The Male Leads Are Trapped in My House

“How did you know I was someone who pursues fun?”

How? Nox had always been described as someone who sought entertainment, even in the original novel.

But instead of saying that, I just gave a sly smile.

“It’s written all over your face, Mr. Ludfisher.”

“Oh my, I’ve been exposed.”

“Exposed? You didn’t even look like you were trying to hide it.”

“Hahaha.”

Nox laughed nonchalantly. He genuinely seemed to be enjoying himself.

However, I knew Nox was an even harder person to read than Ethan.

‘People who always wear a smiling face usually have the darkest insides.’

At least I managed to secure a promise from Nox to help me catch bugs at Happy House tomorrow.

Honestly, solving the Elphinus Herb issue would cover about 80% of my apocalypse preparations.

‘It’s practically a vaccine.’

With that thought, I sent Nox off and returned to my room, collapsing onto the old bed.

“Ugh. I’m exhausted.”

For the first time, I found myself wishing the world would just hurry up and end.

Preparing for the apocalypse was harder than surviving it…!

*****

Sinclair Townhouse in the Capital

Harrison sat in his office, silently reading a letter. The sender was Cherry Sinclair. The recipient—Harrison Howard.

The postman, who had gone missing, had been found dead, and his belongings, including the letters, had only now been delivered.

Beneath a brief greeting, urgent words were scrawled:

[Harrison, you didn’t seriously prepare firearms just because I said I wanted to shoot someone, right?]

Harrison stared at the letter with a troubled expression. The weapons he had prepared were indeed firearms—illegally imported from the Kingdom of Briwood.

‘I thought she’d be thrilled since she said she wanted to shoot someone.’

In the past, he wouldn’t have thought twice about it. But lately, Cherry had been acting strangely.

This wasn’t the first time. She’d been changing a lot recently.

After the Sinclairs died in a car accident, Cherry had been lethargic, as if she had no purpose in life.

All she cared about were parties and spending her inheritance like there was no tomorrow. That was it.

But then, not long ago, she changed.

Her eyes sparkled like someone with a newfound purpose in life, and she overflowed with determination. She’d also started making unusual requests—requests that didn’t suit her at all.

It was as if she had become a completely different person.

Her unpredictable behavior was suspicious, but Harrison decided to quietly watch for now.

At least the firearms hadn’t been sent to Brunel yet.

‘Has Jose still not arrived?’

Harrison had sent someone to Brunel to teach Cherry how to handle weapons, but her letter hadn’t mentioned anything about it.

[If that’s really the case, don’t send anyone. You should bring them yourself, Harrison.]

He continued reading.

[Ethan Duncan Lancaster is here. He’s been assigned to the Brunel police station. He seems to know something about the firearms smuggling and suspects I’m involved. I think he’s trying to dig up dirt on the Sinclair family. Is there any way to get him sent back to the capital?]

Ethan Duncan Lancaster? Harrison’s sharp brows furrowed slightly.

‘Benton’s Mad Dog?’

Now that he thought about it, there had been reports that Ethan had been investigating Harrison.

Harrison hadn’t been too concerned about someone digging into him—until that attention shifted to Cherry.

Cherry was family to him.

When Harrison was fifteen, despite his intelligence, he couldn’t afford to attend the Royal Academy.

It was the Sinclair couple who had sponsored him and taken him in.

On the day his sponsorship was finalized, Harrison first met Cherry.

A tiny, adorable five-year-old peeking out from behind Mrs. Sinclair’s leg and staring up at him.

“So we’re family now?”

The little girl had asked in the sweetest voice he’d ever heard.

Family. A word he had never associated with himself before.

“Cherry needs a big brother.”

Her golden eyes, filled with loneliness, looked up at him as she clung to his pant leg.

Harrison recalled then that the Sinclairs were always busy with business.

“You’re good-looking, so you qualify as Cherry’s family.”

“Oh my, Cherry, what did I tell you about judging by appearances? A person’s character is more important.”

“But, Mom, you said we live with Dad because he’s good-looking. Men need to be handsome.”

“Oh dear, well… I suppose that’s true, but…”

Mrs. Sinclair flushed, clearly embarrassed, and tried to smooth things over while glancing nervously at Harrison.

Even though the Sinclairs had sponsored Harrison, they hadn’t adopted him. And he wasn’t the only child receiving their support.

So Harrison had no choice but to maintain some distance from Cherry out of respect for the Sinclairs.

