The Male Leads Are Trapped in My House

“Is there nothing to do at the mansion today?”

“What?”

“Firewood.”

“You made enough yesterday. That’ll last for two years.”

Ethan had chopped what felt like two years’ worth of firewood in a single day. The sheer amount of logs stacked in one corner of the garden was overwhelming.

“Then I’ll help with something else.”

‘What the heck? What’s with him?’

I looked at Ethan suspiciously.

‘Is he trying to keep an eye on me?’

It made sense to use helping out as an excuse if he wanted to stay close and monitor me. Wasn’t he the same guy who had pestered me endlessly to let him look around the mansion?@@novelbin@@

While I was still trying to figure him out, Nox walked over and interrupted.

“What are you two talking about?”

As soon as Nox spoke, Ethan reached for the baton on his belt. Whoa there—wasn’t that a little much?

Sure enough, Nox raised his hands in surrender, looking startled.

“Whoa, whoa. I was asking her something.”

Seeing the tension rise between them again, I ignored Nox’s question and started walking away.

‘I should get back to fixing up the shelter.’

The two of them quickly noticed me leaving and scrambled to follow.

“I’m busy. Stop bothering me and move.”

“I’m sure there’s something I can help with. The mansion still needs a lot of repairs.”

“Cherry, you said you needed me, remember? There are still more bugs to catch.”

Ethan and Nox called out one after the other, trailing close behind me. Ethan even bared his teeth at Nox and growled.

“There’s no way you came to this backwater town just for fun. I don’t know what you’re up to, but get lost unless you want to get beaten.”

“You’ve gotten pretty rude since becoming a cop. If someone didn’t know better, they’d think you were some street thug, not an officer. Ha!”

“This face wouldn’t be mistaken for a thug, so mind your own business and go back to Benton, you bastard.”

“Didn’t you hear me? Unlike you, I was invited by Cherry. She asked me to come!”

“Ugh, shut up already.”

My single comment silenced them instantly. Ethan and Nox both glanced at me nervously and clamped their mouths shut.

Despite pretending to be a gentleman around me, Ethan showed his true colors the moment he dealt with Nox.

Clearly, his whole polite act was just a way to lower my guard so he could catch me red-handed.

But compared to Ethan’s obvious motives, I still couldn’t figure out why Nox was hanging around me.

‘Well, since he’s here, I’ll just use his interest to make him work.’

With so little time and too much to do, having one more set of hands was definitely a win.

‘But if he gets in the way, I’ll kick him out immediately.’

Resolving to make the most of the situation, I climbed up the hill.

*****

Once we reached the mansion, I put Ethan in charge of fixing the walls. The contractor was still on the roof assembling the catapult, so someone had to handle the repairs.

As for the Elphinus Herb seeds, there was no need for compost, so I decided to plant them directly—well, technically, Nox did.

Today was also the day the furniture was supposed to be delivered, so I was even busier than yesterday.

“The heir to the Duke of Lancaster’s family, fixing walls? Hah!”

Nox sat cross-legged next to Ethan, a lollipop in his mouth, teasing him as he worked. He must have finished planting the Elphinus Herb seeds already.

‘...No wonder Ethan used to beat him up.’

I vaguely recalled hearing that Nox had taken a lot of punches from Ethan during their academy days.

Sure enough, Ethan grabbed Nox by the collar and threw him to the ground.

They were acting like children. Weren’t these guys older than me? They sure didn’t act like it.

How were these supposed to be the male leads in a romance novel? Well, one was technically the heroine’s brother, so he didn’t count.

While I was watching their ridiculous antics, someone called out at the front gate. It was Susanna.

“Miss, this mansion is so remote.”

Struggling to carry a rectangular suitcase, she staggered into the garden.

“Susanna! You’re finally here!”

I jumped up from my spot and ran to greet her.

“Miss!”

Susanna welcomed me with open arms, and we clutched each other’s hands as we spun around excitedly.

“It must’ve been tough getting here!”

“It’s fine. Since I’ll be living here with you, I should get used to it.”

What a sweet talker. I patted Susanna’s head while she glanced over and spotted Ethan and Nox.

“Oh? Who are they…?”

“Workers. Now go unpack.”

Since we’d likely never see each other after the apocalypse, I didn’t bother properly introducing Ethan and Nox to Susanna.

The two of them gave me incredulous looks, but Susanna simply glanced between us before grabbing her suitcase and bowing.

“Then I’ll head inside to unpack.”

“Sure, sure. Go ahead.”

After sending Susanna into the mansion, the furniture I’d ordered from the neighboring village of Kintne arrived.

Workers from the furniture shop started carrying the pieces inside. Ethan and Nox, still lingering awkwardly, ended up helping them move things.

I handed out drinks to everyone and watched with satisfaction as the mansion slowly began to look more complete. It finally felt like everything was falling into place.

If someone asked me how to build the perfect shelter, I’d answer confidently:

“Money.”

Throwing cash around to stock up on supplies was turning this place into an amazing refuge.

When Ethan and the delivery workers peeked into the pantry connected to the kitchen and saw all the food and essentials I’d stored, their eyes widened in shock.

“This feels like a war bunker.”

Hearing one of the workers mutter that made me realize just how well I was preparing.

*****

14 Days Until Doomsday.

Ethan and Nox stayed late at Happy House last night, helping me sort through supplies.

After working up a sweat all day, I took pity on them and gave each of them a room to sleep in.

They had passed out almost instantly and didn’t wake up until this morning.

“…Apologies. I didn’t mean to stay overnight.”

Ethan looked flustered as he approached me after waking up.

I brushed him off with a quick greeting and slung a net filled with bells over my shoulder as I left the room. Ethan stared at me, confused.

“What are those bells for?”

“Oh. I need them for something. I’ll be busy today, so I won’t be able to see you off. Say goodbye to our dear doctor for me.”

I gave him a brief nod and hurried out of the mansion. Susanna quickly grabbed a cloak and followed me.

“Miss! Wait for me!”

As we crossed the garden, I handed Susanna a handful of bells and pulled some rope from the belt pouch at my waist.

“What are you going to do with these?”

“I’m hanging them in the forest.”

The creatures were sensitive to sound. By scattering bells around and linking them with rope, I could use the noise to divert their attention when necessary.

I tied the bells to trees throughout the small forest behind the mansion, connecting them with ropes that could be pulled from the house to make noise.

Then, grabbing a shovel, I dug deep trenches around the property and set up traps. I even posted signs that read:

<WARNING: TRAPS AHEAD>

Monsters wouldn’t be able to read them, but people would.

“Miss… where did you learn all this?”

Susanna, carrying supplies to match my pace, asked hesitantly.

“Well…”

From movies?

For a modern person, it wasn’t hard to come up with ideas like this. But for the upper class in this world—especially someone with my reputation as a clueless heiress—it would’ve been unthinkable.

‘Having memories from my past life is my ace in the hole.’

I searched for an excuse and gave her a casual explanation.

“I traveled a lot with my parents when I was younger. We visited western territories and picked up all sorts of fun ideas.”

Still, Susanna’s expression clearly said, What exactly did you do during those trips?

I didn’t feel like adding more, so I just smiled.

No matter what, my preparations for the apocalypse were moving forward.

Even so, it seemed that in Brunel, I was now known as the ‘crazy lady from the haunted mansion.’

Why did it suddenly feel like my eyes were sweating? Was this really okay?