The Obsessive Male Lead Is Obsessed With Me! - Chapter 105
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 105
When Lionel nodded, Duke Roheim patted his shoulder with a pleased expression.
“Well then, shall we sit side by side and intimately review this estate management report? Ask me anything you don’t understand. Hahaha!”
One fortunate thing was that examining the estate management reports and related documents wasn’t too difficult. He had already learned all of this while studying to become Emperor.
Lionel, who had studied his entire life to become Emperor, was more than qualified to become a Duke’s consort. In fact, he was overqualified.
As he learned estate affairs from Duke Roheim, who was excited about his long vacation dreams, the Duchess would come find them, telling them to rest a bit and leading them to the garden.
And with Cecilia and other family members called over, tea time would begin.
Albert, who had a book he was in the middle of reading, Belrose, who didn’t want to cool down his body that was in the midst of training, and Cecilia, who was analyzing magic circuits, would gulp down their hot tea in one go and quickly leave.
But Duke Roheim and Lionel sat with proper posture, maintaining the courtesy of invited guests as they enjoyed the refreshments they were served.
Duke Roheim did so to spend sweet time with his wife, and Lionel did so because he would later go to the greenhouse with the Duchess to help her tend to the flowers.
“Lionel, I’ve been curious for a few days now – where did you learn your knowledge of floriculture?”
“I read flower guides and taught myself.”
“Flower guides? What for?”
“To give flowers as gifts to Liri.”
“Oh my.”
It was truly an answer that struck right at the heart of a mother with a daughter.
As if to prove it wasn’t a lie, whenever Lionel helped Sophia with work in the greenhouse, he would take one flower that caught his eye and place it in the vase in their bedroom.
Today too, after quickly finishing helping Sophia move heavy flower pots, when given permission to take a flower he liked, Lionel pondered for a moment before speaking.
“There’s a flower whose name I’d like to ask about. I’ve been curious about it for a while, but it wasn’t listed in the guides.”
“Really? What does the flower look like?”
“It looks like this…”
Lionel took out a notebook and drew a picture on it to describe the flower he remembered.
It had been so long since he received the flower as a gift that he couldn’t remember it well, but he did remember its general characteristics.
Fortunately, that was enough for Sophia to identify the flower without difficulty.
“It’s probably… borage?”
“Borage, you say?”
“Yes. Come this way.”
The flower called borage was also blooming in Sophia’s greenhouse.
“How about it, is this right?”
Lionel immediately nodded.
“Yes, that’s right.”
A star-shaped flower with a blue hue like Cecilia’s hair.
“This isn’t a commonly seen flower – how did you know about it?”
“I received this flower as a gift when I was young.”
“Oh my, how interesting. Cecil also loved this flower when she was little, and would come here every day to play, picking one at a time to give to everyone she met.”
The moment he heard those words, the image of ‘Liri’ formed in Lionel’s mind. The image of a small blue bird that would have come to meet him carrying a flower from this very greenhouse.
Then he suddenly became curious.
“What is the flower language of this flower?”
“Courage and protection. It has a good meaning, doesn’t it?”
“Courage, protection…”
Both were exactly what he had needed when they were both young.
Perhaps what ‘Liri’ had wanted to give him wasn’t the flower itself, but its meaning.
“Oh my.”
Just then, Sophia made a surprised sound.
Lionel looked at her with a puzzled expression. Because of this, the gentle smile that had been on his lips instantly disappeared.
Sophia felt regret, but instead of voicing that fact, she shook her head.
“Then shall I cut this flower for you today?”
“Yes. Please do.”
Lionel came out of the greenhouse carrying three borage flowers arranged in a vase. And on his way back to the bedroom, he encountered Albert.
“Lord Lionel! Please look at this!”
Running over with a face as happy as a puppy that found water, he showed off the book he was holding to Lionel.
“‘Considerations on the Origins of Imperial Language’! And it’s even an original, not a copy!”
“Isn’t that book the posthumous work of the great scholar Rubert Schoem? An original survived?”
“As expected! I knew Lord Lionel would appreciate it!”
Albert hugged Lionel tightly and made sobbing sounds.
