The Male Leads Are Trapped in My House

“True, she does seem like someone who has never experienced hardship. She could pass as a noble lady for sure.”

“Yeah, I’ve never seen such a glamorous face since I was born.”

“Like a star candy. Yeah, she’s as pretty as star candy, right?”

Eden shuddered at the peculiar metaphor. He couldn’t understand why everyone compared Cherry to star candy, even though he kind of understood and kind of didn’t.

“Well, our young bachelor does have a charming personality, so they make a good match.”

“It seems like he’s always following behind the lady of the mansion.”

“Has that never happened?”

Eden narrowed his eyes, revealing his displeasure. In response, the villagers exchanged glances with each other again.

Though their looks were unsettling, Eden decided to pretend not to notice he got up from his seat.”

 “Where are you going?”

Seeing Eden picking up his jacket from the chair to leave, Inspector Hans inquired, “Are you going to see the lady of the mansion?”

The innkeeper responded in a hushed voice on Eden’s behalf.

 “No…”

Eden was about to reflexively deny it, but he held back. The truth was, he had indeed planned to visit Cherry’s mansion for surveillance purposes.

The villagers then looked at him with twinkling eyes.

Tsk. Eden clicked his tongue annoyed and put on his police cap to inform Inspector Hans.

“I will go on patrol.”

* * *

I placed the scarecrows in a corner of the garden and opened the front gate.

Various contractors were busy repairing the mansion here and there.

Yesterday, I went to Kint Village and purchased furniture, then requested repair services from the craftsmen.

And today, these contractors came on-site to work on the mansion.

Of course, it was thanks to the five times fee I usually charged.

After paying half of the wages upfront and promising to pay the rest once they finished within a week, they all rushed here immediately.

‘Money truly is the best. Riches are the best!’

I couldn’t help but feel grateful for being born as a heiress. It made preparing for the potential ruin much easier.

At that moment, a wall repairer came up to me and spoke.

“Miss, you asked us to install torches on the walls, right?”

I nodded my head.

“Yes, reinforce the walls much higher and thicker than they are now. Install a metal torch holders on the outer wall. Also, put iron barbed wire on top of the wall.”

“Would you like to install a wall-mounted iron torch outside the wall? Outside?”

The contractor kept confirming with me. When I firmly nodded, he scratched his head, puzzled by this unusual request he had never heard before.

Well, I suppose it does sound quite peculiar.

The structure I requested for was a defensive barrier I had designed after carefully summarizing the characteristics of the virus monsters described in the novel.

‘They are weak against heat, so we need to keep them away from the walls. We have to light a fire.’

I intended to install torches on the outer wall to prevent the monsters from getting too close.

It would be impractical to keep the torches lit all the time, but it could serve as a temporary measure.

Anyway, as I watched the repair work on the wall, I turned to the contractor, who was now going to fix the front gate.

Several craftsmen arrived and installed a large stone gate. I decided to call it a stone gate.

“I heard there’s a habitat for wild animals like bears in the forest. We need a sturdy gate that won’t open even if a bear charges at it.”

“This should do. It’s very robust. It was quite challenging to acquire it, you know.”

The contractor wiped the sweat off his forehead as he spoke. I guess he was right. As I mentioned before, that’s why it cost me five times the usual price for repairs.

“Is it easy to open and close?”

“Well, it’s not exactly easy. It’s a stone gate, you see. Especially the stone latch, it’s quite heavy to lift alone. But it’s sturdy. Once you lock it, it won’t open from the outside, that’s for sure.”

Other workers were busy finishing the installation of the stone gate. As the vendor said, the latch was fixed with stones, making it look solid.

It seemed heavy enough that two workers needed to exert their strength to lift it, but for me with my strength, it wasn’t a problem.

After thoroughly checking the installation process of the stone gate, I prepared to cultivate the vegetable garden. This time, I planned to plant Elpinus herbs.

Luckily, inside the Elpinus herb box that I secured from the mansion at 61st street, there were not only herbs but also seeds. There was plenty of them.

‘I remember someone mentioning the natural habitat of Elpinus herbs. Should I go herb picking?’

After planting the herbs, I needed to work on the vegetable garden. It was almost late spring, just before summer, and I was lucky that it was the perfect season to plant crops.

