The Male Leads Are Trapped in My House

As I stood on the roof, overseeing the construction with the contractor, I could feel Eden’s cold gaze from below.

‘I can’t do anything suspicious.’

When I first came down to Brunel, I intended to make this place a ‘secret’ shelter.

But seeing how things were turning out, it seemed like I had to let go of the secrecy. The apocalypse was drawing near, and it was more important to prepare properly for it, even if it meant receiving suspicious treatment.

I stood on the roof and looked around with the opera binoculars I had brought.

‘A monster might appear here too.’

On the verge of destruction, it was mentioned that the monster appeared sporadically in several villages. So while preparing for the apocalypse, the strings of tension had to be maintained.

Well, for now, the village looks peaceful.

‘Still, I should come up here frequently to observe.’

I watched the contractor making the catapult for a while and then descended. The wall repairs seemed to be about halfway done.

‘I think I should call in another contractor.’

In order to complete the task as soon as possible.

“What exactly are you planning to do in this mansion? I’m getting more curious.”

Eden, with an axe resting on his shoulder, approached me. He looked at me, his fingers wiping away a bead of sweat on his chin, waiting for my answer.

“I told you, it’s my private mansion.”

Eden looked at me with a face that seemed unsure where to start and where to finish his words.

Then he scrutinized my attire once again. I was dressed in a jumpsuit, wearing boots and a straw hat. It was a fashion optimized for fieldwork.

“I’m really skeptical if you’re the Cherry Sinclair everyone talked about in the newspapers and society. You’re quite different.”

Eden stroked his chin as he spoke.

He was right. If it were the previous Cherry, I wouldn’t even touch such clothes. I might have surpassed numerous nobles and become the indulgence girl of high society.

“I don’t like dressing like this either. It’s not pretty.”

“No one asked you to do it, but you’re behaving strangely Miss Cherry.”

That’s right. No one asked me to do it. I let out a sigh.

As I was having this pointless conversation with Eden, he suddenly grabbed my hand. Holding me tightly, he swiftly moved half a turn, avoiding an accident.

Thunk-

Large wooden materials fell and shattered on the floor. They had fallen from the roof of the mansion.

‘Wow, your reflexes are amazing.’

While trying to calm down my surprised heart in Eden’s embrace, the contractor on the roof called out to us.

“Oh my! Are you okay?”

“You could have been… seriously injured!”

Eden glanced at me and swallowed his curse, then pointed at the contractor, sternly warning him with his eyes, covering his own eyes with his index and middle fingers before changing direction and pointing at the contractor again.

No matter how I think about it, that guy seems to be putting up a dirty act only in front of me. Perhaps because he thinks he can gain something from me.

For example, exposing the corruption of the Sinclair family?

“Oh, dear. I’m so sorry! I apologize!”

The contractor bowed deeply towards us, his face turning pale. After giving a couple more scoldings, warning him to be careful, I turned to Eden.

“Thank you.”

“I’m not hurt, so it’s fine.”

Eden casually rested his hand on my head and turned away. He picked up the axe again and resumed splitting firewood.

I stood there absentmindedly, watching his back, and then turned around.

‘What?’

I absentmindedly touched my head and tilted my head in confusion. It’s strange because Eden is usually kind. Of course, Eden has always shown a selective gentlemanly demeanor.

Anyway, I brought a hoe and stood in the vegetable garden. I had pulled out all the weeds yesterday, so today it was time to plow the soil.

I need to plow the soil today and spread fertilizer so that I can plant seeds in two weeks.

Just as I was about to start working, a strange voice came from somewhere.

“Hahaha! Lancasters, what on earth are you doing? Are you a woodcutter?”

Knox, who had come into the garden at some point, pointed at Eden’s attire and laughed. If Eden was the rough type, Knox was the slick type.

‘Eden wouldn’t tolerate that…’

As expected, Eden threw the axe he was holding. The flying axe landed precisely in front of Knox’s feet. Knox smiled and stepped back.

“I would have told you not to be foolish in front of me.”

At Eden’s annoyed warning, Knox raised both hands to show surrender.

