The Obsessive Male Lead Is Obsessed With Me! - Chapter 175

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Side Story, Episode 6
In the meantime, Cecilia had taken the seat next to Penelope where Lionel had been sitting, and was wiping the sauce from the corners of Penelope’s mouth with a napkin.
“I can wipe it myself.”
“I know our Pipa can do everything on her own.”
Cecilia finished speaking and laughed with a soft giggle. Penelope looked at her with a puzzled expression, as if asking why she was laughing, and Cecilia let out a light cough.
“I just remembered a certain man who insisted on carrying me even though I said I could walk on my own.”
“Pardon?”
Carrying the Empress—carrying our mother? Who on earth would do that?
Through eyes that wavered like water, her thoughts were transparent to see.
Though she carried herself with surprising maturity for a three-year-old, moments like these revealed her true age—and how adorable she was for it.
But if I laughed outright, the child would sulk, so Cecilia held back her amusement and popped a small bun into her mouth instead.
Lionel, who had finished burping the children and settled them into their cribs, returned and sat in the chair beside Cecilia—the seat that had originally been hers—and answered her.
“It’s only natural to want to touch someone you love, isn’t it?”
“Hmm, so who was the one who said they didn’t know if you loved me back then?”
“I simply hadn’t awakened to it yet. But I was already captivated by you from that moment.”
“My goodness, there’s nothing you won’t say in front of the child.”
Cecilia glanced at Penelope’s expression and gave Lionel a gentle nudge with her elbow.
“Chirp!”
Ruda, understanding Cecilia’s embarrassment before her daughter, scurried forward and tapped Penelope’s hand with a wing.
Then pointed to the fruit plate in the middle of the table with a wing.
“Do you want some of that?”
“Chirp!”
“Just a moment.”
As Penelope reached for the fruit plate, Lionel and Cecilia fell into their own world, bickering affectionately with one another.
Penelope, accustomed to this, was busy attending to Ruda’s demands for attention.
She wasn’t one to pout about her parents not paying attention to her—she already received more than enough love every single day, and besides, those who loved Penelope extended far beyond just her parents.
“Kreung.”
“It seems Kreung is also still hungry.”
Penelope pushed her plate with the steak toward Kreung.
Kreung preferred fresh raw meat dripping with blood, but ate cooked meat well enough too.
Besides, how could he refuse when Penelope was offering it? Under Ruda’s watchful gaze—a silent reminder to eat every last bite—Kreung focused on his meal.
“Pipa, have you finished? Would you like dessert?”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Which would you prefer—pudding or cake?”
“Today I’d like pudding. I’ll eat it myself.”
“Is that so?”
I wanted to feed it to her myself.
Cecilia murmured this, though Lionel wore a similar expression.
Watching her father’s emotions laid bare so openly, Penelope paused and had another thought.
‘Why do people always say Father is impossible to read?’
While not quite as expressive as Mother, Father certainly had plenty of feelings.
“…Father. I… I only want to eat the strawberries on the cake.”
“Papa.”
“Papa. Could I have those strawberries?”
“Of course.”
Lionel, a soft smile playing at the corners of his mouth, speared a strawberry from his own cake with a fork and held it to Penelope’s lips.
Penelope opened her mouth readily and accepted the strawberry. As the child chewed contentedly, Cecilia’s eyes sparkled as she asked her.
“Is it delicious? Should Mother share hers too?”
“…Yes, Mother.”
“Good! Here, say ‘aah’.”
After accepting Cecilia’s strawberry as well, Penelope dabbed demurely at her lips with a napkin, hiding the shyness beneath her composed exterior.
The child didn’t realize that just as she found her father’s feelings easy to read, so too did her parents effortlessly see through her own heart.
“Thank you for the meal.”
“Shall we take a walk to aid digestion?”
“Yes.”
A maid quickly brought the carriage. The Magical Baby Carriage that Cecilia had made herself maintained the perfect temperature inside when the transparent cover was closed, making evening strolls with the children quite pleasant.
Lionel pushed the carriage with one hand, Cecilia held Penelope’s hand and swung it as they walked, and Ruda perched once more atop Kreung’s head, enjoying the cool night air.
