The Runaway Female Lead Doesn't Run Away (13 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 4
The study felt nothing like the drowsiness of midday.
A low voice echoed from the man who dominated the room.
“Who’s doing what?”
In response to his question, the butler Jason standing before him repeated himself.
“They say Milady suddenly barged into the kitchen and inspected every dish and ingredient there one by one.”
It wasn’t entirely unheard of for the lady of the house to check the kitchen.
Occasionally, before important banquets, she would visit the kitchen to encourage the staff or give them specific instructions.
However, it was customary to notify the butler or maids in advance before such visits.
Moreover, who exactly was the current Duchess?
She was a mistress known for being overly considerate—even to the point of seeming timid—toward the servants.
Yet this very woman not only abruptly visited the kitchen but also inspected ingredients and even scolded the head cook Max, claiming the food he prepared had gone bad.
Worse still, Max reportedly collapsed unconscious after the Duchess left.
Of course, the fainting of a mere head cook wasn’t normally something worth reporting to the Duke himself, but the Duchess’s strangely altered behavior couldn’t simply be ignored.
Besides—
“I’ve also just heard… that the collapsed head cook Max was poisoned.”
“Poison?”
Clayton, who had been half-listening to Jason, suddenly shifted his gaze.
He stopped his busy hands and stared intently at Jason standing before his desk.
“Yes. According to testimonies from those in the kitchen, the Duchess ordered Max to eat a dish that was in the kitchen. After eating it, he collapsed once Milady had departed. That dish was the stew scheduled for Milady’s dinner tonight.”
Clayton, who had been silently listening to the butler, opened a drawer and pulled out a letter.
It was a report received several days ago, noting suspicious activity.
As Clayton carefully examined the letter, he asked,
“What’s the name of the poison that affected the collapsed cook?”
“They say it’s jimsonweed.”
“Jimsonweed…”
Tap, tap—
At that, Clayton, seemingly lost in thought, tapped his fingers on the desk.
It matched the poisonous herb that woman had secretly brought into the manor.
Moreover, the report also mentioned that recently, that woman had met with the head cook under the pretext of discussing food.
There was no need to dig deeper.
The answer was already clear.
“It seems our Mother isn’t pleased with her new daughter-in-law.”
Despite the weighty implication of his words, a faint smile played at the corner of the man’s lips.
“My wife, who figured this out herself, is quite amusing too.”
He twirled his fingers as if enjoying the situation and then walked toward the window.
Outside, bathed in the evening glow, Dahlia appeared, strolling through the garden.
Dahlia.
Just like her name, she was a woman who resembled a delicate blossom—
The most beautiful flower yet to fall into his hands, fragile enough that the slightest touch might break her.
He’d thought she was only entertaining at night, but now she was delighting him during the day as well.
Clayton murmured with eyes grown even darker,
“Perhaps I’ll have lunch with my wife tomorrow.”
His gaze relentlessly followed her retreating figure.
“It feels as though I’ve been keeping too much distance from my dear wife lately.”
It was late afternoon, as the sun began to set.
[This is the timeline separator]It had been a pleasant day.
The omelet served at breakfast was savory, and the mushroom soup was pleasantly salty, whetting her appetite.
Truly, it had been a proper meal—something she hadn’t enjoyed in a long while.
Thus, after finishing her meal, she’d planned to leisurely take a bath and then lounge in bed…
“Not to your taste?”
At the man’s subtly probing question, Dahlia’s hand—previously poking at a deliciously roasted sea bream—abruptly stilled.
“Oh, no?!”
She wasn’t even thinking about taste—she was about to burst from fullness!
That’s right. She was having lunch with the male lead.
To demonstrate that she was eating well, Dahlia pushed a neatly flaked piece of fish into her mouth.
The salty sensation on her tongue merely confirmed it was grilled fish—she couldn’t truly savor the flavor.
Chewing quietly, she stole a glance at the man seated across from her.
Now that she thought about it, this was actually the first time she’d seen his face since that night she’d transmigrated.
He was strikingly different from how he’d looked back then, disheveled as he’d been.
His hair was impeccably swept back, and his tie fastened all the way to his throat—perfect, as if he refused to show even the slightest disorder, even at home.
And that wasn’t all.
Unlike last time, when it had been too dark to see clearly, now in broad daylight, his face…
‘He’s—handsome.’
Anyone who could eat calmly with a man who looked like that must surely be blind.
Honestly, who could possibly focus solely on their food when sharing a meal with someone as good-looking as Chae Eun-woo?
Her racing heartbeat was surely just human instinct—a natural reaction to such visual stimulation.
