I Decline the Ex-Boyfriend of the Regretful Male Lead (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 3
Serdis’s flustered expression was quite a sight to behold. Perhaps because he was the male lead, everything he did looked dramatically good.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden, Anette? Marriage?”
“I intended to tell Your Highness yesterday, but I collapsed so abruptly that I couldn’t get a word in.”
Marriage was the only solution I could squeeze out.
Who was it that said marriage is the only true escape?
That statement truly is a proverb.
Marriage alone was the surest way to cut ties with the male lead.
Even Serdis, who loved Anette deeply, surely wasn’t so despicable as to pursue a woman who was already engaged.
Shocked by this unbelievable news, Serdis forced one corner of his trembling lips upward.
“You’re joking, right? Anette…?”
“Why would I joke with His Highness the Crown Prince? We’re far too close for that…”
“…”
Seeing Serdis remain silent, I awkwardly glanced around—and locked eyes with Betty, who stood with her mouth agape. I gave her a quick wink.
Betty, who had been rolling her eyes in exasperation, reluctantly cried out, “Yes! That’s right!”
Serdis asked in a troubled voice, “I haven’t heard anything like this from the Count.”
“It’s a hastily arranged marriage. I’m of age already—shouldn’t I marry before it’s too late?”
“The other party… who is it? Someone I know?”
“You might know them—or you might not.”
Serdis’s eyebrows twitched violently once.
“It’s only been a year since your coming-of-age ceremony—isn’t this too hasty? Couldn’t you take a little more time…”
“No. My mind is already made up.”
“This is surprising. You never showed any interest in men before.”
“He’s truly a wonderful person.”
I opened the drawer and picked up a stack of letters. Pretending they were love letters exchanged with a lover, I watched his pupils shake violently. Meanwhile, thoughts of my longtime pen pal calmed my own heart.
“I hope Your Highness finds someone wonderful too.”
His pitiful expression stirred a twinge of guilt in me, but I quickly brushed it aside. This was good for both of us—I’d be safe, and Serdis would lose one of his many excuses to act recklessly.
“I can’t believe it…”
I easily ignored his quiet muttering.
Grinning cheerfully, I picked up a macaron and took a large bite. At that exact moment, Serdis urgently reached toward me.
“Wait!”
Just as I’d suspected—crunch. Something hard and round—I’d bitten into a ring. Apparently, he’d planned to confess after meeting me only a few times.
‘What an outdated trick.’
I pulled the ring from my mouth and said casually, “Looks like the pastry chef dropped their wedding ring while making macarons.”
[This is the timeline separator]Serdis stood dazed for a long while before returning to the imperial palace. As soon as he left, I changed into my nightclothes and headed to the drawing room.
“Father! Mother!”
My loud voice echoed through the peaceful Leangberia manor, where a gentle piano melody floated in the air.
Inside the drawing room, Mother was watching with satisfaction as a young painter she sponsored worked on a canvas. Father, ever the romantic, observed Mother over the top of his book.
“I need to talk to you both for a moment.”
At my urgent words, all three of them—including the painter—turned toward me. Mother spoke first.
“Anette, how are you feeling?”
“I’m perfectly fine now, and I’ve taken medicine too. I haven’t had breakfast yet, but I came because I have something urgent to say.”
“We were so worried! We thought things had quieted down lately, but then you collapsed outside—what if something terrible had happened?”
“I’ll dress more warmly from now on, and I’ll visit the temple too. But right now, there’s something far more important.”
Hearing my rushed words, Father sensed something unusual and approached.
“Did something happen with His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“It’s not entirely unrelated.”
“But Anette, your makeup is far too heavy again today.”
Father scolded me, eyeing my vividly red lips—applied to mask my pained expression.
“Dad—I mean, Father—it’s not about the makeup.”
“What could possibly be more important than the health of my only daughter?”
I tightly linked arms with Father, who was always firmly on my side.
At this point, I really had to get married. Exposure was only a matter of time. If I wanted to sever things decisively, marriage was the only sure way.
With resolve, I looked between them and said,
“Please find one person for me.”
To pull off a real marriage, I needed bait—something to divert my parents’ attention.
