The Tragic Male Lead Chose the Wrong Partner

The marquis’s face flushed a furious red after I had thoroughly clawed at his pride.

“I was generous enough to consider taking you as a second wife because of your royal blood. If you don’t want to rot in a convent, you’d better learn to play hard to get properly.”
“I think it’s your hair playing hard to get, not me.”
Perhaps enraged that things weren’t going his way, he finally began shouting.

“You’re just someone who got sold off to a war orphan, and yet you act all high and mighty! I gave you an opportunity that no one else would have, and instead of being grateful—!”
I mean, I am a princess, technically?
Filling my lungs all the way to the bottom, I shouted with every ounce of power I had.

“How dare you! To speak so rudely to a legitimate member of the royal family, bound by blood to both the Severus Imperial House and the Medeian Royal Line! You are utterly insolent!”
The marquis flinched and staggered back, startled by my thunderous tiger’s roar technique.
There’s a reason bloodlines come first in the hierarchy—above alma maters, hometown ties, and smoking buddies.

“To dare insult and harass me, the wife of a war hero and a royal by blood—I shall report your offense to my sovereign kin without fail!”
Seeing the fire in my eyes, the marquis shrank slightly, though he tried to save face to the end.
“You act like you’ve got someone powerful backing you...”

“If you believe in yourself, all sorts of paths # Nоvеlight # open up. At the very least, you won’t end up cornered.”
Once again, I tightened my core and let out a booming yell.
“Dad—!”

Apparently not expecting that tactic, the marquis looked completely baffled.
“What are you—”
“Now every dad with a daughter is going to come running. I suppose it’s time to call for Mom, too.”

And Mom is the true final boss.
The effect was immediate.
People in the age group of parents were already rushing over from afar.
Major Rodriguez must have recognized my voice—he was running over too.

Why is Count Queensguard also wheezing his way over?
“Lady Cynthia, what’s going on?”
“Who?! Who said that?!”

Even more people were gathering.
I staggered with a sorrowful expression, placing my hand dramatically on my forehead.
Major Rodriguez quickly came to support me.

I gave a teary sniff as I looked at Count Queensguard, who’d just run up with a grave face.
“Daddy... that man told me to become his fifth mistress.”
At this, the people who were clearly someone’s parents began expressing outrage.
“You scumbag! You’ve got no shame!”

“I said second wife! Second wife! And why is she suddenly playing the delicate damsel?!”
The flustered marquis tried to correct himself, but mistress or second wife—it was all the same. I launched into my best sobbing performance.
“Second wife, fifth wife, whatever it was—he spewed filthy, disgusting things! Daddy, my heart hurts so much I don’t think I can bear it!”

“You lunatic...”
Count Queensguard scrunched his nose in pure rage.
No way he’d sit back and let someone try to take me—someone still bursting with value—as a concubine.

He launched into his specialty: vicious personal attacks.
“Throwing lewd glances at a girl young enough to be your daughter is revolting enough, but to dare call a royal a mistress? You must have sprouted hair on your conscience instead of your head.”
“Count Queensguard, how dare you speak such drivel to a marquis like myself?”

“A so-called marquis who’s never even stepped foot in the borderlands dares to match words with a true border noble? Are you serious?”
You handle trash with trash.
It’s an ancient and noble tactic.

While Count Queensguard squared off with the marquis, several ladies who’d worked with me in volunteer activities approached and took my hands.
“Your Highness, are you alright? That man was truly the worst.”
“Men like him think belittling someone better than them will somehow get them what they want.”

They were Clarence and Elsa—the first members of the International Relief Foundation, and the ones who believed in me no matter what scandals erupted.
My heart swelled unexpectedly. So this is what it feels like to finally have friends who will say, “Of course you're right,” no matter what?
Just then, I noticed the Duke of Recanosa approaching the marquis with a stern face. When did he arrive?

“As your in-law, I can’t just sit back and let this slide. I will be expressing our regrets to the Severus Imperial House.”
Even if things with Helene were rocky, he was still taking my side? It really looked like they were on the verge of splitting soon.
But suddenly, I felt a chill and turned my head.

