The Young Male Protagonist Who is Destined for Ruin Fell for Me - Chapter 61

Kyle Chaield was busier than anyone else in the delegation of envoys. This was because numerous nobles of Keltman were secretly seeking to meet him, vying for his attention to prepare for the region’s unstable political situation.

As a result, he hadn’t been able to rest properly, and the fatigue from his journey still lingered. It was a situation where even abandoning all formalities and resting would leave no room for criticism.

However, Kyle did not forget that he was now standing in the heart of Keltman.

He wasn’t here alone—his fiancée had accompanied him. If even one piece of useful information could be gleaned from the reports brought to him, it was only right to use it to ensure her safety.
“I need to keep an eye on Marabas and pinpoint the exact location of Count Gargoyle.”

He reviewed confidential reports without getting much sleep. Barely a week had passed since their arrival in Keltman, yet countless clandestine agreements had already been signed.

Though his head throbbed from lack of rest, Kyle hastened through the documents. Today marked the sixth day since their arrival, and it was the day he would finally meet Amel for dinner.

“They could have arranged this much earlier…”
Prior to the ball, the White Duke had organized a simple dinner with key figures from the envoys of the Hail Empire.

Kyle, who had been buried in work and hadn’t seen Amel, had been looking forward to this day.
“How is it possible that we haven’t crossed paths even once during all this time?”

Even if their accommodations were far apart, this was too much. How could they not encounter each other at least once?

Considering how he had even wandered near her residence late at night, it was enough to make him wonder if Amel was deliberately avoiding him.
“…Deliberately?”

Kyle paused momentarily at the thought. Was she avoiding him on purpose? His sister? That couldn’t be true. During the entire journey to Keltman, they had been inseparable.
“Come to think of it…”

Whether on the ship to Keltman, at the villa, or in the carriage, he was always the one initiating contact.

Amel, on the other hand, was often preoccupied reading books or studying maps to memorize Keltman’s geographical features.

“….”

As the thought crossed his mind, his fatigue disappeared, replaced by a surge of tension and a strange, anxious feeling.

With a hardened expression, Kyle urged the attendants helping him prepare for dinner to hurry.

The dinner passed in a flash. The attendees sat around a large round table, enjoying Keltman-style desserts and exchanging lighthearted conversations.

The atmosphere was amicable, but Kyle’s thoughts were far from settled.

“Why am I seated here of all places?”

He couldn’t fathom the logic behind the seating arrangement. He had been placed between Princess Rienne and Lord Gidima, while Amel sat far away, flanked by Princess Nadia and Lady Gretel.

She looked completely at ease, her radiant face showing no trace of discontent. Draped in white feathers and fur, his fiancée was stunning—so much so that it was unbearable for him.
But her appearance alone wasn’t what troubled him. What truly annoyed him was the persistent chatter from Lord Gidima.

“Duke Chaield, one of my subordinates claims that being in a relationship with a younger woman has changed his entire worldview. Isn’t true love always like that?”

“Is that so?”
Though Kyle dismissed the inane chatter as the ramblings of an old man, Gidima’s comments had a consistent theme. They were concise enough to be summarized in a single sentence:
Older men, younger women.

Whenever Gidima spoke, the other attendees politely nodded in agreement, which only encouraged him to continue.

“Is there a more perfect harmony than a young woman paired with an experienced man?”
Amel, like the others, nodded in agreement. At that, a small vein popped on Kyle’s forehead.
“Older men? Princess Lien didn’t say something unnecessary to Amel, did she?”

He couldn’t just dismiss it and move on. Doing so might lead to bigger problems later. After all, hadn’t The Top 100 Moments When Relationships Break Down explicitly warned about the dangers of sudden third-party interference leading to love triangles?

As soon as he had a moment alone with Amel, he intended to make it clear: his feelings hadn’t changed, and while Keltman’s nobles might be scheming, he had no intention of being swayed. She could relax.

But why was his elusive fiancée nodding at talk of older men and younger women?

“…Can’t she see me?”

And right across from her, no less, sat her very own younger fiancé.
Growing increasingly displeased, Kyle maintained a businesslike demeanor, sipping his wine, though it failed to dull his frustration.

The ball, a masquerade aimed at fostering international connections, seemed irrelevant now.

“Let us adjourn. Please rest well, and I shall see you all at the ball tomorrow,” Lord Gidima announced as he rose to leave.

Kyle’s gaze, which had been following Amel, suddenly froze as if he had seen something shocking.

“Princess, shall we return to your quarters?”
Amel met his eyes briefly, offering a faint smile before turning her attention to Princess Nadia. The eye contact lasted barely a second.

“….”

Kyle Chaield stared silently at her retreating figure.

Next to him, Princess Lien observed the duke’s expression—one that resembled a forlorn puppy—and found it almost comical.

“But he drank all the wine…”

The wine had been laced with a potent elixir she had acquired at great expense from the envoys of Traiha. According to them, the duke should have been overwhelmed by confusion and unable to comprehend what had happened.

Yet here he was, gazing after his fiancée with nothing but helpless longing.

“…What’s going on? Could it be that the Monster Duke is truly serious about Lady Diane? Or did those Traiha scoundrels sell me a defective product?”

Perhaps the dose was insufficient because he only drank half the bottle. Lien placed a small, shimmering glass vial in front of Kyle.
“What is this?” he asked.

