The Obsessive Male Lead Is Obsessed With Me! - Chapter 3

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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 3

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‘How on earth did things end up like this?’

A banquet hall set up not in our house, but in the grand Imperial Palace banquet hall.

The Imperial Orchestra, positioned inconspicuously in a corner, played soft melodies while dozens of servants moved silently, diligently placing dishes on the long dining table.

Three people from the Imperial Family, four from our family. Excluding the Emperor who declared he couldn’t attend due to busy affairs and Father who couldn’t come because he was at the estate, there were seven people seated at the table in total.

What more could I say? Among those seven people, Lionel and I were supposed to be the main characters of this occasion, but…

“Kai, try eating this.”

“I’m sorry. My stomach feels a bit upset.”

“Don’t be like that… Here, it’s potato soup that you like. Just try a little.”

Somehow, someone else was at the center of the conversation.

‘Is this… a family meeting?’

The Empress was busy trying to get the First Prince, who had come of age this year, to eat one more spoonful of soup, while the First Prince just poked at the food on his plate with his fork with a sullen expression.

Though his face was pale from illness, he was still a beautiful, sickly boy with handsome features befitting the male lead’s bloodline.

‘Well, what can you do when his personality is like that.’

If he really felt sick, he should just return to his bedroom. Seeing him stubbornly sitting there, I could tell for certain.

‘He’s deliberately causing a scene.’

Was he being spiteful because his younger brother was getting engaged first when he hadn’t gotten engaged yet?

Then he shouldn’t have come to the gathering at all.

‘I heard the Empress’s favoritism was severe, but… this doesn’t seem like just severe.’

I quietly turned my head to look at the male protagonist I was finally meeting, Lionel.

His hair, shimmering as if painted with melted gold, swayed softly. The deeply shadowed eyes and straight nose bridge visible through it still showed traces of boyishness, yet his appearance was beautiful enough that one couldn’t easily look away.

It wasn’t just his appearance that was admirable.

His straight, proper posture. His movements, restrained of all unnecessary actions, showed that he was steadily training his body like sharpening a blade, and the way he commanded servants with brief glances and simple gestures proved he was a noble being born of ruler’s bloodline.

But…

‘How can he be so indifferent?’

Shouldn’t a person naturally feel certain emotions in this kind of situation?

Confusion, disappointment, embarrassment.

However, not a single expression appeared on Lionel’s face as he silently cut his steak. Like a doll that had never learned emotions.

‘That’s not the calm before the storm, is it?’

As his actions from the novel came to mind over the Second Prince’s expressionless face, making me extremely uneasy, Mother offered me a plate.

“Dear, try eating this? The beef is cooked very well.”

“Try this pie too. The cheese is very savory.”

“Have some salad to cleanse your palate. This sauce seems to be made with fruit. It’s refreshingly delicious.”

“This bread is moist and soft. Try it once. Should I spread some cream? Or butter? Strawberry jam?”

Perhaps because the Empress was only taking care of the First Prince, our family also began taking care of only me as if to show them.

‘Somehow I feel like I can see crack marks above our family’s heads…’

Thanks to this, all kinds of food began piling up on my plate, while Lionel’s plate only had the food the servant had placed there.

Between the two noisy, fussy families, he was floating alone like a stranger.

‘Looking at it this way, it’s kind of pitiful…’

Lionel seemed to have no thoughts about it, but that’s how I felt watching.

So without realizing it, I ended up saying this:

“Second Prince. Please peel these shrimp for me.”

Everyone’s attention focused on the shrimp plate I slid toward Lionel.

Whether they had been pretending not to listen while actually paying attention, even the musicians stopped playing and looked this way with surprised faces.

Of course, the most surprised expressions were on our family’s faces.

“Cecilia, what kind of rudeness is that toward His Highness?”

“That’s right. I’ll peel the shrimp for you…”

“I don’t want that. I’d like His Highness to peel them.”

The way they were trying to stop me seemed like they were telling me to just let it go, which made me even more spiteful.

