disconnected from the protagonists—but now, to be pulled in like this.’
Truth be told, Deborah didn’t hate Zen now, separate from her desire to keep her distance. These were two distinct feelings that needed clear distinction.
‘Zen hasn’t personally wronged me. And he hasn’t done anything cruel to Dia—at least, not yet.’
Of course, he’d likely chosen Dia as if selecting a commodity and uttered arrogant words. And if left unchecked, the events Deborah remembered would inevitably occur.
‘But those are crimes that don’t yet exist.’
Thus, she couldn’t condemn or despise him for them.
“……”
The rhythmic click of footsteps echoing down the corridor—suddenly, the heavier pair halted.
When the back guiding her stopped, Deborah froze as well.
“What’s the matter?”
Deborah glanced back at Zen, who had turned slightly toward her.
“……Just checking if you were still following.”
Zen quickly turned his head straight ahead as he replied.
Deborah smiled softly. She hadn’t expected him to worry about something like that.
‘Then again, with those long legs striding freely, it might be hard for someone to keep up.’
Yet Zen walked slowly, with short, measured steps. How could anyone lose sight of that back? Even a child could follow.
“I’m following just fine.”
At Deborah’s words, Zen resumed walking slowly. Deborah started moving again too.
Watching Zen’s back, close enough that she could touch it with an outstretched arm, Deborah briefly imagined a scenario.
‘Even if I turned and ran wildly right now, this man would catch me instantly.’
It was likely true. No matter how desperately her breath burned like fire in her throat, she’d still be caught.
Although, she wasn’t sure if Zen even intended to chase her. At most, he might later send a letter of complaint to Lady Saint.
‘Ah, I really want to run away.’
If it weren’t for Lady Saint, Deborah would have feigned madness and fled from this persistent male lead.
Through her twenty-eight years in this world—and the hazy life before it—she’d learned one thing: even if you seek only a quiet life, you can still be swept into a storm at any moment.
‘After all, it’s entirely possible for someone smiling calmly one moment to vanish from this world the next.’
Knowing that life is inherently perilous, no matter how cautious you are, why must she deliberately walk into a storm—especially one so massive?
Deborah wanted to avoid this tempest at all costs.
[This is the timeline separator]The place Zen led her to was a reception room far too grand for an ordinary interviewee.
Of course, reception rooms were meant for entertaining guests—but decorating this one lavishly with artworks and short-lived blossoms surely wasn’t done for commoners like Deborah.
‘He even lit a fire in the fireplace.’
Was that, too, for her sake? Or for Zen himself, who, despite not feeling the cold, detested it intensely?
‘Even if the fireplace is for Zen, everything else…’
Deborah broke into a cold sweat as she looked at the fine wool blanket on her lap and the elaborate tea set.
A three-tiered tray brimmed with jewel-like desserts, the porcelain came from Royalroad—the same supplier to the royal court—and every teaspoon and fork was pure silver.
‘This is excessive. Far too excessive.’
Enjoying hospitality with a gracious smile was a matter of etiquette, but even so, this was too lavish to touch.
‘And the most excessive of all is this man.’
Deborah watched Zen, who had just busily brought her a blanket and poured her tea himself.
Zen, seemingly uncomfortable on the plush sofa designed to envelop its occupant, kept crossing and uncrossing his legs until both soles pressed flat against the floor.
“Why aren’t you eating? Don’t you like these?”
Zen leaned forward as he spoke. Despite his somewhat restless movements, his voice remained calm.
“Oh, no, it’s not that.”
“Then why aren’t you eating? You must be hungry after waiting so long.”
“It’s simply that everything here is too precious for me to casually partake.”
At Deborah’s gentle smile, Zen raised one eyebrow.
Though not quite a scowl, his dissatisfied expression prompted Deborah to add,
“I’ll eat slowly.”
“……Do as you wish.”
With that, Zen fixed his gaze intently on Deborah’s hands, his eyes demanding they pick something up. With a rueful smile, Deborah grasped the teacup.
‘If I break this, three months’ wages will vanish.’
Her heart fluttered at the thought, yet her movements as she sipped tea remained utterly composed.
Zen watched her, unblinking, as she brought the cup to her lips, his eyes narrowed intently.
After taking just one sip, Deborah looked up at him again—and only then did Zen hurriedly look away. Did he really think Deborah hadn’t noticed?