‘Wait, thinking I’m lucky might lead to something terrible happening later…’

No, no, I’m not superstitious like that Kim Cheomji guy.

T/n: This Kim Cheomgi (김첨지) is the protagonist in a novel called Lucky Day. https://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?isHttpsRedirect=true&blogId=cocoje2016&logNo=221467545876&categoryNo=60&proxyReferer=

I looked at the messy garden with my head tilted.

For the Happy House’s vegetable garden, I prepared tomatoes, cabbage, onions, as well as carrots, potatoes, and green onions.

In this world without modern refrigerators, the only way to store food for a long time was to grow it yourself!

First, I visited the village’s general store and bought various tools such as shovels, hoes, trowels, and watering cans. Then, I didn’t forget to purchase gardening outfits.

I bought enough seeds for two years.

Back at the Happy House, I immediately changed into the ‘gardening look.’ I put on a jumpsuit, boots, a straw hat, and wrapped a towel around my neck.

‘Ugh, I hate this outfit.’

Cherry Sinclair is indeed sensitive to fashion. Even though it’s a situation where memories from a past life and the present are mixed, Cherry has only lived as Cherry for a whopping 19 years.

I’m the kind of person who can’t give up on dresses and jewelry even if I die, but I couldn’t possibly tend to the garden in such attire.

Anyway, after getting all geared up, I started pulling weeds with a hoe. Once all the weeds are gone, I can use the hoe to plow the soil.

‘I’m really living my life diligently.’

I wiped the sweat running down my face with a towel while thinking such thoughts.

‘Huff…’

A while later, exhausted, I sighed deeply and looked up at the sky.

The sun was shining brightly in the afternoon.

It was scorching hot and tiring.

I was hungry.

‘Did I really want to live this diligently?’

Working hard really means going through this. But the future Cherry will be grateful.

With that thought, I held the hoe again.

“Stop right there.”

Someone aimed a revolver at me. Surprised, I raised my head, and it was Eden. What the… when did he arrive?

I turned my head slightly. The front gate was open, and the workers who were installing it were standing back, looking startled.

“Ahh!”

The contractor who was repairing the wall saw the gun and screamed, falling off the ladder. Eden didn’t bat an eye and issued a hostile command to me.

“Cherry Sinclair, you’re under arrest for drug smuggling.”

Wait, what?

“Drug smuggling?”

“No need for excuses. Those herbs and seeds over there, aren’t they drugs?”

Eden pointed at the Elpinus herbs and the box of herbs on the ground.

It seems he thinks that if I have herbs, they must be drugs.

Why is my image like this?

“Hah… I knew it was suspicious when Cherry Sinclair came down to this rural area to hide.”

Eden looked at me with disdain.

Look, I knew it. The moment I think I’m lucky, something like this happens.

From now on, my name is Cheomji Sinclair, f*ck.

* * *

In the end, I spent the whole afternoon at the Brunel Police Station.

And at Eden’s request, a drug investigation officer from the Benton Police Department and a drug specialist doctor to determine the presence of drugs were dispatched in the evening.

The problem was with that medical specialist.

I closely scrutinized the drug investigation officer and the doctor standing with Eden.

He was dressed in a sophisticated suit that didn’t fit in this rural village. And on his dark blue hair, he wore a top hat, the symbol of gentlemen. Yeah, the same hat Arsène Lupin used to wear.

T/n: Arsène Lupin is a fictional character, a gentleman thief. Idk if you watch or remember Detective Conan but you can imagine their hats. There’s also a character Lupin there.

But what stood out the most was his appearance that instantly captivated people’s attention. And his honey-colored eyes were filled with laughter.

If he didn’t have a lollipop in his mouth, he would have looked like a quite gentle gentleman.

‘Knox Cornell Ludpurshire.’

The doctor in front of me was a sub-male lead character from the novel ⟨Love in a Ruined World⟩.

‘Why are you here!?’

I’m sure I was somehow caught up in something. All I did was steal the Elpinus herbs from 61st Notium Street and escape to Brunel!

The main background of the novel is clearly the capital Benton, but for some reason, the main characters are gathering in this rural village before the end of the world.

Is this the butterfly effect…?!