The Runaway Female Lead Doesn't Run Away - Chapter 26

There is a small side door at the back of Duke Sayer’s mansion.

This place, mainly used by servants and external workers entering and exiting the mansion, had relatively loose security compared to the main gate.

And Dalia, with her robe pulled down low, had just passed through there.

Thanks to borrowing the identity of the Duchess’s maid, she was able to enter and exit the mansion without much difficulty.

‘I’m later than I thought.’

Still unfamiliar with the capital’s geography, she got lost on her way back to the mansion and the sun had already set.

Looking at the sky that had fallen asleep, Dalia bit her lip. She was anxious because she was late for the promised time to return with the Duchess.

Waiting for Dalia, who arrived at the annex walking twice as fast as usual, was Angela, the Duchess’s maid.

She approached Dalia as soon as she spotted her.

“I was just wondering if I should go look for you since you were so late! Is everything alright?”

“Yes. I’m fine. How about the Duchess?”

Just as she was asking about the Duchess while handing over the robe she had been wearing to the maid, her eyes met with the Duchess coming down the stairs.

“Dalia.”

She approached Dalia, exhaling a breath mixed with relief.

“If you were any later, I was about to announce with my own mouth that you had disappeared.”

“I’m sorry. I got lost on my way here…”

Dalia’s shoulders drooped with guilt.

Just how many people was she inconveniencing today? She was too embarrassed to even lift her face.

“I’m fine. More importantly, someone from the main building came looking for you.”

Dalia’s eyes widened at the Duchess’s concerned voice.

“Someone from the main building came looking for me? So did they find out I’m not there…?”

“No, that’s not certain yet. For now, I made up that you had fallen asleep here. After all, a mere servant couldn’t enter the Duchess’s bedroom where you were sleeping.”

“That’s a relief.”

However, the Duchess’s face stiffened slightly.

“It’s too early to feel relieved. Even after hearing that you were in the mansion, they still tried to confirm if you were really here. I find that a bit unsettling.”

True. Dalia had already told Jason beforehand that she was going to the annex to see the Duchess.

Yet they still sent someone to the annex? That was practically the same as coming to check if Dalia was really in the annex.

“I suppose we should refrain from sneaking out of the mansion for a while. It’s never bad to be cautious in advance.”

“Yes. I think that would be best.”

Dalia nodded as if agreeing with the Duchess’s words.

“More importantly, did you find the cat’s owner well?”

“Yes. I asked a trustworthy person to… Huh?”

Dalia, who had been answering without thinking, suddenly lifted her head.

That was because she hadn’t told the Duchess anything about the cat, and had just made up a lie about wanting to meet a doctor separately.

“You, you knew?”

“Just because this place is separate from the main building doesn’t mean we’re oblivious to the news there.”

It seemed she knew all about the commotion that had happened in the main building today. Even though she had gone to the trouble of hiding the cat secretly.

Dalia felt sorry and embarrassed for telling a meaningless lie to someone who had shown her kindness.

“…I’m sorry. You even helped me, but I couldn’t be honest with you.”

The Duchess smiled gently at Dalia’s sincere apology.

“I’m sure the trustworthy person you found is someone who shouldn’t be seen by others. I’m fine with it. I have such a person too, just like you.”

Is this why experience can’t be ignored? The Duchess had already figured out the reason why Dalia had to sneak out of the mansion secretly.

Dalia, inwardly admiring the Duchess’s insight, expressed her gratitude once again.

“By the way, have you eaten?”

“Ah, now that you mention it…”

Only then did Dalia realize that all she had eaten today was the fruit she had for breakfast.

She hadn’t felt like eating for the past few days because her stomach had been constantly uneasy.

As she silently scratched her cheek, the Duchess continued, saying that she had already prepared some light refreshments, as if she had expected this.

“Have something to eat before going to the main building. I’ve already told the servant that you had an early dinner and fell asleep.”

“Yes. Thank you for everything.”

Although she was still feeling unwell, she couldn’t keep starving herself for that reason, and she couldn’t refuse the Duchess’s kindness towards her, so she followed the maid who was guiding her to the dining room.