“Chirp-chirp, chirp. Chirp-chirp.”
“Mother. Ruda seems to be in a very good mood.”
“Ruda’s always in a good mood, isn’t she?”
“Chirp!”
That’s right!
“But Mother, couldn’t even Ruda have days when she’s not in a good mood?”
“Days like that… well, I suppose they could happen. Of course.”
Before dinner, Cecilia had learned everything from Penelope’s tutor about what philosophical discussion the young Princess had pursued that day, and now she stroked Penelope’s head gently as she spoke.
“But no matter how bad things get, when our Pipa asks if she’s alright, strokes her head, and shares sweet cookies with her, Ruda’s mood will brighten right up, won’t it?”
“Chirp!”
Similarly, Cecilia’s hand gently caressed Ruda’s head, then reached over to stroke Kreung’s as well.
Kreung snorted—whether ticklish or not—but didn’t brush her hand away.
Penelope, watching this, nodded in understanding.
“So even when something bad or sad happens, if you have family to comfort you nearby, you can be happy forever.”
“My goodness, did those words really just come out of my three-year-old daughter’s mouth?”
That such a simple yet precious truth of life had already been grasped by a mere three-year-old!
Lionel approached with the carriage, his jaw hanging slightly open in surprise at Cecilia’s side.
“Age is not important in gaining enlightenment. She is our child, after all.”
“…Ah, yes. Though I suppose it’s only possible because she’s your child more than mine.”
“No. It’s possible because she’s our daughter.”
Lionel smiled broadly and stroked Penelope’s head as he spoke.
“Father will be happy forever because he has Pipa.”
“…Hehe.”
The sound was soft, yet it was precisely the bright, pure laugh that suited a three-year-old.
When Penelope smiled at him, Lionel burst into laughter, and Cecilia too chuckled warmly as she suddenly lifted Penelope into her arms.
“Mother is happy forever because she has Pipa too!”
“Me as well.”
Penelope threw her arms around Cecilia’s neck, kissed her cheek once, then—as naturally as breathing—leaned down toward Lionel’s offered face and kissed his cheek as well, her own cheeks flushed rosy as she broke into a bright smile.
“Because I have Mother and Father and Annie and Danny and Ruda and Kreung, I think I can be happy forever.”
“Papa.”
Lionel stubbornly corrected the term, and Cecilia gave him a pointed look as if to say, ‘Really?’
“Do you really need to hear ‘Papa’ so badly?”
“Yes. It’s a much warmer and more affectionate way to address me.”
His face pleaded with Penelope to use that term.
“Papa.”
“Good.”
As Lionel smiled with satisfaction, Penelope glanced down shyly.
He probably didn’t realize that Penelope deliberately used ‘Father’ each time precisely because she enjoyed how Lionel corrected her to ‘Papa’—it was her one little game.
It was the only mischief available to a child who had grown up too quickly, half by choice and half by circumstance.
“The wind is getting chilly. Shall we head back?”
“Yes. It seems Annie and Danny are already asleep.”
“We should get them to bed soon. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that our children sleep so well.”
Of course, that included Penelope among the children.
No matter how mature she acted, her body was only three years old. After a full meal, a walk, and a warm bath, Penelope’s eyes grew heavy, and she bobbed her head drowsily.
“Chirp.”
“Will you sleep with Pipa tonight?”
“Chirp-chirp.”
“Alright. Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Cecilia kissed Penelope’s cheek, tucked the blanket carefully over the sleeping child, and quietly slipped out of the room.
In the hushed bedroom where only the child’s breathing could be heard, Ruda flew to the head of the bed and began to sing a lullaby.
“Chirp, chirp-chirp, chirp, chirp-chirp-chirp, chirp-chirp-chirp.”
“……”
The soft, deep breathing of the sleeping child could be heard. This too was a most effective lullaby.
In the nest prepared in the Imperial Palace bedroom, the Empress’s Palace bedroom, and the children’s bedroom, Ruda settled her body comfortably, opened her beak wide in a yawn, and closed her eyes.
“…Chirp.”
As always, tonight too, sweet dreams seemed certain to come.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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