“Why do you keep looking at me like that?”
Sensing Deborah’s steady gaze, Zen glanced at her again before asking. By the time his short sentence ended, his eyes were already fixed on some point in empty air.
‘That’s what I’d like to ask you.’
Deborah couldn’t understand why Zen was avoiding her gaze—when it was she who wanted to look away.
“What is it you wish to discuss with me?”
Deborah’s voice was soft yet firm. Frowning, Zen parted his smooth lips.
“Why rush? Will your ‘Lady Saint’ be angry if you don’t return quickly?”
Deborah had always thought the ‘Zen’ from the novel would be a fearsome man—not merely irritable, but sensitive and chillingly sharp like the tip of a blade. Yet the Zen before her now resembled a petulant child.
‘So he isn’t frightening…’
But that gaze—flicking away only to steal quick looks back at Deborah’s face—was unmistakably ‘Zen.’ Obsessive and intense, like a burning flame.
“I have many questions to ask you regardless of whether you rush me or not.”
“Feel free to ask them comfortably.”
“Then first—why did you leave the Heather Family ten years ago?”
Caught off guard by the question, Deborah’s smiling face froze.
Ten years—an exceptionally long time. Enough for a child to become an adult, or for an elder to return to God’s embrace.
Like many others, Deborah had lived through a tempestuous decade.
Yet even so, recalling ‘that time’ still left her heart unsettled and her head spinning.
“……”
Staring at Deborah in astonishment as she hesitated, mouth half-open, Zen abruptly turned his head and said,
“…Let me ask another question first. After leaving the Heather Family, where exactly did you go and what did you do?”
Zen’s new question pulled Deborah back one step from her pitch-black past—but also left her feeling sour.
It was perfectly normal for an employer to inquire about a candidate’s work history, yet rarely was it done with such pressing urgency.
‘Anyone watching might think I’d been caught after running away.’
Swallowing her displeasure, Deborah answered calmly,
“I recall listing my work experience on my résumé.”
“I’m asking precisely because your résumé only mentions employment at Lady Saint’s residence.”
Zen pressed forward aggressively. Though it was customary in most interviews—except perhaps those for high-ranking positions in royal or peer households—to list only the most recent role.
‘Does Zen not know that? No, he knows. That’s why he didn’t make an issue of it earlier.’
But now he was stirring trouble.
‘How utterly self-centered.’
Deborah sighed inwardly before replying,
“I worked at a garment factory in Northmartin.”
“Northmartin…? What factory was that?”
“The Zelaman Factory.”
Though Zen had been frowning since earlier, his expression now grew markedly harsher than before.
‘Such displeasure over me working at a garment factory?’
“What’s Zelaman? Don’t lie—its factory was only completed five years ago.”
“That’s correct. I didn’t work there for long. Before that factory, I worked at a restaurant and even lived and labored on a farm…”
“Then why omit all that and mention only the factory?”
Zen’s breathing grew rough. Only the corners of his eyes reddened against his pale face, and Deborah found herself involuntarily locking eyes with him.
Zen took several sharp breaths, then covered his eyes with his large hand. His expression resembled a painting of torment—but now was no time to admire his beauty.
Male lead says he’s pregnant — and it’s female lead’s child
Something seems a bit off about this world.
Wang Zhao thought as she watched a pregnant man walking towards her…
Intro
Female lead finds herself in a world where the men who possess the ability to bear children.
As she navigates this unfamiliar reality, she is caught off guard by the sudden appearance of her boyfriend, who reveals that he is pregnant.
Is this truly her boyfriend?
Why can’t she recall any details about their time together?
She begins to doubt whether the child her boyfriend is carrying is even hers.
Is there a hidden reason behind her amnesia, or could it be a side effect of her sudden arrival in this strange new world?
Just when it seems the protagonist’s life couldn’t become any more entangled, her ex-boyfriend makes an unexpected appearance, raising questions about the protagonist’s past.
__________
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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (4)
Her smile was as faint as a single drop of dye in a clear bottle of water.
I like the FL. She’s so calm and serene
Then she didn’t remember him at all? She said her maiden name was ‘baker’ and the ml was zen baker.
Hm, the fl entered the real deborah and forgot everything? Poor ml
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Blairwoods
He’s arrogant. Asked someone past like he didn’t care about the other person feelings