The Obsessive Male Lead Is Obsessed With Me! - Chapter 15

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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 15

Lionel, who was standing in the center of the office, quietly watched me as I stood there full of energy.

Thinking I might have been too over the top with that expressionless face, I subtly turned my gaze elsewhere, when Lionel escorted me to the sofa and spoke in a calm voice.

“It’s been exactly three days, so it’s not really been that long, has it?”

Oh my, was that the problem?

“It’s just how I feel, you know, how I feel.”

Making a huffing sound as I plopped down on the sofa, I crossed my arms and looked at Lionel sitting across from me.

Meanwhile, the Maid Manager brought out tea. Feeling my mood soften at the familiar rose scent, I placed the cookie case I’d brought on the table.

“Speaking of which, Rio, have you ever thought about wanting to see someone?”

“Wanting to see someone…”

Honestly, I expected Lionel to immediately say ‘No’ and cut it short right here.

But he was making some kind of strange expression…

“…There is someone!”

What woman is it!

Did he notice that my eyes were about to flip for a moment? Lionel answered immediately with a calm face.

“It’s not a person.”

“Not a ‘person’?”

Ah. I know what he’s talking about.

‘In the novel, it said he raised a bird when he was young…’

But the First Prince took it away on his own whim and accidentally killed it, right?

Of course, it probably wasn’t an accident. At most it was intentional, at least he neglected it and something happened.

Anyway, after that incident, Lionel stopped keeping pets.

‘Lionel was really cute back then.’

If he had grown up just like that, he would have become a good and upright young man without having to worry about things like corruption.

What a shame, such a real shame.

‘When I get the chance, I’ll give the First Prince a good smack on the back of his head.’

Instead of that man, I decided to get rid of the Maid Manager who was definitely that man’s lackey.

“I’d like to have a conversation alone with Lionel.”

Then the Maid Manager, who had been grinning at me slyly, made a startled expression.

He hesitated for a moment, and Lionel, who had been lost in thought with his gaze lowered thinking about something alone, commanded the Maid Manager firmly.

“Leave.”

“Ah… Yes, Your Highness. Young Lady Duke. I shall withdraw now.”

Even as the Maid Manager went outside, he kept glancing at me with a face full of regret.

That gaze felt quite unpleasant, so as soon as he went outside and closed the door, I asked Lionel.

“Your Highness, the Maid Manager seems too insolent. Can’t you change him for someone else?”

“I can’t change him. It’s not within my authority.”

“Ugh… Are all the servants working in this palace people chosen by the Empress regardless of Rio’s will?”

“Yes.”

“Then even if Rio wanted to bring someone he wanted as a servant, he couldn’t bring them?”

Lionel picked up an almond cookie while quietly looking down at the cookies in the case and answered.

“I’ve never particularly thought about bringing anyone to this place.”

“Then let’s assume one appeared. There’s someone who works really well, has good sense, and is quick-witted, so you think it would be really nice if they served you, but the Empress says no. Would you give up then?”

“I would have to.”

Lionel answered immediately without hesitation, and that made me even more frustrated.

“No, why would you give up on that? You’re sixteen now. Isn’t that exactly the age when puberty hits? Haven’t you ever thought about rebelling at least once?”

“No.”

“Why not!”

“Because I’ve never felt the need to go that far.”

Lionel’s gaze, who spoke in a calm voice, turned toward the almond cookie in his hand.

Then he raised his eyes to look at me. In the purple eyes beyond our meeting gazes, I couldn’t find any emotion whatsoever. It was proof that what he had just said was sincere.

‘Aaaah, so frustrating!’

Like the parents of male leads in dramas who rebel saying they’ll marry the female lead instead of their perfectly fine fiancée, I want to grab the back of my head and fall over!

No, at least those male leads in dramas rebelled! This guy doesn’t rebel and is raising my blood pressure!

“Then let me ask you just one thing. Right now, Rio is constantly working, studying, and training his body, all to become emperor in the future, right?”

“Yes.”

Lionel nodded calmly. At least he seemed to be aware that he was called the prospective crown prince.

“But what if the First Prince suddenly becomes healthy later and you’re told to give up the crown prince position? What would you do then?”

“Then…”

As if he had never imagined such a case, Lionel lowered his gaze and fell into thought.

Watching him as his expression, gaze, and voice all became quiet, I belatedly felt a little nervous and soothed my dry throat with tea.

‘Seeing him worry, does he still find it regrettable to give up the crown prince position?’

Honestly, Lionel’s current schedule was as packed as a high school senior starting with zero period and going through evening study sessions.

He had lived five years according to that schedule and would have to live several more years like that… It was like suddenly being told that someone else would be admitted so he didn’t need to take the college entrance exam and being kicked out.

‘No, thinking about it this way, it’s really too unfair, isn’t it?’

I understood too well why Lionel in the novel started a rebellion? Even I would set fire to a university that admitted another kid instead of me?

“I would step down.”

“Right. You’d have to step down… What did you say? Step down? Just like that? Quietly?”

“This empire’s inheritance law is based on primogeniture, so it’s right for my older brother to sit in the crown prince position. But since his health wasn’t good, he had no choice but to yield it to me, so if my brother becomes healthy, naturally I should step down.”

“Are you saying that seriously right now?”

Lionel blinked once and then nodded.

“Yes.”

“…Then what about me!”

“Pardon?”

“No… Aaaah!”

The question of whether he would quietly step down even if I was changed to the First Prince’s fiancée rose to the tip of my throat, but I swallowed it down.

No matter how I thought about it, that pushover seemed like he would answer ‘Yes,’ and then I would feel terribly bad even though it was the answer I expected!

‘This is strange? According to the novel’s content, he should be the one obsessing and I should be the one being obsessed over?’

Why do I seem more anxious?

“That’s ridiculous, really…”

“What is ridiculous?”

The fact that a pushover like you will kill your own family and kidnap and confine innocent people, destroying one family’s peace in the future!

‘Could it be that I’m mistaken about something? Did I reincarnate into the world of a different novel with very similar settings?’

Lionel, who was turning everyone else upside down while maintaining a calm expression by himself, was so infuriating.

I snatched the cookie from his hand the moment he was bringing it to his mouth.

“…?”

As if he hadn’t expected me to do such a thing, puzzlement seeped into his eyes.

And that was all. To him, who said nothing and just quietly looked at me, I shouted with frustration in my heart.

“Don’t you have anything to say to me right now?”

“What should I say?”

“Geez, really! You were just about to eat it, so why did you take it away! Even dogs aren’t bothered when they’re eating!”

“Is that so? I’ve never raised a dog, so I didn’t know.”

“That’s not what’s important right now!”

Ah, suddenly a scene flashed before my eyes.

When he was young, facing the long-awaited snack time and picking up his favorite dessert at that very moment! The image of Lionel having everything he was about to eat taken away by the suddenly appearing First Prince and being unable to say anything!

“Try repeating after me. That’s mine.”

“Pardon?”

“I said repeat after me? That’s mine. Please give it back.”

“Strictly speaking, it’s not mine but Cecil’s, isn’t it?”

Ugh, really!

“That’s mine! Please give it back!”

Unable to contain my frustration, I shouted loudly, and Lionel, who had been blinking his eyes as if startled by my forcefulness, finally repeated my words.

“That’s mine. Give it to me.”

It was a voice completely devoid of emotion, like a broken music box, but still, this was progress.

Deciding to let it slide for now, I moved on to the next step.

“No. Why is this Leo’s?”

When I said this while pulling the cookie toward me, Lionel made an incredulous expression. That was the clearest emotion I had seen on his face.

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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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