The Runaway Female Lead Doesn't Run Away (13 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 15
The Seyear ducal residence, first floor.
The small room adjacent to the kitchen served as a lounge where the household staff could briefly rest after meals.
Whenever break time came, several maids would usually gather in small groups to chat—but today, one maid, Samantha, was unusually quiet.
“Why is she spacing out like that?”
Jena, who had been gossiping about the new young stable boy, jerked her chin toward Samantha, who was uncharacteristically silent.
“She’s been like that ever since she went out with milady a few days ago. Did something happen outside?”
“I heard they went out to get a dress fitted—but maybe milady got snubbed again by some other noble ladies…?”
“No.”
Just as the maids’ conversation about why Samantha was so quiet began veering into gossip about Dahlia, Samantha, who had been silent until then, finally spoke up.
“Our lady won’t be snubbed by other noblewomen outside anymore.”
Samantha’s tone, which sounded almost reproachful, made Jena’s eyebrow twitch.
“Our lady? Since when did you start caring about milady? Weren’t you the one who said the new duchess was so dull you couldn’t stand her?”
“I never said I hated her! I just… thought she didn’t quite fit the role of Duchess Seyear. But now, my mind’s changed.”
As she spoke, Samantha’s eyes sparkled.
“Don’t you feel it? Doesn’t milady seem somehow different lately?”
“Different?”
“Yeah—I don’t know, she just seems… cooler than before?”
Samantha asked excitedly, as if seeking agreement. The other maids responded hesitantly, tilting their heads in uncertainty.
“Hmm… really? Now that you mention it, maybe she does?”
“It’s not ‘maybe’—she’s definitely changed! Remember how she suddenly stormed into the kitchen the other day? After forcing Max to eat that food, he got sick, right? He must’ve tampered with the food. Milady knew and came to punish him herself.”
“Oh, come on.”
“Then why hasn’t anyone seen Max since that day? I heard he got kicked out of the estate and sent back to his hometown.”
“Really?”
The maids, who had thought the head cook was just on sick leave, asked in surprise.
But Samantha didn’t stop there—she went on to list all the recent ways the duchess seemed to have changed.
“And I accompanied milady to the dressmaker’s the other day—you should’ve seen how just a few words from milady made Madam Louise treat her like a goddess!”
Who was Madam Louise, after all?
She was the most famous self-made commoner woman in the Empire.
Despite her common birth, her natural talent and business acumen had won her the admiration of countless noble ladies, making her the owner of the Empire’s most renowned dressmaking atelier.
Even the haughty Empress herself referred to Madam Louise as a personal friend.
Consequently, even the haughtiest noblewomen dared not treat her carelessly—and Madam Louise, in turn, was famously unafraid to stand up to nobility.
Yet Samantha had clearly witnessed that very woman gazing at milady with near-worshipful eyes.
“And that’s not all! Remember that noblewoman who insulted milady and the entire Seyear family during the tea party milady hosted? Well, milady publicly humiliated her right in front of everyone!”
“S-seriously?”
“Of course! That noblewoman will probably be too ashamed to step outside her estate for a good while.”
Samantha—and indeed, every servant in the estate—remembered clearly what had happened at that tea party.
They remembered how one obscure noblewoman had scornfully dismissed milady and the Seyear family.
Samantha had grown up in this estate, following her parents who worked as the Seyear ducal family’s gardeners, and naturally became a maid herself.
Her parents and even her grandparents had all served the Seyear family for generations, instilling in her a deep pride in working for the Empire’s most prestigious house—second only to the Imperial Family.
So when she saw the mistress of the esteemed Seyear ducal household standing there, unable to utter a word and just shedding silent tears, her disappointment had boiled over into outright fury.
Even now, just thinking back on it made her blood boil and her whole body tremble.
In that moment, Samantha had wanted nothing more than to grab that noblewoman by the hair—but as a mere maid, there was nothing she could do while milady herself stood crying helplessly.
“Now, our lady’s changed.”
Samantha clearly recalled milady deliberately placing an insect on the marchioness’s head that day.
Though not exactly elegant, sometimes you had to fight dirty to win.
However it was done, it felt deeply satisfying to see the noblewoman who had looked down on milady and the Seyear name get her comeuppance.
“I’ve made up my mind.”
Samantha, her shoulders now held high with newfound resolve, murmured to herself.
“From now on, I’m firmly on milady’s side!”
Hearing herself say it aloud only made her conviction stronger: milady really had changed.
Serving as personal maid to the mistress of the Seyear ducal household was an honor—and from this day forward, she would serve milady with utmost devotion.
And so, without even realizing it, Dahlia had just gained her first loyal subordinate.
[This is the timeline separator]Two days later, using shopping as an excuse to slip into the city, Dahlia gave her maid an instruction before entering a millinery shop.