As Dalia entered the dining room, she saw the neatly arranged food on the table.

“As it’s late, we’ve prepared a simple clam soup and soft bread. Please eat comfortably and call me if you need anything, young lady.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

After the maid who had finished guiding her left, Dalia sat down and quietly stared at the food placed in front of her.

Clam soup was one of the foods she had enjoyed eating since being possessed here.

But why was she not feeling hungry at all, despite not having eaten all day?

It was unlike her, who considered food the most important among clothing, food, and shelter.

‘I hope this feeling of tightness in my chest goes away soon.’

Although she didn’t know what she had eaten to feel so bloated, the feeling of something being tightly blocked near her chest was more than just uncomfortable.

Because of this, Dalia was tapping her chest with her fist when she was about to forcibly take a spoonful of soup to eat.

“Ugh-.”

She involuntarily retched due to the sudden nausea rising up.

“Why am I suddenly… Ugh.”

Feeling something was off, she tried to smell the soup again, but the fishy smell vibrating at the tip of her nose made her throw down the spoon and cover her mouth.

‘What on earth?’

Something was strange. Although she wasn’t feeling well, there was no reason to feel such aversion to food.

Just in case, she picked up the bread next to her and smelled it, but only the savory scent of butter lingered at the tip of her nose.

“The bread is fine, but why only the soup… Don’t tell me.”

Suddenly, Dalia recalled the fishy scent she had smelled in food before.

Although it felt a bit different from that time, it was similar in that it was almost impossible to even put it in her mouth.

“Is there Jamyeoncho in the food again…?”

Come to think of it, the real culprit behind the previous Jamyeoncho incident was also the Duchess.

Dalia soon fell into deep thought with a serious expression.

‘But the Duchess has no reason to feed me Jamyeoncho.’

The reason why the Duchess had tried to feed her Jamyeoncho had already been revealed, and now she was even supporting and helping her.

‘But what if what she told me was a lie?’

What if the Duchess still didn’t want her to get pregnant? What if she was just pretending to support her to put her at ease…

But soon Dalia shook her head.

“Even if there is Jamyeoncho in the food, it won’t be the Duchess.”

If the Duchess was trying to prevent her pregnancy, she wouldn’t have used the same method.

There’s no reason to use a method that’s likely to be detected due to its fishy smell, especially here in the annex.

Dalia’s head became complicated again.

“Is it just that I’m not feeling well…”

Maybe that’s why she was reacting sensitively to the fishiness of clams that she usually didn’t notice.

Lost in thought for a while like that.

Thinking that it would be better to ask for new food at this rate, Dalia was about to call the maid.

Suddenly, one word flashed through her mind.

Morning sickness.

Nausea and vomiting symptoms experienced during pregnancy. Symptoms mainly experienced by pregnant women in early pregnancy.

“No way…”

Even though she thought it couldn’t be, for some reason Dalia’s mouth started to dry up.

Dalia, with an inexplicable ominous feeling, gave up on calling the maid and stood up from her seat.

She opened the dining room door, brainwashing herself that it was just because she was tired, that too many things had happened today and she was stressed.

Then she encountered the Duchess who was about to enter here, as if she had been walking towards this direction.

“Oh my, Dalia. Have you finished eating already?”

“Yes. I ate a lot during the day. I don’t have much appetite. Haha…”

Unable to say that she had retched at the sight of food, Dalia smiled awkwardly.

“Is that so? Oh, by the way, His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday is only a few days away, isn’t it?”

“Yes…?”

“It must be very nerve-wracking for you to attend the royal party for the first time as the Duchess of Sayer. Especially in high society, there will be many who look down on people like you, Dalia, whose status has suddenly risen.”

“Well, yes…”

As Dalia nodded, the Duchess smiled kindly and held her hands.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ve prepared a gift for you.”

The Duchess patted the back of her hand a couple of times as if telling her to trust her. However, Dalia had no nerves to spare for whatever that gift might be.

Her mind was completely consumed by the thought that she might be pregnant.