Before meeting him, he had encountered Belrose and Cecilia, but Belrose had no interest in books at all, and Cecilia frowned and ran away as soon as she heard the book’s title.
“In this house, Lord Lionel must be the only person who knows the name of the great scholar Rubert, sob!”
“I’ve read the copy before, but this is my first time seeing the original. Please lend it to me later.”
“Of course. I wouldn’t lend it to illiterate fools who don’t know this book’s value, but I’d gladly lend it to Lord Lionel anytime.”
Albert stood in the corridor and talked with Lionel about Rubert for quite a while, then said he should get going and returned to his room, carefully holding the book.
Afterward, Lionel returned to the bedroom and placed the vase in a prominent spot. Then Uni came to inform him of dinner time.
If nothing else, having all family members gather for dinner was a tradition of the Roheim family, and now Lionel was included among those family members.
The dinner that began with him sitting next to Cecilia was completely different from his previous meal times when he would always eat alone, emptying his plate without saying a word.
“Oh right, I went to the reading group today and heard some amazing news.”
“It’s probably just news about some out-of-print book being reprinted, or some old book going up for auction.”
“It’s not!”
“Right, Snowy stopped by briefly earlier. It seems Master hasn’t finished dissecting the Monster King’s corpse yet?”
“Hasn’t it been quite a while since the Monster King was caught? Prospective son-in-law, when was that?”
“Three months have passed.”
“And it’s still not done?”
“It’s a King that’s born only once every 100 years, right? I think he’s doing a lot of research before actually dissecting it. Oh right! Lionel, what happened to the poison sac I asked for?”
“Lord Belrose should have it.”
“Me? …Huh? Ah? Come to think of it, I think I might have… received something?”
“Sister!”
“No, I have it. I do, probably.”
“More importantly, isn’t anyone interested in the amazing news I heard? Father, Mother?”
“Your soup is getting cold. Eat quickly, dear.”
Eating in such a boisterous atmosphere made Lionel recall the day he first met Cecilia – that is, her in human form.
“Second Prince. Please peel these shrimp for me.”
She who had held out her plate with a cheeky expression was now peeling shrimp shells for him.
“Here you go. Ah.”
As he chewed the plump shrimp meat that Cecilia had speared with a fork and fed him, Lionel thought.
Having his wrists bound and his freedom taken away was a surprisingly pleasant thing.
* * *
“…That’s how today went.”
“Wow… How did our family even live without Lionel?”
Somehow it felt like my family liked Lionel more than they liked me.
‘He’s not planning to win over my family to his side and secretly run away, is he?’
Just try it. I’ll chase him to the ends of the continent and drag him back.
I checked that the earring was properly attached to Lionel’s ear, then checked his wrist once more.
“Your wrist is really okay, right?”
“Yes. It’s fine.”
“That’s a relief. Then we should do what we need to do now, right?”
I cleared my throat lightly and held out my hand to Lionel. Then he lifted me up in his arms.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he placed me on his lap and supported my back with one hand.
And with his other hand, he grabs mine and naturally intertwines our fingers as if it’s the most obvious thing to do.
“Hmm…”
Through our clasped hands and the warmth where we touch, magical power flows into me.
‘Ah, this is it.’
My sharing the same bedroom with Lionel serves the purpose of surveillance, but it was also largely for replenishing my magical power like this.
For the past 3 years and 6 months, I couldn’t charge my magical power, so it was incredibly difficult.
Living with barely any magic was truly exhausting. Now I really don’t think I’ll be able to send this man out of my bedroom.
I was lying limply in Lionel’s arms, clinging closely to him, when I quietly lifted my head.
‘How… even from below, he’s so handsome.’
This man probably wouldn’t produce any unflattering photos no matter what angle or how you photographed him.
As I stared intently at his prominent nose bridge and sharp jawline that looked as if drawn with a brush stroke on paper, my gaze suddenly landed on his lips.
‘They look incredibly soft and plump.’
Were they actually soft and plump…?
Our first kiss where we only briefly touched lips was so long ago that I couldn’t remember it well now.
I stared intently at his red lips and impulsively poked his lower lip with my index finger.
Then Lionel turned his head to meet my eyes.
Just seeing my face reflected in his pupils made me nervous, and I gulped down my saliva.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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