“I’ll go in alone—Samantha, could you go buy some lemon tarts from the pastry shop next to the plaza?”
“You mean La Lueur? You usually have to wait in line for hours just to buy anything there. You’ll be wandering around alone during that time—are you sure that’s alright?”
“Yes, it’s fine. I’ll just stay inside the shop anyway, so it’s no big deal.”
In truth, the lemon tarts were merely a pretext to buy herself some time alone.
She’d come up with this clever ruse after Lady Roman mentioned two days prior that one typically had to queue for at least three hours just to get lemon tarts.
‘I even deliberately wore the plainest outfit—if I’m alone, it shouldn’t draw too much attention.’
Judging by how Jena, one of her maids, visibly disapproved when Dahlia insisted on wearing this particular dress, she must have chosen well.
“Yes, milady! If milady wants it, I’ll absolutely get it for you! Just please stay inside the shop and don’t step outside at all. And if you absolutely must go out, stay with your guard knight! I’ll be quick and come right back!”
“Mm-hmm, okay.”
Seeing the maid’s bright, earnest eyes made Dahlia feel a pang of guilt, so she mumbled her reply.
Ever since Samantha had recently become her personal maid, she’d been giving Dahlia that overly earnest, somewhat burdensome look every time they met.
Still, the girl seemed genuinely kind and pure-hearted—not a bad sort at all.
‘Sorry, Samantha. I’ll be back real quick!’
She needed to return before the maid even noticed she’d disappeared.
Watching Samantha’s figure disappear toward the plaza, Dahlia stepped inside the shop—and immediately headed for the back door, straining to recall directions.
‘When I asked a passerby last time, they clearly said to take the path behind Wembley Park.’
Rachel had recommended a doctor, but Dahlia couldn’t get contraceptive pills there.
Even if confidentiality was assured, running into someone she knew there would be disastrous. Besides—
‘Isn’t that clinic specialized in marital relations, not women’s health issues?’
Too exhausted that day to correct Rachel’s misunderstanding, Dahlia had simply left in a hurry, saying she’d visit the clinic herself later.
Remembering that tiresome day again, Dahlia let out a quiet sigh.
“Let’s just get this over with quickly.”
She quietly slipped out through the back door, offering a half-hearted apology in her mind to the guard knight waiting outside for her.
[This is the timeline separator]Late afternoon, as the sun began to set.
Having finished his schedule, Clayton boarded his carriage to return to the estate.
Across from him, his secretary Cadison pushed up his glasses and spoke.
“It seems wise that you openly established rapport with the duchy’s people at the garden party. Trade negotiations with the Easter Kingdom should proceed smoothly.”
“Right.”
Clayton gave a noncommittal reply to Cadison’s comment, then, unusually, pulled back the curtain of the carriage window.
Gazing at the sky outside, now dyed in hues of orange, he soon issued another order to Cadison.
“More importantly, look into the former Baron Molden’s family—focus especially on any connections to the Seyear family.”
“Yes, sir.”
Everything had become clear since the garden party. Being near Dahlia eased his symptoms.
Simply holding her hand allowed him to live normally, just like any ordinary person.
‘The intensity or duration of contact didn’t seem to matter.’
Then he recalled the pond where they’d been together.
The coolness of the breeze, the warmth of her skin against his fingertips—and the softness of her lips meeting his.
Every detail of that day felt as vivid as if it had happened today.
Though he’d initially intended the kiss as an experiment, it had turned out far more impulsive than planned.
And that fact continued to gnaw at him.
As Clayton stared blankly at the passing cityscape, his brow furrowed slightly.
Though no one sat beside him, the familiar scent lingering on the carriage seat made him feel as if Dahlia were right there next to him—
That silver hair like captured moonlight, those mysterious violet eyes…
“…Dahlia?”
And as if summoned by his thoughts, Dahlia materialized before his eyes, real as could be.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (11)
Dahlia.. I am going to dock your points for poor preparation
Poor rose that’s a fkd up role and ml he’s soo creepy, can’t believe fl finds him sexy
Oh poor rose ! No wonder she could live that way….
Inline Comments (67)
Clayton murmured with a cold, sharp smile.
You ignored her first. To me ,you don’t have rights to anything about her
And so, unintentionally, Dahlia ended up ditching Samantha and Daniel yet again.
Noo. They won’t trust you again girl. Anyway I am still mad at Clayton
Unlike the Duke, who didn’t even care whether his own wife was being humiliated
Yes. So I want you to become male lead. Clayton did a lot of mess. But there is bot a chance for you🥲
YOUR COMMENT
2. Inline comments are now available. Tap the end of any line in a chapter to share your thoughts instantly.
Log in to comment.
VKotaku28
Hang in there Dalia, let’s aim for a leisure life.