Standing there with a frigid expression was Masera. In the meantime, the marquis had been quietly shoved far away.
Having worked himself up from Count Queensguard’s attack, the marquis raised his voice upon seeing Masera.
“Colonel del Visente, you’ve come at just the right time! The land granted as a marriage gift turned out to be useless. Surely that invalidates the contract, doesn’t it?”

When Masera didn’t respond, the marquis seemed to take it as agreement and swaggered closer.
“I merely gave her a piece of advice, considering she’s about to be divorced. But instead, she had the gall to talk back. Keeping such an unruly woman as a wife will only bring—”
Click.

Without a word, Masera raised his gun and pressed the barrel to the marquis’s forehead.
The marquis went stiff and clamped his mouth shut upon seeing the lethal glint in Masera’s eyes.
“I was the one who first proposed marriage in exchange for Nox. Even if there’s nothing in Nox, I chose it. That’s on me.”

Masera glanced around, clearly addressing the entire crowd.
“I vowed loyalty for life. Divorce will never be an option.”
At his firm declaration, I clenched the handkerchief I’d been using for fake tears. Now I genuinely wanted to cry.

The marquis shrank down, his voice no louder than a mosquito’s.
“For a military dog to point a gun at a noble of the Rumantis Empire... how do you expect to deal with the consequences...”
“In front of a gun barrel, everyone is equal. Even the oh-so-noble royals of your fallen empire have died by my hand.”

Realizing once again that his opponent was a war hero, the marquis rolled his eyes around in panic—then jolted at the sound of the safety being disengaged.
“Besides, I’ve got more than enough reason to pull the trigger. You insulted my wife, without cause.”
“...I was wrong. I sincerely apologize for my rudeness.”

I raised my fist toward the apologizing marquis, not to strike him but as a warning.
“Don’t you ever show your face before me again. This is your final warning.”
Elsa, her face flushed with fury, raised her voice.

“How dare you call the colonel a military dog? All you do is hide when war breaks out. You live comfortably as a noble thanks to ancestors who bled and suffered on the battlefield—why are you so obsessed with ranking people?”
Others married to soldiers joined in.
“Back in the day, nobles earned their titles by putting their lives on the line for the people. Nowadays, what do you even do?”

“These modern nobles think sipping tea at fancy parties is the height of their duty.”
Clearly, the marquis’s words had angered more than a few.
“Your Highness, a husband is supposed to be a lifelong partner you trust and walk with. So don’t worry too much, okay?”

Clarence, the wife of a noncommissioned officer, took my hand tightly.
I wrapped her hand in both of mine and smiled.
* * *

Because of the huge commotion, Helene also witnessed the scene.
She’d been so sure Cynthia would end up all alone, yet now, people were clearly reaching out to her.
Even her own family.

“……”
Everyone’s attention had been on her ever since the gold mine discovery in Dias—but instead of satisfaction, it left her feeling hollow.
“I trust Princess Cynthia even if there’s nothing in Nox. She helped displaced people and assisted with resettlement.”

“I heard the Duchess pushed through development in Dias despite the residents’ opposition, even forcibly evicting them.”
“Dias is full of master builders and carpenters. Even if Nox doesn’t have oil, it’s bound to grow in other ways. I heard the Hert family—the top construction house—is relocating there too.”
Everyone who’d gotten to know Cynthia was standing by her.

Meanwhile, those who had badmouthed her were lightweights—people who’d turn on Helene the moment tides shifted.
What makes her so different from me?
Just then.

“Madam, a reply has arrived from the Medeian royal family.”
An aide approached, handing her a sealed letter.
Following the Dias gold mine discovery and the revelation of Nox’s falsehoods, this was the third blow: confirmation about the investment. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

“...!”
Helene quickly opened the letter and scanned it, eyes widening in shock.
The letter slipped from her trembling, pale fingers to the floor.

[Investment denied for the following reasons:
– Exploration results indicate insufficient resources for mining
– Region categorized as high-risk for natural disasters]