I Became the Regretful Male Lead's Sister (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 9
A few days later, Father returned from an outing in a highly agitated state.
“Max!”
“Brother hasn’t come back from Menisil Manor yet.”
No sooner had I finished speaking than Maximilian entered, one cheek swollen.
“Did someone hit you?”
“……”
“What on earth have you been up to!”
“It’s nothing. Just… just…”
Maximilian, who had seemed about to say something, clamped his mouth shut.
Watching him, the Duke shouted, “You hopeless fool! Enough already! Do you really think acting like this will make her change her mind!”
“Teresa is just misunderstanding things. If she’d only listen to me…”
Maximilian’s expression looked as though Teresa herself were the one who’d betrayed her lover after an affair.
“Misunderstanding? What nonsense!”
As if he’d been waiting for this moment, Father began pouring out all the words he’d held back.
“Do you think I don’t know you’ve been avoiding Teresa constantly? I thought you two would eventually talk things through, but look at you now! Do you even know what I heard out there today?”
“……”
“They say Teresa broke it off because you’ve been running around with this woman and that! They say you take after your mother—you can’t be satisfied with just one woman!”
The unexpectedly harsh accusation stunned both Maximilian and me.
Until now, mentioning our mother’s name had been taboo in our household.
“Must I hear such things? What kind of conduct have you shown all this time!”
“It’s not like that. I’m not like my mother…”
“Enough! I don’t want to hear another word. Tomorrow, I’ll go straight to the Menisil family and call off the engagement—no compensation needed.”
“Father!”
The Duke brushed aside Maximilian’s pleas and stomped back to his room.
Left utterly alone, he wore the face of a man who’d lost his country.
I watched him silently for a moment, then turned away.
It was a fitting end for a fool.
Gazing blankly out the window, I reviewed my next plan.
I wasn’t overly worried about Maximilian’s future. After all, with the backing of a ducal house, what was there to fear?
Instead, I worried about Teresa’s future.
With such a long engagement and so many scandals, marriage wouldn’t be easy for her.
‘Good thing I picked out a husband for her in advance.’
I pondered how I could bring the two of them together.
Nathaniel had been in a foul mood since morning.
It was because the Emperor’s chief steward had come early that morning to inform him of a luncheon appointment.
The news that his entire family had to attend had thoroughly unsettled him.
Gritting his teeth, Nathaniel buried himself in his study, shuffling through documents.
Even as the appointed time drew near, he showed no sign of moving.
Finally, his aide Marcus quietly spoke up.
“Your Highness, if you don’t leave now, you’ll be late.”
Nathaniel’s crimson eyes glared at Marcus, who flinched and gripped the papers in his hand tightly.
“How much time is left?”
“About thirty minutes.”
After closing his eyes briefly and taking a deep breath, Nathaniel rose from his seat.
There was no avoiding it anyway.
He left the east wing and slowly made his way toward the main building.
Every time he passed someone, their furtive glances felt painfully obvious.
“Tch.”
He still wasn’t used to those stares, as if he were some circus freak.
‘If they knew I could actually transform into a real dragon, they’d probably stuff me and put me on display.’
The Empire’s reverence for dragons was immense.
Despite being the eldest son, the fact that he’d kept his position as Crown Prince—despite his mother’s humble origins—owed much to the people’s faith.
Yet Nathaniel didn’t find this particularly welcome.
‘It only brings more trouble.’
To him, being born with dragon blood meant living a life full of restrictions.
When a man resembling a god himself is born, how great must the expectations be?
He recalled the woman who’d treated him like nothing more than a baby animal.
‘She was strange.’
Moreover, she’d boldly proposed a deal to him.
And for the most absurd reason—to help her brother’s fiancée, not for herself or her family.
Remembering Jaina’s audacious face, Nathaniel couldn’t help but smirk.
“Oh, Brother!”
At the sound of his name, Nathaniel turned his head. His youngest brother, Prince Henry, came running and clung to his leg.
“It’s been a while, Henry.”
“Have you been well?”
“I’ve managed.”
Nathaniel patted Henry’s head.
His golden curls—so like their father’s—were now tousled beyond repair.
“Your Highness, Crown Prince.”
“It’s been a long time, Your Majesty, Empress.”
Behind them appeared Empress Millia and Princess Anais.
The Empress forcibly pulled Henry away from Nathaniel’s leg, not even trying to hide her hostility.
“It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen your face—must be terribly busy.”
“You wouldn’t be particularly pleased to see my face anyway.”
“Perhaps I should see for myself?”
The Empress disliked Nathaniel.
Because of him, her own son had never ascended to the position of Crown Prince.
But beyond that, she felt an instinctive aversion.
His black hair and red eyes—revered as sacred by the Empire’s people—filled her with dread.
“You don’t like my face, do you?”
“What are you…”
She also hated that piercing attitude of his, as if he could see right through her.
“Brother, it’s a misunderstanding! Mother said you have nothing worth looking at besides your looks!”
“Henry!”
Anais quickly covered Henry’s mouth, but the damage was already done.
An awkward silence fell among the four of them.
“Hmm? What are you all doing out here?”
It lasted until the Emperor, arriving late, finally spotted them.
The discomfort continued even at the dining table.
Only the Emperor, oblivious to everything, beamed cheerfully.
“Come to think of it, I heard the Winters Viscount broke off his engagement.”
The Empress smoothly brought up the Winters ducal family as a topic.