It was the only choice to convince my parents, who only wished for their last remaining daughter’s happiness, to accept this sudden marriage.
“Anette, explain clearly. Whom exactly are you asking us to find?”
I took out an envelope I’d brought from my room and showed it to them. The sender’s name was written on it.
“Cassian?”
Father tilted his head, slowly repeating the three-syllable name. Mother recognized it instantly.
“This is the friend you’ve been exchanging letters with regularly, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Please find Cassian.”
Cassian.
When thinking of someone to convince my parents—who knew I had no opposite-sex friends—I recalled him: my only male friend.
He’d been my pen pal for a long time, undoubtedly the young man in this world who knew me best. Of course, I’d never seen his face or heard his voice.
“Anette, why not just contact his family? You both attended the same academy, right?”
“I don’t know which family he belongs to.”
Cassian had appeared like a comet during my hardest days—just before my older brother Lian passed away—to comfort me. Those anonymous letters left in my academy locker… I ignored them a few times, but one day, as I was about to tear one up, I accidentally read its contents and burst into tears.
It wasn’t generic consolation—it felt as if he’d truly looked into my heart. After that, I found myself waiting for his letters without realizing it. Even after Lian left this world, Cassian remained a good friend to me.
Thus, for five years, we continued exchanging letters without knowing each other’s faces or families.
Since he always avoided talking about his lineage, I never pressed him—and so I still didn’t know his true identity.
“You said you didn’t want to find him. Now you’re curious?”
“I think it’s time we met.”
“Hmm.”
Mother folded her arms and rolled her eyes.
“Cassian… that name sounds familiar.”
“The second son of House Serentina was named Cassian, if I recall.”
“Yes! House Serentina—but I heard he died in an accident a few years ago. Yet didn’t someone named Cassian just inherit the title of Viscount Bilvert?”
“That’s correct.”
Cassian was simply that common a name.
My parents rubbed their temples, trying to recall anyone named Cassian. I offered the information I had to their frustrated efforts.
“He’s two years older than me. The problem is, there were four Cassians in his year at Marcahba Academy.”
Though I never asked in letters, after three years without seeing his face even once, naturally I grew curious. Wanting at least to know his family, I inquired at the academy—but was only told there were four people with that name. Excluding Serentina, as Mother said, left three.
“House Bilvert. House Melisen. House Gohort, I believe.”
“It would be impolite to contact all three houses individually. What about asking Cassian directly?”
At Mother’s suggestion, I shook my head with a troubled expression.
In truth, it had been over a month since his last letter arrived. He’d mentioned being busy with matters in his domain, but this was the first time his letters had stopped for so long.
“I can’t reach him.”
Anxious, my fingers instinctively moved toward my mouth. Mother gently grasped my hand, stopping my nervous habit of biting my nails.
“You’re still young—it’s natural to feel uneasy when you can’t contact a friend.”
Father also came closer, stroking my head with eyes full of pure affection.
“I’ll have someone look into it, so don’t worry too much, Anette. Just wait patiently.”
“No, I can’t wait patiently.”
“Is there another reason?”
Smiling brightly in response to Mother’s kind smile, I said cheerfully,
“Because I’m going to marry Cassian.”
The two pairs of eyes that had been fondly listening to their youngest daughter’s tale instantly clouded with shock.
“What do you mean, marriage out of the blue?”
“Father, Mother—you’ve always wanted me to marry. I should start a family before it’s too late.”
Father immediately sensed something was wrong and asked in a bewildered tone,
“You’d marry someone whose family you don’t even know? Someone whose face you’ve never seen?”
Before Father could scold me further, I quickly blurted out my prepared words.
“Yes. It doesn’t matter that I haven’t seen his face. Arranged marriages often happen between strangers, don’t they? And Cassian has been my close friend through letters for a long time.”
“What about His Highness the Crown Prince?”
At the mention of the crown prince, Serdis’s face flashed through my mind. Recalling his perfect features—now enough to trigger revulsion—my lips stiffened.
“His Highness is not my match.”
“But just yesterday you were excited about your date with the Crown Prince—you even wore that new thin dress and ended up collapsing!”
