The Tragic Male Lead Chose the Wrong Partner

* * *

"How the hell are you doing your job?!"
One man barked at another, shaking a piece of paper in the air.
It was the half-assed itinerary Cynthia had thrown together.

"What is this insincere plan?! I was actually looking forward to it since you said the information was hard-won! And it’s all wrong!"
They were members of the Free Council, a group that hated the royal family. Refusing to abandon their plan to kidnap Cynthia, they had followed her all the way to Medeia, waiting for a chance to strike.
‘She’s someone the colonel needs. He’ll do anything to get her back. Use her as much as we can, then hand the princess over to the enemy nation.’

In truth, they were being funded by a hostile power. The Free Council was less a grassroots movement and more a front for spies under the banner of “No Monarchy Revival.”
But finding two specific people among a crowd under umbrellas wasn’t easy.
So they had gone ahead to wait at the designated spots on the schedule—but came up empty.

The irate man waved a different sheet of paper.
“And this! It’s just a detailed list of decent restaurants!”
“Thanks to that, at least we didn’t mess up dinner. The vegetables were cooked just right. You know how awful Medeian food usually is…”

A lower-ranking member protested, sounding like he was about to cry.
Another member stepped in.
“She’s definitely staying at the palace. What if we sneak in pretending to be tourists?”

“You think you can fool the royal palace of Medeia? You’d be dead before they even questioned you!”
An upper member snapped. Then someone else spoke up, worry in his voice.
“I heard that woman is protected by the goddess of fortune. Everyone who’s tried to assassinate her ended up dead.”

“Ha, don’t be ridiculous. That kind of thing doesn’t exist.”
The higher-up faltered slightly, visibly unnerved.
Then one of the members pointed to the Ferris wheel that had stopped.
“Ah, looks like the Ferris wheel broke down. Poor folks stuck on that thing.”

“If it’s a couple, maybe they’re lucky?”
“Ugh, now I feel miserable. Let’s just call it a day and head back.”
The Free Council members walked past the base of the Ferris wheel with sighs.

Completely unaware that the very couple they were hunting for was trapped right above them.
Had the ride been running normally, their paths might have crossed.
* * *

Inside the stalled Ferris wheel, I flinched every time it rattled in the wind.
Masera, calmly staring outside, gently nudged me away as I clung to him like a frightened octopus.
“It’ll be back in operation soon.”

“You think so? Just stay still for now. You’re big, and when you move, it shakes more.”
Rattle—!
Right then, the Ferris wheel shook violently, moved for five seconds, then stopped again.

“Eek!”
By the time I realized it, I was sitting on Masera’s lap with my arms wrapped around his neck.
He looked down at me with an icy gaze.

“Is clinging to people a habit of yours?”
“You’re the only one here to cling to.”
“If it were someone else?”

“Maybe even Eugene…”
“Do you have some kind of affection deficit?”
At his cutting voice, my eyes widened.

“Do you know a lot about psychology? I have wondered if I’m a little affection-deprived. Every time I read about those signs in magazines, it’s like they’re talking about me…”
“That’s not what I meant.”
He looked as though he was trying to find the words, frustrated, hesitating to say something outright.

Eventually, I asked him directly.
“Don’t tell me—are you bothered when I’m close with other people?”
“You’re a married woman. Acting like that with another man won’t look good.”

“Well, it’s not like I ride Ferris wheels alone with strange men. It’s because I’m married to you that I end up clinging like this.”
Grumbling, I withdrew my arms from around his neck.
At that moment, the ride jolted again, and I lost balance. He instinctively grabbed my waist and frowned.

“Like at the reception. Accepting another man’s escort.”
“Huh? But didn’t you escort another woman? Hypocrisy much?”
“I don’t know what ‘hypocrisy much’ means, but I only exchanged a few words with the Archduchess at the entrance. I was…”

Rattle, rattle.
“…waiting for you there.”
His trailing words were drowned out by the loud rattling.

