The Obsessive Male Lead Is Obsessed With Me! - Chapter 177

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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 8
‘No matter how I think about it, the Duchy isn’t exactly barren land…….’
Duke Roheim stared into the distance where even the child’s shadow had vanished, swallowing tears quietly.
Then he spoke to the coachman.
“Take me to the First Prince’s Palace.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The First Princess’s Palace, the Second Princess’s Palace, and the First Prince’s Palace were all adjoining—the princes and princesses enjoyed gathering and playing together.
But each had their own preferred games and tastes.
Diana, who had received an Oracle that she would rule the Barren Land, loved physical activity; Penelope, destined to become a Sage Ruler, loved reading; and then there was…….
“Your Highness the Prince.”
“Grandfather!”
Perhaps because, despite his youth, he had received countless praises for his flower-like beauty.
Daniusan, who loved tending flowers dearly, had come out to the Prince’s Palace garden today and held a watering can in his hand.
“It’s been a while. You haven’t been injured, have you?”
“Ha-ha, not at all! No need to worry. What trouble could befall me on the way back from my home?”
Daniusan set the watering can gently on the ground and rushed toward Duke Roheim, extending both hands to him.
As the duke bent down to match the child’s height, Daniusan kissed his cheek. His smiling face was so angelic!
Duke Roheim barely swallowed the sound rising from deep within: ‘Kugh……!’
“By the way, I’ve brought a gift for Your Highness the Prince.”
“A gift?”
“Yes, please wait just a moment.”
Duke Roheim entered the carriage himself and brought out a large flowerpot, setting it directly in front of Daniusan.
“It’s a flowering plant that’s recently become fashionable in the West. You’ve never seen one before, have you, Your Highness?”
“No……! Wow, such a brilliant yet elegant flower! I’ve never seen anything like it!”
With both cheeks flushed rosy, Daniusan circled around the flowerpot that was nearly as large as himself, pelting Duke Roheim with questions.
“What’s the name of this flower? How does it propagate? How much water should I give it? How long do the blooms last? Oh! Since it grows in the West, could we cultivate it here in the Imperial Palace too?”
“Of course, of course. I’ve asked the gardener about how to cultivate this plant and kept detailed notes.”
Duke Roheim handed a small notebook to Daniusan, who received it with great delight.
“Thank you, Grandfather. If I succeed in propagating this flower, I’ll definitely give it to you as a gift.”
“Ha-ha-ha! I’ll be waiting for that!”
Duke Roheim rolled his eyes, subtly reading the situation.
“Ahem, speaking of which, in the Duchy there are many more flowering plants that can only be seen in the West…….”
“Your Highness the Prince! Your Highness the Prince!”
Just then, an attendant from the First Prince’s Palace came running toward them, calling out loudly.
He had the audacity to lack any sense of the moment. Without knowing what Duke Roheim had been about to say, he told Daniusan:
“Countess Jereum has just arrived at the Empress’s Palace with the young countess.”
“What, really?”
Daniusan’s cheeks, which had been blushed rosy while looking at the flowers, now turned a much deeper shade of bashfulness.
“G-Grandfather, I need to go to the Empress’s Palace. You’ll join us for dinner this evening, won’t you?”
“Yes. I’ll see you then. You seem busy, so go ahead.”
“Yes, Grandfather. See you later!”
After leaving one more kiss on Duke Roheim’s cheek, Daniusan hurried off with the attendant toward the Empress’s Palace without hesitation.
Duke Roheim wandered through the garden where flowers bloomed brilliantly, swallowing tears within.
‘Is it truly impossible to win over His Highness the Prince with flowers?’
The First Prince, Daniusan, born about an hour after Diana, thus becoming the third.
The young prince, possessed of a flower-like beauty that was said to shine far more brightly than his older sisters—what Oracle had he received?
[He would become the Protagonist of a Romance that would endure throughout history.]
His eldest sister would become a Sage Ruler remembered in history, his younger sister had a high probability of becoming a general remembered in history, and the third would become the Protagonist of a Romance remembered in history.