“It’s a restorative widely used in Keltman. I heard you’ve been overworked these past few days. Have you been unable to sleep?”

quickly realized her mistake as Kyle, instead of drinking it, pocketed the vial with a meaningful expression.

“I think I’ll be able to sleep well tonight. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.”

The Duke, Kyle Chaield, who had been watching Lien with wary eyes, suddenly dashed off in the direction of Lady Diane’s quarters. Lien clicked her tongue in disbelief at the sight, unable to trust her own eyes.

“The White Duke must be unaware of Kyle Chaield’s current state.”

If that weren’t the case, there was no way he would order her to seduce a man who was half-mad over his fiancée. Lien was convinced that becoming Kyle’s betrothed was an impossibility.
“But if I back down now, the Duke won’t take it well.”

It might even make her future life unbearably difficult.
After a brief moment of deliberation, Lien decided to change her approach. Swift and precise decisions were her specialty.

Late at night, Amel let out a deep sigh as she went through the final checks for the preparations for tomorrow’s masquerade ball.
“Why, of all things, does it have to be a masquerade ball?”

With everyone wearing masks, even if Ithar de Traiha attended as an envoy, recognizing him would be near impossible. To make matters worse, she had never met him in person and didn’t even know what he looked like.

“How am I supposed to identify someone with nothing but the vague description of blond hair and blue eyes? There’s bound to be more than one person who fits that description. I really hope I don’t have to see him at all.”

But that wasn’t the only concern. Complex balls like these were perfect settings for someone to intentionally approach her. After all, masquerades were often the backdrop for assassination attempts.

Lately, Amel had been so preoccupied with Ithar and Marabas that she barely had the mental bandwidth to think about anything else.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, annoyed and sighing yet again, a polite knock came at her door.
“Who could it be at this hour?”
Amel cautiously checked who it was before opening the door. It turned out to be someone she didn’t need to be wary of.

“Kyle? How did you get here? Come in.”

Kyle looked utterly exhausted. His attire was the same as it had been during dinner, suggesting he hadn’t rested at all. He seemed like he’d been quietly suffering somewhere.

A flood of worst-case scenarios involving Keltman passed through Amel’s mind. Something had definitely happened.

“Is there an issue with Keltman not paying the miners their wages? Why do you look so pale? Hm?”

“…”

Kyle’s brow furrowed slightly. Amel assumed that something even more serious had occurred and began to wrack her brain. Suddenly, something came to her.

“I should’ve mentioned this earlier, but I didn’t get a chance. During tea time, I happened to read Princess Lien’s thoughts. She said the White Duke hides someone behind the screen in his office.”
“…Behind the screen, you say?”

If the White Duke had hidden someone in a secretive location, it could only mean it was Count Gargoyle.

Kyle promptly instructed Haeld to investigate the White Duke’s office discreetly and then returned to Amel.
Amel’s Arete, which allowed her to read thoughts, was particularly useful for gathering information. Yet, with such an ability, why couldn’t she understand his heart?

“Is the spy behind the screen all you wanted to tell me?”

His expression grew even more distant. Amel, intending to match his seriousness, couldn’t help but chuckle instead. She could clearly see his inner thoughts without even using her powers.

“Kyle. Don’t go around looking like you’re about to cry. It makes me want to push you further just to see you actually cry.”

“…”

“If the Duke himself sneaks into my room at this hour… does that mean you missed me?”
“It has been a full week since we last had a proper conversation.”

Moreover, Amel was constantly surrounded by other ladies or Princess Nadia, as though the delegation couldn’t function without her presence.
Kyle understood better than anyone why others wanted to be close to Amel, but he loathed seeing her time monopolized by anyone else.

“We ran into each other occasionally during overlapping schedules. Was that not enough for you?”

“You know full well that it wasn’t enough.”
He didn’t want to act childishly, but he felt as though he would lose his mind if he didn’t see her.
Tomorrow’s masquerade would bring many men in masks vying for her attention. Kyle wasn’t confident that Amel would single him out among them.
“…Promise me that you’ll stay by my side at the ball tomorrow. Even if you don’t recognize me, I’ll come to you.”

There was a subtle desperation in his voice, but Amel bristled at a completely different point.
“Goodness… What nonsense are you saying? Do you think I wouldn’t recognize you just because you’re wearing a mask? You’re underestimating me if you think this beauty of mine can be hidden by a mere mask.”

Kyle’s uncertain expression made Amel lose her composure entirely.

“Kyle. Listen carefully. Even if you wear a mask and put five paper bags over it, I could still recognize you. Even if you used magic to completely cover your face, what about your body? I’ve reached the point where I can tell it’s you just by catching a glimpse of your torso—or even your abs—while sprinting at full speed.”

“…”

“There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize you. I’ll use my sight, hearing, touch, smell, and even taste if I have to. So don’t worry.”

Her voice carried a faint hint of obsession. Kyle couldn’t suppress the surge of pride and emotion welling up inside and finally relaxed his expression.

Amel, feeling like something had snapped, swallowed hard. Before she knew it, Kyle was cornered against the wall.

And the one who had cornered him? Herself, of course.

Amel’s mischievous hand brushed gently over Kyle’s face and ear. Despite his towering height, she was up on her tiptoes, pressing close to him.
“…What are you doing right now?”

“If you come to your sister’s room at this late hour, isn’t this what you were expecting?”

“…”

Kyle didn’t deny it. He leaned in and softly pressed his lips to hers.