Suddenly, the door of the Ferris wheel car slid open.
An attendant, eyes wide, was standing there staring at us.
While we’d been engrossed in conversation, the ride had resumed and brought us back to the starting point.

“Apologies for the inconvenience—oh, um… why not take another round!”
The flustered attendant, having caught a glimpse of our compromising position, hurriedly shut the door with a click.
Masera narrowed his eyes and pulled his hand away from me.

“I’ll ask nicely. Please move.”
“Hmph. As if you’re the kind of person who only uses nice words.”
As the Ferris wheel started rising again, a long silence stretched between us. About five seconds.

“Oh! That’s the hundred-year-old café I found. We can get dessert there.”
Excited, I pointed outside the window, and he nodded.
“Let’s do that.”

Why is he answering while looking the other way?
What’s he staring at over there?
His expression was so intent, almost like he was trying to identify something, that my curiosity got the better of me. I scooted over next to him and looked outside.

But nothing seemed particularly unusual to me.
Maybe just some men talking seriously while holding papers.
Masera edged away slightly as I sat beside him, but I kept talking.

“Do you like night views? Most people go to the highest point to see them. But I prefer looking from somewhere in the middle.”
“That’s an odd preference. And your topics change so suddenly.”
“From the top, it all looks like a blur of lights. But from the middle, you can make out individual details.”

Tracing the window with my finger, I added, “Just like that sign out there says—‘Life goes up and down like a Ferris wheel.’”
“Life’s the same. Everyone’s busy trying to climb to the top, but I think the time you spend looking around from the middle matters most. Going back down doesn’t have to be a fall—it can just be another path forward.”
You must’ve lived your life like a battle. I hope you’re not afraid of falling again.

I offered a rather sentimental monologue.
“Indeed. I can even make out the writing on those papers.”
Just how good is this man’s vision? Guess that sharpshooter background checks out.

Suddenly, his eyes turned away from the window and landed on me.
I’d learned during this honeymoon trip that his irises, a blend of blue and violet, reflected the changing sky.
Clear, cloudy, sunset. Right now, they looked like the blue hour before dawn.

Unlike when he stared outside, his gaze on me was calm.
“And when you’re close like this, you see things you wouldn’t notice otherwise.”
The longer his eyes stayed on me, the more ticklish my cheeks felt.

Do people with sharp eyesight see weird details others miss? Like a speck of sleep in my eye?
I rubbed my eyes and fixed my hair, feeling oddly self-conscious.
Before I knew it, the Ferris wheel had reached the top and begun its slow descent.

“By the way, what happened to the itinerary? You haven’t looked at it once since we left the palace.”
“Oh, I definitely packed it…”
Wait, where is it?

I blinked and rummaged through my small bag.
Come to think of it… it’s gone. Did the wind take it?
“I did bring it, but unfortunately, I lost it.”

I declared boldly. I remembered all the good restaurants anyway.
“I suppose we didn’t need it.”
Masera brushed his platinum hair back with a maddening smirk. But since nothing had gone according to plan, I couldn’t argue.

As I watched the Ferris wheel car touch the ground, I said:
“Still, it was fun, right? That nothing went as expected?”
“That’s better. The thing soldiers expect most often is death.”

He fell into thought, then asked,
“Are you afraid of a soldier who kills enemies?”
“What if that enemy is me…?”

I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but I answered honestly.
“A high-ranking officer like me has plenty of enemies. Naturally, his wife would, too. Being an easy target, she’s often in more danger.”
So what’s the point?

I stared at Masera’s serious face.
He slowly added,
“I’m worried for you, now that you’ve become an officer’s wife. A soldier like me can’t take care of your trauma on top of everything else.”

Was this about the panic attack I had from the gunfire and fireworks? Was he saying not to let my trauma get in his way later?
“Colonel… do you care about me?”
I leaned in unconsciously, eyes shining.

If he did… that meant I’d become important to him!
‘Being a burden = he cares = he likes me = marriage.’
‘Conclusion: ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) this man is a tsundere.’

The way he worded it roundabout like that… how cute.
Looks like I’ll have to start seducing him for real.