I deliberately cut off my brother’s words in a petulant voice and asked Lionel while making eye contact with him.

“Is that not allowed?”

“I understand.”

Even amid everyone’s shock, Lionel casually signaled to a servant. The flustered servant then picked up the shrimp plate.

Was it a reflexive action? The servant glanced at me and tried to peel the shrimp himself, but Lionel raised his hand to stop him.

Then he began peeling the shrimp himself.

‘Still no change in expression.’

I couldn’t help but admire his skill in elegantly separating the shrimp meat from the shells using a fork and knife.

While I unconsciously clapped my hands saying “Wow,” Lionel quickly peeled about ten shrimp and handed me the plump meat.

“Here you are.”

“Thank you, Your Highness. And could you also debone this grilled sea bass for me?”

“Cecilia!”

“I understand.”

This time too, Lionel casually took the fish plate and began removing the bones. There was no sign of anger or displeasure anywhere on his face.

‘Is this much nothing to him?’

I wanted to confirm whether he was suppressing his emotions inwardly or if he was truly empty inside, but I couldn’t tell yet.

‘…Should I provoke him more?’

While I was having such thoughts, the servant fidgeted helplessly as Lionel did all the work himself, and my brother, watching this, coughed lightly.

“Cecilia, I’ll debone the fish for you. You know how well I debone fish, right?”

“I know, but I want to ask my future husband. Since we’ll be eating together for life after marriage, I want to see how well His Highness debones fish.”

“Cecilia…”

“You, let’s talk when we get home.”

I pretended not to notice Mother’s glances telling me not to do this, or my sister’s whispered warnings as she was always the strictest with me.

Even if this was the Imperial Palace, even if he was a prince, I was stretching my legs where there was room to stretch.

‘At most, I’ll just get scolded when I get home for acting childish here.’

As long as the Imperial Family coveted Roheim’s gold, the Empress couldn’t do anything to me.

Trusting only in that, I continued to offer plates to Lionel.

Or rather, I was about to.

-Screech!

I had to stop because of the First Prince, who deliberately scraped his plate with his fork as if telling us to look at him.

“Duke Roheim’s daughter… Your name was Cecilia, wasn’t it?”

The First Prince looked directly into my eyes.

This wasn’t confirming my name but asking if it was okay to call me by my first name.

“Yes, I am Cecilia Roheim.”

I answered with emphasis on Roheim.

Whether he understood that I meant to stop playing games and just use my surname, the First Prince frowned.

“Yes, Cecilia.”

No, he didn’t understand at all, did he?

“Your situation has become quite pitiful. Haven’t you become a sacrifice to political marriage simply for being born the daughter of a wealthy family?”

“Oh my, political marriage? This marriage was decided because I cried and threw tantrums for it.”

“Cried and threw… what?”

It wasn’t a lie.

I was the one who threw tantrums about not wanting to marry, but anyway.

“What’s wrong with political marriage? He peels shrimp and debones fish for me – he’s such a caring person. And if I marry the Second Prince, I’ll become Empress in the future. What could be more glorious than that? Isn’t that right, Your Majesty the Empress?”

I looked at the Empress with a bright smile.

The answer is predetermined, so you just need to respond, right?

“Of course… What could be more glorious for a noble lady than an engagement with the Imperial Family?”

“Exactly. I have no complaints about this engagement. I’m so very happy.”

Saying this, I glanced at Lionel, but as expected, there was no particular change in his expression.

‘I didn’t expect even lip service like “I’m honored too,” but…’

Still, what’s with having absolutely no reaction, as if he’s listening to someone else’s story?

‘Is he really going to become an obsessive male lead later? Right now he seems to have no emotions at all?’

While I was pouting by myself, I heard an extremely loud sound of a chair being dragged backward from over there.

When I turned my head, the First Prince was standing there with a reddened face and an expression that looked like he was boiling with anger.

‘What’s wrong with him now?’

Honestly, it was ridiculous. Don’t tell me he got offended just because I talked back once?

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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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