Just as Dahlia was trying to calm her pounding heart—
Clayton, having finished his meal and taken a sip of water, spoke.
“I heard there was some commotion in the kitchen?”
“Y-yes?”
Dahlia, who’d been absentmindedly eating, startled and repeated his words questioningly.
‘Commotion? What commotion happened in the kitchen?’
Seeing her tilt her head in confusion, clearly not grasping his meaning, he continued.
“I’m told that shortly after your visit, the head cook collapsed.”
“…The head cook collapsed?”
This was news to her.
Though now that he mentioned it, the cook had indeed seemed unwell after she ate…
That food must have truly been spoiled.
‘And yet he kept insisting it was fine.’
Served him right.
While Dahlia mentally ranted about Max, who’d kept lying to her—
Clayton calmly continued, his next words compelling her to look up at him directly.
“They say jimsonweed was in the stew. Did you feed it to him on purpose?”
“…Jimsonweed?”
What on earth was he talking about?
Jimsonweed? Me feeding it to him on purpose?
Past confusion and now verging on bewilderment, a memory from the original novel suddenly flashed through her mind.
The female lead’s failed poisoning incident.
It was the plot where the Duke’s stepmother—the current Dowager Duchess Seyear—orchestrated a scheme to confirm the female lead’s sterility by poisoning her.
Fortunately, before the female lead could consume the poisoned food, a maid spilled the stew bowl in front of the butler, foiling the attempt.
Dahlia had recognized the distinctive scent of jimsonweed from the stew spilled on the floor, and afterward, terrified the household was trying to kill her, she’d refused to leave her room for days.
‘Now that I think about it… whereabouts in the original story are we right now?’
Only then did she realize she’d been so lulled by comfort that she’d never precisely identified the exact moment she’d transmigrated into.
She’d simply assumed that since conception happened that night, as long as she didn’t run away, everything would be fine—a careless assumption.
Dahlia’s eyes darted rapidly.
‘The poisoning incident definitely happened…’
As she belatedly retraced the original plot, she suddenly stiffened, struck by realization.
“Oh.”
She remembered now—the exact point in the story she’d transmigrated into.
Early in the novel. The male lead had noticed his stepmother’s attempt to poison the female lead but deliberately chose not to intervene.
Because he knew that since the female lead was already sterile, eating jimsonweed would only cause mild discomfort—certainly not death.
And what that truly meant was…
‘The male lead doesn’t love me.’
Clayton didn’t yet love Dahlia.
Confronted with that crushing truth, she dropped the fork she’d been holding with a soft clatter.
A man who despised and loathed his own blood due to his family’s curse—
The sole reason he’d entered into a contract marriage with the female lead—her—was precisely because she couldn’t bear children.
But what if a woman he didn’t even love somehow carried his child?
Then what would happen?
‘Would he really… kill me?’
In the original, by the time the female lead ran away, the male lead already loved her—
He simply hadn’t admitted it to himself yet.
That’s why, even upon learning of her pregnancy, he wouldn’t have been able to bring himself to kill her.
Because he already loved her.
But look at him now.
Behold the cold-blooded face of a man utterly indifferent to his wife nearly being poisoned!
If, in this state, she were to become pregnant—he wouldn’t just let it go.
‘So if I want to live comfortably and well-fed in this house from now on…’
She either couldn’t get pregnant—or she needed to start seriously charming the male lead.
Ah, she was doomed.
When the male lead is punished by carrying the female lead’s child and having periods like a woman
“I’ve given birth to two children for you, yet you still think about him.
Was I nothing but his substitute to you from beginning to end?”
Synopsis:
Meng Huan, a scumbag who has dated countless girlfriends, transmigrates to a female-dominated country.
Day 1: Whether it’s female dominance or not doesn’t matter. The beauties here are passionate and amorous. Isn’t it easier to date them than in modern times?
Day 2: After a night, Meng Huan discovers the differences in the female-dominated world. Men here actually have chastity locks and menstrual cycles. This hinders his ability to perform, damn it!
Day 3: What’s wrong with sleeping around? I don’t want you to marry me. I’m meant to be a playboy. I don’t care about male virtues… What? You want to drown me in a pig cage? Marry, I’ll marry!
Day N: Meng Huan inexplicably vomits and receives the shocking news of his life… He’s pregnant.
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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (22)
I feel like you have plot armor strong you that is driving the character reactions… lol
Yes…. Just inadvertently let slip the truths… this is so refreshing
Yes!!! Slap her back. Loving your cool attitude!!!
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🥲
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VKotaku28
Oh… this FL feels so relatable, but still leave that jerk