But hearing her words, he made a vow.

Blood didn’t bind them, but Cherry was his sister—bound by something even stronger.

Snapping out of his memories, Harrison let out a tired sigh.

‘I’ll have to bring the firearms myself.’

Originally, he had planned to head to Brunel tomorrow as Cherry requested. But based on her letter, things had changed.

Transporting the weapons himself would require more security.

‘It’s going to take a few more days.’

*****

16 days until the end of the world.

‘Susanna said she’d arrive tomorrow.’

Marking the date on the calendar, I fell back into deep thought.

Harrison hadn’t given me a specific date for when he’d be arriving in Brunel.

‘He better get here soon.’

I set the calendar down on my desk and glanced out the window.

Ethan was walking through the garden, carrying a log on his shoulder.

He had tossed aside his uniform jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt, exposing his muscular forearms.

His navy-blue uniform pants fit him perfectly, and a revolver rested in the holster strapped to his thigh.

After effortlessly setting the log down on the dirt, Ethan ran a hand through his neatly combed blond hair. My eyes were drawn to his sharp jawline and prominent Adam’s apple.

‘Wow, he really is my type.’

I straightened up and stepped outside.

“You’re here.”

When I greeted him, he gestured toward the log.

“Where do you want this moved?”

“For now, let’s chop it up for firewood. We can store some inside and leave the rest outside.”

Ethan’s gaze shifted toward the pile of firewood stacked neatly in one corner of the yard.

Letting out a dry chuckle, he rested his hands on his hips and looked back at me.

“How much firewood are you planning to make? This is enough to burn down the whole village.”

“Oh, don’t exaggerate so much.”

I lightly elbowed his side, but he turned to stare at me, his expression practically cursing me out.

I quickly took a step back.

Ethan folded his arms and took on a defiant stance.

“Ah. Are you hoping to see me collapse from exhaustion, Miss Sinclair?”

“What?”

“If not, then what’s the point of all this?”

“What do you mean, what’s the point?”

“This much work won’t faze me. I don’t tire out that easily.”

Huh? What’s with this sudden shift?

It seemed Ethan thought I was making him do all this as some kind of punishment. After silently watching him for a moment, I said,

“Just get to chopping the wood.”

Without missing a beat, Ethan grabbed the axe, spun it skillfully in his hand, and brought it down in a sharp motion.

Crack.

The log split cleanly in two, and I couldn’t help but admire the sight. Damn, look at those muscles.

I clapped my hands a few times while watching him split the wood, but then I snapped out of it.

‘No, I don’t have time to stand around like this. There’s still so much to do to turn this mansion into a fortress.’

Just then, a group of workers entered through the main gate. They were here to repair the outer walls.

I greeted them and quickly headed up to the second floor of the mansion.

‘The way to the roof should be around here somewhere…’

I scanned the hallway until I spotted a rope hanging from the ceiling near the nursery.

‘There it is!’

Jumping lightly, I grabbed the rope and pulled.

Whirr—

A ladder unfolded from the ceiling, and I climbed up to the roof.

The sloped roof was a bit precarious, but the view was incredible. Since Happy House sat on a hill, I could see the entire village below.

‘This spot is perfect for monitoring monster movements.’

I called up one of the workers and asked him to install railings around the roof to make it safer to stand guard.

‘And I need to build a catapult.’@@novelbin@@

It was better to have weapons ready before the apocalypse hit. I couldn’t build something like that by myself.

The catapult would also be set up on the roof.

There were several types of catapults to consider. The more complex the design, the more reliable it would be—but it would also take more time.

I mean, we all made those popsicle-stick catapults in elementary school science class, right?

Of course, this one would be a lot bigger, so the frame and rubber bands would need to be much sturdier to keep it balanced.

Technically, it was closer to a lever mechanism than a true catapult.

I quickly sketched a design using a lever-based principle and handed it to the worker repairing the walls.

“You want me to install a catapult here? I’m not a weapons expert, you know.”

The man asked again, looking at me incredulously.

“But you can build it, right?”

He furrowed his brow and examined the design more closely.

“Well… I suppose I could.”

“I’ll quadruple your pay on top of what we agreed for the repairs.”

The worker immediately puffed out his chest and grinned.

“Just leave it to me. I’ll have it done in no time.”

Exactly. I took out a massive loan of a hundred million gold for this kind of situation, so there’s no point in holding back now.