The adults had laughed, but Cecilia and Duke Roheim could not.
Cecilia worried that if it endured in history, it wouldn’t be a happy ending but a tragic one, while Duke Roheim despaired at the thought that his third grandson would also find it impossible to become Duke Roheim.
‘No, don’t lose heart. Compared to the two princesses, there’s still a chance left for His Highness the Prince!’
Who knows? Perhaps he might visit the Roheim Duchy and meet his fated love. And so, wanting to give his liver and heart and everything to the woman he loves, he might wish to inherit the Duke’s position!
‘Yes. I’ll keep earning money diligently from now on.’
Duke Roheim resolved his determination and boarded the carriage once more.
“Your Grace, where shall we go now?”
“Where else? Of course, to the First Princess’s Palace.”
In truth, it was impossible to pass the duchy to the First Princess. She would ascend to the throne one day.
But that didn’t make Penelope any less dear to him as a granddaughter.
Duke Roheim, delighted at the thought of seeing his granddaughter’s face after so long, rode toward the First Princess’s Palace with a smile.
‘Now that I think about it, shouldn’t she be in lessons at this hour?’
Penelope, who had begun her studies at age three, had started taking multiple classes this year, including Imperial Studies.
Born under the words “Sage Ruler remembered throughout history,” the great expectations from those around her were immense—and her own will to live up to them was equally fierce.
‘She certainly takes after her father in that way.’
Cecilia didn’t hate studying either, but if you will, she was quite picky. She loved only Magic Studies. Even after becoming Empress, she made time to work as a part-time instructor at the Magic Item Crafting Academy using a Crystal Sphere—that says it all.
After it became known that “Albert,” the genius magic item crafter who held tens of magical circuit patents, was actually Cecilia, mages eagerly knocked on the Imperial Palace doors, begging her to share magical circuits not yet made public.
Cecilia kept busy scheming plans to open a second branch of the Magic Item Crafting Academy in the Capital by leveraging those mages—all while carrying a child in her womb.
‘Should I suggest opening a third branch in the Duchy? Then I could use that as an excuse to call Cecilia to the Duchy after so long, and if possible, bring the grandchildren along too…….’
While scheming a plan heavy with self-interest, the carriage stopped before the First Princess’s Palace. Duke Roheim alighted and caught the Maid Manager as he entered the palace.
“Is Her Highness the Princess currently in lessons?”
“No. She’s finished her lessons and is resting in the back garden.”
“Is that so? Perfect!”
Duke Roheim headed straight for the back garden of the princess’s palace.
The back garden of the First Princess’s Palace displayed a harmonious and beautiful landscape thanks to a skilled gardener’s diligent care, but the eastern section was filled entirely with purple flowers.
Even before receiving her own palace and becoming independent, Daniusan had found flowers matching the eye color of her father and oldest sister and busily planted them—the result of that effort.
No matter how much one loves flowers or studies diligently, how perfectly could a five-year-old child arrange a garden?
Different flower varieties had varying heights and sizes, making them uneven; the spacing between flowers was also irregular, giving the whole section an immature, haphazard appearance.
Yet the First Princess, Penelope, loved this eastern section dearly. Whenever she had free time like this, she would pick up the watering can herself and water it.
“Your Highness, the First Princess.”
“Duke Roheim.”
Penelope, who had been watering violets, noticed Duke Roheim and her eyes sparkled.
Setting down the watering can she held, the child approached Duke Roheim with her back straight and offered him her hand.
When Duke Roheim kissed her hand, she looked around with a solemn expression and gave an order to the maids and guards nearby:
“I wish to have a private audience with Duke Roheim, so all of you withdraw.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Such commands from her were commonplace, so the maids and guards withdrew without complaint to a distant spot.
Once the others had withdrawn far enough that they couldn’t hear, Penelope called to Duke Roheim in a small voice:
“Grandfather.”
“Yes, Your Highness the Princess. Have you been well?”
Penelope answered with a composed expression that was the very image of her father.
“Since no one is listening now, you may call me Pip.”

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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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