The Obsessive Male Lead Is Obsessed With Me! - Chapter 178

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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 9
“That’s right, Penelope.”
At once, the solemn expression that had seemed ill-suited to a seven-year-old’s face vanished, and the child broke into a bright smile. Duke Roheim followed suit with a beaming grin of his own.
Had his granddaughter before him not been the Princess, practically the next Emperor herself—someone of such exalted station—he would have swept her into his arms and peppered her cheeks and forehead with kisses.
Duke Roheim suppressed the urge and carefully spread his hands open before her.
“Would you like to sit in your grandfather’s arms?”
Penelope nodded and nestled perfectly into Duke Roheim’s embrace. He rose from his seat with a grin, cradling the small child against his chest.
For a moment his lower back twinged, but with his beloved granddaughter in his arms, he felt no pain at all.
“Grandfather, I’m already seven years old now, and if you count the child in Mother’s womb, I have three siblings, and I can walk on my own two feet.”
“Yes, yes, I know that well.”
“But sitting in your arms like this is a sign of trust—that I can entrust my body to you—and an expression of affection, showing that I love you.”
Good heavens, how could anything be so endearing!
This was truly Cecilia’s child. Duke Roheim could no longer restrain himself and placed a kiss on the child’s cheek.
“Penelope, Grandfather loves our Penelope very much.”
“I know.”
“Even if you know, let me tell you! Just how much this old man loves our Penelope!”
From inside the womb, and after being born, before the Princess received her own palace and became independent, and ever since.
Penelope had grown up hearing herself called not only the future Sagely Ruler, but also our precious daughter, our beautiful daughter, our beloved niece, and our cherished granddaughter.
So while she strove to meet everyone’s expectations by displaying maturity and dignity even now, she showed such an endearing side to her family.
Duke Roheim was deeply grateful for that. The position of next Emperor was burden enough on its own, but this child had been burdened additionally with the obligation to become a Sagely Ruler whose name would echo through history.
“Now that I think of it, our Penelope seems to have grown again. You’ve gotten taller, haven’t you?”
“That’s correct. I’ve grown this much.”
As she said “this much,” Penelope held her thumb and forefinger an almost imperceptible distance apart.
It was so little that “a tiny bit” was the only phrase that could possibly describe it.
It was questionable whether that degree of growth even counted as becoming taller, and it was remarkable that Duke Roheim had noticed at all, yet Penelope’s face was full of pride and satisfaction.
“Mother said that when one is young, eating well and sleeping well are very important. Yesterday I went to bed early and drank plenty of milk this morning.”
“That’s the secret! There’s nothing harder than going to bed early in the evening—that’s my granddaughter for you!”
As Duke Roheim planted kisses on her cheeks, Penelope’s lips twitched faintly. Then, as the child broke into a shy smile, Duke Roheim found her so delightful that he kissed her once more.
“By the way, I’ve brought you a gift.”
“Another one?”
“Another? It’s been nearly two months since I went down to the Duchy and returned. Two months is quite a long time!”
At that, Penelope nodded.
“Two months is indeed a long time.”
“Exactly. So just to be safe, this will be our secret—you won’t tell anyone else, will you?”
“No, I understand.”
Penelope nodded with a serious expression. Though she was only seven years old this year, she understood the weight that a promise carried.
So she would strive to keep her promise with Duke Roheim today, and if she failed to keep it unintentionally, she would feel terribly sorry.
Thus Duke Roheim had prepared gifts for Penelope that could be consumed quickly and completely.
“Here—chocolate made by the pastry chef of Roheim Castle himself.”
“Chocolate…!”
“There’s strawberry inside. The harmony of strawberry and chocolate is absolutely perfect. Go on, try some?”
Duke Roheim handed her the small box of chocolate he’d taken from his arms.
In places where there were people other than family, Penelope wanted to appear mature and carefully hid the fact that she loved sweets.
But apart from the child refraining from snacks in public, there was no stress from being unable to eat sweet foods. That was because there were many people who would slip snacks directly into her hands when no one was looking, leave them in drawers, or have them delivered by small birds.
Unaware that she had already eaten five cookies that Cecilia had baked with her own hands today, Duke Roheim placed the chocolate directly into Penelope’s mouth.
“How is it?”
“It’s delicious…! The chocolate coating is just bitter enough that it harmonizes beautifully with the strawberry’s sweetness. It doesn’t cloy, and I think I could eat a lot of it.”
“Isn’t it? Your mother loves this chocolate too.”
“Mother does as well?”
Penelope gazed into the box that had contained six chocolates—now with only five remaining after she had eaten one just moments before—swallowed hard, then placed one in Duke Roheim’s mouth.
“Grandfather, it’s delicious, isn’t it?”
“It certainly is! It tastes even better because my granddaughter fed it to me!”
Duke Roheim felt his heart swell with the kindness of his granddaughter offering to share, and he nearly shed tears of emotion, but then his expression grew puzzled as he watched Penelope close the box.
“Why? Won’t you eat more?”
“Because the chocolate is so delicious. I want to give some to Father, Mother, and my siblings.”
Could there be such a good-hearted child anywhere else in the world!
The future of the Empire was bright. Very bright indeed. Extraordinarily, remarkably bright.
Duke Roheim stroked Penelope’s hair and leaned close to whisper affectionately in her ear.
“It’s all right. I brought several more boxes of the same chocolate. You may eat all of this yourself.”
“Truly?”
“Of course! You’ll need to eat all of this here so that you can keep your promise with Grandfather, won’t you?”
“…!”
Ah, that was true. She had agreed to keep today’s gift a secret. But if she shared this chocolate with her parents, they would discover that she’d received a gift.
Since there would be separate chocolate to share with her parents and siblings, she could eat all of this herself. No—to keep her promise with Grandfather, she would have to eat it all.
With this sense of duty, Penelope opened the box again.
“Then… I shall enjoy it.”
“That’s right, eat plenty.”
This must be what it felt like to be so full you didn’t even need to eat.
Though it was a pity that his first and second children still showed no interest in marriage, the birth of three beloved grandchildren and the expected arrival of a fourth meant Duke Roheim wanted for nothing else.
Well, there was one thing he did wish for.
‘Just one of the grandchildren! Just one! Please let at least one of them inherit the Dukedom!’
But then again, when he thought about it.
Duke Roheim himself had been an only child with no siblings, so there was no one else to pass the title to, and he had become Duke. Below him, his siblings Belrose, Albert, and Cecilia had spent years shuffling the title among themselves.
Among them, Lionel had no particular desire to become Emperor, but he had decided to ascend the throne because of Cecilia’s Divine Prophecy.
Looking at the bloodline this way, from parents down through siblings, not a single person had ever shown ambition for a title.
[You shall become the master of treasure that has slumbered beneath the waters for ages long past.]
In the end, it was inevitable that the fourth child would be born under such a Divine Prophecy.

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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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