“I came here at Miss Cherry’s request too.”

Both Eden and Knox looked at me simultaneously. Once again, I sighed and nodded.

“Because Mr. Ludpershire decided to catch bugs today.”

“Did I say that?”

“Bugs?”

The previous question was Knox’s, followed by Eden’s.

“I didn’t think yesterday’s remark was serious. I didn’t know it meant catching bugs ourselves.”

Knox casually shook his head, saying that he would help with herb cultivation, but catching bugs would be difficult.

“In that case, Mr. Ludpershire is not needed. You can leave…”

“I cannot refuse as a gentleman. I will catch the bugs.”

I opened my eyes wide and watched Knox, who started diligently catching bugs. He looked like a prince, scanning the garden while holding his posture.

Knox was probably watching me closely, just like Eden. Of course, his intentions were clearly different from Eden’s.

While Eden was guarding me vigilantly, as Knox had previously stated, Knox was surprisingly friendly towards me.

I nodded my head once again, sighing, as I watched Knox catching bugs and Eden chopping firewood.

‘It looks like I’m in trouble with making the secret shelter. Completely in trouble.’

But strangely, I felt more at ease. Whether it’s the original or a newly created story, I will leave everything to fate and focus only on the path I should take.

Then I asked Knox a curious question.

“How long will Mr. Ludpershire stay in Brunel?”

“Why do you want to know? Are you interested in me?”

“Yes.”

Actually, I’m interested in your physique.

Of course, I swallowed the latter part of my sentence. Then, Knox’s bewildered gaze was fixed on me.

Since I decided to receive his help, I should calculate how I can efficiently take advantage of him. I might need to tap on my calculator for that.

“I haven’t set a return date, but I plan to take a generous rest before going. After all the work I’ve done, I think it’s necessary to have days like this, don’t you think?”

I looked at the centipedes inside his glass jar as he spoke. Although he seems to be working hard physically right now to say he’s resting, it seems that according to Knox, this is a form of rest.

Well, that’s fine. I nodded to myself and spoke to Knox.

“Please take care of me.”

* * *

Grayden Kingdom, Crown Prince’s Office.

Crown Prince Theodore raised his head with a puzzled look at the report from his aide, Elderson.

“Where are Eden and Knox?”

“They went down to a village called Brunel.”

“Brunel? Both of them?”

Elderson nodded with a positive meaning.

Theodore and Eden, as well as Knox, were classmates at the Royal School.

Theodore had a strained relationship with the distant Lancaster Duke, but apart from that, he liked Eden. Unlike his father, Eden was trustworthy. He was more honest than anyone else.

But for the past few days, Eden and Knox had been out of contact, and suddenly they were in Brunel. Furthermore, the two of them were not on good terms.

“Why are they down there?”

“Sir Eden has been assigned to the Brunel Police Station.”

“Eden was assigned to a rural police station? Does that make sense? There must be a real reason.”

“….”

“Find out.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“What about Knox?”

“I will find out.”

Theodore put down the documents he was looking at and looked at Elderson with a bewildered face.

Did he report to me without even recognizing such a thing?

Noticing Theodore’s discomfort, Elderson lowered his head with a pale face. Seeing him like that, Theodore shook his head.

‘He doesn’t even know how to do things properly.’

At the end of Theodore’s disheartened gaze, today’s newspaper came in.

[Cherry Sinclair, Social Activities Completely Suspended for the Fifth Day… Attorney Howard: “No issues with her whereabouts.”]

Theodore picked up the newspaper.

“Well, I understand that Sinclair is remarkable, but who is this woman who constantly occupies the headlines without doing anything? How did she become more talked about than me, the Crown Prince?”

The bottom line was that Cherry, who had a higher frequency of occupying headlines than himself, irritated him. Elderson, who glanced at the newspaper, replied.

“If it’s Cherry Sinclair, she’s the hottest star in the social circle these days.”

“Since when?”

“It’s been about a year… It’s been quite a while.”

Upon Elderson’s response, Theodore looked at the newspaper with a slightly surprised expression.