Considering the family’s wealth and current status, it was a perfect opportunity to draw them to her side.
“Max? That boy, always showing off his face—now he’s lost such a fine young lady.”
The Emperor summed up the broken engagement, recalling Maximilian’s temperament since childhood.
The Empress glanced sharply at Anais, who was quietly eating, then spoke.
“So, Your Majesty—what about Winters Viscount as a match for Anais?”
“Max, that boy?”
The Emperor looked distinctly unimpressed.
He clearly saw through the Empress faction’s scheme to leverage the Winters family’s influence.
He absolutely loathed such scheming.
“I was actually considering his daughter as Crown Princess…”
Hoping inwardly that the Winters ducal house would become a strong ally for the Crown Prince, the Emperor looked at Nathaniel.
His son was cutting his food with astonishing indifference.
“What do you think, Nathaniel?”
“I don’t care who it is.”
“Heh heh.”
The Emperor’s reaction made the Empress seethe with frustration.
She’d brought up the marriage proposal first, yet now someone else was about to get married—she was beside herself.
“Your Majesty, please don’t say that. Anais has secretly admired Winters Viscount for a long time.”
“Me?”
Anais, suddenly addressed by name, blinked anxiously and looked at the Empress.
“Isn’t that right?”
“A-ah… yes… yes.”
Anais stammered, speaking stiffly as if reading from a script.
“I’ve always admired him, but since he had a fiancée, I never said a word.”
With even Anais stepping forward to express her wishes, the Emperor found it hard to refuse.
He felt indebted to her.
When Nathaniel’s birth mother was still alive, the current Empress had been merely the Emperor’s consort.
The two had fiercely battled for the Empress’s seat.
Millia had tried to enter the palace by winning the Emperor’s heart, while the former Empress relied on her powerful relatives to hold her position.
Their tedious struggle only ended when the former Empress grew frail and died, finally allowing Millia to ascend as Empress.
Anais, born while Millia was hiding from the former Empress’s pursuit, had no choice but to endure a miserable childhood.
The Empress exploited this masterfully to sway the Emperor.
“Alright then, I’ll bring it up with them. If they refuse, there’s nothing we can do.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
Knowing the Duke of Winters wasn’t foolish enough to fall for the Empress’s flattery, the Emperor decided to give his provisional consent.
The delighted Empress looked at Nathaniel with smug confidence.
Yet all she could detect on his face was utter boredom.
‘One day, I’ll flatten that nose of yours.’
The Empress made a firm vow as she pushed a piece of meat into her mouth.
Maximilian’s blow seemed far greater than I’d anticipated.
He wandered around the mansion like a complete recluse—something unimaginable to me, having read the original story.
– Teresa… that can’t be.
Occasionally, he’d mutter this to himself alone.
It was pitiful.
But he wasn’t given much time to wallow.
– A marriage proposal came from the Imperial family.
During a gloomy breakfast one morning, Father spoke to Maximilian.
– They wish to marry you to Her Highness Princess Anais.
– I… I can’t. I haven’t received a definite answer from Teresa yet.
– You two are already strangers.
Despite the Duke’s words, Maximilian stubbornly insisted Teresa would never do such a thing.
The tedious back-and-forth resumed, and I, too, gradually grew weary.
‘I thought you’d be overjoyed—why are you clinging on now of all times?’
Not long after, a secret letter arrived from Teresa.
At the end of the calm, composed letter, there was no longer the usual inquiry about Maximilian’s well-being.
Seeing this, I felt a strange sensation.
So it really was over between them.
I immediately sent Teresa a reply.
The letter’s contents were simple.
Someone needed to shatter Maximilian’s absurd delusion.
Maximilian, properly dressed for the first time in ages, waited nervously in the private room of a teahouse.
In his entire life, he’d never felt so anxious and restless.
– Teresa asked to see me once.
Recently, Jaina—who’d been acting like his sworn enemy—had surprisingly done something commendable.
‘If I apologize properly, it’ll be alright.’
All he needed to do that day was admit his words had been too harsh and promise never to repeat such behavior.
After wiping his sweaty palms on his trousers several times, someone knocked on the door.
“Your expected guest has arrived.”
When the door opened, Teresa stood there, wrapped in a robe.
“Teresa!”
“It’s been a while, Max.”
Maximilian offered a brief greeting, but Teresa, seated across from him, felt strangely unfamiliar.
She seemed like a complete stranger.
“Have you been well?”
“I’ve managed. How about you, Max?”
“Well, I…”
After exchanging greetings, an odd silence fell between them.
Maximilian was quite flustered—he’d never experienced such a long silence between them before.
Now that he thought about it, Teresa had always been the one to talk about her daily life while he simply listened.
“Max, if you have nothing to say, may I leave? I’m feeling a bit uncomfortable.”
“Oh, no! I have something important to tell you.”
Realizing anew his own thoughtlessness, Maximilian felt even more remorseful toward Teresa.
He wanted another chance to treat her well.
Not once in all his imagined futures had Teresa ever been absent.
Taking a steadying breath to calm his trembling nerves, Maximilian began the words he’d prepared.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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.]
Hahaha, he really deserves it! What a bastard! I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. Poor Teresa, I think she still loves that filthy bastard.
Oh my God, what an embarrassing situation! Poor Jayna
The Empress is truly vile and disgusting; she doesn’t think about what her children want, but rather controls their lives and imposes her will upon them.