When the Female Lead Went Off-Script, the Main Male Lead Became the Tyrant's Empress

A faithful servant obeyed his master well.

Just as Arden was about to begin breakfast, the attendant approached and told him what Haster liked.

Without delay, Arden had people shower Haster with more flowers and clothes than could be counted.

While he was at it, he also threw in a jeweled brooch that had been received as tribute several years ago.

The thought that he had successfully given Haster gifts filled Arden with satisfaction.

The thought, ‘Wasn’t giving him flowers a little romantic?’ suddenly occurred to him, but he erased it from his mind.

So what if it was? Haster liked them.

Even Arden thought he had done remarkably well.

“I should’ve done this sooner.”

He had no idea why he hadn’t even considered something so simple before.

Perhaps he had been prejudiced into thinking that just because Haster was ascetic, he wouldn’t accept even a heartfelt gift.

“What should I give him next?”

Humming to himself, Arden rose from his seat and threw the window wide open.

His chest was filled with an indescribable sense of fulfillment.

The sunlight seemed especially bright and dazzling today.

Beyond the window, he could see ladies-in-waiting strolling through the palace with bouquets in their arms.

Judging by the way they squealed excitedly with faces as delighted as young girls, they seemed to have received them as gifts from admirers.

Even magically created butterflies were fluttering around them, making the whole thing look rather extravagant…….

“Huh?”

Wait.

Arden rubbed his eyes at the unbelievable sight and looked again.

No matter how he looked at them, they were unmistakably the flowers he had given Haster.

Sparks flew from his eyes.

“That bastard?”

Arden dashed toward Haster’s room.

Forgetting all dignity as he ran down the corridor, he passed several ladies-in-waiting and maids.

Without exception, their arms were filled with flowers he had given Haster.

The more flushed, delighted faces he saw, the hotter his temper burned.

“Haster!”

Arden called his name as he charged into the room.

“Are you insane? What the hell were you thinking, doing something like that?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

Haster asked in return, looking as though he had known Arden would come.

“What were you thinking, doing something like that? What did you expect me to do after filling the room so completely there was nowhere to set foot? Were you trying to suffocate me with the scent of flowers? If you want to kill me, just send an assassin next time. Don’t make several people suffer needlessly because of some pathetic plan.”

Arden was dumbfounded.

Suffocate? Suffer?

Did this bastard have no sense of romance?

“How can you say something so harsh after receiving a gift someone gave you out of the goodness of his heart?”

“A gift given out of the goodness of your heart……?”

Haster’s eyes distorted slightly.

A look that clearly said, ‘If you genuinely think that was a gift given out of goodwill, then you’re a complete idiot,’ shot toward Arden’s face.

Arden looked around the room.

Most of the flowers that had filled the room were already gone.

Even so, there were still plenty left.

Porcelain vases filled with flowers stood here and there throughout the room.

And despite every window being open, an overpowering lingering fragrance that could never be called subtle remained.

“Well……. Maybe I overdid it a little.”

Arden mumbled, trying to hide his embarrassment.

But he still felt aggrieved.

He had gone to all that trouble to give him a gift!

“Even so, how could you give away something you received as a gift?”

“I gave them away because they were gifts. Otherwise, I would’ve thrown them into the incinerator by now.”

What a heartless man.

“You should’ve just thrown them away, then.”

His temper flaring, Arden unleashed a torrent of sarcasm like a summer downpour.

“The person who sent them went to all that trouble, so you should at least keep them as they are for one day. Haster, do you have no tact? If you’d thrown them away little by little, no one would’ve even noticed. I suppose you don’t have enough consideration to do something like that? Then again, since when have you ever been good at considering other people’s feelings? Maybe that’s why you got dumped when you were dating too. I thought you’d become a little more humane after seeing how well you took care of Clary, but apparently not. Ah, come to think of it, everyone who got the flowers was a woman. Wow, our Grand Duke is unexpectedly quite the romantic. Now that I see it, Haster, you’re quite the womanizer. How did you hold yourself back all this time? At this rate, aren’t you going to seduce every woman in the capital, no, every woman in the Empire?”

He finished with particular emphasis on the final sentence.

“There’s an error in what you just said.”

After patiently listening to the entire lengthy tirade, Haster spoke as though he had never heard anything so ridiculous.

“I gave flowers to men too.”