That was true. Until yesterday, I’d been a girl whose heart fluttered at the thought of a future with handsome Serdis.
Because until then, I hadn’t known my future—hadn’t known that my family would be ruined simply by meeting the wrong man.
Marriage to the Margrave.
Fine. Since I had no interest in men anyway, it didn’t matter who the groom was.
But after marrying the Margrave, Anette would be murdered by his son, and her family would fall for some unknown reason. And as if that weren’t enough, her parents’ bodies would be publicly displayed in the capital square.
Truthfully, Anette wasn’t even a villain—it was all her own fault.
Now, I didn’t care what happened to my own body.
But I couldn’t bear to see my family hurt because of me. They’d shown warmth to me, who’d spent so long alone before my reincarnation. For the sake of my parents, who lost a son and now lay sleepless worrying over their only remaining daughter, I absolutely had to cut ties with the male lead.
“It was just excitement from going out after so long—not because of the Crown Prince.”
I immediately denied Father’s words. He looked at me with a heavy gaze, unused to seeing his usually obedient daughter act so strangely.
“Anette, yesterday it seemed clear His Highness holds you in high regard.”
As expected, Father’s words trying to link Serdis and me left a bitter taste in my mouth. I deliberately looked away and feigned ignorance.
“Is that so? I wouldn’t know. I have no interest.”
“Your feelings might change if you meet often.”
“That won’t happen.”
Father wet his dry lips with a nervous expression.
Of course he’d feel that way.
After all, the suitor I’d proposed for marriage belonged to—
House Bilvert.
House Gohort.
House Melisen.
None of these were particularly distinguished families.
And the alternative suitor was the Crown Prince—the first in line to the throne.
What noble house would refuse if their daughter could become Empress?
“If it’s His Highness Serdis, I’d feel at ease. He clearly cherishes and loves you, and his character is impeccable.”
Mother also stroked my head, speaking calmly in a soothing tone.
“I dislike His Highness. Even if it’s unlikely, if he ever chose me as his consort, being trapped in the palace would be dreadful.”
“Anette, did something happen with the Crown Prince?”
“Nothing happened. I just realized after meeting him that he’s not my match.”
I shook my head vigorously, as if repulsed. As if I hated Serdis to death. But Father, oblivious to his daughter’s true feelings, continued,
“Don’t think so negatively. At least meet him casually. Feelings often grow through meetings—your mother and I were just like that.”
“Besides, the palace has highly skilled royal physicians on standby, so you’d be well cared for. As a member of the imperial family, you wouldn’t need to struggle to visit the temple for treatment like you do now, Anette.”
Again, the treatment talk.
“Haven’t I told you repeatedly that your health is most important? You must marry someone who can care for you even after marriage.”
Father, who always spoke with a gentle face, lowered his voice meaningfully—telling me not to dismiss his words.
‘Didn’t you used to say I should marry for love and be happy?’
Parents’ desires for their children truly knew no bounds—even as they remained ignorant of what marrying Serdis truly meant.
“No. Even if I die tomorrow, I’ll marry Cassian.”
I buried my face in my hands.
“Anette…”
“Dear, let’s talk again once she’s calmed down.”
But.
Who ever said children could outwit their parents?
Behind my covered eyes, fierce determination burned—not tears.
Mom. Dad. I’m sorry.
I’ll never meet Serdis again,
‘And I won’t marry Cassian either.’
Cassian was merely bait for what I’m about to do.
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 (12)
That offline was kind or not? Just my feeling, someone who likes abusive and rude person like cp kinda same character
Young-ae, young-shik, young-young author him, what’s that mean?
Oho, so ML loves her so much. Being a beauty must be good. There are many admirers.
Inline Comments (13)
“Yes! Absolutely! Otherwise, why would she enjoy books featuring only men like t
Because it’s fiction, you uncultured swine. You’re gonna get clocked with a brick at this rate.
Perhaps because I’m certain he’ll never love me.
Lol girl. You don’t know anything about him. He is obsessive 😂
‘Master Melson.’
Ooo, nice. Genuinely quick on the uptake; a hopeful sign.
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Blairwoods
Did violet already meet serdis? I wonder if violet was like crazy stalker or follower?